Rant: Whoever decided to put cilantro in everything needs to stop

I was at a pop-up in Austin last Saturday and the chef put cilantro on a brisket taco and I almost walked out, has anyone else noticed this trend ruining perfectly good dishes?

3 comments

3 Comments

nelson.cameron2mo ago

Agree with the whole soap taste thing. Cilantro is like the TikTok of herbs everyone just throws it on everything without thinking if it actually belongs there. I mean, brisket tacos are already perfect with just onion and salsa why mess with that. Feels like chefs are more into looking trendy than actually making food taste good sometimes. Maybe it's just me but I think a lot of dishes get ruined by trying to be too fancy.

uma_webb286d ago

Totally get that "TikTok of herbs" comparison, that's a good way to put it. It's not just cilantro, I see this with a lot of other stuff like truffle oil and sriracha mayo. Seems like restaurants and food bloggers latch onto one trendy ingredient and then it shows up on everything from pizza to eggs, whether it fits or not. It's like the whole "put an egg on it" craze a few years back, where every burger and bowl had a runny yolk just because it was the thing to do. Not everything needs that extra kick. Feels like a lot of places are more worried about getting that Instagram shot than if the flavors actually work together.

taylorhunt2mo ago

Right? Why does cilantro have to be on literally everything now? I remember ordering a nice bowl of pho last week and they had a giant pile of it just sitting on top like it was the star of the show, totally drowning out the broth. Sometimes less really is more, you know.