A herb or spice you can't stand

[Morning Glory]

I don't think there is any herb or spice I can't stand - unless, of course, its over-used. For example, too much cinnamon (especially in a savoury dish) becomes sickly. A lot depends on how they are used and most will change flavour according to how they are cooked. Cloves were mentioned by ChanelG. They are, of course, not very pleasant to eat 'raw' as it were. Indeed they can be used as a numbing toothache remedy (as in oil of cloves). They need a few spice friends in the mix, to really work. This is because most of their flavour comes from just one compound (eugenol) whereas a lot of other spices have a mix of compounds. If you dry roast a few of them along with other spices for a curry sauce, I don't think anyone will notice that there are cloves in it. But they do add a special bittersweet warmth to the sauce. They also have an affinity with peaches (which also contain eugenol). Pickled peaches from the Deep South?

In the UK we used to (probably still do in specialist sweet shops) have a boiled sweet (candy in US) which was flavoured with cloves and not much else. It is an acquired taste.!

 

[Corzhens]

Turmeric is regarded as a spice.

A herb is a leaf or stalk, the greenery of a plant, nothing more.
Spices make up everything else, so flower, berry, bark, stem, (not stalk though there is a difference), root, tuber etc

Thank you for enlightening me on that. This reminds me of a small bottle that I saw during my short vacation last weekend. It says Turmeric Tea and it looks like yellow powder to me. I guess I have to brush up on that, hahahaaa. Wait a minute, is bay leaf spice? From what I know, those leaves used in cooking come from a tree. Oh well. But with tubers, I guess I know already because I love sweet potato and yam.

 

[Morning Glory]

Thank you for enlightening me on that. This reminds me of a small bottle that I saw during my short vacation last weekend. It says Turmeric Tea and it looks like yellow powder to me. I guess I have to brush up on that, hahahaaa. Wait a minute, is bay leaf spice? From what I know, those leaves used in cooking come from a tree. Oh well. But with tubers, I guess I know already because I love sweet potato and yam.

Bay is a herb (technically). It grows easily here and I have a small tree in the garden. The fresh leaves are much more aromatic than the dried. Most of the turmeric we use in the UK is dried and ground to a yellow powder (like the tea you saw) but I have been able to obtain the whole tuber from a specialist Asian grocer. I was really surprised by the difference using a fresh tuber made - like the difference between fresh ginger and dried ginger powder.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Wait a minute, is bay leaf spice?

the clue is in the name, leaf! so greenery.... herb

but I have been able to obtain the whole tuber from a specialist Asian grocer

we are lucky that our "local" health food shop sells the tubers. Next time my husband is that way, I must remember to get some more. We are back on the dried form again...

I have also been able to get hold of fresh curry leaves as well and they are so much nicer and cheaper than the dried form.
Right lunch time.

 

[Morning Glory]

the clue is in the name, leaf! so greenery.... herb


we are lucky that our "local" health food shop sells the tubers. Next time my husband is that way, I must remember to get some more. We are back on the dried form again...

I have also been able to get hold of fresh curry leaves as well and they are so much nicer and cheaper than the dried form.
Right lunch time.

Oh yes! Fresh curry leaves are wonderful.
P.S. You are the only other person I have come across who uses fresh turmeric!

 

[winterybella]

Turmeric is regarded as a spice.

A herb is a leaf or stalk, the greenery of a plant, nothing more.
Spices make up everything else, so flower, berry, bark, stem, (not stalk though there is a difference), root, tuber etc

I read recently that in India it is used as a spice and medicinal herbi. I saw this herb and spice differentiation in the forum and I guess I mix things up sometimes as well. Anyway, in answer to the thread there really isn't any I can't stand. There are just some that I thread cautiously with and tumeric and clove come to mind based on what I have seen here. I just think these two have the potential to be too overpowering if you are not careful. The same is true of curry and maybe one or two others that don't immediately come to mind.

 

[Rosyrain]

I have to agree on cumin tasting bad, but I'd say it's tolerable if you mix it with some other type of food like soup (the other ingredients pretty much drown the bad taste). Despite not being the most pleasant to eat, it provides a lot of nutritional value, so it shouldn't be immediately dismissed, I'd say.

Cumin is popular in Mexican dishes and that is about the only time I like the flavor of it. It does enhance the flavor of Mexican food nicely. I discovered I hated Cumin a few years ago when I had a catered lunch of mashed potatoes and meat. There was a spice mixed into the potatoes that was not meshing well with my tastebuds, so I asked the server what was in the potatoes and she told me that it was cumin.

 

[Amanda]

I really don't like cilantro. I love Mexican food, though, so I can tolerate it in small amounts. I cannot stand a lot of it though. I do not use it at home, and I have to be careful when I go out and eat that the food does not contain a high amount of cilantro.

 

[Amanda]

Out of all of the herbs and spices there are in this world, I can honestly say that I hate cumin! The taste does not agree with me and it literally makes me sick to my stomach when I taste it in my food. I am not sure why this is, and I really can't describe what it is about the spice I don't like, other than I think it tastes like a shoe would, if I were to ever get the urge to chew on a shoe! What is the one herb or spice you can't stand?

Cumin in high amounts really turns me away from a food. I like it OK in things like Chili seasoning, Indian food, etc. as long as it's not too much.