Oceanwatcher
Assistant Cook
Here in Brazil it is almost impossible to get hold of the real thing. I have brought some real vanilla (pods?) with me from Norway and I am saving them for a special occasion. And after use, I put them in a box of sugar. But..
In daily use, I have been using some artificial vanilla "sugar" (powder) that I also brought from Norway. Cheap and effective for many uses, but of course not when you want to make icecream or caramel pudding.
The problem now is that I am running out of this and have to start using vanilla essense. Yes, I know, another syntetic problem. My problem though is to figure out how much to use of this compared to the powder version I am used to?
Real vanilla is extremely expensive here. And if you can find it, most likely, the quality is bad. I found some in a shop in Sao Paulo, but it was very dry. Not something I wanted to pay for. I asked a local shop where I live for vanilla and the guy laughed at me. Waaaaaay too expensive to stock even a few of.
I will still search for a good place in Sao Paulo to buy it. The city has about 20 mill people, so there is a good chance that there is a shop somewhere that has it But in the mean time, I have to learn how to use the essense... My recipes use the powder.
In daily use, I have been using some artificial vanilla "sugar" (powder) that I also brought from Norway. Cheap and effective for many uses, but of course not when you want to make icecream or caramel pudding.
The problem now is that I am running out of this and have to start using vanilla essense. Yes, I know, another syntetic problem. My problem though is to figure out how much to use of this compared to the powder version I am used to?
Real vanilla is extremely expensive here. And if you can find it, most likely, the quality is bad. I found some in a shop in Sao Paulo, but it was very dry. Not something I wanted to pay for. I asked a local shop where I live for vanilla and the guy laughed at me. Waaaaaay too expensive to stock even a few of.
I will still search for a good place in Sao Paulo to buy it. The city has about 20 mill people, so there is a good chance that there is a shop somewhere that has it But in the mean time, I have to learn how to use the essense... My recipes use the powder.