I learned recently that sage oil can contain up to 50% thujone, which is the “active ingredient” neurotoxin in wormwood, which is used in absinthe.
Absinthe, however, never actually had much thujone in it.
More details on wikipedia if anyone is interested.
Licorice … yum
Good and Plenty … yum yum
Cilantro leaves … triple yum
Coriander seed … To me it doesn’t taste anything like the leaf part.
I have coriander seed. Can’t remember anything I use it for except as seed to grow more cilantro.
There is an ice cream shop in Ojai, California, that lists licorice/orange as one of its flavors. Since I like both, I tried a one-scoop cone. Delicious! The ice cream is about the color of graphite.
Deal! I don’t like sage either, but I can tolerate it if it’s used sparingly. Coriander actually tastes very different to cilantro to me, so I’m fine with that in dishes that it’s appropriate in.
Jet Jaguar you’re using way too much Dawn. Most recipes call for just a tablespoon of Dawn. I always use the name brand, not the store brand.
I find it interesting that the leaf/seed pairs of herbs can taste so different - dill weed, dill seed: coriander seed, cilantro: celery leaf, celery seed.
Herbs and spices are fun to explore. If you ever get a chance you have to go into a physical store like Penzeys.
Here’s an informative piece on cilantro-hating from NPR. To sum it up, it turns out that cilantro hating has nothing to do with taste. Plug your nose and cilantro tastes like simple parsley. What divides people is the smell and how they experience it. Cilantro smell is heavily influenced by unsaturated aldahydes, present in soap, which is what leads people to make that association. Even a cilantro lover can smell the soapyness when eating the leaf but they won’t interpret it in a negative way. Some of these unsaturated aldahydes smell fabulous, others a bit putrid. The cilantro lover smells all, and appreciates the less attractive smells in the context of the full spectrum of aromas. Cilantro haters on the other hand lack the protein receptors in their nose to smell the pleasant smells. All they smell is the nasty. The presence or absence of these protein receptors in the nose appears to have some genetic component - twins will tend to share the taste or dislike for cilantro.
I’m perhaps the only non-cilantro-hater in the world who finds cilantro merely okay.
I really like anise. I think it’s the molasses used in it that makes people hate licorice and gives people the shits.
I hate fennel thanks to Pizza Hut and like a quarter pound of fennel in a batch of Italian sausage on my pizza.