Saffron, it tastes like plastic!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

naphthalene

Assistant Cook
Joined
May 21, 2013
Messages
20
Location
Minneapolis
How can anyone eat this? I find nothing appetizing about it. Today was the first and last time I'll ever eat it.

Yes it was real saffron.
 
Oh no. Try just one or two threads in whatever you're making. What did you use it in?
 
I suspect that saffron is much like many other spices and flavors. Some folks like it, others not so much, and there are those who just can't stand it.
Many items come to mind....cilantro being one. I love it.. but Mrs Hoot don't. My mother tried to like it, but she decided it tastes like soap.
It just goes to show that taste is one of the most subjective things in the world.
 
:LOL:
I read somewhere that aversion to cilantro might be a genetic thing.
At any rate, if you don't like it, by all means leave it out. There is no sense in eating things that taste bad to you, no matter what anyone else's opinion is.

I will definitely never eat anything with saffron (good on my wallet) or cilantro again. Although saffron isn't repulsive, it just doesn't taste right. It reminds me of plastic toys I used to chew on as a kid.
 
The first time I tasted cilantro, I thought that the Mexican restaurant hadn't rinsed out the bowl properly that the salsa was in, tasted like a bowl of soapy salsa.

Over the years I have built up somewhat of a tolerance for it. I can still taste the soapiness, but it doesn't overwhelm the dish. I still don't like it though.

What really bugs me is that it has become the trendy herb, and it is often sprinkled on a dish even if it isn't disclosed in the description.
 
I will say this...I have found that over the years, my taste preferences have changed. Foe example, I used to despise liver, buttermilk, Brussels sprouts, and beets. Nowadays, I like to eat all those things. On the other hand, I have little use for overly sweet foods and, of all things, watermelon. I can't explain it...it is just the way things are.
I try not to worry about it.
 
I will say this...I have found that over the years, my taste preferences have changed. Foe example, I used to despise liver, buttermilk, Brussels sprouts, and beets. Nowadays, I like to eat all those things. On the other hand, I have little use for overly sweet foods and, of all things, watermelon. I can't explain it...it is just the way things are.
I try not to worry about it.
'Course, my typin' skills ain't too good either, lately. :ermm:
 
Bummer about cilantro, I love it, but understand that others don't.

Saffron is another story. I don't remember ever tasting it in anything.

And as for Brussels sprouts, they are not classified as food. They are inedible, as is liver IMHO.
 
Last edited:
I will definitely never eat anything with saffron (good on my wallet) or cilantro again. Although saffron isn't repulsive, it just doesn't taste right. It reminds me of plastic toys I used to chew on as a kid.

I what form did you taste the saffron?
 
I will say this...I have found that over the years, my taste preferences have changed. Foe example, I used to despise liver, buttermilk, Brussels sprouts, and beets. Nowadays, I like to eat all those things. On the other hand, I have little use for overly sweet foods and, of all things, watermelon. I can't explain it...it is just the way things are.
I try not to worry about it.
I like to bake, but I do not like to eat what I bake--a small taste, and I'm good. I have no tolerance for sweets anymore. I go months without eating any bake goods/desserts. But, give me savory, and I'm all in. Is it age? Perhaps. Although, I did read s/thing about the time of day one eats protein and the declined interest in sweets. Makes sense to me since I have no interest in sweets but eat my protein early in the morning.
 
Cilantro is one of those things I just can't understand. It tastes horrible to me and overpowers anything I've ever had it in.

My DH has the same problem with Cinnamon. He can't even be in the same room with it.

As for Saffron, I've used it in the past. It was some kind of soup. I really couldn't taste it but it did make the broth a pretty yellow color.

Funny how there are some things that are awful to one of us yet delightful to others.

And also interesting - as Hoot said - how our tastes can change as we get older .. sometimes for the good and sometimes not!

Maybe that's why spice is the variety of life .. a little something for everyone !
 
I suspect that saffron is much like many other spices and flavors. Some folks like it, others not so much, and there are those who just can't stand it.
Many items come to mind....cilantro being one. I love it.. but Mrs Hoot don't. My mother tried to like it, but she decided it tastes like soap.
It just goes to show that taste is one of the most subjective things in the world.

Taste is subjective. But there's more to it than that. To me, saffron tastes like tobacco smells. I can handle it, but much prefer turmeric, which is similar, but different enough for me to really like it.

The above mentioned cilantro has chemicals in it called aldehides, which are also found in soaps, and certain bugs. I really enjoy cilantro. In fact, I adore it in certain preperations. But I've had chili, for instance with just a touch of cilantro, than really added depth of flavor to the dish. But I've also had it in chili where too much was added by the cook, and the chili tasted like soap had been added. This link - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?_r=0 explains soem of that revulsion to flavors and aromas. It also shows, and I can attest to this from personal experience, that many of our adverse reactions to some flavors and aromas can be modified, or even make a 180 degree turn-about due to continued exposure to the "offending" substance. The first time I ate whole wheat products, I found them off-putting. Now, for most of my cooking (except gravies and pie crust), I prefer the flavor of the whole grain. That flavor is more complex and interesting to me.

And so, my advise to the op, try it again, in something else, preferably with friends and family. You might just find that that saffron rice you disliked might become one of your favorite flavors.:chef:
Hope this helps.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
The first time I tasted cilantro, I thought that the Mexican restaurant hadn't rinsed out the bowl properly that the salsa was in, tasted like a bowl of soapy salsa.

Over the years I have built up somewhat of a tolerance for it. I can still taste the soapiness, but it doesn't overwhelm the dish. I still don't like it though.

What really bugs me is that it has become the trendy herb, and it is often sprinkled on a dish even if it isn't disclosed in the description.

Trendy herb, is funny to me. In the previous post, I put in a link to an online article about cilantro. In England and France, cilantro was the old, common herb and was put aside by the sophisticated types. Now, it's new again, and very popular. The same is true of both portabella mushrooms, and bruschetta. They were initially the peasant products, common and inexpensive.

For the shrooms, the white button mushroom was rare and expensive, while the bruschetta as the olive farmer's method for testing the quality of his first-pressed olive oil. We can thank the royalty of of England for elevating the status of bruschetta.

Garlic buttered toast was the norm for the upper class. Somebody, and it isn't told in the history, brought bruschetta home form the olive orchards, and served it up for the upper class. They loved it, changed it, and decided that garlic bread was the commoners version.

The white button mushroom was cultivated as it brought more cash to the growers than did the common portabella. To us, the white button has become so very commonplace, while the portabella is more rare, and has a slightly richer flavor. We are willing to pay more for it than for the white button mushroom. I find it fascinating that we as a collective, can change our minds so easily, and often times, whimsically about the value of things.

And this kind of post is why I am known everywhere as Chief Longwind.:LOL:

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Last edited:
Taste is subjective. But there's more to it than that. To me, saffron tastes like tobacco smells. I can handle it, but much prefer turmeric, which is similar, but different enough for me to really like it.

The above mentioned cilantro has chemicals in it called aldehides, which are also found in soaps, and certain bugs. I really enjoy cilantro. In fact, I adore it in certain preperations. But I've had chili, for instance with just a touch of cilantro, than really added depth of flavor to the dish. But I've also had it in chili where too much was added by the cook, and the chili tasted like soap had been added. This link - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?_r=0 explains soem of that revulsion to flavors and aromas. It also shows, and I can attest to this from personal experience, that many of our adverse reactions to some flavors and aromas can be modified, or even make a 180 degree turn-about due to continued exposure to the "offending" substance. The first time I ate whole wheat products, I found them off-putting. Now, for most of my cooking (except gravies and pie crust), I prefer the flavor of the whole grain. That flavor is more complex and interesting to me.

And so, my advise to the op, try it again, in something else, preferably with friends and family. You might just find that that saffron rice you disliked might become one of your favorite flavors.:chef:
Hope this helps.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


I don't understand why you would seek to acclimatize your taste buds to something you dislike. Especially something that is 1. expensive (in the case of saffron) 2. has tastier (to you) alternatives 3. is not necessary to your health and wellbeing.

I cannot think of any food that I MUST eat, that will benefit me enough, that I feel I HAVE to get used to it. There are foods that I love that I must eat in moderation...darn it!
 
I am very happy with cilantro (or Coriander as we call it in the UK). I can't say I have any particular views on Saffron, except that if you use more than a tiny bit, it can be unpleasant.

What I loathe and detest is celery! *shudder* Aubergine is fairly disgusting too, and so is Okra!

Oh and swede. Swede is revolting. :sick:

And like several of you, I have no real interest in sweet things. (Nuts and crisps are my snack of choice - along with olives and cheese of course.) :) Like CWS4322, I bake cakes and biscuits (cookies) and test them to ensure they are edible, but after that I have no interest in eating them!
 
(QUOTE=naphthalene;1289931]How can anyone eat this? I find nothing appetizing about it. Today was the first and last time I'll ever eat it.

Yes it was real saffron.[/QUOTE]It was probably stale. How long had it ben in your cupboard? Obviously, unless it has a sell-by date on it you don't know how long the store has had it on the shelves.

Of course, there is another point. It is quite possible that what you were sold as saffron wasn't saffron. In my travels I have come across all sorts of stuff masquerading as saffron from artificially flavoured and coloured powders to dyed sawdust. Yes, really!!

Saffron is VERY expensive. It is made from the flowers of a particular variety of crocus and it takes 150 flowers to produce 1 gramme of saffron "threads" so if you are offered cheap saffron be very suspicious.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top Bottom