Friday Question #109
What herbs/spices do you love? What herbs/spices do you loathe?
And the big question: cilantro – disgusting or delicious? (poll below)
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Yum, I could go for some salsa!
I love garlic, vanilla, nutmeg, paprika, rosemary, anise, cayenne pepper, oregano, dill, cumin, cinnamon, and yes, cilantro. I recently have started to think I may not like fresh parsley and maybe turmeric and marjoram.
I thought to ask this because Steven shared an article with me about why some people hate cilantro. Apparently, some of the substances in cilantro (modified fat molecules called aldehydes) are also found in soaps and bugs. So when some people eat cilantro and their brain searches for past associations to the food, all they can connect to is associations to soap or bugs, so the brain marks the flavor as a threat. The good news is, you can re-wire your brain, if you want to…
Interesting (or not) fact: when I was a kid my mom was in some Herb Club and used to drag me along with her once a month. I remember I hated the way everything smelled. Now, I think it would be pretty cool to go to something like that! Oh, how times change.
Themocracy
I think it’s funny how people either love/hate cilantro. Two girls I work with absolutely despise it…
I’m a huge fan of vanilla, oregano, paprika, and garlic…
So, you really don’t like herbs, do you? 😉 Actually, Herb Club makes me think of a marijuana club. hahaha
I LOVE cilantro. Also, rosemary, cumin and cinnamon.
So far I haven’t met an herb or spice I haven’t liked (as far as I know). I like all the ones you mentioned liking with a possible exception to anise because I don’t know if I’ve ever had that before.
This is interesting to me though because yesterday I had a cilantro craving. I could really go for some salsa too!! 🙂
Love, love, love cilantro! My favorite spice is curry, no doubt.
I love cilantro! Chips and salsa (loaded with cilantro) is one of my favorite snacks!
I read that same article (and even posted about it in my Friday Replay series)!!! I can’t get enough of cilantro! Love it. And I never knew there were groups of cilantrophobes. It’s crazy!!!
Huge Garlic fan (could put it in everything, I think)! I like cilantro, my sister hates it. I read that article yesterday and found it funny as I don’t think I ever paid attention to the smell of it. I loath rosemary, well I don’t loath it but I would rather not use it as a seasoning.
Love cilantro!!!
HATE it!!! I love fresh herbs of any other variety (that I’ve tried)… cannot stand cilantro. It is the one thing that I’ve tried that literally makes me gag if I smell it and especially if I taste it. We made home-made salsa last year from our garden and just slicing the cilantro to put it in made me gag. Ugh!
Tell me more about rewiring my brain to like it?
Hee hee. The guy just mentioned it was possible in the article (he said he did it himself) but didn’t say how! I think it has to do with what your brain associates the taste with. You have to think of something else… maybe? Hee hee. Sorry I don’t know!
Wow, okay, that helps. Now I know why I hate cilantro! 😉
Love cinnamon, vanilla, and garlic… and I like paprika and cayenne. Except for cilantro, there isn’t anything that I really hate!
<3 <3
I love spices but my favorites are paprika and garlic!
I have no problem with cilantro. In fact, I don’t think I’ve met an herb or spice I haven’t liked either. Garlic is mega-yummy to me – the more the better — just don’t smell my breath afterwards!! 😀
According to my mother-in-law, however, my father-in-law is not allowed to consume any cilantro, because it then reeks out of his pores or something :p
Did you know that Indians (from India) refer to cilantro as coriander? According to this (http://whatscookingamerica.net/cilantro.htm) cilantro is the leaf, coriander is the seeds, but I don’t think any Indian (or Asian?) will make that distinction.
I saw that when I was researching about cilantro! I had never heard the distinction used either, so did not know!
Cilantro is definitely my favorite herb. I was so distraught to find out that Harrison “just didn’t like it” when we started dating that I did some research and read about the hardwired aversion to it. Now, I just make two batches of salsa and whatnot.
Ugh, I hate dill. Ick ick!
LOL – my husband sent me this article with the subject line “see? I’m not crazy!”…I was pretty sure it was an article about how people hate mixing cereals (I LOVE mixing; he thinks that “if God intended cereals to be mixed, He would’ve put them in the same box”), but cilantro is his other big food pet peeve. 🙂
I don’t wake up at night dreaming of cilantro, but I certainly don’t hate it. Cinnamon is probably my all-time favorite spice; I like pretty much everything else, except for ginger and curry. I think it is because they tend to be applied with a VERY heavy hand in recipes…
Favorite spice = cinnamon
Favorite herb = basil
I’ve definitely grown to like cilantro more and more. It’s so hard to say what herbs and spices I ‘love”, but rosemary, thyme, basil, ginger and nutmeg are wonderful. I also like a touch of cumin in a lot of dishes, same with cayenne pepper.
This isn’t a spice, but fish sauce has become an essential in our household as we try our hand at more Thai and Vietnamese recipes.
the thought of it, makes me shudder. I posted that article on my facebook page as well. it validated my distain! i love other herbs though…cannot get enough of them!
Fresh herbs are my favorite. I wish I could have an herb garden but I do not have a green thumb. 🙁 I’m a big fan of cilantro, parsley, thyme, chives, rosemary. Mmm! Makes a meal go from so-so to yum-yum.
I love cilantro – but I know a lot of people who hate it (including my kids!) so i don’t use it very much. Our favorite fresh herb here at home has got to be basil. I have been using dried summer savory a lot recently – a friend gave me a big packet of it and apparently it is great to use with bean dishes as it helps digestion and prevents gas (in Dutch it is even called “bonenkruid” which means “bean herb”) – plus it has a nice smell and taste.
I don’t understand how people hate cilantro, I think it is delicious! I also love fresh basil, cumin, garlic, cinnamon, thyme, oregano, and dill.
It’s okay. I remember cooking with it a little while ago and it made me not like the dish as much as I would have if I hadn’t put the cilantro in. Other than that, I have liked pretty much every other spice and herb that I’ve tried so far.
I’m one of the cilantro=soap people. I read once it was genetic. My brother hates it, too.
I know so many people who can’t stand cilantro, so I found the article and explanation so interesting. I actually don’t mind it. I don’t absolutely love it, but I think its okay.
I love basil, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, oregano, cumin…so many.
INTERESTING. I’ve heard people say that they think cilantro tastes like soap. Not sure on the bugs though….
Cilantro is definitely on my “yuck” list…but I think that might be the only one! My favorite herb is rosemary 😀
I DESPISE cilantro. If them smell of it gets on my hands, I can’t eat anything else, because everything just tastes like cilantro to me. And then the smell is really hard to get rid of!
I totally get the cilantro / bug connection, because the entire cilantro smell (and how it clings to my hands) is very much like stink bugs from growing up. The author may be right that it’s an association in my head, and I don’t know if I could ever get over it!
I also love that there’s an I Hate Cilantro blog. haha.
Wow…that was interesting. I love herbs…I think they bring such a flavor to dishes!
I can’t think of one I don’t like. There are kinds I use less just because of the type of dishes I make but spices and herbs are such a great way to make dishes more interesting and enjoyable!
I know someone who absolutely HATES cilantro. She can’t stand if it’s anywhere near a dish. I don’t mind it at all. I put it on tacos and bbq pizza 🙂
I love cinnamon. I have cinnamon on something almost every day. I also love vanilla. Cumin is great for mexican dishes. I also love garlic and oregano with pasta or calzones 🙂 I wish I was more creative with spices. I’m always in awe of people who grow them!
Oops, I meant grow herbs…not spices. ha.
I’ve always heard people saying that cilantro tastes like laundry soap and I never got it. It must have something to do with that soap-association. Interesting!
I love cilantro. I’m half Colombian so growing up, it was in a lot of dishes.
Spices I love: oregano, crushed red pepper, paprika, rosemary, cumin, thyme–I could go on all day! 🙂
I used to really, really hate cilantro. Now I can deal with it in things like salsa (I don’t love it but I won’t necessarily stop eating something if it’s in there) but I don’t think I would ever top something with cilantro. It’s so funny that you posted this today because I made this recipe last night and while I left out the cilantro, it totally made me think of you.
My favorites are oregano, basil, rosemary, and tarragon. Not a huge fan of parsley. I LOATHE anise and cloves and I’m not a huge fan of fennel seed.
I will have to bookmark that recipe, because it sounds like something Steven and I would really like! I am curious about the radishes though. I am not sure if I have ever had one!
LOVE: rosemary, cinnamon (see below, though), cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic, tarragon, fennel
HATE: allspice, and cinnamon/nutmeg that’s in anything other than desserts
Cilantro is one of those things I love if it’s used right. But when it’s all I can taste? Yucka.
I don’t think I’ve ever met a spice I haven’t liked, to be honest :). And I’ve never heard of herb clubs but it sounds awesome!
To me, cilantro tastes like a dirty dish rag smells (one that has been sitting around longer then it should) yuck!
Posted my answers on my blog…Yes, I do like Cilantro…in my pica de gaillo and other texmex cooking.
I adore cilantro! I went through a spurt where I would put it on everything and anything. 😉
It’s delicious on guacamole and lentil tacos. 😀
I LOVE cilantro. The more, the better! I’m also obsessed with cumin and cinnamon. I like dill a lot, too. The only spice I don’t really care for is ginger – I don’t mind it sparingly (or in some sort of pumpkin recipe, yum), but I just can’t take a lot of it.
thats so crazy. I’ll have to see if that happens to my bf. he hates cilantro with the passion.
I like cilantro a lot, but Scott does’t like it unless it’s at Qdoba. I pretty much enjoy any herb and spice as long as it’s not too hot except thyme, which I hate with a passion and ruins any dish that it’s in. Yuck.
I’m a rotten cook. I’m working on it and love spices, but am not always sure how to use them.
I’m still around! No, I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, I’ve just been busy. 🙁
i have a friend who hates cilantro so much she tells restaurants she’s allergic to it, just so that the tiniest bit of it won’t end up in her food!
I am so late to the game….but I love basil, thyme, oregano, cilantro, flat leaf parsley. I can’t stand rosemary.
That was an interesting article, I have heard that the cilantro can be addicting but, I can’t remember wehre I ehard it!
I think as a Texan you are required to like cilantro as a condition of residency. It is a main ingredient in arguably our two biggest cuisines – Mexican food and Vietnamese food. To me it just has a crisp, fresh taste.