The same reason you eat a sausage with mustard or ketchup.

But mustard and ketchup are not the exact opposite of sausage.

According to Wurstmann’s Wurstgleichung they are.

I’ll answer your question with a question: what are you “aiming for when we make fudge…”?

You want to make a sweet confection; to that end you make it with sugar, butter, and a bit of vanilla. The vanilla takes the ahrshness off the chocolate.

Other than kids choosing ice creams, where did you contrive that chocolate and vanilla are “exact opposites”?

Chocolate and vanilla aren’t opposites. The two flavors are different, and they complement nicely.

Zen answered but yeah, it calms the bitterness of the chocolate.

Interesting.

Because it’s awesome.

Yeah, balances the flavor and makes it not so harsh. When I worked at Starbucks the recipe for hot chocolate was pumps of mocha with a pump or two of vanilla.

Apparently adding vanilla to chocolate concoctions is a sore subject for some people. ;-o

I prefer Bourbon in Chocolate.

I like cherries in chocolate.