Sharing some of my favorite Aftertastes - Walnuts to Butterscotch

Walnuts & Butterscotch is Like the Perfect Marriage!

It is not an exaggeration to say that I have slightly overactive taste buds and a mind that obsesses over the smallest things. The natural cynicism and the love for food makes me a reasonable authority of sorts to share opinions about simple foods that we tend to ignore or just don't explore enough...one such food is walnuts and its small pool of companions. I have this obsession with keeping a log of things I taste, more of combine them and bite into them, and those that have a wonderful aftertaste tend to make a bigger dent in my mind. I feel the aftertaste aspect is largely ignored in contemporary food preparation that is too much about the aesthetics. There is no real aftertaste to savor after washing down a big, sauce-dripping burger with a cola? Yes, you might feel full to the brim but all things subtle and sacred, gastronomically, are lost! 

Food Journeys: Exploring More Aftertaste(s)

However, to appreciate the aftertaste you need to be a bit more restrained and curious. If you eat one item off the table after another chances are that the subtle aftertaste will become oblivious. You need to have a knack for picking-up upon the most humble, chanced-upon sorts of combinations to find which flavor lingers in the mouth and gives you a few minutes of receding but absolute pleasures. My most recent discovery that has quickly catapulted into being an all-time favorite is a big scoop of butterscotch ice-cream followed by a bit of a small piece of walnut, dry patted in coffee!

Synthetically Delivered Butterscotch is Not Good

Basic Supplies: You need to get authentic butterscotch flavored ice-cream. You need to eat a big scoop of thick, creamy ice-cream that contains those nut-like sprinkled stuff that is nice to bite and adds the uniqueness to butterscotch ice-cream. Not the stuff where the synthetic flavoring is so strong and the sugar i so overpowering that you cannot differentiate between the nutty bits and the milky stuff. Some manufacturers, including boutique brands that seem to advertise themselves as the educated or elite choice, tend to add something that tastes like coffee or liquid saucy chocolate and this is always not the best choice.

DIY Exploration: You want a subtle flavor, nothing more. Just about when you are through with the last drops of ice-cream moving down your throat, creating that thin coating, pick a piece of walnut, dab it in some coffee or cocoa powder and place it in your mouth. Take the time to slowly bite and crack the walnut and chew it all around inside the mouth. You need a dexterous tongue to do this. Walnut bits can be easily thrown around and tend to get lodged between the teeth and gums. You don't want to be bothered by these dental issues when trying to discover a fine flavor. The next 15 minutes or so are absolutely heavenly, i.e. if you know what a good aftertaste is about.