Originally known as root tea, it was indeed derived from a folk medicine.
I associate it with Listerine and bubblegum, neither of which says ‘refreshing drink’ to me.
That makes some sense. Listerine has methyl salicylate in it, and wintergreen flavor is synthetically made from that. Bubblegum can have wintergreen in it, but the ones I’m used to hear in the US are fruity, not wintergreen-y. To be honest, I don’t taste the wintergreen strongly in root beer, as I must be inured to it. I taste more the sassafras and hints of vanilla. But it’s certainly there and a big component of it. It’s similar to how people outside the US can often taste the soured milk in Hershey’s Milk chocolate (via the butyric acid), while Americans don’t notice it at all. Hell, I never noticed it until I lived abroad for five years and came back to the US and tasted a Hershey’s bar for the first time in that time. I was like, “Why does this literally have the aftertaste of vomit?”
And there are plenty of Indian and Middle Eastern desserts that use rose water and orange flower water.
For example, Turkish Delight/Loukoumi. Or is this not a thing in the US?
j
Or not. Two days before Xmas, and Nymans was so busy they closed the carpark and turned people away. In a fit of pique I went to a local Polish store and bought some sour cherry jam. I may have some for breakfast tomorrow.
j
Not much of a thing. I suspect that to the extent that Turkish Delight is even known in the U.S., it’s at least partially due to its appearance in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (both the novel, and the movie adaptation).
Well there you go - ignorance fought! Thank you.
j
Lavender probably deserves to be used more than it is. It’s a member of the best-represented family for culinary herbs (Lamiaceae - formerly Labiatae) - which contains sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, lemon balm, oregano and quite a few other aromatic culinary herbs.
Yeah, i was in my 30s before i tried it, and all i could think was, "Edmund sold his soul for this‽” Rose smells okay, but i don’t want to eat it. And I’ve tried Turkish delight a few more times, thinking that maybe i just didn’t have good Turkish delight. But i think i have, now. And I’ll be perfectly happy to never have it again.
Lavender has more potential than rose, but when i was a kid, my grandmother’s guest bedroom had lavender scented soap. And the smell was so overwhelming that i hated it. I’m still not wild about lavender. But i recognize that it’s a “me” thing, and the flavor is basically decent to go with many foods.
Canada has (had?) the rosewater-flavoured Thrills chewing gum, which advertises itself with the motto “It still tastes like soap!”
Tell you what, when we were in Türkiye, there was rose petal jam out for breakfast. It looked too runny to put on bread, so I had it with Turkish yogurt. Bloody marvelous!
j
ETA - mention of jam gets us back at least close to the nominal subject matter of this thread. Happy to be of service!
(Though I am, of course, guilty as charged.)
Yeah, I know what you mean. Lavender has a very strong soap/perfume association for me. I love rose as a flavour as I spent part of my childhood in Cyprus. I actually love Turkish delight/lokoumi, although I don’t often eat it these days because it’s so sugary
I’ve lived in Germany for three years and the last 19 in England. Grape jelly/jam is not a thing. Even grape juice is hard to find. Costco was selling that peanut butter/grape jelly combo a while back, but my kids (born/raised abroad) weren’t all that in to it here.
The equivalent here would be blackcurrant- both juice and jam.
Covered, of course, by XKCD.
Mouseover: I take it Narnia doesn’t have Cinnabons? Because if you can magic up a plate of those, I’ll betray whoever.
Ever have tarkhun? The flavor is vaguely like root beer, but I find it to be more medicinal.
Nope. Tarragon, though … I am both intrigued and appalled.
It doesn’t taste bad, at least at first. But after a while, the flavor catches up with you. It’s best served chilled and over ice.
We also had a whole thread on this a few years ago
I love black currant juice and jam and wish it was more prevalent here. What few items I can find are usually too sweet for me.