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What's your spice aversion?

Is there one spice/herb/flavor that you just can't stomach?

Mine is cloves. In high school, I had to have all four of my wisdom teeth out, and it wasn't like kids nowadays who have the luxury of being completely put under, only to wake up with a few gaping holes in their mouth. I went to our local family dentist who simply yanked them out with the help of a little novacaine and laughing gas.

Once the bleeding subsided, the dentist packed the open cavities with gauze soaked in clove oil. On top of that, the laughing gas left me nauseous. Ever since then, cloves have been my arch nemesis.

This aversion is sad for me, because I love fall/winter flavors. Cloves seem to sneak in everywhere. I swear I can detect them in a lot of curries. Clove-scented candles= Do Not Want.

55 Comments:

Caraway....its the only spice that I dislike...and of of the few things that when used makes a dish inedible to me...

Cilantro, and many other flavors used in Thai food. No can do!

Nutmeg! It is much too strong for me and the smell gives me an instant headache. When it's called for in recipes, I usually omit it or add a sprinkle. I was watching Ina make mac and cheese yesterday and she put in half a teaspoon of nutmeg, I gagged.

While I love rosemary, I hate finding it in food.

Cumin. I'll eat food that's made with it (because it's in freaking everything), but I feel that it's really overused as a way to make things taste "ethnic," when it's really just overpowering.

garam masala makes me ill when i smell it cooking.

otherwise, i simply dislike cardamom, savory, and parsley. i can eat things that have them in it, but i tend to ignore or replace them in a recipe if im in charge...

Fresh parsley. It just tastes so awful to me. I wish there was a good substitute. Any ideas?

Turmeric. I think this is why I'm not a fan of curry.

Lavender. Tastes like soap.

Cilantro and nutmeg

Cilantro. I have the taste thing that makes it soap-like to me. Yuck.

Not a huge tarragon fan either.

Tarragon and anise. I'm so sorry to hear about your horrible clove experience (I love cloves) but I completely understand. There are foods that are completely ruined for me because of associations with bad experiences.

Anise/fennel seed and as long as ginger is a background note it's fine, but once i can pick it out, no thanks. tastes like soap to me.

Nutmeg and lavender (or anything "floral" for that matter)

Cinnamon. I'm actually ok with it, but not the ridiculous amount that most people use in baked goods. (Recent example: the pumpkin whoopie pie from Baked - it tasted like a cinnamon whoopie pie. I threw it out.)

Cardamon is one flavor I don't care for. I like the flavor of cilantro, but every time I have it I end up with a headache afterwards, so I avoid that now.

You may want to see if it's turmeric or fenugreek that's making you feel bad about curry. For years - decades, even - I thought I didn't like curry. Any curry. Then I found out specifically what I didn't like was fenugreek, which also is something they use in fake maple flavoring. Do a little sniffing at a spice store. Turmeric is often called more for its color than its actual flavor - much of the color of most ballpark-style mustards are from turmeric.

I am still not crazy about it, but can manage it, have come to like cilantro, and am working on rosemary.

Mint and curry powder. Can't tolerate either one.

rosemary, as much for taste as for texture

Rosemary, can't stand it. Not crazy about chinese 5-spice either.

Oh, it's anise for me as well. I love just about everything else edible, but anise is an absolute no-no.

Onepot
http://onepot.wordpress.com

I can't stand cilantro and I avoid anything with cinnamon in it because as @charm city cupcake said everyone uses WAY too much. I usually substitute nutmeg or use just a tiny pinch of cinnamon in recipes.

I don't like either cilantro or coriander -- I'd like to think it's because they're from the same plant, but they really don't taste at all like one another. I tried cooking several curries before I realized the coriander in them all made me dislike the dishes so much I had to throw them out. I'm honestly scared to make curry now, hopefully I get over it soon and just try to make some without coriander.

Cilantro tastes like soap to me.

I am intrigued by everyone's comments. I like all of the aformentioned spices (except for lavender), keeping in mind that a very small amount goes a long way. Too much of anything is off-putting.
I make an "Asian" braised beef brisket, scented with anise seed, that would knock your socks off. It sounds weird, but it is delicious.

Dill and Chinese 5-Spice - I swear there is something that gives me a migraine in the latter.

Dill.
I can't even stand the smell of it. The worst part about it is that it appears quite frequently in dishes when I eat out but somehow is overlooked on the menu.

nutmeg and cilantro!

cilantro. There is a web site called I Hate Cilantro. I'm a member and my user name is Vile Weed!! It's horrible stuff!!

Rosemary,Mint and Ainse. Just, no.

i stood up and cheered when i read a passage in elizabeth david about how much she hated rosemary and never understood why people cooked with it. it is SO nasty to me.

Clove, smells like a funeral.

cumin, though I tolerate it in some things, especially chili powder.

Have come to tolerate the taste of cilantro, but can not abide the smell. This is a genetic thing, I understand. With so many people not liking anise I wonder if that is too. I roll the dough for springerle in whole anise and love the flavor.

@GinaPet - Cloves always remind me of a dentist's office because years ago, dentists used a lot of clove-scented things in the office.

The dentist stuff is called eugenol, and it's a derivative of clove. I don't know why it's used, but then again, I'm not a dentist.

Regular old black pepper. I use just the teeniest pinch of it while cooking, and rarely do I use any on anything I am about to eat. Just can't stand the taste, including fresh cracked pepper. Ugh.

I detest star anise but like fennel, especially roasted. Guess the anise is just too strong. Used to hate tarragon, but have discovered I like fresh tarragon - a little goes a long way. I sympathize with your clove aversion. It's very strong and I can only stand a little of this, too.

Middle eastern desserts use a lot of rose and it's NASTY! Tastes like my grandma is making me wash my mouth out with soap! Gack!!!

not huge on anise, but i'll eat it. also marjoram seems to give me that soapy feeling that other people say they get from cilantro.

Dill, sichuan peppercorns, horseradish

"Cookie spices" when uses in savory foods can be offputting to me. I use them sparingly and taste as I go. Nutmeg in particular. That one I will always leave out.

Licorice flavored herbs and spices can be really cloying to me (tarragon, anise, fennel), so that's another group I use sparingly or not at all.

I don't care for celery salt, especially if it's around the rim of my bloody mary.

Anise...bleck.

anything overwhelmingly licorice flavored (i can't do star anise, but i can do anise in biscotti), and anything with too much cumin...i'm not a huge fan of cumin

Tarragon - most people who use it overuse it.
Anise - never did like it.

Fenugreek is gross. I can tolerate rosemary, but only in small quantities. My roommates sometimes take the liberty of sprinkling white pepper on my food when we eat together. No thank you.

Dill and cilantro. Cilantro, to me, tastes like licking the inside of a tuna can. I absolutely hate it!

I have several:

White pepper-smells/tastes like rotting flesh to me
Saffron- overpowers everything, and I prefer my food to have it's own natural color.
Turmeric-see "saffron"

I almost thought I had nothing to add, but then @vegetarianka mentioned white pepper. While I don't detest it, I never cook with it as I think it has a musty aroma. I've never liked whole caraway in rye or pumperknickel bread but then I made Bobby Flay's red cabbage sauerkraut, and Jacques Pepin's stuffed cabbage, both of which have caraway as an ingredient and have made me appreciate caraway as more than just an annoying seed in an otherwise tasty slice of bread.

I really like the flavor of all spice, but it always causes me to get nauseous. I don't like anise, but I do like fennel.

CUMIN... after 3 weeks in India a few years ago, i developed an aversion to cumin after a whole week straight of eating food seasoned with cumin. Everything tasted the same.

Now, I can't even smell it at the supermarket.

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