Tastes in herbs and spices

[jazzactivist]

Hi all. Which herb and spice flavours do you love and loathe? My friend and I were discussing this in Spain and I discovered that she hates the taste of cinnamon and cardamom, even though she has eaten these flavours at my house many times! I love the taste of cinnamon and cardamom, but dislike the taste of fennel or anything with aniseed. What are yours?

[Crocus]

Rosemary! I don't like the taste or smell at all and when I notice chefs on the telly add rosemary to especially lamb, I want to run a mile. Possibly because my mum rinsed my hair in rosemary when I was a young child. I also don't fennel, although I adore liquorice.
Also oregano, I don't like it at all. .

The herbs and spices I like most are plain old black pepper, freshly ground of course, and coriander, fresh or otherwise. I love cassia, cinnamon and nutmeg especially in fruit cake. Cassia I use when I prepare carrots, pumpkin or sweet potato when used as a sweet veg.
Cloves I love a lot in meat dishes, either whole or ground, but it's a very potent spice.

[sunflower]

I love cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg. Black pepper, mint....and more mint. Sage and various thymes. I know these do'nt come under this heading but, I also love roasted onion and apple together. The taste is delicious. Vanilla pods I adore in ice cream and angel cake. I dislike cloves.

[Crocus]

Ginger! Lovely, I love it. Sweet Basil is also quite nice, but coriander will always be my no. 1 herb. Second is pepper, black or white.

[franbee]

I don't like ginger or cinnamon, or the sweet spices in mincemeat and fruit cake. Yuk! I love most herbs and the spices in curry. I adore vanilla ice cream, custard etc, but not as a candle perfume or toiletry.

[Crocus]

At our Woolworths (more like your M&S) you get a whole range of toiletries in vanilla or lavender aromas. That I don't like. Vanilla to me is something you will smell or taste in cake or whatever, not in a soap or shower gell etc.

I love ginger and cinnamon, especially when it comes to ginger bread, or cinnamon suger sprinkled on pancakes - yum. A tiny bit of ginger in meat dishes just gives that bit of an edge. You don't know you're tasting ginger as such, it just adds that bit of difference. My mum usually made a kind of a paste with ginger, nutmeg, pepper, salt, a bit of ground coriander and rubbed it in a leg of lamb or beef roast. Lovely. xx

[baab95]

Cardamom, cumin, ground coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, sage, mint, basil - how would I manage without them? My favourite would have to be cardamom, it is so versatile, fantastic in a curry, and divine when coupled with chocolate.

[Crocus]

Mint I like a lot, but not in a mint sauce as an accompaniment to lamb. We we're invited to dinner last week and I had a most delicious punch with mint leaves in - delicious.
Cardamom I haven't used actually, should get some and try it out. xx

[jazzactivist]

I am not so sure about the flavour of saffron. It is supposed to be fragrant and earthy, but whenever I have tried cooking with it the "earthy" part seems to be the dominant flavour! I like turmeric, though, which is the same colour but the flavour seems to be a bit sweeter. I like the taste of vanilla, and the smell of it in toiletries, and at the moment am using vanilla and black pepper soap, which is quite nice. I have just bought a range of different thyme plants eg orange thyme, chocolate thyme etc. I once grew some lemon thyme and it was lovely, so I'm hoping that these will be too.

[Oola]

I've been trying really hard to think of a herb or spice that I *don't* like...the only thing I can come up with is majestic basil, but only really because to me it smells like cat wee!

I also love herbs for their flowers - great bee magnets - and fragrance. Lemon thyme, chamomile and lavender are so nice when you brush past them.

[Crocus]

We had some home grown basil in some salad last night, lovely. It definitely has a distinctive smell Oola, you're right.

[dragonfly]

I like most spices but my favourite is nutmeg and cinnamon, I have not tried saffron (isn't it very expensive). My favourite herbs are fennel and all the mints, the only one I'm not keen on is lavender.

[franbee]

Now who's tried the lavender flavoured biscuits and chocolates? I had a chocolate from someones box, but I think I needed a larger sample to give a considered opinion!

[Crocus]

I love to have lavender around, but in the garden, not in food or biscuits or something. I like the smell, but to taste it is not really for me. DF has mentioned saffron - it has a very concentrated flavour and perhaps to be used sparingly. I've still got saffron I bought in the UK a while ago.

It's quite strange because whilst liking the smell of some herbs and spices, I don't always like the taste.

[eleanor2]

theres only valerian that is vile to me.i love herbs and spices.i actualy eat the fennel strands and seeds straight from the plant.mint and peppermint i eat raw.rosemary is fantastic i love bunches of it.of course i adore the smell of lavender.hubby always adds an array of herbs and spices to his cooking.i grew up in a home where only salt was added to anything.so when i got married i never thought of applying herbs or spices to my cooking.when i saw mum in law making her own mint and parsley sauce i was mesmerised.i thought they came out of jars and packets. hubby has bought me round.i like the morrocan mix of spices for everyday cooking.

[jazzactivist]

Saffron is meant to be quite expensive, DF, but I have bought it when it seemed quite reaonably priced and maybe that's why mine didn't taste very good! I know what you mean about liking the smell but not the flavour or vice versa. I love the taste of fresh corriander leaves, but think that it smells of cat wee. Although it isn't a herb / spice I also have this with coffee. I like the smell, but am not to keen on the flavour as it is much more bitter than it smells. My dog used to love the taste of lemon balm. He would dash out into the garden and roll around and graze on it and I was always a bit worried that it might do him some harm. His breath smelled nice afterwards, though.

[Rustic Pumpkin]

I have yet to find a herb or spice that I truly dislike. I guess bottom of my list is coriander leaf, for it has a peculiar warm feeling in the mouth, but other than that I have none that I actively avoid.

Top of my list are things like cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for spices, and for herbs it is rosemary, sage, parsley (which I eat in almost vegetable proportion) lemon balm, dill, fennel, and mint (of which I grow 5 varieties). I make tisanes and teas as well as using them in cooking and icecubes.

I also eat copious amounts of chillis, and am not sure if you count these as a spice or fruit!

[Crocus]

Hi Rustic, I again adore coriander leaves or dhanya as it's also known. I put it in my veggie soup, yum. The bottom of my list definitely is, equally I should add, rosemary, oregano and fennel. Those are the three herbs I really don't like. Spices I would say bottom is perhaps paprika. Otherwise I like most spices, but I like pepper and ground coriander the best. xx

[dragonfly]

I think what put me off lavender is I bought some oil and read that if you put a couple of drops on your pillow it helps you to sleep better. Being me I put on a lot more than 2 drops and had the worse nights sleep ever. The smell was so overpowering I didn't get one wink of sleep all night and the smell lasted for days.

[Crocus]

Oh dear, that can be a problem yes. Lavender has quite a potent smell at the best of times. Someone once gave me beautiful heartshaped lavender cookies with lavender buds inside as a gift, but I couldn't eat it. x

[Rustic Pumpkin]

I think what put me off lavender is I bought some oil and read that if you put a couple of drops on your pillow it helps you to sleep better. Being me I put on a lot more than 2 drops and had the worse nights sleep ever. The smell was so overpowering I didn't get one wink of sleep all night and the smell lasted for days.

Dragonfly, I can tell you why you didn't sleep when using the lavender oil. Had you stuck to just one or two drops I guarantee you would have slept. However, very often with essential oils, exceeding the recommended dose can have the opposite effect. Some of the most notable relaxant oils, such as Chamomile Roman, Clary Sage, and Lavender must be used in small amounts to aid sleep.

Because they are 'natural' doesn't mean they should be used as desired. Indeed, incorrect use of a single oil, or worse, a synergystic blend, can be detramental, even fatal in extreme cases. Contraindications must also be considered, as should any existing medical conditions. As with everything, it is always best to consult a professional.