Have My Mouth/Tastebuds Gotten All Whacky?

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Something weird happened today... I had lunch out with my sister- we went to KFC and ate off their buffet. I had some of their Original Recipe for the first time in years (When I don't opt for Popeye's I usually choose KFC's Extra-Crispy) and I swear I tasted ground FENNEL SEED in their flour-mix!

Then again tonight when with my niece, she asked for fish from "Long John Silvers". And the batter on them tasted to me like it had ground FENNEL SEED in it!

Both were yummy- but I don't recall a FENNEL taste in these items before. Am I going goofy? Was I mistaken- or was my mouth a bit "off" today? Could it be that both restaurants actually use fennel? Hmmm... Odd...

 

[jglass]

Hmm...I havent been to KFC in years. I cook so much chicken at home I dont buy it when we go out to eat. My sister in law is still on maternity leave from KFC but Ill ask here when she goes back to work if they have changed the recipe.

 

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Just a WAG- but it could be a new veggie oil that they are using which contains pressed fennel oil as well. Was the taste pleasant or unpleasant? I would also guess that you may be having a day when your taste buds are acting up a bit

 

[Mama Mangia]

Gee - you still have KFC buffets there? They close all ours down over a year ago.
I stopped there to get a bucket of chicken and sides to take to a surprise birthday party 2 weeks ago - and the taste has definitely changed - period. I don't know if it is the oil as well - but dang - their coating and their cole slaw is no longer those great tasting foods of years gone by! There is a taste difference in their fries - so the oil has been changed - thanx to our government and trans-fats.

So it's not just you - it's KFC.

This is the second time in three years that they changed their "secret formula" - cripe - take me back to the good ol' days - that's when it was soooooooooooo good!

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

The fennel I detected in both KFC's Original recipe and in Long John Silvers' fish batter actually both did tatse very good- I liked it a lot. I just don't remember having ever tasted fennel in either before.

I hadn't had KFC's Original for many years, as I prefer Popeyes- and when I do get KFC I normally prefer their extra-crispy. The fennel taste (whether real or imagined) just really surprised me.