Herbs, Spices and Herbalists - part 4: Vanilla ...

My mother for some reason hated vanilla … and never used it in cooking … now of course I’d like to know why – but that will have to wait til I’m in those higher regions of life beyond.

Vanilla Slice

Once I’d tasted a vanilla slice, or mille feuille, as a ‘greedy’ growing teenager – any chance for another piece was always taken up … or searched for.

The climbing vanilla orchid

I knew nothing about its history, or growth, or for that matter how to use it – as I’ve never been bothered … I can get my fix easily enough at the patisserie or here, more likely, the bakery.

Vanilla apparently is the second-most expensive spice after saffron … because growing the seed pods is labour intensive.  It has plenty of uses … in baking, perfume manufacture and aromatherapy.

It is another of those plants, a climbing orchid, originating in the humid forests of tropical America which was brought over by the Spanish after they had seen the Incas use it as flavouring in chocolate.

Vanilla mentioned in the Florentine Codex (c 1580)

Attempts to cultivate vanilla outside Central America proved futile because of the symbiotic relationship between the vanilla orchid and its natural pollinator, the local species of Melipona bee, was unknown.

The Melipone Bee

But, there’s always a ‘but’, in 1836, botanist Charles Francois Antoine Morren was drinking coffee on a patio in Veracruz, Mexico and noticed black bees flying around the vanilla flowers next to his table:  these were the social and stingless Melipone bees.

He watched as they would land and work their way under the flap inside the flower, transferring pollen in the process.  This Belgian botanist started hand pollination ... but it was a time consuming job … although its discovery showed that artificial pollination was possible …

Charles Morren

… to make matters somewhat more difficult the vanilla flower only lasts about one day, sometimes less, so growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers, a labour intensive task.

The ‘poor old’ Melipona bee is now only known for the honey it produces … the fact it was a symbiotic necessity to grow vanilla has, in Wikipedia, largely gone unnoticed …

Edmond Albius

Five years later, in 1841, Edmond Albius (1829 – 1880), a slave who lived on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, discovered, at the age of 12, a quicker way to pollinate the plant using a thin stick or blade of grass and a simple thumb gesture … leading to global cultivation.

Albius’ manual technique is still in use today … France, in 1848, outlawed slavery in its colonies … Albius became a domestic servant … with a sorry life ahead, dying in poverty.  He has at least been remembered though …

Unripe pods

The long yellow pods are picked unripe, fresh pods have no vanilla flavour … this develops only as a result of internal chemical activity (by enzymes) during a curing process.

Vainilla, or “little pod” as it was described only entered the English language in 1754, when the botanist Philip Miller (1691 – 1771) wrote about the genus in his Gardener’s Dictionary – he was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden.

Prior to that Hugh Morgan (1530 – 1613) is credited with the introduction of vanilla to England … Morgan was apothecary to Queen Elizabeth I.

Vanilla flower with its parts ...
see Wikipedia 

Formerly, vanilla was used in medicine, as a nerve stimulant and along with other spices had a reputation as an aphrodisiac.  It was also used for scenting tobacco.

Natural vanilla is expensive, reflecting the labour intensive production, while the synthetic form is widely used.  Make sure you’re getting the type you want and need …

Cornish Cream
Ice Cream cone

Now we know it as a flavouring … essential for ice-cream, vital in chocolate manufacture … an increasingly popular addition to savoury dishes, but is most lovingly used as a background flavour in desserts and liqueurs.

In 1874 it was one of the first flavours to be synthesised, using material from coniferous trees … today vanillin is extracted from many sources … and is used in a range of extracts and essences.  

Illustration of vanilla planifolia by
Matilda Smith (1854 - 1926)
from Curtis' Botanical magazine via Kew

Originally vanilla was purely used as an additional flavouring – now we know it is widely used in many processes – natural and artificial … and can be detected in sponges, custards … but remember check your source … vanillin can be produced synthetically from lignin, a natural polymer found in wood … and most synthetic vanillin is a by-product from the pulp used in papermaking …  

Want to eat less? … apparently if you smell a delicious whiff of rich vanilla extract before eating your meal … you might not eat so much … worth a try, I guess.

c/o Vanilla pods in various stages of curing in alcohol

So vanilla – that ubiquitous of aromas … has many applications … from tobacco to possibly quelling your appetite – with an interesting history … from its early unique start in Central America to its total global dominance in some form today.

The best vanilla essence is made by extracting crushed vanilla pods with alcohol … but cured vanilla pods may be used over and over again … even after flavouring custard … just wash and re-dry.  The easiest way though is to have vanilla sugar on hand … a pod left in some sugar …

Vanilla Victoria Sponge ... 

Some suggested recipes … apple crumble or pie with vanilla ice-cream or custard, vanilla with other fruits … bananas, cherries, berry fruits ... or as a baking spice: vanilla with clove … and I’m sure you have some others …

That is the second most expensive spice … but one we can’t seem to do without … now when do I get my next custard slice?

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories