BEAUTIFUL INTENSE FLAVORS ARE HAPPENING NOW

We tasting the beauty of intensity with some intensely flavored ingredients. Of course there’s chocolate and chili, but be sure to also check out the other more unusual intense flavors below.

1. TERSCHELLING SCHAPENKAAS

The sheep on the tiny island of Terschelling, in northern Holland, make intensely flavored milk. It makes an intensely flavored cheese, called Terschelling Schapenkaas. Aged for about 4 months, the cheese is semi-hard, with a natural crust. It has notes of caramel and fenugreek seeds, with a subtle nuttiness.

2. MICRO LEAVES

Tiny herbs, just past sprout stage, have an extremely intense flavor, given their size. Creative chefs are beginning to use them as exceptionally beautiful, genius little garnishes.

The herb micro leaves, including basil, amaranth, sunflower, parsley and pak choi, are cut when they are only 3 - 4 days old, to maximize their flavor, vitamin levels, and antioxidant qualities.

2BFresh Pearl Herbs herb micro leaves are grown under glass in Netanya, Israel.

3. KRIEK

Kriek means “cherry” in Finnish. It is also the Belgian name for an intensely flavored sour cherry beer. And it is on a rising trend in the craft beer world. Now more microbreweries are turning out sour cherry ales and lambics. Check out both Belgian and other international and domestic offerings.

Kriek is spontaneously fermented beer, brewed with whole cherries, including their pits. We are totally hooked.

4. BLACK CURRANT

Black Currants are known for their intense flavor. They are super fruits! They also pack an intense punch to your immune system, with 3 -4 times the amount of vitamin C as oranges.

5. WILD BLUEBERRIES

Wild Blueberries are intense and extremely complex in flavor. There are diverse varieties growing in the forests of North America and Europe. The wild berries have a higher skin-to-pulp ratio than their larger cultivated counterparts, contributing to their concentrated flavor profile, as well as their antioxidant content.

We love them in traditional blueberry recipes, like muffins and pancakes, but they are especially intriguing when paired with savory dishes, including meats, poultry and seafood.

6. FRAISES DES BOIS

Once you taste the intense flavors of fraises des bois, (aka wild strawberries or Alpine strawberries), you will never be able to love regular strawberries quite the same way again. The wild ones have exponentially turbo-charged strawberry flavors and aromas.

Several varieties of this wild berry (Fragaria vesca) have been growing in forests all over the world since prehistoric times, yet we still can’t figure out how to cultivate them. The wild berries are much tinier, more challenging to harvest, more expensive to buy, more perishable, and generally much more hassle but totally worth it all.

7. PINK OXHEART TOMATO

Pink Oxheart tomatoes are among the most intensely flavored varieties. We love their deeply fluted or lobed shapes and their exquisite color.

8. CHILI PEPPER

No surprise this made the intense flavor list. Capsaicin is what makes chillies hot. Heat is measured on a Scoville scale.

But a huge study, published recently in the British Medical Journal, found that a diet filled with spices - including chillies - was beneficial for health, resulting lower risk of death from cancer, coronary heart disease and diabetes.

9. MATCHA -- GREEN TEA ICE CREAM

There’s a battle on in Japan now to make the most intensely flavored green tea ice cream. Made with matcha, finely ground and powdered green tea, these ice creams range from the moderates we find in Western restaurants to the knock-you-over licks we get in Japan.

Nanaya is a gelato shop that claims to have the most intense matcha-flavored ice cream in the world. But you can select the matcha-level of intensity you prefer, from rankings 1-7.

10. CHOCOLATE

Why do so many of us have intense relationships with chocolate?

Perhaps it’s because cocoa contains over 20,000 bioactive components, all working together.  

INTENSE CRUNCH:  CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CAKE WITH GIANDUJA CRUNCH

Intense chocolate and intense crunch are the stars of this Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Gianduja Crunch, Thalia Ho, of Butter and Brioche.

Dive into 3 moist Kahlua-infused, deep dark chocolate hazelnut layers, frosted and filled with a smooth, intense Gianduja chocolate frosting -- topped with a heavenly Gianduja and hazelnut crunch.

Ho adapted this magnificent recipe from one by Molly Yeh, of My Name is Yeh. You can find the recipe here.

Read more about Beautiful Intensity, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including Find Beauty in Intensity Now and Nature Science Intensity and The Intensity of Color in Sparks & Refraction Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Astrid Van Wesenbeeck. Typical Dutch view. Terschelling, Holland.
2. Image: by Sander Wever. Wildpluksalade, schapenkaas , Granny Smith , hazelnoot en zwarte knoflook!
3. Image: Courtesy of 2BFresh. Pearl Herbs.
4. Image: Courtesy of Ommegang. Ommegang Rosetta.
5. Image: by storebukkebruse. Love Black Currants.
6. Image: Courtesy of Rainbow Farms. Wild Blueberry Fields.
7. Image: by Wplynn. Wild Blueberries.
8. Image: by Herman Pijpers. Still life with Wild Strawberries, by Adriaen Coorte.
9. Image: by Ivar Leidus. Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca).
10. Image: Courtesy of The Tomato Lady. Kosovo Pink Oxheart Tomato.
11. Image: by Erik Forsberg. Chili Pepper.
12. Image: by isaac'licious. Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream.
13. Image: Courtesy of Nanaya. Matcha ice cream.
14. Image: by Bobby Neptune for USAID's Development Credit Authority. Juanita with her Cocoa Bean.
15. Image: by Thalia Ho, of Butter and Brioche. Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Gianduja Crunch.
16. Image: by Thalia Ho, of Butter and Brioche. Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Gianduja Crunch.
17. Image: by MJ Klaver. Lamb. Terschelling, Holland.
18. Image: by BN App - Download now!
19. Image: by Pezibear. Black Currants.