Intense dislike for specific herbs/spices?

[Really Nice!]

I love every herb and spice, except one: TARRAGON. I find it positively repulsive. It is sad becuase it is used so extensively in traditional French cooking. Every time I think I will try it again, I will make a dish, people will rave, and I can't get two bites down....

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Are you using fresh tarragon? I ask because I cannot think of any herb or spice that has a greater deviation in flavor than fresh and dried tarragon. I find the dried kind positively repulsive. Where have I heard that before? The dried version tastes like aluminum foil. And as I eat whatever the item is, bile starts to build up in my saliva glands, and then... Uhg.

But I do like fresh tarragon. It's a completely different flavor profile.

edit ofr spelling

Edited February 10, 2005 by Really Nice! (log)

[Smithy]

This is such an amazing discussion.  I never knew how many people can't hack cilantro.  I happen to love the stuff.  When I was growing up, fresh cilantro was considered quite a delicacy, and I still love it today.  I just wish it wouldn't bolt so fast in the garden because then I would have more, more, more.

And, as a fennel/licorice/anise hater...thanks, I feel so validated by the rest of you.  I am not alone!!

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I think this is a hilarious discussion. What a place to vent our collective aggravation, and aren't we lucky that we can afford such angst over minutiae ! But the cilantro business doesn't surprise me a bit. I decided some time ago, when I "discovered" cilantro and began learning how many people think it tastes like soap, that it is an herb of strong reactions. True, many people dislike anise (I too am in that camp) or rosemary or tarragon or whatever, but many are simply indifferent. Cilantro, on the other hand, seems to be the cat of the culinary world: people love cats or hate them, but there are very very few people without a strong opinion about 'em.