The story of vanilla is one of conquests, travels over tropical seas and a slave boy’s clever idea.
Think vanilla and the first thing that pops into mind is vanilla ice cream. Liberally speckled and gently fragrant, vanilla is the perfect flavouring that enriches apple pies and chocolate cake. Almost all home cooks would reach for their bottle of vanilla flavouring as they cream their cake batter or turn out the cookie dough. But few would give a thought to the fact that after saffron, vanilla is the next most expensive spice in the world.
Its pedigree is impressive. Vanilla comes from the orchid family, which is the largest and oldest flowering plant in the world. And in this august family, vanilla is its only edible fruit. For one so rare, it is unsurprisingly fastidious and exacts a tribute from those who wish to consume it. Because vanilla is the most labour-intensive agricultural product in the world, thus also making it very expensive.
After it is planted, the vine cutting takes up to one and a half years to flower. Then it has to be carefully hand pollinated—there lies another story—and the pods left on the vine for another nine months. Once harvested by hand, the pods go through a long process of curing and drying.
They are first blanched in hot water, then placed in containers to sweat for up to two days. Then they go through a process of sunning in the day, and sweating at night, for anywhere between five and 15 days. Next, they are left in racks to dry slowly for up to a month. Finally they are bundled, then shipped to their final destinations. All in all, it takes about one year from flower to finish.
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