Recipes

[MissButtercup]

Has anyone else tried real vanilla extract from Mexico and loved it? My friend went to Mexico last month and brought back some for me after I did some research on it and it is so wonderful! It adds almost floral undertones and it is so rich and full bodied. I've tried so many diff vanillas over the years and even made my own extract using beans but this stuff is definitely different. I normally hate coffee but I put it in some coffee and I actually liked the coffee with that in it. I was sure to research and make sure the brand was safe after reading all about how super cheap vanilla in Mexico sold to tourists is usually totally fake or even toxic if coumarin is used in it. They don't have the same standards our FDA does and a lot of it is very bad for you. The brand he got me got good reports and I just ordered another one that I'm sure is safe as well. This really made a huge difference in my oatmeal and yogurt as well. It's a bit different from our reg vanilla extract in that it has less alcohol and sometimes it has sweetener in it to round it out so you can use it in things that you're not baking because you don't need heat to bake out the alcohol in it. I'm hooked! I saw another brand on a Mexican cooking show on PBS and I just ordered that online too after searching all over for it and finding a website to order from. That stuff was nearly impossible to find anywhere. I cannot wait to get it in the mail!