Vanilla beans are the product of the world’s only fruit producing orchid, the Vanilla planifolia. The flower blooms for 24 hours and must be pollinated else it dies. Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world (after saffron) because its production is so labour-intensive. It is a complex and subtle spice, containing somewhere between 250 and 500 different flavour and fragrance components; the most prominent of these s vanillin. Madagascar and Indonesia produce two-thirds of the world’s supply of vanilla. The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of vanilla, followed by Europe.
The use of vanilla dates back to ancient times when the Aztec people of Central America flavoured chocolate drinks with the aromatic beans and believed them to have an aphrodisiac quality.
These days, they are sought after for different reasons, with some companies touting them as having anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that can be used in acne treatment, as well as antioxidants to help reverse skin damage and aging.
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