I'm on the side of folk who say don't bother to substitute if you don't like a strongly flavored ingredient. Or if you do sub, make up another name for the dish. On the other hand, guess I'm lying, because when I've lived places Italian basil wouldn't grow I've found Asian to work pretty well in tomato sauce, and it does have a rather distinctively mint flavor when tasted alone!
I saw a Galloping Gourmet episode (one of his more recent things, not the old ones) where he talked about super tasters, and have concluded that those of us who love most foods are NOT super tasters. I know folk who act like their entire life was ruined if the food is hotter than they anticipated, their entire meal ruined if the salt wasn't the 'right" type, etc. In some cases, when I know the people well enough, I know that they just hate the concept of taking joy in something, and want to make sure you don't, either. But I pity people who can taste such minute differences and microscopic amounts ("my recipe called for 1/4 tsp and I can tell s/he put in 1/3) in food ruin a meal for them, and I know that is the case for a lot of people. Or freinds who will only find one restaurant's or one person's style acceptable (people who would come to Hawaii, for example, and hate all the Chinese and Japanese food because it didn't taste like it did "Back Home"!).
I also feel for people who never "grow into" different tastes, who do not believe in "acquired tastes". There are plenty of things I hated as a child and love now, and I believe it's improved my life overall AND, what is sometimes a lot more important, allowed me to sit down to table with people from differing cultures and countries and thoroughly enjoy the experience.
