# Herbs, spices or other flavors mostly enjoyed by all, that you can't stand **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 27, 2023, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713 "2023-03-27T13:04:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/181 "2024-02-01T22:52:49Z")
My MIL used to put salt on watermelon and sugar on tomato slices. I always chalked it up to her being from the Midwest, where those are considered the only acceptable spices. :snerk: I get the rosemary thing. I do like the flavor, in certain applications and reasonable amounts. I really don’t want it in a cake or other sweet thing, though. A friend once “rescued” a largish rosemary branch from someone who was pruning hedges at her office and was able to get it to root before realizing it was too big for a pot in her apartment. She gave it to me and it thrived, so now I have a little rosemary bush next to an existing Texas sage. Unfortunately, this means that about once a week, I end up brushing against both of them, and then I smell like an overseasoned roast for the rest of the day. As for the others, I like most of them in moderation. A little nutmeg goes a long way, for instance. My aunt, upon taking one bite of a peach cobbler I’d raved about, pushed it away, saying, “Some people think nutmeg _improves_ a dish,” and I get that. Cilantro, though…just no. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/182 "2024-02-01T22:53:38Z")
I can’t stand the taste of cumin at all. I hate beets because they taste like dirt. My sister loves beets because they taste like dirt. I used to dislike nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Now I like them all well enough if they’re used in small, subtle, amounts. Anything marketed as “pumpkin spice” is sure to be way too much for me. Rosemary tastes OK, but it seems to give me terrible heartburn, so I’ve been avoiding it for about the last 30 years. White chocolate is just nasty. It leaves a very nasty “taste” (for want of a better word) in my nose and throat. It’s a sensation that defies description and explanation. Milk chocolate and dark chocolate are fine. Some brands of root beer taste fine to me (Mug, A&W, most store brands), but others, Barq’s and many premium brands, taste like medicine. Pepsi and Coca-Cola taste fine to me, but most store brands of cola have an odd and off-putting “flowery” flavor. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/183 "2024-02-01T23:02:06Z")
Muted? I could absolutely see not liking them, but it’s for the opposite reason of them being “muted,” nutmeg especially. It’s up there with clove in terms of pungency. If I try to sneak the barest trace into my bechamel (which, for me, is required to have a dash of nutmeg), my oldest daughter will not eat whatever dish I’m preparing. > [@bibliophage](#): > > Some brands of root beer taste fine to me (Mug, A&W, most store brands), but others, Barq’s and many premium brands, taste like medicine. I’m wondering if all those you don’t like just have more wintergreen in 'em, which is what I consider “medicine-y”. A quick Google does seem to suggest that Barq’s is higher in wintergreen than others. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/184 "2024-02-01T23:25:16Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Brown marmorated stink bugs smell strongly like cilantro That is really interesting. To me, stink bugs smell like infected gym shoes and cilantro tastes like soap (yes, genetically). It’s weird that the two are apparently connected and yet have such opposite scents to me. I love coriander (the seeds, roasted and ground) and can tolerate the leaves if they are pickled or cooked through. Whatever it is that tastes so bad seems to break down with heat or vinegar. So there’s that, and then anything licorice or anise-y, including fennel. I can just do tarragon in small amounts, and in small enough doses I love it, but it’s the only one even bordering on that family of flavors that I can tolerate. (I say tolerate, but if you served me a licorice stew at your dinner party, you’d never know I was suffering.) I don’t like cumin or turmeric in their raw state. If you toast them in oil before using they are utterly delicious. But there’s a brash chemical flavor when they are raw that just permeates the dish. It feels like I’m eating some janitor-only cleanser that isn’t sold at retail stores. Caraway has that same acrid note. For years I thought I hated rye, but it was just the caraway seeds. Liver. I really don’t know how anyone can put that into their mouths. My Dad likes to put the turkey liver into the Thanksgiving gravy and it just ruins it for me. Blech. Meaty, perfumey poison flavor. And I’m a pepper wimp. It’s a running joke that I often make dinners the family considers mild but which I need a hefty dose of sour cream in order to eat. I have no one to blame; I do it to myself. What seems like a perfectly normal amount of pepper will turn out to be too much for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/185 "2024-02-02T02:08:50Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > My MIL puts salt on her damn pizza. Some people put salt on watermelon apparently. My aunt salted ham. She got a lot of grief over that. In small quantities, salt brings out flavor without making things taste salty. This is why people salt watermelon. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/186 "2024-02-02T02:19:58Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I don’t like cumin or turmeric in their raw state. If you toast them in oil before using they are utterly delicious. But there’s a brash chemical flavor when they are raw that just permeates the dish. It feels like I’m eating some janitor-only cleanser that isn’t sold at retail stores. Caraway has that same acrid note. For years I thought I hated rye, but it was just the caraway seeds. I love caraway. I thought i loved rye bread, but discovered that rye bread is just so-so, it’s the caraway i love. But i agree that cumin and turmeric need to be fully cooked. Turmeric, in particular, smells nasty to me raw. But i really enjoy what it does to cook when it’s been fully cooked. I don’t need it toasted, simmered for a long enough is fine. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/187 "2024-02-02T02:43:15Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > That is really interesting. To me, stink bugs smell like infected gym shoes and cilantro tastes like soap (yes, genetically). It’s weird that the two are apparently connected and yet have such opposite scents to me. There are different varieties of stink bugs that stink differently. It’s the brown marmorated stink bug that smells strongly of cilantro when alarmed. They’re an invasive species that are everywhere around here now in SE Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/188 "2024-02-02T12:54:04Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > In small quantities, salt brings out flavor without making things taste salty. This is why people salt watermelon. I salt bad watermelon. Good watermelon does fine on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/189 "2024-02-02T13:06:09Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I hate beets because they taste like dirt. My sister loves beets because they taste like dirt. I love beetroot, parsnip, celeriac, new potatoes, etc, all because they taste like dirt. I prefer the term ‘earthy’, but yeah, they taste like (the smell of) good, clean dirt. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/190 "2024-02-02T14:37:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I salt bad watermelon. Good watermelon does fine on its own. I think there’s an important point here. “Bad watermelon” in my estimation is bland watermelon, and the salt enhances what little flavor it has. Good watermelon is flavorful and the salt would contribute nothing except competitive saltiness, if you used enough to matter. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/191 "2024-02-02T14:38:49Z")
Yep. Last summer we had around 10 watermelons. Eight were great, one good, one fair. The fair one I salted. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/192 "2024-02-02T15:17:04Z")
I hate licorice , and anything with a similar flavor (like anise). Don’t like the taste of absinthe, therefore. I also don’t like anything flavored with Dill. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/193 "2024-02-02T15:59:14Z")
There were things I despised as a kid that I’ve grown to love, notably onions and mustard. Really, the only three things I don’t enjoy are liver, beets and kale, but they aren’t spices. And I refuse to eat anything with a head on it but that’s far more of a mental thing. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/194 "2024-02-02T19:16:53Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > … rosemary bush next to an existing Texas sage. Unfortunately, this means that about once a week, I end up brushing against both of them, and then I smell like an overseasoned roast for the rest of the day. That’s pretty funny. Stovetop stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/195 "2024-02-02T19:45:50Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > > [@InternetLegend](#): > > > > rosemary bush next to an existing Texas sage. Unfortunately, this means that about once a week, I end up brushing against both of them, and then I smell like an overseasoned roast for the rest of the day. > > That’s pretty funny. Stovetop stuffing @InternetLegend just needs to get a parsley plant and a thyme plant, and then they’ll smell like a Simon & Garfunkel song. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/196 "2024-02-02T20:40:52Z")
Ooh, yeah! I already get the song stuck in my head whenever I make stuffing or stew! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/197 "2024-02-02T20:50:35Z")
A tiny ankle-height ‘Scarborough Fair’ fairy sign would be cute. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/198 "2024-02-03T01:39:44Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > I can stand basic yellow mustard (French’s or similar) on a hot dog or a turkey sandwich: a very _thin_ spread, thank you. Any other mustard: deli mustard, Dijon mustard… absolutely not. Totally ruins a food if it comes anywhere near it Funny, I’m the exact opposite in that regard. I have no use for basic yellow mustard, but like almost all the others. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/199 "2024-02-03T01:43:45Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Some people put salt on watermelon apparently. WTF??? > [@Zyada](#): > > In small quantities, salt brings out flavor without making things taste salty. This is why people salt watermelon. Hence watermelon salad with watermelon and feta cheese (and mint). ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713/200 "2024-02-03T01:49:59Z")
One the most decadent desserts I have ever had was ripe pear slices with a blue cheese spread on them. It was absolutely divine. Blue cheese is not my favorite, and it is very salty. But the combination worked magically. Now I’m wondering if the saltiness was a factor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/herbs-spices-or-other-flavors-mostly-enjoyed-by-all-that-you-cant-stand/981713.md?page=11)