Foods that are Divisive Because of their Taste/Aftertaste

mongo_jones · December 5, 2003

I smelled someone in the breakroom here at work warming up what smelled like a big plate of cabbage and ass today. To each his own, I guess.

mmmmm cabbage and ass...

sequim · December 5, 2003

more on cilantro and soap...

Since I use cilantro alot and since I have noticed the soap smell/flavor phenomena, I've been thinking about this subject. I bought one bunch that I was trimming the ends on and it had a very strong smell, yet when in the dish did not smell like this. In the past I thought it was because I'd used too much (thinking more is even better!), now I'm rethinking that theory. I had another bunch recently and didn't notice the smell even though I was trimming it as before. Maybe it gets that way from being old or picked at a different maturity. Also someone mentioned cutting it versus shredding with fingers might make a difference, but I don't think that's the case.

krisdata · December 5, 2003

I never knew caffeine had a taste.
Caffiene has an astringent flavor; I've heard companies explain that they caffeinate their beverages for flavor purposes, because they would never try to addict their customers.

I feel vindicated. :biggrin:

I have oft had this discussion, mostly with my inlaws. I don't like the flavor of caffeine free colas. I can definitely detect the flavor difference, and it is, to me, a "bite" of sorts that the caffeine provides. I haven't actually compared the ingredients listing, though, so perhaps there's an additional ingredient in the caffeine-free version that's turning me off.

In any case, this explains why they all think I'm nuts when I say I can taste the difference between the two.

Mudpuppie · December 5, 2003

I have oft had this discussion, mostly with my inlaws. I don't like the flavor of caffeine free colas. I can definitely detect the flavor difference, and it is, to me, a "bite" of sorts that the caffeine provides. I haven't actually compared the ingredients listing, though, so perhaps there's an additional ingredient in the caffeine-free version that's turning me off.
In any case, this explains why they all think I'm nuts when I say I can taste the difference between the two.

I'm not convinced that caffeine itself has any flavor, but I know that the decaffeinating process can sure monkey with the taste of a product. Maybe that accounts for the perceived differences.

(...And maybe it's irrelevant. It's a slow day at work, so I can manage to care.)

middydd · December 6, 2003

I make a chocolate cake that calls for vegetable oil, I use canola oil, I always wonder when I cut into that cake why it smells like fish. But it doesn't taste like fish. I went to the kitchen and tasted some canola oil in a bowl, no taste, pretty much neutral.

I'm switching to another vegetable oil for that cake.

Sage tastes to me like it has an aftertaste of chlorine bleach.

Squeat Mungry · December 6, 2003

I can instantly tell decaffeinated coffee (bleah) from the real stuff by taste alone, without waiting for any effects.

Cilantro tastes caprylic to me, but after some deliberate effort on my part, I can take it in small doses where it is not the dominant flavor.

I don't like fish or seafood at all, though after some deliberate effort I can take anchovies in small doses where they are not the dominant flavor. I can usually eat crabcakes, too.

I also despise chocolate, which just makes me an outright freak. (Am I kicked off eGullet now?)

Cheers

Squeat

Edited to add that I was one of the few on the original thread to whom canola oil tastes "fishy".

Edited December 6, 2003 by Squeat Mungry (log)

tommy · December 6, 2003

just tonite i got "fishy" from canola oil. sure, it tastes and smells like nothing, but when it hit that hot cast iron pan, boom. fish. and i don't even use that pan to cook fish.

tejon · December 6, 2003

I'm not convinced that caffeine itself has any flavor, but I know that the decaffeinating process can sure monkey with the taste of a product. Maybe that accounts for the perceived differences.

In the case of sodas, there is no decaffeinating process - soda with caffeine has it added to the mix, caffeine free does not.

Don't ask me to tell regular versus decaf coffee...can't stand either. Spent my first thirty years trying to learn to like it, finally realized it just wasn't going to happen. I love the smell, but the taste is horribly bitter and just plain bad to my taste buds.

Pickles · December 6, 2003

Sunflower seeds. My mouth feels like a birdcage afterwards. Okay guys, don't
ask if I've licked a birdcage..No.

Then we have to ask if you've ever licked a bird, and that's OT. :raz: Hate goat cheese...tastes like not just a goat, but a really dirty goat. Cilantro I like in small doses. Mom loathes it, but then she loathes most herbs--referring to them as "lawn clippings." :blink:

mongo_jones · December 6, 2003

more on cilantro and soap...
Since I use cilantro alot and since I have noticed the soap smell/flavor phenomena, I've been thinking about this subject. I bought one bunch that I was trimming the ends on and it had a very strong smell, yet when in the dish did not smell like this. In the past I thought it was because I'd used too much (thinking more is even better!), now I'm rethinking that theory. I had another bunch recently and didn't notice the smell even though I was trimming it as before. Maybe it gets that way from being old or picked at a different maturity. Also someone mentioned cutting it versus shredding with fingers might make a difference, but I don't think that's the case.

maybe you guys could start bathing with cilantro?

Big Bunny · December 6, 2003

I sometimes get carrots that smell of kerosene.

Not all carrots, just some ... and these usually

lack flavor otherwise.

Anyone else?

BB

middydd · December 6, 2003

I grew cilantro one summer but the older the plant got the worse it tasted. By the time it went to seed it tasted (to me) like burnt rubber. Before that it tasted soapy, and I don't usually get soapy from the cilantro from the grocery store.

Getting a different oil today to try making that cake, thinking corn or safflower.

middydd · December 7, 2003

Made the cake with corn oil mixed with melted butter. Huge improvement, fishy smell is gone. Thanks, egullet members, never would have figured that out without this thread!!

fifi · December 7, 2003

I sometimes get carrots that smell of kerosene.
Not all carrots, just some ... and these usually
lack flavor otherwise.
Anyone else?
BB

Thank goodness it isn't just me. I get a craving now and then for creamed carrots in a rich bechamel sauce like my mother used to make. The last couple of times I got the kerosene taste. (Thank you for giving it a descriptive name.) I didn't buy the carrots in the bag, either. I bought the ones with the tops still on and the tops were very fresh looking.

I guess I can't expect to recreate a dish where the main ingredient was just plucked from a lovingly tended garden. :sad:

FistFullaRoux · December 8, 2003

I guess I can't expect to recreate a dish where the main ingredient was just plucked from a lovingly tended garden.

I have noticed the kerosene or fermented taste as well.

There has to be another explanation. It may be the particular variety of carrot, as different ones are harvested throughout the year from different areas. If you are not using organic veggies, some pesticides and fertilizers can leave a petrochemical note. Carrots are aromatics and can contain certain oils and other chemicals which could very well go rancid, without showing mold or other characteristics in or on the carrot itself. Differences in climate and handling could start that reaction, too.

megc · December 8, 2003

I love the taste of cilantro. To me it has that bright, green, and somewhat tangy flavor.

It took me time to like goat cheese, but I love it now, even though I seem to have developed a mild intolerance to milk. My ex-husband discouraged me against it, as he disliked it, having grown up with goats. Whatever.

Two things I really don't like the flavor of: marizipan and ginseng. Marzipan, evil evil marzipan, tastes like cough syrup. I don't mind almond paste, though; there must be a minor difference between the two (can anyone enlighten me?). Ginseng tastes like a combination of dirt and maple syrup, heavy on the dirt. I tried some iced ginseng tea this summer and almost gagged it was so awful.

The texture of shrimp creeps me out.

hjshorter · December 8, 2003

I wonder, too, how many of those who find cilantro to be "soapy" are supertasters? Imagine all those extra tastebuds screwing up their palates. Perhaps they should take up smoking to kill off a couple hundred or so of the little buggers.

It's either a different phenomenon or I'm an exception, because I'm a taster that loves cilantro. Bitter flavors are what turn me off.

Never noticed the canola oil effect.

trillium · December 8, 2003

Add me and mine to the canola smells fishy camp. For high heat stir-frying it sucks, I hate it, and you can't get me to ever try it again. It took nearly a week to get that godawful smell out of the apartment.

When you just can't bring yourself to use peanut oil, sunflower works just as well, tastes hundreds of times better, and some varieties even beat out canola in the monunsaturated:polyunsaturated:saturated fatty acid ratios. The ones that don't, come close.

regards,

trillium

AuntieEm · December 9, 2003

I absolutly agree on the canola oil effect. I think it has a flavor as well as an off smell. And it's used in so many things..probably most of the reason why commercial salad dressings taste so bad. I used to think that Best Foods ( Hellmans ) mayo was a pretty good commercial product, but now i swear I can taste an off flavor.

Another big aversion for me is canned milk, either evap or condensed. It just smells sour. It used to make me crazy in Mexico when canned milk was always served with coffee...I swear I can smell it across the table.

mags · December 9, 2003

I read somewhere a while ago (how's that for specificity?) that people who taste cilantro as "soapy" are in fact allergic to cilantro, with the allergy manifesting itself as a chemical reaction that actually changes the taste. In other words, it's not that they taste the same thing as the rest of us, and just don't like it; they actually taste something different. "Allergy" here is probably just shorthand for "somewhat unusual and unpleasant chemical reaction to a given substance." I have no idea if this is true, but it ...well, with no knowledge whatsoever, I'll say it seems sensible to me. :biggrin:

fresco · December 9, 2003

This article says it has to do with the ph level of your mouth (presumably, your tongue):

http://www.intheweedz.com/Newsbites/The%20...0the%20Seed.htm

mags · December 9, 2003

Interesting, Fresco, and thanks. But I disagree with the author's statement that cilantro was popularized in the U.S. by Thai restaurants -- I think the influence of Mexican food was just as strong. Maybe it's his Maryland-bias talking.

fresco · December 9, 2003

Yeah, that's just plain wrong, as far as the US goes. In Canada, cilantro is being popularized by Indian restaurants quite a bit. Not too many Mexicans make it this far north. :biggrin: