It got out of fashion but many sweet recipes got their flavour from a wider range of spices, straight from the rack: nutmeg, mace, cloves, rose water, orange blossom water, orange peel powder, lemon peel powder, cummins, coriander… Even black pepper.
Current day foods are mostly bland. It requires going to a country (or at least a restaurant from there) where spices are used generously in every dish to realize this.
Well, the food itself you add all these spices to itself has a flavor. If you make everything taste like a mix of all the different spices that becomes a another kind of samey and boring even if you wouldn’t use the word “bland” any more. Of course no cuisine does exactly that, but to me, some tend more to one side of that spectrum or the other. There are different ways of striking a balance. Italian is an example of a great cuisine that no one would accuse of being boring which tends toward using a light hand and fewer ingredients at time.
You’re right. And you put forward a good point: the ingredients itself have flavour, which most people just cover or ignore. Too much is as bad, if not worst, than not enough.
My own national cuisine shares a few contact points with italian but I don’t really agree with your point. There are many dishes where spices get very heavy handed but are usually layered and the end result is a symphony between all parts. The simplicy us, regardless, commendable. Any good dish relies on simplicity.
I just love vanilla. I don’t find it boring, so usually one of my ice cream scoops is always a nilla.
I agree, that using different spices make sweets richer - and I do have my sweet spot (heh) for raisins soaked in rum. To top off your list with something with a kick :) bourbon and such other liquor works well also.
I have nothing against it. It’s mild enough yet interesting enough to please nearly anyone and everyone.
It never ceases to amaze me how being “vanilla” gained the other connotation it has.
I’ve prepared my own extract and I can only say it vastly surpasses comercial ones. And as someone that enjoys cooking, I used it in nearly everything I could imagine, including savory sauces. It works. It should not, but it does.
Bourbon doesn’t really make my fancy but I know it is a well known pairing.
It’s that flavour/aroma that is nearly infallible.
Garlic is to cookimg as vanilla extract is to baking, In that the amount I add to my food is guided by the Reckless extravagance and utter disregard, verging on mild Contempt for the recipe As written
I have to disagree with you there. Of the many words I may use to describe the taste of vanilla, ‘spicy’ is certainly not among them. ‘Spicy’ is a word I associate with flavors that are sharp and picante, whereas vanilla is, as you said, warm, rich, soft, even a little bit tangy when unsweetened. Pretty much the opposite of ‘spicy’ imo.
I agree with the rest of your description, though. I find your descriptor, “The MSG for the sweet taste,” pretty spot on.
Happy.
It is msg for the sweet taste. Just try baking anything without vanilla (extract/sugar) and you will see how boring everything is.
It is spicy, warm and the bare minimum any sweet should aspire to be. Perfect foundation for other flavors to build upon.
It got out of fashion but many sweet recipes got their flavour from a wider range of spices, straight from the rack: nutmeg, mace, cloves, rose water, orange blossom water, orange peel powder, lemon peel powder, cummins, coriander… Even black pepper.
Current day foods are mostly bland. It requires going to a country (or at least a restaurant from there) where spices are used generously in every dish to realize this.
Well, the food itself you add all these spices to itself has a flavor. If you make everything taste like a mix of all the different spices that becomes a another kind of samey and boring even if you wouldn’t use the word “bland” any more. Of course no cuisine does exactly that, but to me, some tend more to one side of that spectrum or the other. There are different ways of striking a balance. Italian is an example of a great cuisine that no one would accuse of being boring which tends toward using a light hand and fewer ingredients at time.
You’re right. And you put forward a good point: the ingredients itself have flavour, which most people just cover or ignore. Too much is as bad, if not worst, than not enough.
My own national cuisine shares a few contact points with italian but I don’t really agree with your point. There are many dishes where spices get very heavy handed but are usually layered and the end result is a symphony between all parts. The simplicy us, regardless, commendable. Any good dish relies on simplicity.
I just love vanilla. I don’t find it boring, so usually one of my ice cream scoops is always a nilla.
I agree, that using different spices make sweets richer - and I do have my sweet spot (heh) for raisins soaked in rum. To top off your list with something with a kick :) bourbon and such other liquor works well also.
I have nothing against it. It’s mild enough yet interesting enough to please nearly anyone and everyone.
It never ceases to amaze me how being “vanilla” gained the other connotation it has.
I’ve prepared my own extract and I can only say it vastly surpasses comercial ones. And as someone that enjoys cooking, I used it in nearly everything I could imagine, including savory sauces. It works. It should not, but it does.
Bourbon doesn’t really make my fancy but I know it is a well known pairing.
It’s that flavour/aroma that is nearly infallible.
it comes from ice cream parlours.
I find myself eager yet dreading my next visit to a gelaterie after knowing that.
I have to disagree with you there. Of the many words I may use to describe the taste of vanilla, ‘spicy’ is certainly not among them. ‘Spicy’ is a word I associate with flavors that are sharp and picante, whereas vanilla is, as you said, warm, rich, soft, even a little bit tangy when unsweetened. Pretty much the opposite of ‘spicy’ imo.
I agree with the rest of your description, though. I find your descriptor, “The MSG for the sweet taste,” pretty spot on.
I assume that people who think it’s spicy are getting thay flavor from whatever solvent was used for an extract (eg vodka).
White people spicy
Oh, shit, like salt? Way too spicy.
Hehehe…