![]() ![]() (Incidentally, the use of real vanilla beans actually suffered a similar problem and was declared as inferior to extract in some taste applications, since it didn't have the "booziness" element of extract. Fiori di Sicilia is an extract combining citrus, vanilla, and flower essences. By spiking the eggnog with a small amount of vodka to make up for the missing alcohol in the artificial vanilla, the "fake" stuff actually performed about as well as the real stuff. It was only in the (uncooked) eggnog application that the "real stuff" edged out the competition, but here Kenji went one step further and asked about the reason - and it was just the "booziness" of the real stuff that people liked. That 'something' is coumarin, an extract of the tonka bean that imparts to synthetic vanillin an intense vanilla aroma and thus makes it smell like the real thing. Like Cooks Illustrated, he found that in the cooked/baked applications, tasters couldn't tell the difference. He tried blind tasting of vanilla sugar cookies, cooked vanilla ice cream, and simply stirred vanilla into a eggnog recipe. I don't have access to the full Cooks Illustrated article, but over here is another interesting claim - that is, if you want to beat out all of the commercial extracts (both real and "fake"), just make you own at home.Īnyhow, there have been other similar tests over the years, but I find Kenji Lopez-Alt's test over at Serious Eats to be the most interesting. Somebody over at Chowhound tried a similar experiment and agreed that artificial vanilla clearly won in baked goods. They have since done further tests (such as this one in 2009), and real vanilla sometimes edges out the cheap artificial competition (which here came in a close second), particularly for situations where the vanilla is uncooked and generally added in at the end (e.g., custards). ![]() Food and Drug Administration, news release, Oct.As mentioned in a previous response, Cooks Illustrated did a test some years ago (2003, I think), where they concluded that the preferred vanilla in a taste test was some cheap artificial vanilla from a local drugstore's generic section or something. Baldwin recommends using vanilla bean paste as a substitute for vanilla extract in dishes where vanilla is the main flavor, such as homemade vanilla ice cream. ![]() ![]() Don't buy the product if it says "tonka bean" or has a vague ingredient list or no list.įlorida State University has more about coumarin. Look for "vanilla bean" on the label's ingredient list. : Vanilla Extract Mexican Pure Vanilla 100 Natural and Sugar Free For Baking, Desserts, and Beverages, 8.45 Fl Oz : Health & Household. Since 1954, coumarin has been banned from all food products sold in the United States.Ĭonsumers should be cautious when buying vanilla in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the FDA advised. Mexican vanilla is frequently made with the extract of beans from the tonka tree, an entirely different plant that belongs to the pea family. Pure vanilla is made with the extract of beans from the vanilla plant. Mexican vanilla - which may smell and taste like real vanilla and is cheaper than the real thing - is sold in Mexico and other Latin American countries and has started appearing in some U.S. Eating foods with coumarin may be dangerous for people taking blood thinners, because the combination could increase their risk of bleeding. Food and Drug Administration warned this week.Ĭoumarin is related to warfarin, which is found in some blood thinners. 31 (HealthDay News) - So-called Mexican "vanilla" is often made with a toxic substance called coumarin and shouldn't be bought by consumers, the U.S. ![]()
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