Just to clarify, what part of fennel? Bulb, leaf, or seed?
I believe the bulb…
The people I know hate all of them though. The bulb stands out in my head. In fact, any of them. What are the feelings of the anti-cilantro consortium?
That’s interesting, and not something I’d have made a connection with. I can’t stand fennel seed. If I see one in sausage or something, I have to pick it out before I’ll go on eating. It doesn’t ruin the rest of the meal the way cilantro does, though.
Weird. You are the sixth out of six people I know with this dual hatred. Anyone else?
I must be some kind of mutant. I love the taste of fennel, but am not so wild about cilantro.
It’s not patently disgusting, but it does taste soapy, and is easily overdone by zealous cooks.
I don’t hate it- some dishes just wouldn’t be right without it- pico de gallo, pho’, some Indian dishes, but I’m not exactly the sort that thinks that a cilantro pesto would be particularly good either.
bump: you have crushed my theory. I may never forgive you. But then again, your distaste for cilantro is not as severe as others I know (who would never say “not so wild” when they could say “turd-flavored” or “vile”). But you do have the soapy taste thing. So strange, so strange.
Put me down as BLARGH when it comes to fennel, any part=)
Ditto. I love a lot of weird and gourmet food: eg raw oysters, squid, prawns, raw tuna, caviar, anchovies, but lobster is either bland or foul, unless it’s cooked with so many spices you can’t taste the lobster.
I had a weird taste thing happen with Butter-Popcorn flavour Jelly Belly beans. I used to adore them, and one summer I bought them a couple of a times a week for several weeks (with other flavours).
Then one day the Jelly Bellies tasted like chemicals. I figured I’d got a bad batch so I bought some more. Chemicals. I waited a week and bought them from somewhere else. Chemicals. All the other flavours still tasted fine.
Roll forward months and even years. They still taste like chemicals to me. It greatly annoys me, because I want that lovely buttery flavour back that I used to adore so much. But my tastebuds just can’t perceive it any more.
Well, for starters, I do in fact have genuine food allergies, so I know what those are all about (unfortunately) 
But I also have a fascination with human variation, and I work with medical researchers, which has allowed me to note many curious facts about the human species.
Hmm. I hate cilantro with a passion usually reserved for those who murder members of one’s immediate family. A dish that has even the slightest amount of cilantro is impossible for me to eat. I freeze the second I put it into my mouth (unknowing) and need to work up the courage to swallow it.
And yet, it doesn’t taste like soap. It just tastes BAD.
Also amusing - it took me many years to figure out why my hatred of coriander (the leaf) and cilantro was related.
My sister claims to be allergic to Cilantro. She claims it made her violently ill one time when a co-worker brought a dish to work that was overly spiced with it.