Victory
September 15th, 2006
Heather touched on her disdain for black licorice very briefly in this post and in this one she refers to it as “The Worst Tasting Taste In all of Tasteland”. I’ve only purchased it three times in the five years we’ve been together and I generally eat it at least 40 feet away and brush my teeth afterwards.
After discovering that Leta had been served black licorice at the hand of her stepgrandfather, I wondered if, given her food issues, she’d want to try it again. I bought a bag of Twizzler® black licorice bites at the grocery store this week. Yesterday during our afternoon snack time I gave Leta some goldfish crackers and a single red Twizzler strand and I grabbed a few nubbins of the black licorice and popped them in my mouth within view of Leta. She watched very closely as if to check that I wasn’t eating M&M’s without her and then replied, “I would like… black.”
Stunned, I replied, “You REALLY want black licorice? Not red? Black? Really? Leta, I will get you some, because that is at least six hundred elephants of awesome.”
“YEAH! BLACK!”
She loves the stuff. Loves it. Today was not different, and I got her to pronounce licorice (liquorlish). Then I died from the cuteness. Then I was resurrected by the power of discovery that Leta and I are now an unstoppable licorice team. We have something we can share on road trips and family events.
I’m not sure, but I think I’m getting close to swaying Heather on the black licorice issue. And if I can’t sway her, maybe Leta can. I’m prepared for the years of waiting on this one. Because now I have a tiny smidge of leverage. At long last. o
I like black liquorice, partially because it’s the only candy I can consume without other people bugging me for some.
Not. Cool.
I too hate black licorish (Stare at that word for about five minutes. It’s silly), but not to the point where I can’t be around it.
HOWEVER, I have this thing about mustard. I hate the way it tastes, the way it looks (Baby crap, anyone?), the way it smells (Again with the baby crap), everything. Everything about that Devil-Condiment is just repulsive to me. That is why I do not allow my kiddies to eat it. Ever. I sheltered them from it for a loooong time. And then the unthinkable happened. Someone. gave. them. MUSTARD. I was obviously not present at the time, because I would have told that person that they were all deathly allergic to it (Seriously, I’ve done it before). Someone went behind my back and gave them mustard and now they love it. And I am absolutely heartbroken. And really grossed out.
Tell Heather I feel her pain.
i side firmly with heather on this one. i hate black licorice, jaegermeister, ouzo, anise, black jelly beans and anything else black licorice flavored. you either love it or hate it- no one is ‘eh about it.
Yeah, I echo what others have said — if you hate black licorice, you will never change your mind. I’m the same way.
Olives and pickles (which I love) seem to have similar polarizing effects on people.
The only think black licorice is good for is chucking at bad movies in jujubee form.
As long as you stay away from all things spearmint… we’re good.
You can fish out ALL the black jelly beans for me.
Licorice = bad
Fennel = bad
Anise = bad
It’s not something you recover from. Some people are extra sensitive to bitter (called “supertasters”) things, and licorice hits us exactly the wrong way.
Sorry if that dashes your hopes, but at least as your daughter grows up, you and Leta can eat black licorice, stick out your blackened tongues and breathe on Heather. That will be good for a few dozen car trips!
If you ever go do any sort of reasonably strenuous activity (like biking) in Denmark, that stuff becomes like crack. There are many brands, too, of the real-deal salty stuff. One of the brands is called Spunk. no joke, except when they bust you with a box of it at the airport.
Spunkies are like little black commas with eyes, they’re totally disturbing and also tasty.
You and my parents love the black licorice.
Black is tolerable, but only when there’s no red left, and I’m craving licorice. Or, when there’s a shot of waiting to be dumped down my craw.
Not with a goat.
Not in a boat.
Not in a plane.
Not in a train.
Yech.
Back home in Newfoundland at Christmastime, something called licorice allsorts would make an annual appearance on people’s end tables. They were the most candy looking candies in all of candyland, to borrow some hyperbole from Heather. They had soft, multicoloured coatings, covered with bright candy sprinkles. Even the tin they came in was pretty, shiny and candylike (to paraphrase PeeWee Herman).
They had to be the work of the devil, because at their core, their evil, deceitful little hearts were pure, black licorice.
k.
I hate the taste of black licorice. The red stuff, too, when you get right down to it. But I got nothin’ against the rest of humanity that enjoys it. (As long as no one’s force-feeding it to me, who cares?)
And I loved the bonding story of you and Leta.
Having married a woman from the land of the Dutch, I have been subjected to black licorice once. ONCE. There are some things God never intended us to put in our mouths. The list is long but you really need read no further than point 1: Thall shalt not place licorice in thy mouth for it is nasty and ye shall hurl.
Black Licorice, eww
Fennell, eww
J‰germeister, eww
Asparagus, eww
I know asparagus isn’t black licorice flavored but it goes along with Panda’s mention of “Supertasters.” I cringe watching people eat this stuff just waiting for them to react like I would. There are foods I dont like, but I can understand how someone could like them such as, oysters, pomegranate, and brie. But black licorice and asparagus are beyond my comprehension.
Black licorice tastes like ass.
Not that I know from personal experience or anything…
Black licorice: emphatically yes.
Red licorice: absolutely no.
i can’t believe that the one topic that motivated me to register and comment was licorice. jon, you MUST MUST MUST try these: http://www.woodenspoon.ws/CandyPress/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1006
my xmother-in-law used to bring them for me from norway, where she lives. it’s the one thing i miss about my marriage.
Jon, here’s the place for your licorice fix:
http://tinyurl.com/s6c7z
If you’re really hard core, you’ll try the salted kind. It just about made me gag the first time I tried it. And then I couldn’t stop eating it. Anyhow, I don’t think they’re that far from you, and their stuff is waaaay better quality than Twizzlers.
Black licorice, anise, fennel and ouzo all taste like they are stocked up with Extract of Butt.
When you find Leta wondering drunkenly around saying “OPA!!” on the streets of Mykanos, you’ll know that her taste for the evil stuff started early.
Oh, Gah. I loovvvveeee black licorice. Have you ever had Panda licorice?
Sidenote: Twizzlers black licorice turns your poop forest green.
We have a candy store here in Long Beach that has over 50 varieties of black licorice. Nibs, cats, coins, you name it…they have it.
Paul (the spouse) purchased some coins from Holland today and I must say…WOW. Not WOW that is good black licorice…but WOW…I don’t really like that black licorice. BLECK. Gimme black jelly beans…but not the stuff from Holland that costs $7.99 a pound!
Black licorice = pure evil
O.M.G. Licorice! Ewwwww! Licorice, fennel, anise, all nausea inducing.
Yay, that Leta loves the taste. Boo, that Heather may be tortured with the smell.
my husband loves the stuff. i couldn’t stand the smell for a long time. but at one point, i started associating the smell with basil, which i do love, and now i can tolerate it. i still won’t eat it though.
my boyfriend: xo black licorice
me: #%@^)#! black licorice
i am behind heather on this one. my boyfriend also can’t eat it if he expects me to kiss him within a reasonable time of ingestion.
the black licorice thing came up when i had a head cold and he got me nyquil to take. i had never had it before. had a shot of it and spit it out while dry heaving…he had never seen that kind of reaction before but once i was done grimacing, squirming and heaving, i was able to spit out “uuuuuuuugh! it tastes like licorice! uuuuuunnnngh!”
i’m sure heather will be satisfied with not sharing that “special thing” with you and leta.
I became a licorice fan because my Dad liked it. We bought the flat variety that came in a package looking a lot like chewing tobacco. You’d grab it by the corner and pull off a piece.
An acquired taste.
However, I think it can lead to an absinthe problem later in life and I do love Pernod and water! (I also avoid it for the same reason.)
I agree that fennel is poisonous and should be banned as an unnatural vegetable.
Licorice: Use Responsibly