How many times have you caught a whiff of your favorite buds and thought “it smells good enough to eat”? This is because our sense of smell and taste have close ties, so much in fact that if you lose the first, you’d lose the second.
Terpenes (molecules that give cannabis its aroma and flavor) in some strains are actually delicious. For example, that hint of pastries in the famous Girl Scout Cookies, or the refreshing floral hints from strains such as Lavender; they’re irresistible.
Why should I Use Terpenes for Cooking?
Just like there are certain spices that can modify the flavor of your dishes, such as oregano, black pepper etc., terpene profiles also produce unique aromas and flavors that can enhance and improve those found in the dish.
Cannabis strains have unique and special flavors that, if you know how to combine correctly, they can give dishes new, delicious twist.
Terpene profiles are exact representations of various cannabis strains, and they’re made using botanical terpenes in order to maintain the synergy intended by nature.
A clear example of this is the Plum Cake with Terpenes recipe that Chef Pier from Wake and Bakery Nais Barcelona shared with us. In this case, a Jamaican Dream profile was used to add sweet flavors and a hint of citrus and nuts that makes this cake quite special and innovative.
This is why some professionals that work in gastronomy, such as Chef Xavi Petit, have joined the group of professionals involved with this trend. Chef420grados, a culinary innovation enthusiast who is constantly in search of new tastebud experiences says the following, “Terpene profiles open a world of new flavors to explore that can enrich and diversify culinary dishes.”
Do Terpenes Produce Psychoactive Effects?
Make sure not to confuse using terpenes in cooking with cooking cannabis. When you add terpenes to dishes, you’re only using cannabis plants’ characteristic fragrance and flavor without adding any other elements such as cannabinoids, which produce psychoactive effects.
Therefore, the answer is NO, terpenes consumed via ingestion don’t produce the effect associated with cannabis.
However, it’s true that each terpene has certain effects known in aromatherapy.
Plus, when separated or in certain combination they can produce various benefits. For example, we know that Limonene produces a stimulating effect or Myrcene can be relaxing (without producing psychoactive effects like THC).
Are Terpenes Safe to Consume?
Cali Terpenes’ special food-grade terpenes are perfectly safe to consume. The process involved in making our terpenes is as follows:
- We grow cannabis strains (legally) and we do so using elite clones that provide the most renowned and acclaimed profiles.
- We extract the terpene profile from their flowers and analyze them in our labs.
- Once we have the profile (we focus on the terpenes in each plant and their concentration) we replicate it exactly by using botanical terpenes that are extracted from plants that aren’t cannabis.
This is how we guarantee that our terpenes don’t contain any trace elements of THC or other cannabinoids, nor any dilutants nor GMOs, heavy metals or other substances such as glycerin or Vitamin E acetate.
Our aromas are entirely legal.
Thanks to our wide catalogue of strain aroma profiles, we provide quite the range of flavors which open up a whole new world of tastes when cooking. A new world of aromas and flavors for combining with your favorite dishes.
Wake and Bakery: Cannabis Bakery in Barcelona
Chef Pier, the owner of the bakery and cake shop, Wake and Bakery Barcelona, knows the possibilities that cannabis terpene profiles have in the culinary world. In this particular case, we’re talking about desserts.
At Wake and Bakery they use all sorts of legal products obtained from or made using hemp: flour, seeds… Plus, some of their creations also contain terpenes, which make for unique and delicious flavors.
The chef himself has told us that there are still stigmas in Europe regarding cannabis plants, and, what’s more, people don’t know the difference between hemp and cannabis.
He’s told us that it’s not hard to get customers to try his delicious pastries, it’s hard to get them to understand that the material used comes from hemp and that the terpenes are just aromas, meaning that there’s no psychoactive effect involved.
Even then, the reaction from curious customers that decide to try his recipes is incredibly inspiring and gratifying; every bite that is enjoyed is another step towards cannabis normalization.
What do you think of Wake and Bakery’s amazing food creations? They look delicious, right? Leave a comment below if you have any thoughts or questions you need answered.
Until next time!
Cali Terpenes
