4 ms·

Aroma Science Technology is widely used in the food industry, often out of necessity. There aren't enough strawberries in the world to meet the demand for straw

Aroma Science Technology is widely used in the food industry, often out of necessity. There aren't enough strawberries in the world to meet the demand for strawberry flavoured ice cream. Food scientists identified the chemical that makes strawberry taste like strawberry and managed to produce it artificially. The same applies to truffle oil. At least in Europe it should be possible, other than by price, to identify if you are buying genuine truffle oil or truffle flavoured oil. However prepare to pay. 250 ml (8.5 fl Oz) of truffle oil cost around $100 at Fortnum and Mason. I would recommend you buy from reliable sources only and definitely resist to urge to buy before Christmas as the market is flooded with truffle flavoured alternatives at the moment.

denton-scratch 4y ago
Fortnum & Mason is a shop that is frequented by shoppers that are not price-sensitive. I wouldn't take their prices as indicative.
- oxfordmale 4y ago
  Most people wanting genuine truffle oil aren't likely to be price sensitive, however, you make a valid point. Unfortunately this time of year, before Christmas, search results are flooded with Christmas offers. You are likely to get much better deals if you can buy locally in a truffle growing region.
permo-w 4y ago
I’ve never once tasted something “strawberry-flavoured” that actually tasted like a strawberry
- oxfordmale 4y ago
  In they end they just extract a single chemical and not the entire bouquet of flavours of a natural strawberry. However, if you ask a small child to taste strawberry flavoured ice cream and identify it is flavour they will get it right more often than not. It is a good philosophical question, if in a 10,000 years people would still link the strawberry flavour with an actual strawberry, especially if advertising companies slowly tweak the image of a strawberry to look more appetising.
  - rippercushions 4y ago
    Small children who have eaten candy will also easily identify banana and grape flavors, even though neither has much connection to the fruit today. (Artificial banana flavor is modeled on the Gros Michel variety, which is effectively extinct, and grape flavors on Concord grapes, which are rarely eaten these days.)
  - OJFord 4y ago
    Isn't that just by association to past experiences with strawberry-flavoured things? I remember even as a child saying I like the flavour of strawberries, but I don't like strawberry-flavoured things. I'd eat the fruit, but not the ice-cream.
kenneth 4y ago
Vanilla is notorious for this. Vanilla extract tastes basically identical to real vanilla and is fully artificial (no vanilla pods involved in making it). I like to make crème brûlée in which it's a distinctive flavor. I sometimes use real vanilla pods, but hot damn are they expensive. Most of the time, it's just the extract.
- denton-scratch 4y ago
  Don't agree that vanilla extract is fully artificial; that would be vanilla flavouring. If you sell it as vanilla extract, I expect it to be extracted from vanilla pods. And I don't agree that even vanilla extract from pods tastes like vanilla pods. I don't know a way to get the flavour of pods without using pods.
- Semaphor 4y ago
  Personally, I prefer tonka beans [0] over vanilla. Fraction of the price, superior flavor (for me). Illegal in the USA, though. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipteryx_odorata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipteryx_odorata
- KingMob 4y ago
  What is vanilla extract "extracted" from, then? Are you sure you're not thinking of vanilla "essence", which is mostly synthetic vanillin? I can definitely taste the difference between essence and extract. Essence is much simpler, while extract has another hundred vanilla compounds in it.

denton-scratch 4y ago

Fortnum & Mason is a shop that is frequented by shoppers that are not price-sensitive. I wouldn't take their prices as indicative.

oxfordmale 4y ago
Most people wanting genuine truffle oil aren't likely to be price sensitive, however, you make a valid point. Unfortunately this time of year, before Christmas, search results are flooded with Christmas offers. You are likely to get much better deals if you can buy locally in a truffle growing region.

permo-w 4y ago

I’ve never once tasted something “strawberry-flavoured” that actually tasted like a strawberry

oxfordmale 4y ago
In they end they just extract a single chemical and not the entire bouquet of flavours of a natural strawberry. However, if you ask a small child to taste strawberry flavoured ice cream and identify it is flavour they will get it right more often than not. It is a good philosophical question, if in a 10,000 years people would still link the strawberry flavour with an actual strawberry, especially if advertising companies slowly tweak the image of a strawberry to look more appetising.
- rippercushions 4y ago
  Small children who have eaten candy will also easily identify banana and grape flavors, even though neither has much connection to the fruit today. (Artificial banana flavor is modeled on the Gros Michel variety, which is effectively extinct, and grape flavors on Concord grapes, which are rarely eaten these days.)
- OJFord 4y ago
  Isn't that just by association to past experiences with strawberry-flavoured things? I remember even as a child saying I like the flavour of strawberries, but I don't like strawberry-flavoured things. I'd eat the fruit, but not the ice-cream.

kenneth 4y ago

Vanilla is notorious for this. Vanilla extract tastes basically identical to real vanilla and is fully artificial (no vanilla pods involved in making it). I like to make crème brûlée in which it's a distinctive flavor. I sometimes use real vanilla pods, but hot damn are they expensive. Most of the time, it's just the extract.

denton-scratch 4y ago
Don't agree that vanilla extract is fully artificial; that would be vanilla flavouring. If you sell it as vanilla extract, I expect it to be extracted from vanilla pods. And I don't agree that even vanilla extract from pods tastes like vanilla pods. I don't know a way to get the flavour of pods without using pods.
Semaphor 4y ago
Personally, I prefer tonka beans [0] over vanilla. Fraction of the price, superior flavor (for me). Illegal in the USA, though. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipteryx_odorata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipteryx_odorata
KingMob 4y ago
What is vanilla extract "extracted" from, then? Are you sure you're not thinking of vanilla "essence", which is mostly synthetic vanillin? I can definitely taste the difference between essence and extract. Essence is much simpler, while extract has another hundred vanilla compounds in it.