[spoiledbroth]

Color is defined as an American word in the American-english dictionary. Carmel is not.

Derrrrp... You're right... Mt. Carmel??? Home of the original caramelized sugar??

 

[foodpump]

But caramel IS colour!

Take a look at the ingredient list on Coke (coca-cola) Caramel is listed as, I think, the last or second last ingredient.  It's burnt sugar, sugar cooked to black, and then water added. No dairy products added, I can guarantee that.  Add this to anything liquid and it will colour it darker.  Whisky (or is it whiskey?...) and rum distillers have been using this trick for centuries. 

 

[texasgrillchef]

Whiskey's colour comes from the burnt oak barrels that it is aged in.

SPICED dark rum does have caramelized sugar and other spices in it along with further colour coming from the oak barrels. Clear rum never is "Oaked" in the modem world. In the old world it was barrelled in non burnt oak barrels

I learned this when I toured the Jack Daniels plant in Lynchburg, and Bacardi Rums production facility in Puerto Rico.

 

[foodpump]

Ah.. that's the good stuff, J. Daniels and the like.  But it is true, many distillers add caramel to "darken" their booze, as does many soft drink companies.

 

[texasgrillchef]

Yes it is used in a lot of commercial production of many various food and drinks. Sometimes to even add flavor. Looking at soda cans etc... I have noticed that use Carmel, and some that say caramel.

I am glad though that they use this form of colouring over artificial. Although some do use the artificial kind as well.

Suffice it to say that the debate over Carmel and caramel will go on for many years to come!

I beleive that one of the biggest reasons for the confusion of carmel and caramel come from the use of the stuff in different areas of the world and difference in language. Which has a direct impact on styles of food.

Many things that are similar but make changes based on the region it has gone too. Clam chowder, (Boston or new england), bread pudding.

Language wise you have color and colour!

Is there a difference between color and colour? No, which is correct both. Just depends on if your using British English or American/Canadian English.

 

[Iceman]

LOL.

Is there a difference between >?

YES, most definitely YES. ... As long as you've got issues.

 

[gema]

Carmel |kärˈmel|a city in west central California, a resort on the Pacific Ocean, south ofMonterey; pop. 3,886 (est. 2008).Carmel, Mount |ˈkärməl|a group of mountains near the Mediterranean coast in northwestern Israelthat shelter the port of Haifa. In the Bible it is the site of the defeat of the priests of Baal by the prophet Elijah (I Kings 18).

caramel |ˈkarəməl, -ˌmel, ˈkärməl|nounsugar or syrup heated until it turns brown, used as a flavoring or coloring forfood or drink: an apple dipped in caramel | [ as modifier ] : caramel ice cream.• the light brown color of this substance: the liquid turns a pale caramel | [ asmodifier ] : a caramel sweater.• a soft candy made with sugar and butter that have been melted and further heated.ORIGIN early 18th cent.: from French, from Spanish caramelo .

Just saying……….

 

[foodpump]

Yeah, but  is that widipedia's description?  For most people, they don't know any other type of a dictionary, and an encyclopedia is as obsolete (and unknown)  as a dial-up phone.

 

[jessica schmidt]

You know what, I've always said carmel instead of the more lugubrious (and to me, pretentious-sounding) caramel, but I'm willing to put up with others' correct pronunciation of the word. But carmels are delicious no matter what you call them. 

 

[kitkat24180]

That is correct.

 

[denise evans]

"Carmel" is an alternate/regional pronunciation of Caramel - but it should ALWAYS be spelled caramel when speaking of the candy.  

In the recipes I'm familiar with, Butterscotch is usually brown sugar melted with butter, but left liquidy and soft as a sauce or cooked to the hard candy stage and "scotched" (scored) to make it easier to break.  

Caramel is white sugar and butter, slowly caramelized in an iron skillet then mixed with heavy cream and cooked to a soft candy stage to make it chewy and wonderful. 

 

[joyfulolivia]

Isn't butter + sugar just butterscotch?

Caramel is toasted sugar?

 

[bgrimsle]

There was an earlier post with wrong information about aluminum vs. aluminium. Nobody in the US "spelled it wrong" or anything like that. The original name of this substance was aluminum, the way Americans spell and pronounce it to this day. Someone in England thought a few years after the substance was named that it should be changed, to match some other elements that end in "ium" instead of "um", to try to achieve some sort of consistency, ignoring "platinum" which also ends in "um". Reaction in the US was this made little sense, and we kept the original word.

 

[Deble]

I heard that Carmel is a brand name, and caramel is the food name (e.g. Jif is a brand name, peanut butter is the food name).

 

[french fries]

I heard that Carmel is a brand name

Correct. Actually it's Camel. It's a brand of cigarettes.

 

[foodpump]

I used to have a t-shirt that said “9 out of 10 men who try Camels prefer women”...

 

[french fries]

I used to have a t-shirt that said "9 out of 10 men who try Camels prefer women"...

I want that shirt!!!! :rofl:

 

[LAButterbean]

Okay folks- I'm here to set the record straight about the difference between CARMEL & CARAMEL. After finding the internet has consistently posted incorrect descriptions about the two words I am here as a 32 year professional Pastry Chef to inform curious minds that the word CARMEL is burnt sugar. The process of a using a dry skillet or by adding water to achieve CARMEL are both a technically correct process. However, after adding dairy to CarMel; (typically cream, butter, evaporated milk, goat milk, creme fraiche etc...) you now have CarAmel. This is the technically correct difference between CarMel and CarAmel. Ie: CarmElized sugar vs. CarAmel apples or CarAmel sauce.

 

[french fries]

Okay folks- I'm here to set the record straight about the difference between CARMEL & CARAMEL. After finding the internet has consistently posted incorrect descriptions about the two words I am here as a 32 year professional Pastry Chef to inform curious minds that the word CARMEL is burnt sugar. The process of a using a dry skillet or by adding water to achieve CARMEL are both a technically correct process. However, after adding dairy to CarMel; (typically cream, butter, evaporated milk, goat milk, creme fraiche etc...) you now have CarAmel. This is the technically correct difference between CarMel and CarAmel. Ie: CarmElized sugar vs. CarAmel apples or CarAmel sauce.

Complete nonsense.

 

[foodpump]

It’s caramel. There is only one English speaking country that pronounces it carmel and they also pronounce zed as zee, ruf as roof, warsh as wash, grosheries as groceries and acrosst as across