(It doesn’t help that it’s primarily produced in Madagascar.)įirst, to get the fruit to grow, most vanilla is hand-pollinated. Harvesting vanilla is an extremely labor-intensive process, which is one reason why it’s the second most expensive spice in the world, right behind saffron. You can find it in all sorts of foods like ice cream and yogurt and even non-food items like candles and deodorants. Vanilla has a distinctive aromatic scent and flavor, making it the most popular flavoring in the world. Today, 80% of the world’s commercially available vanilla comes from Madagascar. The plant originated throughout Mexico and Central America however, thanks to advancements in artificial pollination, there are now several different species that are grown worldwide. This makes the vanilla look like a long, black bean, which is often depicted in commercial images of vanilla flavoring. When the fruit grows on the plant, it is fat and green (like a bean) but it has to go through a curing process before it can be turned into the flavoring.
The “bean” is actually a fruit that grows on the plant after pollination. We commonly see things flavored with vanilla called “vanilla bean,” but this is a misnomer. Vanilla is technically a spice that comes from the orchids of a vanilla plant. I always just assumed that vanilla extract was in everything vanilla-flavored, but the reality is a lot more complex than that and also, maybe, involves a beaver’s butt? Where does vanilla flavor come from? The little vial of pungent liquid felt like part of a chemistry experiment and, as a little freak child, I loved taking a big whiff of the stuff.
One of my favorite parts of baking Christmas cookies with my mom every year was adding the vanilla extract.
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