Secret Ingredient: Difference between revisions
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This is a sister trope to [[And Some Other Stuff]] (when the secret ingredient is [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosive]] rather than tasty). For unappealing versions, see [[I Ate What?]] and [[The Secret of Long Pork Pies]].
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In a [[Donald Duck]] comic book story, he insisted on putting ketchup on all of Daisy's cooking, much to her annoyance, because it just didn't taste as good as Grandma Duck's food. When Daisy checks with Grandma, it turns out the old lady's secret ingredient is...ketchup, which she puts in everything.
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* ''[[Superman]] - [[Last Son of Krypton]]''. Clark Kent makes a bet with his rival Steve Lombard that his mother's (Mrs. Kent's) soft drink was the best drink ever. While on the planet Oric, he obtains a spice so powerful that a drop of it added to his mother's drink would make it irresistible to the human palate.
== [[Live
* ''[[Cake Boss]]'': Buddy has ordered the cameraman to stop filming a couple times, so Buddy can add a secret ingredient without the show's viewers learning what it is.
* On ''[[Angel]]'', Angel once drinks a cup of blood with an unusual taste. He's told "the secret ingredient is otter."
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Played with in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' during the following skit where Yuri talks about his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wLjrwPgyD0 "secret ingredient"]. But gets averted hard by Rita's skit, when she threatens to use her own [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1PaXlDjy5U secret ingredient!]
* In the Korean Folktown arc in ''[[Maple Story]]'', one part sees the town's baker - who makes ''excellent'' rice cakes, even though her grandson refuses to eat them - troubled by a mean Hogul (sort of a tiger-man [[Yokai]]) who threatens to eat her unless she gives him all the cakes. (He's been possessed by the [[Clingy MacGuffin| Stone of Gluttony]].) The player tries using the [[Radish Cure]] treatment - as in, giving him rice cakes until he gets sick, and hopefully vomits up the Stone - but this makes him want more and more. Finally, the baker has to make more cakes before he'll go away, and it's revealed what the "secret" is: not only does she not wash her hands before baking, she's ''never'' washed them at all. (This is why her grandson won't eat them.) It does the job, making the Hogul sick enough to purge the Stone, but the baker and her grandson have to relocate once the secret gets out.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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** Marge's secret ingredient for pork chops is salt.
** The secret ingredient for making a Flaming Homer cocktail is "Krusty Brand Non-Narkotik Kough Syrup".
** The "secret sauce" at the Krustyburger has no secret ingredient, its actually mayonnaise that's been left out in the sun all day. [[Squick|(Yuck.)]]
** The Gulp n Blow also has "secret sauce" and you need at least some seniority to even know what's in it - possibly best left to the imagination.
* Plankton's schemes in ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' revolve entirely around discovering the secret ingredient of the Krabby Patty at business rival Mr. Krabs' The Krusty Krab. At one point (after overtaking the restaurant with the help of his millions of hillbilly brethren), Plankton finds out that the secret ingredient is actual plankton ([[Go Mad from the Revelation|Plankton and his family do not take the news well]]), but Mr. Krabs reveals that it wasn't the real secret ingredient, [[Crazy Prepared|just a fake one used to dupe Plankton]]. Another episode involves the entire restaurant going into lockdown as the secret ingredient is air-lifted in.
* When [[Johnny Bravo]] wins a trip to the factory where they make Jake's Jerky, he sees his friend disappear into the vat labeled "Secret Ingredient," not realizing that his friend was only investigating it for himself. He then bursts into a press conference shouting, [[Soylent Green|"Jake's Jerky is people!"]]
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* [[Truth in Television]]. Just a pinch of the right herb or spice can work wonders on a meal, it's no surprise some may want to monopolize on it. However, usually the secret ingredient will be something simple, like a dash of herbs de provence, or a bit of lavender, rather than something exotic. Since the average consumer has an exaggerated impression of the secrecy, however, a company can deny revelations by spiteful former insiders or an attention seeker who just happens to get it right.
* KFC's "eleven herbs and spices" (which, for the record, are ground oregano, chili powder, ground sage, basil, marjoram, pepper, salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and monosodium glutamate).
** In 2016, [https://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/ct-kfc-recipe-revealed-20160818-story.html the ''Chicago Tribune'' published a recipe] acquired from Joe Ledington, the nephew of Colonel Harland Sanders, in which the infamous eleven are salt, thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt, black pepper, dried mustard, paprika, garlic salt, ground ginger and white pepper. According to Ledington, the real Secret Ingredient is the white pepper, mainly because when the recipe was first concocted no one knew what it was or how to use it. The ''Tribune'' [https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/recipes/ct-kfc-recipe-test-20160818-story.html put the recipe to the test], and with the addition of MSG confirmed the recipe produced chicken whose flavor was indistinguishable from KFC's "classic" recipe.
* [[w:Coca-Cola formula|The "secret formula" for Coca-Cola]] is only secret so far as the exact proportions of the ingredients and the precise selection of certain minor trace flavors are concerned. Every grocery chain knows enough about what makes up the basic cola flavor (citrus oils, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and phosphoric and/or citric acids) to create its own house brand, after all. However, whether for intellectual property or marketing reasons, the Coca-Cola company enforces this trope on its regional bottling companies by selling them the ingredients as nine different unidentified "Merchandises" which are then mixed together according to special instructions provided by the company. The first four Merchandises are known -- they are sugar (or high-fructose corn syrup, depending on the location), caramel coloring, caffeine and phosphoric acid, in order. The exact identities of Merchandises 5 through 9 are still uncertain, especially the infamous "Merchandise 7X", which is believed to be a mix of essential oils specific to the flavor of Coca-Cola.
* Cooking show chef Emeril always adds a dash of "essence". Bam! However, given how Emeril Lagasse has [https://web.archive.org/web/20111227230616/http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-creole-seasoning-essence-recipe3/index.html made the recipe for "essence" publicly available], this is less a Secret Ingredient and more a Trademark Ingredient.
* Despite jokes made on comedy-oriented shows, the special sauce [[McDonald's]] uses [[Subverted Trope| has ''never'' been secret]]. Neither is it simply Thousand Island dressing, a common rumor. It is made of ketchup, sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard, onion and vinegar.
* Another old (since 1930 in fact) rumor is that Dr. Pepper's secret ingredient is prune juice. Although the exact recipe is not public, [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/belle-pepper/ this is not true.]
* According to the book ''Big Secrets'' by William Poundstone, the Secret Ingredient in at least some of the Mrs. Fields Cookies varieties was ''milk'', which is almost never used in cookies. Poundstone and the food scientists he employed came to the conclusion that the milk combined with the standard cookie ingredients resulted in a dough that when baked became partly fudge.
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