# French Vanilla vs Vanilla **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724 "2000-01-29T15:30:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cards)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/1 "2000-01-29T15:30:00Z")
What makes some vanilla French? And why is it called French? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/2 "2000-01-29T15:53:00Z")
When the tongue is used, then… Oh, _vanilla_. Sorry. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/3 "2000-01-29T16:01:00Z")
iirc, french vanilla ice cream has either eggs or more eggs. (yeah, some kinds of ice cream have eggs.) i guess it’s called ‘french’ vanilla because the french cooks actually use that recipe or becaue they tend to use a lot of eggs in their cooking. what we think of as classic french cooking is really french country, or rural, cooking & eggs are naturally plentiful. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/4 "2000-01-29T16:02:00Z")
I belive that is might have something to do with egg whites… maybe yolks… or eggs in general, even? Yeah… Just a WAG… * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@Carl\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Berry)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/5 "2000-01-29T16:37:00Z")
(Rushing to the freezer) My current 1/2 gal. lists egg yokes. Hence much higher in chlestrol. * * * Zymurgist ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/6 "2000-01-29T19:12:00Z")
yeah, i’d say yolks. french vanilla always seems to be a little more yellow. * * * _what is essential is invisible to the eye -the fox_ ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/7 "2000-01-29T21:18:00Z")
It isn’t that the _vanilla_ is French, it’s that the product is a French recipe for the vanilla flavored item. E.g.: French Vanilla ice cream. The following site: [http://www.penzeys.com](http://www.penzeys.com) gives you considerable information about spices, including vanilla, as well as an opportunity to buy them from one of the leading retailers of quality spices in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/8 "2000-01-29T21:22:00Z")
> [@](#): > > It isn’t that the vanilla is French, it’s that the product is a French recipe for the vanilla flavored item. E.g.: French Vanilla ice cream. it doesn’t seem like anyone thought otherwise. * * * _what is essential is invisible to the eye -the fox_ ---
**Author:** ![special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/9 "2000-01-30T01:40:00Z")
duh. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/10 "2000-01-30T09:07:00Z")
I’ve seen “New York Vanilla” ice cream, what’s the deal with that? ---
**Author:** ![Phydeaux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Phydeaux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phydeaux)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/11 "2000-01-30T13:17:00Z")
I always thought French Vanilla was a flavor made up by the makers of liquid antacids. That’s where I see it a lot (not that I take a lot of antacids). I always got a mental picture of ten people sitting around a table sipping cups of this goop and determining it tasted like some kind of off-vanilla. Then they added the French to give it a flair. I have to find beter things to do with my time… * * * There are three kinds of people: Those who can count and those who can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/12 "2000-01-31T04:22:00Z")
To add to what other posters had said: Desserts made with “french vanilla” contain more eggs _and milk_ than “plain vanilla” desserts. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/13 "2000-01-31T05:33:00Z")
I always thought it was a marketing ploy. Personally, I think California sparkling wine is just as good as French champagne…but the pricing says the french version is better. Kind of like a German Chocolate Cake, why not just say, it’s a chocolate cake with more chocolate in it? Cuz it doesn’t sound as good 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/14 "2000-01-31T15:11:00Z")
I’ve never heard of “New York Vanilla” in the twenty years I’ve lived in this town. Is it some non-NYC thing, like the “New York steaks” you see on menus west of the Hudson, which we refer to as “shell steaks” ? BTW, I urge anyone with an interest in cooking to click DSY’s link. Penzey’s is awesome. I’ve been buying my spices from them for years, and their stuff just gets better and better. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/15 "2000-01-31T23:25:00Z")
French vanilla ice cream has eggs and the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean that you cook in the mixture, before you freeze it. Vanilla ice cream just has vanilla extract and doesn’t have to contain the eggs. ---
**Author:** ![putrid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@putrid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/putrid)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2000, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/16 "2000-02-01T00:22:00Z")
I haven’t got any handy but I always thought that New York was sort of halfway between French and plain vanilla. I think it was created in the Midwest just to annoy Ike. ---
**Author:** ![Bluepony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Bluepony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluepony)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2000, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/17 "2000-02-01T00:58:00Z")
Probably nothing more than a few drops of Yellow Dye #3 * * * “…send lawyers, guns, and money…” ``` Warren Zevon ``` ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/18 "2000-02-02T02:43:00Z")
In terms of ice cream flavors: “Vanilla” is any style of ice cream where the predominant flavor is vanilla (duh). “French vanilla” is a vanilla ice cream that contains eggs. You will occasionally see other flavors like French chocolate which also means the recipe contains eggs. “Philadelphia vanilla” is a vanilla ice cream that doesn’t contain eggs. Also, Philadelphia style ice creams traditionally use vanilla beans instead of vanilla extract and are therefore speckled with tiny black seeds. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/19 "2000-02-02T15:18:00Z")
As I was enjoying a tot of Ben & Jerry’s “World’s Best Vanilla” last night before I took off my bunny slippers and climbed into my trundle-bed, I recalled this thread and read the ingredient list. Sure enough, egg yolks are involved in the manufacture, hence the yummy rich flavor. Yet no mention of our beloved French comrades anywhere on the label. Are Ben & Jerry afraid that calling their stuff “French” will alienate Vermont-loving customers? * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2000, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-vanilla-vs-vanilla/6724/20 "2000-02-02T16:29:00Z")
Another thing about the naming: Some decades ago, retailers discovered that Americans are more prone to buy something that seems foreign. This gave rise to a number of new products, including the name Haagen Dazs (or however it’s spelled). I suspect the same is true of French vanilla and German chocolate cake: the foreign name helps sales.