Why Cilantro Tastes Like Soap, Nutmeg Is a Hallucinogenic, and Chocolate Is Toxic to Dogs

by Alessandra Bulow
on 04/09/14 at 12:31 PM

Cilantro

You've told us about your love/hate for cilantro before, but have you ever wondered how come cilantro tastes soapy? It comes down to chemical makeup of the ingredient but instead of boring you with a blah, blah, blah explanation, there's an anonymous chemistry teacher from the UK who has created smart infographics that explain the science behind some of our favorite foods on an awesome site called Compound Interest. Find out more about the secret scientist and see his cool food infographics after the jump!

"I started making these graphics just to brighten up & make interesting and relevant materials for the walls of my classroom, then started the site in order to share them so that other teachers could make use of them," says the anonymous founder of Compound Interest. "I think it's amazing that we can isolate specific chemical molecules that cause certain effects in foods, and that's what I've been trying to draw attention to with this series."

Editor's Note: Right click on the below images to enlarge

Why Can Cilantro Taste Soap? (FYI In the UK, cilantro is called coriander)

Chemistry-of-Cilantro

Why Is Chocolate Toxic to Dogs?

The-Chemistry-of-Chocolate

Why Does Asparagus Make Urine Smell?

Asparagus-chemistry

Why Is Nutmeg Hallucinogenic?

Chemistry-Nutmeg

Why Are Chilli Peppers Spicy?

The-Chemistry-of-a-Chilli-1024x724

Photos: Mike Lorrig (Cilantro), Compound Interest (Infographics)

Tagged with: Alessandra Bulow

baking books chefs cooking drinking entertaining family fare healthy news & gossip recipes restaurants seasonal travel vegetarian
welcome to the epi-log
guest contributors


Our Newest Recipes