"Coriander leaf does indeed taste like soap"

As it happens... Coriander is a peculiar beast. There is a proportion of the population (I am one) to whom it will always taste chemical. I discovered the stuff by accident. It was in a bag of bought salad. I bit into one mouthful, went "argh", and then took out individual leaves, comparing them with the piccies on the back of the bag till I found the culprit.

Later, reading the intro to a Jane Grigson cookbook devoted to fish, I discovered that it wasn't just me. A comment from the intro author said something to the effect of only Jane could casually give you nuggets of information such as blah..., etc..., Coriander..., blah...

If you google it, the wiki entry will you that it's a genetic thing - the chemical flavour is down to an enzyme in the saliva. It's not a matter of "getting used to it". If that's you, it's always going to taste chemical (I can't say I've made a habit of eating soap, but I've never thought of it as tasting that way. It's just... chemical... and thoroughly unpleasant). The daft thing is that ground coriander, made from the seeds, doesn't contain any of the chemicals that react so badly. You can enjoy ground coriander (I do), but coriander LEAF is utterly uneatable!

As for rocket I like it. Rubbish it may be, if not to your palate, but I fail to see how it can be described as tasteless, unless all of your taste buds are dead! As someone has said, the younger leaves are nicer than the older, larger ones. A note of caution on growing it. Yes, it's easy to grow. Too easy. It can assume weed proportions if you're not careful, as it's quite prolific.