Ooh! I know this one! Benzaldehyde. It's one of the earliest artificial flavourings, used for almond as well as cherry. It's been around for so long that fake cherry has become an established, distinct taste with only a passing resemblance to cherry.
My top-drawer fact here is bananas. The Gros Michel banana was the reference for banana flavour before being wiped out by Panama Disease in the 1950s, which meant growers switched to the more hardy but less sweet Cavendish. As a result, synthetic banana tastes more like a real banana than a banana.
I can see I have uncovered a hidden seam of know-how. But can you explain why everyone else in my family eats bananas when they are still unripe, ie rock hard and slightly green?
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