There are many things that are flavored like something, but don't actually contain any extract from the actual thing. I don't think you should focus on truffle oil. This sort of thing is all around you, with many types of food.
Often times, the molecules used to flavor these foods are a major component of a flavor of a given fruit, vegetable, nuts, or fungus. However, it is sometimes cheaper to produce them synthetically rather than extract them. In many cases the stuff used to flavor the food was never in the thing whose flavor is being imitated.
It's great to be aware that there is an industry in making things that taste like other things. If you walk down your supermarket isle and pay attention, you will notice that many things are not what they seem. You will first feel surprised, maybe cheated, and perhaps angry.
Is truffle oil with truffles a scam? I don't know. I was certainly fooled once.
I now try to pay attention to these types of things more. Things flavored with actual extracts tend to cost more and are harder to find. However, with many things, once you taste the real thing, you will notice that the fake stuff is off. Often times, the synthetically flavored food taste flat, sometimes chemically, and fake.
Don't get angry. Get educated, spread the knowledge, and pay attention to what you eat!
The problem with truffle oil is that it smells like gasoline, not that it's synthetic. It smells nothing like truffles. And it can't be made any better since the compounds that give truffles their complex signature are not soluble in oil.
There's a resemblance between rubbing alcohol filtered through bread and bourbon, just like there's a resemblance between truffle oil and real truffles, but the comparison is really apt. Even though there's some resemblance, it's nothing alike, and it's really bad.
Why do I have to be angry? Is it not possible to appreciate that more things now taste like vanilla, which is quite expensive when extracted using traditional methods?
Often times, the molecules used to flavor these foods are a major component of a flavor of a given fruit, vegetable, nuts, or fungus. However, it is sometimes cheaper to produce them synthetically rather than extract them. In many cases the stuff used to flavor the food was never in the thing whose flavor is being imitated.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoamyl_acetate is used to imbue a banana flavor.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzaldehyde gives you an almond flavor
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanillin is pretty much what you get in most vanilla-flavored things
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-Dithiapentane is used to make truffle-flavored oil
The list goes on and on.
It's great to be aware that there is an industry in making things that taste like other things. If you walk down your supermarket isle and pay attention, you will notice that many things are not what they seem. You will first feel surprised, maybe cheated, and perhaps angry.
Is truffle oil with truffles a scam? I don't know. I was certainly fooled once.
I now try to pay attention to these types of things more. Things flavored with actual extracts tend to cost more and are harder to find. However, with many things, once you taste the real thing, you will notice that the fake stuff is off. Often times, the synthetically flavored food taste flat, sometimes chemically, and fake.
Don't get angry. Get educated, spread the knowledge, and pay attention to what you eat!