Vanilla’s story is anything but ordinary.
- It is the only member of the orchid family that bears fruit. It is also the only edible fruit of the Orchidaceae, the world's largest family of flowering plants. There are more than 150 species of vanilla plants . The same vanilla vine can be grown in Madagascar, Indonesia, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea, and India, but all five pickled beans have their own unique flavor due to differences in soil and climate conditions.
- No two vanilla beans are the same in taste, aroma or color.
- Vanilla orchids live only 24 hours
- Vanilla beans are picked by hand, then pickled, packed and dried, a process that takes 4 to 6 months. It grows in hot, humid tropical climates near the equator.
- The spice we all love is one of the most expensive spices in the world after saffron.
- President Thomas Jefferson was the first American to introduce vanilla to the United States in 1789.
- Vanilla has many different uses. In Europe, it has been used in the production of certain drugs such as neurostimulants and as an aphrodisiac. Vanilla is used not only as a flavoring in food and drinks, but also in perfumes. Maybe your favorite perfume contains a little bit of it.
- Vanilla has many industrial uses, such as pharmaceutical flavoring and as a fragrance that masks the strong odor of rubber tires, paints and cleaning products.
- The definition of the word vanilla is "little pod" in Spanish. The Aztecs called it tlilxóchitl, which means black flower. This suggests they were more interested in the dark brown pickled beans than the green-white flowers themselves.
- Vanilla first left Mexico in the early 1500s, sailing to Spain. Vanilla was originally thought to have value only as a perfume. It wasn't until 1519 that the Spaniards knew it was a flavor.
- Until the end of the 19th century, Mexico had a monopoly on the cultivation of vanilla plants. Today, Madagascar and Indonesia grow most of the world's crops. Countries where the plant is also grown include Guatemala, Costa Rica, Uganda, China, India, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji, Tahiti and the Philippines.
