Chewing gum is one of the oldest candies known to mankind. In fact, archeologists have discovered evidence of gum from prehistoric times. While gum chewing as a practice has endured the test of time, individual flavors of gum have extremely variable timelines. Some gum flavor lasts longer than others, or at least seems to.
An important aspect of gum flavor perception is actually the sweetness factor. Our brain cannot always distinguish between the signal for sweetness and the signal for a flavor. So, long lingering sweetness can prolong the perception of flavor. Gum can be made with either sugars or artificial sweeteners and typically, artificially sweetened gum maintains sweetness longer than sugary gum thus seeming to prolong flavor retention.
The type of flavoring used also determines the strength and length of gum flavor. Flavor chemicals each have a unique volatilization temperature that causes the flavor to dissipate. Usually fruity flavors volatilize at much lower temperatures than mint flavors, which is why these flavors loss potency most quickly. Other factors can also influence flavor duration. Flavors can be encapsulated or crystallized leading to increased chew-life.
Don’t believe me? You probably shouldn’t, as good scientists need to be skeptical. Answer your gum flavor questions yourself via simple experimentation. Select five of your favorite gums and at least three of your favorite friends (for statistical significance). Randomize the gum order and administer the gum in a double-blind fashion by having one person code the gum and another person distribute the coded samples. Chew until the flavor disappearance is observed and record the flavor length of each coded sample. Your results will leave you something to chew on.
Loyal readers know that I am a big fan of incorporating cocoa and chocolate into savory cooking. My husband and I served chocolate dusted scallops as a starter and chili and cocoa-rubbed flank steak as an entrée at our wedding back in May. When we grill red meat or pork, we often use cocoa in the marinade or as a dry rub. Until recently, I took the easy way out and purchased pre-made cocoa rubs, but the source of those rubs seems to have gone out of business.
Thankfully, it’s really easy to make your own … and the bonus is that they make great gifts for the holidays and you can make them in advance. Before you make your rub, buy some air tight spice containers like these magnetic tins.
If you start with fresh spices, the rub should last about 6 months before it starts to lose its flavor.
Here’s the recipe:
Cocoa and Chili Spice Rub
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
3 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
This recipe makes about a cup of rub, so adjust accordingly. When it’s time to use your rub, the ratio is about 3 tablespoons per pound of meat (I tend to use a little more – it gets a little crunchy in an extremely pleasant way on the grill).
As a little bonus treat for Candy Dish blog readers, I made a label that you can stick on your containers to label the spicy goodness contained within. Print the PDF of the labels on a full size label sheet, trim with scissors or a paper cutter, and affix to your spice jars.
Steak … on the Grill by Another Pint Please
You have not yet met Marc. He is our trusty and loyal intern from American University and he is basically here to do my bidding. At least, that is how I have been treating him. His first day, I gave him some tall boots and a shovel and told him to go hose down the oompa loompas and clean out their pens. Eventually he did well enough with all the menial tasks that we let him help write a blog post.
While shopping at drug stores such as Rite Aid, Walgreens or CVS, you’ll often see name brand products competing with store brand “bargain” products. Today while shopping at CVS, I saw Brach’s Candy Corn sitting on the shelf next to the “premium quality” bargain brand CVS Candy Corn.
Usually, the draw of these CVS brand products is the budget price that accompanies them. When I picked up both off of the shelf to learn the differences between the two products, I was surprised by what I saw. I realized that the Brach’s and CVS brand Candy Corn were the same price. Not only were the costs identical, but the CVS Candy Corn was packaged in a 6 oz. bag, while the name brand was packaged in a 9 oz. bag. The roles were reversed – CVS was charging over a nickel more per ounce for their knockoff.
A good intern, Marc brought the candy corn back to the office and we sampled it both brands. They were definitely different, which really surprised me. They both had that great candy corn flavor, but had slightly different consistencies and very different overtones.
I liked them both but I can easily see someone preferring one brand over the other. For those who like the store brand – the one that you might expect to be a more cost effective choice – you have to wonder if it’s really 50% better. Can flavor enjoyment be quantified that way? The price being low all around, the cost difference per volume does not really matter for most people, but it makes me think of value and flavor enjoyment. Something like wine, for example – do you enjoy a $45 bottle of wine 50% more than you enjoy a $30 bottle of wine? I will have to consult Reggie, who is our resident wine lover.
Have you found your favorite candy corn brand yet?
Candy Corn Flower by FCivelloPhotography.
If you were up really early yesterday morning, you may have seen the CBS Sunday Morning feature on the Future of Candy, part of the Tomorrow Show series with Mo Rocca (who I love on NPR’s Wait, Wait – Don’t Tell Me). In the event that you like to spend Sunday morning sleeping in, or getting ready for Sunday football, you can watch the segment on the CBS Web site.
Go ahead, watch it. We’ll wait.
Regular readers of the Candy Dish blog have already heard most of what was discussed including the importance of flavors, the trend toward savory and the influence of global cultures on American candy.
A student at Resident Course pours hot candy into moulds
NCA provided some of the background used to put together that story and if you watch the first half of the segment very carefully you’ll see a few shots from our Resident Course in Confectionery Technology, which we affectionately call Candy School.
That’s right. I said Candy School. Sorry, the course is not open the public … but if it were, would you sign up? What would you contribute to the future of candy?
