Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Spice guide to Vanilla along with all the Vanilla containing recipes presented on this site, with 0 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain as a major flavouring.

Vanilla represents the pods of orchids in the genus Vanilla. There are about 110 species in this genus, of which Vanilla planifolia is most commonly used to derive the spice. This plant is a vine growing to more than 35m in length, with alternate leaves spread along its length. The short, oblong, dark green leaves of the Vanilla are thick and leathery and each node produces long and strong aerial roots. Short-lived flowers arise successively on short peduncles from the leaf axils or scales. There may be up to 100 flowers on a single raceme, but usually no more than 20. The flowers are quite large and attractive with white, green, greenish yellow or cream colours. Each flower opens up in the morning and closes late in the afternoon, never to re-open. If pollinated, these mature to form the fruit (vanilla pod) which is an elongate, fleshy seed pod 10—20 cm long. It ripens gradually (8 to 9 months after flowering), eventually turning black in colour and giving off a strong aroma. Each pod contains thousands of minute seeds, but it is the pod that is used to create commercial vanilla flavouring. Though most of the species in the genus Vanilla produce flavoursome pods, only Vanilla planifolia is used for industrial purposes.

Initial attempts to cultivate the vanilla plant outside its native Mexico and Bolivia failed, as the plant has a symbiotic relationship with the tlilxochitl vine. Even when the plants were transported and grown elsewhere, they would not bear fruit as the plant is dependent on a species of Mexican Melipona bee for its pollinization. Though attempts have been made to introduce this bee elsewhere, they have been unsuccessful.

Indeed, it was not until 1841 that Edmond Albius, a 12-year-old slave who lived on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, discovered the plant could be hand pollinated. This was the breakthrough that allowed for the global cultivation of vanilla pods.

Today there are three major cultivars of the vanilla plant Vanilla planifolia grown world-wide. These are: Vanilla planifolia (syn. V fragrans), grown on Madagascar, Réunion and other islands in the Indian Ocean; Vanilla tahitensis, grown in the South Pacific; and Vanilla pompona, found in the West Indies, Central and South America.

However, the majority of the world's commercial vanilla is derived from Vanilla planifolia varieties (which is also more commonly known as Bourbon vanilla, after the original name of Réunion or Madagascar vanilla).

Because the plant has to be artificially pollinated, vanilla remains the world's second most expensive spice (after saffron). The spice's distinctive floral aroma lends it particularly well to the production of sweet confections, cakes and ice cream (ice cream manufacture is the largest consumer of vanilla). Though it is used in savoury dishes in Réunion and in Madagascar, which remains the world's largest producer.

The name 'vanilla' itself derives from the Spanish word vanilla the diminutive of vania, literally meaning 'sheath'. Though the Spanish term was used to mean 'little pod' denoting the skinny appearance of the vanilla plant's bean pod. Like all the other vanilla vines Vanilla planifola is a a native of Mexico, though it is now widely grown throughout the tropics.

Vanilla was a highly regarded flavouring in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and was brought back to Europe (and from there the rest of the world) by the Spanish Conquistadors. The main active compound in the vanilla pod is vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde). This is also present in many woods and products called 'vanilla essence' are usually vanillin chemically extracted from chipped wood. The scent of vanilla is sweet, aromatic and has a pleasant floral tone.

As a spice vanilla comes either as the whole bean, vanilla powder or vanilla extract (this is an extract produced by dripping alcohol on split vanilla pods). Vanilla is highly fragrant with an exotic aroma. Vanilla is extensively used throughout the world in foods, confectionary, pharmaceuticals and beverages. Used almost exclusively in sweet cookery, vanilla is added to cakes, biscuits, puddings and desserts. Vanilla flavour in creams, cakes and other foodstuff may be achieved by adding some vanilla essence or by cooking vanilla beans in the liquid preparation. A stronger aroma may be attained if the pods are split in two; in this case, the innards of the beans (the seeds), consisting of flavourful tiny black grains, are mixed into the preparation. Natural vanilla gives a brownish to yellowish colour to preparations, depending on concentration. One major use of vanilla is in the flavouring of ice cream, indeed vanilla-flavoured ice cream is the most common type. Vanilla is also a key ingredient in traditional crème brûlée, panna cotta and crème Anglaise (vanilla custard), recipes for which can be found in the recipe links below.

If using the whole pod, then maximum flavour is obtained by splitting lengthways and boiling or simmering with the food to be flavoured. Often the seeds and pith inside the pod are scraped out and added to the food, whilst the pod itself is removed and discarded after cooking. If, however, you wish to be frugal the pods can be removed and dried before being added to sugar to make vanilla sugar. This way you gain the most use and extract the maximum flavour from each vanilla pod.

Like chillies, vanilla is an example of a spice that was successfully introduced from the New World to the Old World and is now an example of one of the world's most commonly used spices.