GreenVanillaStore's Daily Notes

vanilla beans from greenvanillastore.com

The phrase “plain old vanilla” associate the flavor with all that is dull and boring. The truth is, real vanilla flavor and scent is anything but boring. Imagine what Chanel #5 would be without vanilla…this classic fragrance used a high concentration of vanilla absolute priced at about USD$5000 per kilo! A knock-off would smell horribly sweet and sickeningly cloying because it would be concocted using artificial vanillin that would have cost the maker a mere twenty bucks per kilo. People have been murdered over vanilla beans, price change affected the world market, politics and everyday lives of some people, it turned a plain ice-cream into a luxurious (and pricey) dessert, and as an aphrodisiac the scent of real vanilla is known to arouse men even in their sleep!

Vanilla is a feast for the palate as well as the nose. Like its creeping, climbing vines on the jungle floor reaching out towards the heat of the sun, vanilla is the call for earthy and sensual pleasures. Those who experienced real vanilla would be addicted to it, enamored by its dark, complex and mysterious flavor, enchanted by its rich, creamy, smooth and subtly spicy scent. Well, I am one of these people. Previously, I have never liked the taste and scent of ‘vanilla’, my experience with this second expensive spice was limited to the cheap artificial vanilla essence and flavoring widely available in grocery stores and the super marts. But after my first encounter with real vanilla beans, I was head over heels in love! The only thing that rivaled the sexy scent and taste of vanilla would be chocolate. And every chocolatier will tell you that the magical ingredient that gives chocolate its smooth, sensual taste is vanilla.

I was enchanted by vanilla a few years back when I found out that it is actually the fruit of a tropical orchid, vanilla planifolia, very special orchid species that can live for a few hundred years and of the many thousands of orchid varieties, it is the only one that bears edible fruit. Vanilla is the world’s most labor-intensive agricultural crop, which is why it’s so expensive. It is the second most expensive spice next to saffron. It takes up to three years after the vines are planted before the first flowers appear. The flower blooms for only a day and they must be hand-pollinated so that it may bear fruit to the lush, green vanilla pods. The fruits must remain on the vine for nine months to completely develop their signature aroma before they are hand-harvested and the lengthy process of curing, sweating and drying begins.

To say that I’m addicted to vanilla beans would be an understatement. My morning coffee tasted bland and plain without a snip of an inch or two vanilla beans in it. I even carry a small glass vial of ground vanilla in my purse when I go out. A teaspoon of vanilla sugar is a must in every pot of tea I made. A teeny, weeny drop of pure vanilla absolute or vanilla total in my aromatic creation imparts a smooth roundness to the aroma. My shea butter smells utterly divine when a drop of vanilla total is added to it. I used vanilla salt in place of the regular salt in my cooking. Vanilla salt is great in savory dishes and it sure beats MSG. It won’t impart any vanilla flavors to your culinary creations but it will provide that extra magic touch to your food by subtly enhancing, smoothing and balancing the taste. I made mine using a blend of sea-salt and pink Himalayan crystal salt with both Bourbon and Tahitensis vanilla beans. Then, I’d age them first in a sealed glass container in a dark place for a few months before using.

A good synthetic duplicate of real vanilla simply does not exist. Substances called “vanilla flavor” in the market don’t contain vanilla at all, being synthesized from eugenol (clove oil), waste paper pulp, coal tar or ‘coumarin’, found in the tonka bean, whose use is forbidden in several countries. Real vanillin from pure vanilla has several hundred complex flavor components, artificial vanillin just simulates one or a few of these. As for artificial vanilla scent or ‘aroma’ found in most scented candles and fragrance products, many contains ‘piperonal’, an ingredient in lice killer.

Well, nothing beats the real thing. If you haven’t experience the real vanilla, you should try it at least once.