So, I woke up this morning and stumbled upon this crossword puzzle in the New York Times, right? The mini one. And there’s this clue, “Flavor similar to licorice,” that had me scratching my head. I mean, I’m not a huge fan of licorice, but it got me thinking, what else gives you that kind of taste? It is not just me who got stuck on that puzzle, right?
So, I started digging around a bit. I googled and looked through a bunch of articles about different flavors and stuff, even though I am not that guy who has a wide interest in flavors, but still. There were a couple of interesting leads.
- First, I found out that some folks are just genetically wired to taste things differently. Like, there’s this gene, TAS2R38, that can mess with your taste buds. How crazy is that?
- Then, there’s anise. Apparently, it’s the go-to answer for this kind of clue. I read that it’s often used in candies and stuff instead of actual licorice because it’s got a similar vibe, you know?
- And get this, fennel is another one. These plants apparently have a similar flavor profile to licorice.
- Also, I found that there are some other spices that kind of remind people of licorice, like turmeric and clove. They say these can balance out the sweetness and add some warmth.
So, after all this digging, I finally cracked the puzzle. The answer was, of course, “anise.” Honestly, I felt a little proud of myself for figuring it out, even though it’s just a silly crossword. But it’s cool how much you can learn from just one little clue, right? Like, I never knew about that gene thing before.
And you know, this whole thing got me thinking about how our taste preferences are such a mix of genetics and what we’re used to eating. I mean, if you’ve never had licorice, how would you even know what it tastes like? It’s all pretty wild when you stop and think about it.
Anyway, that was my little adventure for the day. It’s funny how a simple crossword can lead you down such an unexpected path.
