I have a thing about the smell of spearmint. It turns my stomach. I can't even talk to someone who is chewing spearmint flavored gum, because I can't handle even that little bit of smell.

ooh I have that with wintergreen. I think it comes from my dad always chewing wintergreen gum or sucking on wintergreen mints when we were on car trips and me always getting carsick. The smell and the nausea are now interlocked forever. Also, pepto bismol is wintergreen flavored.

Spidra, I honestly don't know what answer you're expecting to hear.

It wasn't meant to be an attack, Jessica. I'm sorry if you heard it that way.

Err...to be clear...I apologize if what I wrote upthread seemed angry or snotty because it wasn't intended that way.

Supertasting is actually a physiological thing, not just a preference. A Supertaster (there are also as many Subtasters, who don't get as much press) has a higher density of tastebuds, most commonly those for 'bitter', but in fact there can be more than usual amounts of 'sweet', 'salt', et cetera.

So when I say that broccoli tastes yucky to me, I'm not just exhibiting an irrational prejudice against green things. It's just coincidental that dark green vegetables are generally high in bitter flavor tones.

It smells really nasty, but it flavors homemade Thai food quite well.

Fish sauce is the bomb, but thai green curry paste has a very strong vinegar component that completely overwhelms the kitchen when it's heated up. It's not a bad smell, it's just REALLY strong.

I like raw tomatoes in most sandwiches and on bruchetta. Otherwise, no. Oh, wait, salsa too. (I do love the smell of a really ripe tomato, though.)

So I think it's something about the starch that helps. For instance, one of my favorite sandwiches is basil/fresh mozzarella/tomato, but I dislike the same combination in salad.

I've found that the less that a tomato looks like a whole tomato, the more I tend to like it.

I always have suspected myself of being a subtaster. Someone told me a few years ago that pastas have different flavors that don't come from the sauce. It was news to me; I always though of pasta as a nice texture that served as carrier for yummy sauces. Pasta has a flavor of its own? What a concept.

Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard: Engaged, Expecting

This headline had me going, "How's that again?"

Then I remembered he has a sister.

I have no idea if I'm a supertaster. I'm just very sensitive to certain tastes and smells. Might just be picky. Wish I weren't. I just came back from my massage therapist's house. She had clearly cooked fish recently and it was definitely gagging me.

Hahahahaha: [link]