Vanilla

Vanilla is the most frequently used flavouring in the pastry kitchen - in fact, it is one of the most widely used flavours in the world. With its mellow accent that complements both sweet and savoury products, it is used in baked goods and confections in many parts of the world. 

The long, thin pod is the fruit of a small group of flowered, climbing tropical orchids native to Mexico, the West Indies, Central and South America, and Tahiti. There are more than 20,000 varieties of fruit-bering orchids in the world, and the vanilla bean is the only one that is edible. Most commercial vanilla comes from the Vanilla planifolia Andrews orchid. This particular type of orchid has only one natural pollinator, the melipone bee, and it was not until the intervention of science in the mid-1880s that commercial production was possible. Even now, pollination is still carried out by hand on family plantations.

Because it is labour-intensive and time-consuming to produce, pure vanilla is a very costly ingredient. The entire cultivation process, from planting to market, can take up to six years. For a start, each of the plant's blossoms only stay open for a day, which makes pollination more difficult.

Vanilla beans differ in chemical, physical, and organoleptic (affecting the sense) properties, depending upon their species, geographical source, and physical form (or grade). Each has a marked difference in aroma and taste having to do with the plant it came from, its maturity when picked, the curing method used, and the process used to obtain the extract.

In the next article, we will provide more information vanilla. Do stay with us...