Seriously, how is it possible that anyone finds this flavor pleasant? I can accept that everyone has preferences and there are many differences, but there are lots of things that are pretty universally rejected as repellant to smell or taste: shit, pond scum, putrid flesh, sour milk, gasoline, ammonia…how is it possible that licorice and anything that tastes like it is not on that list? Even typing about it makes my gorge rise.
HUH?
(I don’t expect an answer… how can you explain why something doesn’t strike you as disgusting?)
One of the most repellant things I’ve ever seen was a “salad” made from shredded fennel, mandarin oranges and olives.:eek:
I love licorice, fennel and anise. Yum. Fennel root is awesome, although it’s rare to see it in the USA. I can take or leave tarragon - it’s good in some things.
Agree all around. Fennel provides a delightful, crisp and somehow “fresh” burst to a lot of dishes (but probably does suck if you mix it with mandaring oranges and olives in the same salad). Fennel seed is what gives Italian sausage its uniquely piquant flavor.
Real licorice is one of my favorite treats. Double salt please!
(Edited to add: Stoid, it’s good to see you seem to have recovered from that zinc scare a few years back.)
I’m not all that fond of licorice (although in a tea, licorice root can balance/mask some even worse flavors), and anise I only like in a few dishes, but I love fennel bulbs (never seen the root) and the seeds in Italian sausage or sauce.
The fennel and orange segments sound great (and not unlike a fennel salad I’ve been known to make) but you lost me at “olives”. Ick. I can’t imagine those flavors together in a good way, even though I like olives.
I like the smell of petrol and ammonia, and quite happily eat fennel and dutch salted liquorice (although not together!). Don’t know what that makes me!
Anise and fennel are acceptable in minute amounts. I even used to like a Sen-Sen occasionally. Cilantro, on the other hand, ruins everything it’s in or on. It’s pure herbaceous evil.
I hate when someone is asked if they like licorice, and they say “I hate black licorice, I love red licorice.” Black licorice is redundant; it should quite frankly be the default. The other one gets its name only because it’s shaped similarly.
I do like the taste. Fennel is the “classy” one used in fancy cuisine. I must admit to being skeptical about this however, my experience with fennel is that it is a horrible salt marsh weed which can only be destroyed by nuking from orbit. I filled a mini dumptruck by razing a field of fennel, and then had to come back for a second load. It still strikes me as the weed version of licorice.
Imagine something tasting like some type of fetid, rotting citrus mixed with a bit of kerosene and dime-store perfume. That’s my best description of cilantro, and I don’t call that rockin’.
What does coriander (cilantro seed) taste like compared to the leafy part of the plant? I keep meaning to find out, but I don’t really feel like buying any.
:eek: