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Question??????

post #1 of 11
1/4/09 at 8:48am
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I have a question,,,, why do so many bakers have to to put cinnamon into every thing they bake, I notice in apple/ pear / fruit/ pie's/ buns/ what ever, there is always cinnamon in there, cinnamon buns yes I can see that, but don't you like to taste the freshness of the the fruit?.

Strange !!!!!!. Qahtan
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post #2 of 11
1/4/09 at 10:24am
I'm not a baker but I'm definitely a lover of baked goods. I love the flavor of cinammon with certain fruit, especially apples and pears. I have eaten many an apple pie without cinammon and I always always miss the cinammon. Sometimes I sprinkle cinammon on raw slices of apple and it's wonderful.

Cinammon by the way is extreeeeeeeeeeemely good for you, especially if you have diabetes. I don't know why but how often do we eat something that tastes good AND is good for us?
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post #3 of 11
1/4/09 at 2:48pm
Hi qahtan,
I guess it's a question of taste, first of all, and a cultural thing too. American baking uses a lot of cinnamon. Not all cuisines do. Italian cakes hardly ever have it. They don;t go for spices much in deserts, and are more likely to use clove or nutmeg in a salty dish than in a sweet, and, at least in rome, where i live, I hardly ever taste cinnamon though i think it is common in certain regions.

I wonder where the use of cinnamon comes fro9m from in american sweets. I imagine some immigrant group introduced apple pie with cinnamon aqnd other fruit deserts with it.
I can understand not liking it, it;s a strong taste, and i thnink it;s often overdone. But i love it in apple pie, sweet bread and some cookies and cakes.
With blueberry dishes (pie, syrup for pancakes, muffins) i think nutmeg enhances the flavor best.
In other cases, there;'s nothing like clove, probably my favorite aroma and if i could find a perfume based on clove i would wear it - it's esp good in spice cake and in pumpkin pie.
"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #4 of 11
1/4/09 at 7:47pm
Siduri, I put a couple of cloves in my bolognese sauce. I can give you the recipe if you like but try it and see.
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post #5 of 11
1/4/09 at 10:07pm
Obviously a personal preference thing, but I find that a hot apple pie with lots of spices has the sort of comforting taste and aroma that one with cleaner apple flavour lacks that is so satisfying in cold weather (sort of like a mulled apple cider). The hotel I work at doesn't use spices in their apple pies and I find that the filling is a little lacking.
"If it's chicken, chicken a la king. If it's fish, fish a la king. If it's turkey, fish a la king." -Bender
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post #6 of 11
1/5/09 at 12:13am
I can enjoy an apple pie tasting of butter and vanilla, actually. And there are apple pies that have a cream in them, which don;t need cinnamon, and in fact it would detract.

Koukouvagia, I use clove a little in cooking (that is, salty cooking - soups and stews) but it doesn;t have the same effect as in sweet. I've never made bolognese though, just plain meat sauce. I'll give it a try.
"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #7 of 11
1/5/09 at 5:27am
No dish regardless what it is should be overpowering in any one spice or herb. The finished product should be a blend of all. That is why many people say that'' Wow it taste better the second day'' It should not be a dominant taste but it should be like salt and enhancer. Some people just get carried away.
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post #8 of 11
1/5/09 at 12:51pm
Ed, what does that have to do with food tasting better the next day?
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post #9 of 11
1/5/09 at 2:34pm
Ed you beat me to it, I couldn't agree more, the apple pie should taste of apple and pastry, the spices should enhance but not overpower the dish. And of course the next day the flavours have had a chance to mingle and infuse or blend as you put it. Cinnamon is a lovely spice and usually is a background flavour, there are few dishes where it is dominant.
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post #10 of 11
1/6/09 at 3:57am
I totally agree with what Ed Said about no dish should be over powering in one taste or another. As for freshness, now this is just what I do with coulees, but when I make a berry coulee regardless of it being; strawberry, blueberry or blackberry; I usually start out cooking my berries down and making a simple syrup out of them. Then if you were to taste that syrup at this point, yes it would be sweet and some would even suggest that it would be ready for service; however I disagree. I want the taste of the berry fresh picked from the vine with that sweet yet tart taste, so what I do while my berries are reducing and becoming simple syrup; I make a balsamic reduction. After all, we all know that when you reduce balsamic it get sweeter yet still remains tart. The balsamic reduction, I make quite thick because once I add it to the berry simple syrup which can be a little on the watery side it will get the proper consistency. As far as the amount of balsamic reduction I add to the berry simple syrup all depends on the berry. Like I said before I want that sweet yet tart taste. Thank-You.
So many Flavors; So little time. Taste your way through life.
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post #11 of 11
1/6/09 at 8:20am
In answer to your question, Sometimes tasting of a dish at the time it is made brings out a domiinant herb or spice where-as refrig overnight lets the dish fully blend all the flavors together so all flavors seem to become equal. This is predominant in stews, goulashes etc. but applies to all in most cases
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