Which single spice you dislike most?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm one who has the thing where cilantro tastes like soap.


I genuinely have no idea why people like it - I intellectually understand it tastes different to me, but I have a hard time imagining it. Why would you eat soap?

I am one like that too. Posted earlier in the thread. Some kind of person pointed out a genetic component. There is a link to populations that dislike it more than others.

[Anonymous]

I’ve always suspected that the difference in whether cilantro tastes good to you is less about *how* it tastes than it is about how *strong* it tastes. The people who don’t like it say it tastes like soap. That makes total sense to me because I love it in fresh, homemade salsa and I would describe its taste as fresh, clean, bright — which are all ways we think about soap — but to me, it’s pleasant and it takes salsa to the next level.

[Anonymous]

Caraway seeds! Ruins a food for me every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anything licorice-y. So fennel, star anise, Chinese five spice, I'm sure the list goes on. It's the only thing I can taste and ruins the dish for me.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Caraway seeds! Ruins a food for me every time.

I was going to say that I love every single spice and each has its use. I am pretty adventurous and cook all sorts of cuisines from around the world. But now that you mention it, I do dislike caraway. I don’t like breads with it or have any in my large spice collection.

As a kid, I hated cilantro, but now I love it. It goes in so many different cuisines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weird how many of you dislike cumin and other spices common to Indian cooking - I think they’re the most wonderful, and they’re also very healthful. It makes me sad how late in life I ‘discovered’ Indian food and cooking.

It really feels like spices build themselves into the person's genetic code and then makes us like them or not. Kind of like a virus if you will.. we have antibodies to some spices and others we are totally exposed .. and hence we hate them.

I don’t understand the cumin thing. It’s in everything! Indian, Mexican, South American, North African, middle eastern. Unless you eat nothing but French and Italian, you must have some cumin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dislike cumin and curry.

HATE cilantro if that counts!

Can someone explain what curry spice is? I’ve never come across it before and I’m of Indian origin.

In the US, you can buy curry powder, which is essentially a blend of turmeric, cumin and coriander. Different manufacturers use slightly different blends, some add some salt, some do not. It's an American short-cut.

[Anonymous]

Black pepper. Blech!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like most spices including the licorice flavor (though not fennel seeds but more because of mouth feel than flavor) and cumin and curry. Some herbs I don’t like are rosemary and sage - again because of mouth feel. I don’t understand the point of bay leaves.

I grew up in a house where almost the only things added to food were salt (and lots of it) and pepper. I use them now in recipes but not at the table. I have traveled a lot and use many spices/herbs that remind me of places I have been. So for me, it’s acquired, not cultural.

My brother has that genetic aversion to cilantro BTW.

The point of bay leaves.. one of my staple of my spice cabinet is that you add it to dishes and the goodness sips into the dish and
then it smells like it. You only need ONE leaf per gigantic pot. Very easily to overdo with it so this is really something you don't need to worry yourself about, if you did not grow with it and are in need for using it you can live a very happy life without it.

I grew up with it and I can be happy without it just the same. But OMG when I add it.. that tastes like childhood.

Think of the bay leaf the same way you think of umami. It's not really a flavor by itself, but it's essential to making everything else taste good. You definitely need more than one bay leaf per pot. Two at minimum, maybe three or four if we're talking cauldron. And skip the tiny little jars grocery store. Those leaves are old, borderline useless, and a total ripoff. You can buy them fresher by the pound online for about the price of a couple of miniscule spice aisle jars. I freeze mine and throw a few into whatever I'm cooking. Bay leaves also cut down on the number of roaches and ants you have to use poisons to kill if you leave a bowlful of them near doors and around the house.

[Anonymous]

Rosemary

[Anonymous]

I read through 11 pages of spice hate and then couldn't remember the posts I wanted to quote, so I'll just leave a few thoughts here.

Dill: Always fresh, never dried spice. If you dislike dill, never visit Ukraine.

Rosemary: Love the flavor, hate that it's basically tiny knives determined to rip holes into my gums and roof of mouth. Tastes amazing baked into sourdough bread. I use it in creamy pastas a lot as well.

Turmeric: I hate that it permanently stains anything it touches. I can't actually taste the difference between when it's used or not, so I generally skip it in recipes. I'm intrigued by the health benefits but can't get past the staining.

Tarragon: There's a reason why it sounds like a dragon name. Evil. One time I ordered Tarkhuna in a Georgian restaurant and almost died. I didn't know what tarragon was, so I didn't know that a tarragon soda would be undrinkable.

The same way people feel about the lingering odor of curry spices, I feel about gochujang. My body odor reeks after consuming even just a spoonful. Doesn't stop me from loading up on Korean cuisine (or Indian, for that matter). Sorry if you catch me too long between showers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anything licorice-y. So fennel, star anise, Chinese five spice, I'm sure the list goes on. It's the only thing I can taste and ruins the dish for me.

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

I despise black pepper. I can’t even use napkins from plastic silverware packages because the pepper smell permeates and it makes me gag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I despise black pepper. I can’t even use napkins from plastic silverware packages because the pepper smell permeates and it makes me gag.

Me again. I do actually have thyroid disease, so perhaps that’s part of it! But I’ve now had my thyroid removed and the revulsion persists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read through 11 pages of spice hate and then couldn't remember the posts I wanted to quote, so I'll just leave a few thoughts here.

Dill: Always fresh, never dried spice. If you dislike dill, never visit Ukraine.

Rosemary: Love the flavor, hate that it's basically tiny knives determined to rip holes into my gums and roof of mouth. Tastes amazing baked into sourdough bread. I use it in creamy pastas a lot as well.

Turmeric: I hate that it permanently stains anything it touches. I can't actually taste the difference between when it's used or not, so I generally skip it in recipes. I'm intrigued by the health benefits but can't get past the staining.

Tarragon: There's a reason why it sounds like a dragon name. Evil. One time I ordered Tarkhuna in a Georgian restaurant and almost died. I didn't know what tarragon was, so I didn't know that a tarragon soda would be undrinkable.

The same way people feel about the lingering odor of curry spices, I feel about gochujang. My body odor reeks after consuming even just a spoonful. Doesn't stop me from loading up on Korean cuisine (or Indian, for that matter). Sorry if you catch me too long between showers!

You made me laugh with the tarragon. All I could think when I read those posts was, “man, I hope these people don’t visit Georgia”. They really overdo it on the tarragon.