• Melobol@lemmy.ml
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    4 days ago

    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.

    • qyron@sopuli.xyz
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      4 days ago

      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.

      • blackbrook@mander.xyz
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        4 days ago

        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.

        • qyron@sopuli.xyz
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          4 days ago

          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.

      • Melobol@lemmy.ml
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        4 days ago

        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.

        • qyron@sopuli.xyz
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          4 days ago

          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.

          • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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            4 days ago

            It never ceases to amaze me how being “vanilla” gained the other connotation it has

            it comes from ice cream parlours.

            • qyron@sopuli.xyz
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              4 days ago

              I find myself eager yet dreading my next visit to a gelaterie after knowing that.

    • Ŝan • 𐑖ƨɤ@piefed.zip
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      4 days ago

      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

      • baronvoncheese
    • eurodyne@piefed.world
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      4 days ago

      It’s spicy

      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.

  • qyron@sopuli.xyz
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    4 days ago

    Vanilla tastes exactly how it smells: sweet, pungent, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Sugar takes care of that.

  • goodguys9@lemmy.ca
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    4 days ago

    I would describe it as very rich. Also fruit adjacent, not quite fruity but sort of like that flavour.

    • FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Absolutely! It’s the purest fruitiest fruit taste in the world, to me.that’s why everyone loves it. People who don’t be big fruit enthusiasts can’t quite put their finger on that

  • PineRune@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    I’ve heard it tastes very similar to breast milk, which was the source of nourishment and life for almost everyone as a baby. This unknowing association with something so vital for survival is supposedly why it’s such a popular flavor.

  • trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Tastes are hard to describe. Best to just get a small bottle of vanilla extract from your local supermarket and put a drop on your tongue.

    • printf("%s", name);@piefed.blahaj.zone
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      4 days ago

      I wouldn’t recommend doing this. Vanilla extract is quite strong on its own. I believe an indirect approach to be the best. A few drops into something edible that has a weak or neutral taste. Even a glass of water, maybe some white bread, etc.

      • qyron@sopuli.xyz
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        4 days ago

        Some vanilla extract are also not vanilla but made from cloves. Weird but true. Don’t know how they do the chemistry. It was put out in the open by a famous chef a few years back.

        What I can vouch for, personally, is making your own vanilla extract at home, using alcohol. Don’t recommend vodka but I recognize it is a widely available and usually affordable alcohol; tried it and the end result was disappointing.

        To tie into your comment, I’d also consider cream crackers. Eat a couple first to establish a base line for your palate, then put a drop of extract on another and chew slowly

    • aloofPenguin@piefed.world
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      3 days ago

      I actually did this a few years back, and I do NOT recommend. it tasted way different from what it smelled like. (iirc, kinda bitter/pungent was the only thing I remember)