Not in an allergy sense, just in a distasteful sense. Difficulty level: “I can’t stand cilantro” won’t cut it, because that is a very well-known “love it or hate it” divisive herb.
Examples:
sonlost I the older hates ordinary black pepper, absolutely can’t stand it. Who hates black pepper?
I have very wide-ranging tastes: there are very few things that are edibly enjoyed that I outright do not like. However, I have come to realize in two separate incidents in the course of two days, that I no longer like cinnamon. Yesterday we had a family thing at an Italian restaurant. Dessert was cannolis. I didn’t want a whole one, but had a bite of one of Mrs. solost’s. The outside pastry cylinder part tasted very strongly of cinnamon, and I thought, it would have been much better to have left it out altogether. Bleh.
This morning, sonlost II the younger has the week off from High School for Spring Break, and made himself French Toast for breakfast, with plenty of cinnamon added to the batter. Now the entire house REEKS of pan-fried cinnamon. Ugh. What a horrible smell.
I still add cinnamon to curries, but very sparingly; a little cinnamon goes a loooong way for me.
I hate caraway, anise and fennel seeds. I’m not sure if I know the difference or if there is much of a difference. When I bite into one it ruins whatever I’m eating. It’s the main reason I don’t care for Italian sausage.
Although, my Italian grandma would make Anisette for the holidays. The kids would always get to have some and I loved it, I still do.
There are no spices I “can’t stand” when used in reasonable amounts (and some I really like even in what others might consider unreasonable amounts, such as basil and garlic).
I’m not crazy about curry, but tolerate it on an infrequent basis.
One caveat: heat that becomes overpowering is not appreciated. Mild or moderate heat to the point of scalp sweating is fine. Go well beyond that, and it becomes a pointless culinary macho contest.*
*a case in point is Meyer’s Superior Cocktail Dip, a concoction described in one of the Travis McGee mysteries. It’s made by moistening dry Chinese mustard to the proper consistency with Tabasco sauce.
I can’t readily think of any spices or herbs that I can’t stand but since “flavors” was included, how about vinegar? Cannot tolerate the smell, much less the sour flavor, so no ketchup, buffalo sauce, vinegar flavored salty snacks, etc…
I have pretty eclectic tastes, so not much fits in this category. I’m not a big fan of ordinary yellow mustard except on hot dogs; I use Dijon on almost everything else. But mostly, what I really dislike is when normally good, tasty flavours are abused by putting them in foods where they absolutely do NOT belong. Look, folks, chocolate is for eating, not for cooking, except in desserts. A chef who thinks its cool to make a chocolate-infused steak or a chocolate and pear salad should be sent back to cooking school. And chocolate has no place as an ice cream flavour, either, except as a topping or coating, and neither does wasabi.
Anise and fennel I would say both have a noticeable black licorice flavor. Caraway, on the other hand I would classify as a flavor all its own. It tastes like…well, caraway seeds.
When I was much younger I did not care for the flavor of cumin, so I wasn’t crazy about curries or chili powder. It became an acquired taste over time to the point that a good curry is now one of my favorite things to eat.
Kudos on the wordplay
These are great answers. I wouldn’t have thought anybody would not like mustard. And thyme is one of my all-time beloved herbs, probably second only to fresh basil.
Absolutely vinegar counts. Any flavor will do, as opposed to an actual complete food item. For example, I don’t like beets but I didn’t include them. I guess you could say, you don’t like the flavor of beets, though. As long as it’s a single distinguishable flavor. So, “I don’t like Jamaican Jerk seasoning” wouldn’t fit for the purpose of this thread.
“Mostly enjoyed by all” is a pretty steep qualifier, as I think herbs, spices and other flavors divide opinions pretty efficiently.
Mine is cilantro, which makes any food with it taste like someone grated a bar of soap into the dish. But that’s a well-known thing with a genetic component to it.
Can’t think of any that I detest across-the-board. But some combinations…
wolfpup above mentions chocolate; I really don’t like the taste of chocolate if it is excessively sweetened. I think my notion of “excessively” is pretty much overlapped by every commercial candy bar except some of those marked 95% cocoa.
I have a similar thing about coconut. I like coconut by itself, fresh, and I like a few coconut-flavored confections (coconut ice cream, coconut Italian ice) but definitely not on my cookies or in my cakes or inside my candies.
Banana is yet another flavor that doesn’t belong in a lot of places that others have put it.
Anise / fennel / licorice can overstay its welcome or intrude where it shouldn’t oughta; I love caraway in the right dishes and at the right concentrations but it can overwhelm. Sage in excessive amounts is not a nice taste. Allspice in sweets in more than small amounts seems like a mistake. (Like it better in savory dishes actually).
Can’t think of anything in the spice/herb realm, as I enjoy most cuisines. Moderation is key for many of them, of course. Beets seem to be popular with most people; they taste like dirt to me.
Quite possible. I’m a supertaster (a misnomer, if ever there was one), so leafy vegetables often taste bitter to me, and they upset my stomach. I can tolerate cilantro in very small quantities.
I hate garlic. I’ve tried to cook with it, and no matter how little we use, I can’t stand it. The only exception is garlic bread. But actual garlic, smashed, minced, bloomed in oil, or any other way…no.
I had an exquisite soup once at a nice restaurant whose distinctive flavour was due to cilantro. I wouldn’t have known this but I was so impressed by this creation that I sent the waitperson off to ask the chef how it was seasoned.
Everyone is of course entitled to their own tastes and opinions. Except this.
Raw sliced tomatoes are essential in the majority of sandwiches where lettuce and mayo are appropriate, they’re essential in hamburgers, cherry tomatoes are great in salads, and a few thick slices of cool, lightly salted tomatoes are practically de rigueur with bacon and eggs!
