Cilantroversy
_introduction
When I moved to Rotterdam in 2021, in many, many restaurants and cafes, they were serving dishes with cilantro. I hadn't had any experience with the fresh cilantro leaves until then. I was wondering why people liked it so much when it tasted so bad. It turned out that it tastes different for them, that’s why!
I started to dig deeper into this topic: researched the reasons why it tastes so bad to me and made a small fanzine. I carry it with me while travelling because it is a great way to explain why I really cannot have cilantro in my dish. Later, when introducing it to people, it became a fun conversation starter and many people connected with the topic. Slowly, over the last few years, this whole thing has become a bigger project. It was about time to start documenting the process.
_works
Don’t Put Cilantro In My Dish, Please // In 2022, I created a small fanzine (Don’t Put Cilantro In My Dish, Please) to share with others why I don’t like coriander and that there are others like me. I carry it in my bag sometimes so I can explain my situation to people in a fun and joyful way.
Cilantroversy // In 2025, I was invited by the Street Vendor Publisher to contribute to a small box publication about an obsession I had for the Bangkok Art Book Fair: I picked up the topic of Cilantoversy once again and created a series of small boxes with different tastes. What tastes? I asked friends and family how cilantro tastes for them and put the different outcomes: from the freshest and citrusy delight, to the taste of a stinky bug’s smell!
The survey // I took part in a Christmas market in Nicosia in November 2025 and the fanzine was one of the publications I was selling there. During the first day, I had many fun conversations with people over the zine and the topic, so for the second day I created a survey: I started asking people to write down how it tasted for them. My collection of tastes got enriched in a lovely way and I had the pleasure of meeting so many lovely people because of that.
_links
▶ web page