MY BRAIN’S CORIANDER STRUGGLE
In the course of human history, the quest for knowledge has often provided heroic tales of courage and great self-sacrifice. Tatiana Carter continues the struggle at the dinner table.
IF there is anything that shouldn’t be discussed at the dinner table aside from religion, politics and money, it’s coriander.
Who knew that disliking one
small herb could completely turn my family and friends against me?
Dinner time went from a fun dining experience to a much-dreaded ordeal.
Life hasn’t been easy for a self-proclaimed coriander-hater like me, and I know I am not
alone. So, what does someone do about it?
The answer is simple, I need to retrain my brain.
They say three times is a charm, but could eating coriander 15 times cure my hatred for it and make my grandparents love me again? I put the scientific theory to the test and here’s what happened.
THE EXPERIMENT
There were four items essential to my coriander experiment: a water bottle, a bin, and one bushel of the devil’s herb.
After taking nearly an hour to muster up the courage, I proceeded to take a bite.
Perhaps it was mental fatigue from worrying about eating it, but once I broke through the skin the soapy taste quickly spread throughout my mouth and I was stunned.
I forced myself to swallow it even though my brain had ignited my flight-or-fight response — leaving me dry heaving.
“Only 14 more times to go,” I told myself as I sloshed water around in my mouth to remove the taste — with no success.
Trial after trial my body rejected the coriander more severely than the last, my back becoming sore from spewing into the bin and my eyes bloodshot from pressure.
By the seventh time, I slowly started to not taste anymore.
This was mostly from the amount of stomach acid sitting on my tongue. Could it be true? Had I actually done it? After the seventh time I was able to eat the coriander without too much fuss, yes it was disgusting, but not unbearable.
After two hours, I had finished my experiment.
To be 100 per cent sure, I decided to test the theory and wait five minutes to try again, hopefully my hatred for coriander was finally over and for once I would be free from its leafy grasp.
After the five minutes were up, I opened my mouth and placed another clump in.
Sorry science, but it still sucks.