Breaking
FoodNerdy Recipes Management System
Tag

knowing

Browsing
Food

Tempeh: Worth Knowing About Fermented Meat Substitutes

Tempeh is a traditional fermented product made from soybeans and has been eaten in Indonesia for centuries. The meat substitute is now also popular in Europe. Here you will find an overview of the healthy soy product.

Tempeh is a fermentation product made from whole soybeans, water, vinegar and mold. The meat substitute originated in Indonesia. Tempeh is still an important staple there today, helping to meet the protein needs of the population. Today you can also buy tempeh in Germany. The soy product is particularly popular in vegan cuisine.

Thanks to the high content of valuable nutrients, proteins and fiber, tempeh is also very healthy. This means that the soy product is not only suitable as a meat substitute for vegans and vegetarians, but is also interesting for everyone who pays attention to a balanced diet.

Tempeh tastes very mild and has a slightly nutty-mushroom aroma. It is therefore advisable to season the meat substitute well, as it has little taste of its own.

How is tempeh made?

You don’t necessarily have to buy the fermented soy product. Instead, you can make your own tempeh. You need whole soybeans for this. These should be soaked, boiled and provided with mold spores (usually Rhizopus cultures). The soybeans then ferment for 24 to 48 hours in a closed container at around 30 degrees Celsius. The molds form thread-like white cells that wrap themselves around the soybeans and hold them together after fermentation. This creates solid blocks of tempeh that are easy to cut.

You can find tempeh sealed airtight in organic markets, health food stores, Asian markets or in well-stocked supermarkets. Blocks of tempeh from the refrigerated section usually keep for several weeks. Once opened, however, you should use the product within a few days. Tempeh from the jar has a much longer shelf life and can be stored unopened for several months.

By the way: In addition to traditional tempeh made from soybeans, there is now also tempeh made from other legumes, such as lupins or black beans.

Tempeh: The meat alternative is so healthy

A look at the nutrient composition of tempeh explains why the meat substitute is becoming increasingly popular with us: With around 20 grams of protein per 100 grams, tempeh is a real protein bomb, contains few carbohydrates and fat and is a low-calorie filler. Tempeh is a valuable vegetable protein source, especially for people who eat vegetarian or vegan food.

The protein content is even higher than that of tofu and the protein it contains can be absorbed particularly well by the body thanks to the fermentation process. In addition, the fermentation makes the gluten-free soybeans more digestible. Unlike animal protein, tempeh also contains no cholesterol. Tempeh also provides a variety of minerals, including iron, calcium and phosphorus.

The organic tempeh from the tempeh manufactory contains the following nutritional values, for example:

Calories: 152 calories
Egg white: 18.95 g
Fat: 7.68g
Fiber: 6.5 g
Carbohydrates: 1.8g

Tempeh: It depends on the preparation

Traditionally, you can slice tempeh and sear or fry it. But the meat substitute also tastes good raw, smoked, grilled or cooked. Tempeh works well as a side dish in salads, soups, vegan schnitzel or sandwiches. You can also process tempeh in other ways as you wish and use it for vegan goulash or vegan bolognese, for example.

You can also buy tempeh marinated with various spices and herbs. Alternatively, you can put the tempeh in a spicy marinade yourself before preparing it.

How sustainable is the meat substitute?

In contrast to meat, meat substitute products have a significantly better ecological balance, including tempeh and tofu. You can find out more about this topic here: Study: Plant-based meat substitutes have a better ecological balance

This is mainly due to the fact that significantly fewer resources are required for soy production than is the case for the production of meat. In particular, large-scale monocultures, which farmers need for the production of feed soy, are highly problematic from an ecological point of view. After all, corporations often cut down large areas of rainforest for this purpose. Added to this is the large water consumption and significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock farming.

So that your tempeh is particularly sustainable, you should pay attention to regional products when buying it. You can now also find tempeh with soybeans from European cultivation. Also use organic products whenever possible. This is how you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides and genetically modified soybeans.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Butter Beet: Worth Knowing and Recipe Ideas

Buttered turnips taste similar to swedes, but are smaller and milder. The old vegetable variety has been enjoying greater popularity again for some time. Here you can find out interesting facts about their properties as well as cultivation and use.

Butter beets are an old type of vegetable that can be found increasingly at weekly markets and in (organic) supermarkets. The butter beet belongs to the subspecies of turnips and is distinguished from other varieties such as the navette by the golden yellow color of its skin. It is therefore also known under the name “gold beet”. The taste is more comparable to the swede. The butter beet is not only smaller, it also tastes tenderer and milder.

Good to know: Despite the similarity in taste, the butter beet is not directly related to the swede. Botanically speaking, turnips are a subspecies of oilseed rape and belong to the same genus, but not the same species as turnips. However, the swede is also sometimes referred to colloquially as butter turnip – this can cause confusion.

Nutritional values and ingredients of butter beets

Turnips are generally considered to be rich in nutrients. In addition to butter beets and navettes, this subspecies also includes the small, cone-shaped Teltower turnips. The amounts of nutrients can of course vary slightly from variety to variety. On average, raw turnips contain the following basic nutritional values per 100 grams:

Calorific value: 28 kcl (117 kJ)
Protein: 0.9 grams
Fat: 0.1 grams
Carbohydrates: 6.43 grams (including 3.8 grams of sugar)
Fiber: 1.8 grams

In addition, turnips are rich in minerals. Per 100 grams they provide, among other things:

191 milligrams of potassium
67 milligrams of sodium
30 milligrams of calcium
27 milligrams of phosphorus
11 milligrams of magnesium
0.3 milligrams of iron
15 micrograms of folic acid

Vitamin C (21 milligrams) and vitamin K (0.1 micrograms) are also contained in turnips such as butter beet. For better classification: The daily requirement of vitamin C is 110 milligrams for men and 95 milligrams for women.

Butter beets: seasonal and home-grown

Butter beets can be grown as May beets, but also as autumn beets. Accordingly, the harvest time falls either in May or between October and November. Butter beets are often available from storage for up to two months after the end of the harvest.

The butter beet is an easy-care vegetable and can also be easily grown in your own garden. Depending on whether you want to harvest in May or in the fall, you should plant the seeds in late March/early April or mid-July/late August. You do this as follows:

First select a suitable location. A sunny and not too dry location is particularly important. Butter beets, on the other hand, do not make any special demands on the soil conditions.
Prepare the soil for sowing by loosening the soil a bit. If necessary, remove weeds from the bed.
Make seed furrows in the soil 30 to 40 centimeters apart. They should be an inch or two deep.
Spread the seeds evenly over the grooves, then cover them with soil.
Finally, water the seeds generously.
Butter beets do not require much care after sowing. Just make sure to water them regularly, but avoid waterlogging.

After a week, the first germs should appear. The butter beets are ready for harvest after about eight weeks. Once harvested, they will keep in a cool place for about a week or two.

The butter beet in the kitchen: this is how you use it

In the kitchen you can use the butter beet both raw and cooked. Freshly harvested butter beets taste particularly fine and mild when raw. Grated or cut into fine strips, they make a delicious raw vegetable salad, for example. You can also add them to mixed salads.

Because of the similar taste, buttered turnips are generally a good alternative to swedes. You can easily prepare many swede recipes with buttered turnips, for example the classic swede stew, a simple swede soup or an exotic swede curry.

You can also prepare butter beets as a hearty side dish or starter – for example as beet puree or steamed in a little butter or margarine. Here we present a simple recipe for spicy seasoned butter beets from the pan.

Recipe: Spicy buttered beets from the pan

Ingredients:

1 kg butter beets 4 sprigs of rosemary
30 g butter or margarine salt chili flakes
1 tbsp honey
200 ml apple juice

Directions:

Wash the butter beets under running water. Remove the stalk and root end. Peel the beets and cut them into quarters.
Wash the rosemary and shake dry.
Heat butter or margarine in a pan. Add the beets and rosemary and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes.
Then add the salt, chili flakes, honey, and apple juice to the pan. Mix everything together well.
Cover the butter beets and let them cook in the pan over low heat for about ten minutes. Remove the lid just before the end of the cooking time and let the remaining liquid boil down over high heat. Toss the vegetables occasionally to keep them from burning.
Finally, remove the rosemary sprigs and season the buttered beets with salt and chilli flakes.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Coriander: Worth Knowing About The Spice and Medicinal Plant

Coriander is not only a delicious spice in Asian cuisine. It also has healing properties. We will show you everything you need to know about the spice and medicinal plant coriander.

Coriander is one of the oldest culinary herbs in the world. Above all, coriander is known from Asian, Arabic or Indian dishes. Fresh coriander leaves have a strong, slightly pungent flavor of their own. Dried or ground coriander seeds taste a little milder. At the same time, the spice contains a substance that has an antibiotic effect (dodecenal) and it contains different essential oils. As a result, coriander has a healing effect – in a completely natural way.

Coriander: Healing properties of the plant

With its health-promoting nutrients, various essential oils and proteins, coriander can help with many ailments. It has a strong anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and circulation-enhancing effect. It also has a fungicidal effect and thus inhibits the growth of fungi. Coriander has this effect:
Coriander relieves digestive problems (bloating, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome),
reduces chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatism,
reduces infections,
inhibits the growth of bacteria and fungi,
has an antispasmodic effect,
relieves gastrointestinal complaints,
supports detoxification
relieves bladder infections,
lowers cholesterol and blood sugar,
relieves menstrual cramps,
has an antibacterial effect on salmonella,
heals wounds and ulcers in the mouth.

How to use cilantro for ailments

Cilantro Tea: You can eat cilantro or take it as a tea. Do this by pouring hot water on some fresh leaves and seeds. The tea can help, especially with gastrointestinal or digestive problems. But you can also drink coriander tea if you have a loss of appetite or a bladder infection.
Coriander Oil: You can use coriander oil to make mouthwashes to help fight bacteria in your mouth. You can also apply the coriander oil externally or soak a cloth with a coriander infusion. You can apply both to infections or use them for athlete’s foot or other fungal diseases.

Coriander: cultivation, harvest, storage

You can often find cilantro individually wrapped in plastic in stores. Instead, you can grow it yourself and plant it in a pot in your herb garden on the balcony. Coriander grows up to 60-90 centimeters high. It has a short flowering period of June and July. In these months you can harvest it. The seeds can be harvested from August to September.

Coriander grows back in the pot. Once you have harvested your cilantro, place it in a glass of water. That makes it last longer. Coriander seeds remain aromatic for a long time when stored in a dark, cool and airtight place.

Coriander in the kitchen

In addition to tea and Asian dishes, you can also add coriander or coriander seeds to your smoothie or chopped into your vegetable soup. Or you season salads or spicy dishes with it. Add the cilantro and its stalks just before the end, or sprinkle them fresh over your dish on the plate. You can also prepare dips or make a coriander pesto yourself. A little coriander in your homemade bread is also delicious.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Bulletproof Coffee: Wffect, Recipe and Things Worth Knowing

Anyone who thought they were a true coffee connoisseur should definitely try Bulletproof Coffee in the morning. Coffee replaces breakfast and makes you fit. Here you can find out more about the effect and the exact recipe.

Trend drink “Bulletproof Coffee”

Opinions differ when it comes to enjoying coffee – everyone drinks their coffee differently and coffee lovers and baristas all over the world are still developing new creations of the stimulating beverage to this day.

In the USA, there has been a real hype about the new coffee drink in recent years. It is said to have numerous positive properties, such as the fact that Bulletproof Coffee provides a lot of energy and helps with weight loss. The self-proclaimed inventor of the recipe is Dave Asprey, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. According to his own reports, he came up with the idea for his Bulletproof Coffee while hiking in a mountain in Tibet, when he drank the usual tea with butter, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.

The effect of Bulletproof Coffee

The principle of “bulletproof coffee” is to combine caffeine and healthy fats to keep you fit and full for a long time. It works by dissolving a good knob of butter and high-quality oil in the Bulletproof Coffee instead of milk and sugar. Bulletproof Coffee is usually drunk in the morning and replaces a carbohydrate-rich breakfast as part of a diet plan. Fans of coffee creation swear that coffee alone keeps them fit and full for several hours in the morning.

Effect of Bulletproof Coffee:
Avoiding carbohydrates at breakfast stimulates the body to burn fat.
The high-quality fats serve as a source of energy.
The high caffeine and fat content keeps you full and fit for a long time.
However, there are still no scientific studies on Bulletproof Coffee.

Bulletproof Coffee: the recipe

To try the Bulletproof Coffee you only need a few ingredients and a good coffee blender or milk frother:
250ml high-quality organic coffee,
1-2 tablespoons organic butter,
1-2 tablespoons high-quality organic oil, such as coconut oil.
possibly sugar, stevia or agave syrup for sweetening.
Only use organic ingredients for the coffee to avoid pesticides and other pollutants. In addition, organic dairy products have a healthier ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

Make your own bulletproof coffee

First, put the butter and coconut oil in a cup.
Then pour the freshly brewed hot coffee over it.
Froth the coffee until a homogeneous liquid forms. The fat needs some time to spread.
Note: The Bulletproof Coffee tastes really good when fat and coffee are mixed together until creamy.

Prepare vegan bulletproof coffee

You can also enjoy Bulletproof Coffee vegan: When preparing it, simply replace the butter with one or two tablespoons of coconut milk or coconut butter from the organic market.

Tip: Try leaving out the sweetener in your Bulletproof Coffee. Like agave syrup and honey, sugar contains a lot of carbohydrates. Without the sweetener, your bulletproof coffee makes a good low-carb breakfast.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Tamarind: Worth Knowing About Taste and Effect

Tamarind is also known as sour date or Indian date and is extremely versatile. In our guide you will find many exciting facts about the taste and effects of tamarind.

Tamarinds are the fruits of the tamarind tree, which is believed to have originated in North Africa. Today, tamarind trees can also be found in Asia and South America. They bear red flowers, from which pods (also called pods) form between December and March. The tamarinds are about 5 to 20 centimeters long and have a brownish colour. Inside the ripe pods, next to the seeds, is the fruit pulp, which is also known as tamarind puree.

Tamarind contains many healthy ingredients

Tamarind mainly contains water, fiber and carbohydrates. In addition, 100g of tamarind contain around 11g of iron, i.e. around 75 percent of the recommended daily dose. This makes them particularly attractive for people who eat vegan or vegetarian food and therefore need other sources of iron than meat. In addition, tamarind contains calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D.

Tamarind has also been used as a remedy for thousands of years as it has a slightly laxative effect. But for this effect you have to eat them in larger quantities.

Tamarind: use and storage

Tamarind is mainly used in Asian and African dishes. For example, drinks, chutneys, curries and sauces are seasoned with it. There are two flavors of tamarind:
sweet Sour
very angry
Fresh tamarind is rarely found in this country, but tamarind paste is available in well-stocked supermarkets and Asian shops. We recommend that you use an organic product if possible. Because with spices from organic cultivation, among other things, the use of pesticides is avoided.

Preparation:
It is best to mix tamarind paste with a little warm water so that it dissolves well and you can then use it to flavor dishes or drinks.
Dried tamarind is usually available in blocks. Soak them in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes. For 200g of tamarind you need about 300ml of water. Then push the softened tamarind through a sieve. The resulting paste is now ready for use.
You can store finished tamarind paste in the refrigerator for several months after opening. If you buy dried tamarind, it will also keep for several months as long as you store it away from light and air. The homemade paste made from dried tamarind can be kept refrigerated for two to three days. But you can freeze them in portions, for example in stainless steel ice cube trays

Recipe idea: tamarind dip

You can easily make a dip out of tamarind. You need about 20 minutes for this. The dip goes great with vegetables, fresh bread or grilled food. You need the following ingredients:
1 onion,
2 cloves of garlic,
1 chili pepper,
1 piece of ginger (about 1 cm in size),
1 tbsp vegetable oil,
1 tbsp cane sugar,
2 tablespoons tamarind paste,
1 tbsp lemon juice.
We recommend that you source all ingredients in organic quality and as far as possible from the region. In this way you avoid unnecessary pesticides and superfluous transport routes. How to make the dip:
Peel the onion and the garlic cloves. Dice the onion and finely chop the garlic.
Chop the chilli with a sharp knife. If you don’t like it that spicy, half a chili pepper is of course enough. You can also remove the seeds from the chili before chopping it.
Also grate the ginger.
Then, heat the vegetable oil in a pan. Fry the onion in it for about two minutes, then add the garlic and chili and fry both for half a minute.
Now add ginger, sugar and tamarind paste to the pan.
Bring all the ingredients to the boil while stirring regularly and simmer for about three to five minutes.
Finally, season the dip with a little lemon juice.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Sugar Substitutes and Sweeteners: Differences and Facts Worth Knowing

Sugar substitutes and sweeteners replace sugar in many products. We explain the differences between the two terms and which substances are behind them.

Sugar substitutes – relatives of sugar

While table sugar (sucrose) contains 400 calories per 100 grams, most sugar substitutes only have 240 calories. However, most of them also have a lower sweetening power than sugar.
Particularly important for diabetics: sugar substitutes are metabolized independently of insulin – they only allow the blood sugar level to rise minimally.
Sugar causes tooth decay, it has a cariogenic effect. Sugar substitutes have little to no such effect.
As the name suggests, sugar substitutes can replace sugar in most products. Although they may have to be dosed higher, they otherwise behave very similarly.

Both sugar and sugar substitutes occur naturally in many plants. In the human body, sugar alcohols such as sorbitol are part of carbohydrate metabolism.

From erythritol to xylitol: Approved sugar substitutes

According to the consumer advice center, eight sugar substitutes are currently approved in the EU:
Xylitol (E 967): Also known as birch sugar, it is the only sugar substitute that has the same sweetening power as sugar and is effective against tooth decay.
Erythritol (E 968): The only sugar alcohol that has no calories.
Sorbitol (E 420): Often used as a humectant and bulking agent.
Mannitol (E 421)
Isomalt (E 953)
Lactitol (E 966)
Maltitol (E 965)
Polyglycitol syrup (E 964)
Note: Since 2014, according to the consumer advice center, products with sugar substitutes no longer have to state whether they are sugar substitutes or sweeteners. The indication “sweetener” is sufficient. However, the list of ingredients must contain the name or the E number of the substance used.

Why might it be interesting to know what kind of sugar substitute it is? Chemically speaking, sweeteners are very different from sugar substitutes.

Sweeteners: No carbs, but sweet

Unlike sugar substitutes, sweeteners are not closely related to sugar. The group of sweeteners includes very different and chemically complex substances. They have in common that they contain hardly any calories and, above all, have a much greater sweetening power than sugar. Stevia, for example, is 300 times sweeter than table sugar. That’s why, unlike sugar substitutes, you can’t just use sweeteners as sugar substitutes in baking.

Sugar substitutes: harmless to health?

According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), sugar substitutes may be used in food indefinitely. The EU does not have an “acceptable daily intake” (ADI) – i.e. no limit value for a tolerable maximum for the daily intake.

The only caveat: Sugar substitutes can cause bloating, diarrhea, and stomach pain because they’re difficult to digest. For this reason, products containing more than ten percent of a sugar substitute must bear the following notice: “Excessive consumption can have a laxative effect”. According to the Deutsche Apothekerzeitung, erythritol and xylitol are the most tolerable.

Otherwise, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) considers sugar substitutes to be harmless. In the EU, the institution is responsible, among other things, for checking the approval of additives. Since many ratings are very old (many date back to the 1980s), a new rating process is currently underway. By 2020, the sugar substitutes should also have been re-examined.

Sweeteners: Probably harmless, but only in moderation

There is an ADI (acceptable daily intake) for sweeteners. According to the BfR, scientists determine this in animal experiments: the animals are given enough of a sweetener until their body reacts to it. This dose is usually divided by 100 (a so-called “safety factor”) – this is then the ADI. This value is checked regularly, for example it was reduced for cyclamate in the early 2000s. The last sweetener reviewed by EFSA in 2013 is aspartame.

As the Deutsche Apothekerzeitung reports, high doses of sweeteners in animal experiments sometimes lead to complaints ranging from allergies to cancer. However, there is no evidence that these hazards in the context of ADI also exist in humans.

The EFSA and the BfR consider all sweeteners to be harmless in the specified daily maximum amounts. As already mentioned, however, the last reviews were a few years ago. For example, a year after the last assessment of aspartame, scientists found that the substance can cause changes in the intestinal flora. These in turn cause the blood sugar level to rise – apparently not only in animals but also in humans. Over time, this can lead to diabetes. So are sweeteners like aspartame not that safe after all? In order to clarify the question unequivocally, more meaningful studies are needed.

Important: In any case, according to the BfR, aspartame and aspartame-acesulfame salt are toxic for people suffering from the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria. The phenylalanine in aspartame is problematic. Therefore, products with aspartame must be labeled “contains a source of phenylalanine”.

How recommended are sugar substitutes and sweeteners?

Sugar substitutes are harmless to health, and so are sweeteners in moderation. But are they really recommended as a sugar substitute? According to the DAZ, scientists repeatedly discuss the question of whether sugar substitutes and sweeteners have an appetizing effect or reduce satiety. So far there is no clear answer.

Eating sugar substitutes doesn’t necessarily mean you’re consuming fewer calories. While their calorie density is lower than sugar, you’ll need to use more to get the same sweetening power. Exceptions are xylitol (same sweetening power) and erythritol (no calories).

Another problem is that people tend to eat more of something that doesn’t have sugar in it. Sugar-free foods are considered healthier, so you can theoretically eat more of them. But then you also quickly consume more calories. Sugar substitutes are therefore not ideal for losing weight.

One thing is clear: If you want to lead a life without sugar, neither sugar substitutes nor sweeteners can train you to lose your sweet tooth. You are more likely to achieve this with a permanent change in diet, in which you primarily use the natural sweetening power of fruit and vegetables.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Vanillin: Difference to Vanilla, Production and Worth Knowing

Vanillin is known to many people from baking with vanillin sugar. Here we explain the difference between vanillin and vanilla and between vanilla sugar and vanilla sugar.

Vanillin is a flavoring substance found in real vanilla beans. While vanillin is just one of many flavors found in vanilla, it accounts for the majority of the famous vanilla flavor. According to experts, however, it lacks the “bouquet”, the spectrum of different flavors of vanilla. Many people know from rum how multifaceted a bouquet can be. Here, too, connoisseurs speak of the bouquet.

Vanillin: Production of the vanilla alternative

through which he could artificially produce vanillin. With the help of the substance “Corniferins” from coniferous trees, the so-called “sugar splitting” gave it the tasteful vanilla-like aroma. Even today, conifers are an important source of vanillin.
In order to produce vanillin that does not come from real vanilla, “lignin” from spruce wood is usually used. Only rarely is vanillin based on eugenol in clove oil or guaiacol from guaiac trees.
100 kilograms of spruce wood provide about three kilograms of vanillin. Although the source of vanillin is natural, the extraction of vanillin is hardly more.
The necessary substance in spruce wood is obtained as a waste product during paper production by going through a so-called sulfite process. The flavoring produced here is also known as ethyl vanillin.

Flavoring substance vanillin: Many production possibilities

Obtaining it from clove oil is less problematic: the use of mold and bacteria produces the vanillin aroma from the ferulic acid in eugenol. However, this production is significantly more expensive and complex. Vanillin has also been extracted from cow dung and old newspaper.

In addition, vanillin can also be produced completely synthetically from petroleum or coal tar. Because of its carcinogenic properties, the EU severely restricted the use of coal tar.

The demand for real vanilla is too great to meet and vanilla production too difficult (more on this below). According to experts, we cannot avoid vanillin. Flavor expert Professor Ralf Berger advises that manufacturers should focus on biotechnologically produced vanillin (e.g. from clove oil) in the future. It can be produced with the help of living cells, bacteria and yeast fungi. For most foods, manufacturers isolate the basic ingredient vanillin anyway, according to the expert. It is therefore unnecessary to use “real” pods, as the flavoring is completely identical to the biotechnologically obtained substance.

Vanillin as an alternative to vanilla?

The vanilla plant itself (Vanilla planifolia) is a delicate orchid that is very susceptible to crop failures and tropical storms. This circumstance and the high crime rate are also the reason why small farmers in the main cultivation area (the island state of Madagascar) often have to fear for their livelihood. Since the plant is native to South America and lacks the hummingbirds and long-nosed insects that live there, farmers have to pollinate the flowers (40,000 for a kilo of vanilla) by hand. This work, the round-the-clock protection and the fermentation of the pods usually take whole months. A kilo of vanilla beans fetched around 600 euros in 2017. Because vanilla is so sensitive to natural conditions, it is a rarity. The peasants can demand large sums of money and still face the fear of theft and sometimes even murder.

Vanilla and vanillin: Help in the jungle of ingredients

What exactly is the difference between vanillin sugar and vanilla sugar? For real vanilla sugar, you need real vanilla beans. Vanillin sugar, on the other hand, is artificially produced. This is just sugar with an added vanillin flavor, which is mainly produced synthetically.

Vanilla: Vanilla is not a flavor, it is the spice with a “bouquet” of different flavors. If only vanilla is on the ingredient list – without any additional markers – then it’s real vanilla.
Bourbon vanilla: This label indicates particularly high-quality vanilla that comes exclusively from the Bourbon Islands (e.g. in La Réunion or Madagascar). Since these are the main growing areas for vanilla, most of the real vanilla comes from there.
Vanilla extract: Here the aroma is extracted with the help of ethanol and sugar and must be obtained 100 percent from the real vanilla pod. It contains a similar range of flavors as real vanilla.
Natural Vanilla Flavor: At least 95 percent must come from real vanilla, with the rest allowed to come from other sources for standardization.
Natural aroma: Although this is a natural source of the aroma, it is not the vanilla itself. For example, the aromas biotechnologically obtained from clove oil are meant.
Vanilla Flavor: If you only see the word “flavor” on product packaging, it’s a man-made substance from a non-natural source. What is meant are flavors from sulfite waste, petroleum or coal tar.
Many think that the black dots scraped out of the pod in pudding or ice cream indicate real vanilla. Unfortunately, these are often ground vanilla beans that have already been scraped out. These no longer contain a special vanilla flavor and are sold cheaply. So always check the list of ingredients for hidden flavors.

Keep Reading
By