Vanilla

So did anyone watch Peter Kuruvita’s travels to Mexico and gain insight into the most famous spice – Vanilla? If not, the whole series is quite interesting and worth watching…

It made me realize that vanilla is one of the most commonly known spices in the world, but do we really know that much about it?

Well it’s native to Mexico and the Mayan’s added it to their chocolate drinks. Those Mayan’s really knew about great flavours – vanilla and chocolate Yum! Although they are now grown commercially in Madagascar, Indonesia, India and West Indies.

After processing the bean is black and ready to use (as pictured here). There are now many options in how to use this delicious plant. Simply cutting the bean and scraping out the seeds or using the whole pod are the best use of the vanilla bean. Growing up I remember only using imitation vanilla extract in baking and as a kid I thought this was vanilla. This extract is usually synthetic and not actually using vanilla beans at all! So avoid “imitation vanilla extracts”. Vanilla bean paste is a good alternative but does usually contain some alcohol and sugar. The form that is getting the most attention at the moment is vanilla bean powder, which has amazing flavour – but be warned if you are after organic vanilla bean powder it isn’t cheap. Although you don’t need to add much to your baking for it to make a huge difference.

Vanilla does contain some small amounts of B Vitamins, but fairly good levels of potassium, small amounts of calcium and magnesium and trace amounts of some other minerals such as zinc.

The ancient Mayans believed their vanilla drink had aphrodisiac qualities, but of course there has never been any research to substantiate this – so perhaps it does have these qualities!

Interestingly the potato also contains vanilla naturally, not just the vanilla bean!!

Vanilla is now commercially used in so many things such as caramel, chocolate, butterscotch, lollies, some fruit flavourings, icecream, beverages, butter and margarine! The list is endless and not necessarily a healthy list!

Do you love vanilla or chocolate?