Vanilla is a group of climbing orchids. The vanilla extract that is used to flavor many foods comes from certain vanilla plants. One of the most important types, often called Madagascar vanilla or Bourbon vanilla, has been cultivated in Mexico for hundreds of years. It is now cultivated in other tropical areas, including Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Réunion. Another economically important species of vanilla grows on the island of Tahiti in the South Pacific.
The vanilla vine has small rootlets by which the plant attaches itself to trees. The cultivated plant lives about 10 years. It produces its first crop after three years.
The plant produces a fruit in the shape of a cylindrical pod (bean) that measures from 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) long. The fruit has an oily black pulp that contains many tiny black seeds. The pods are gathered when they are a yellow-green in color. The beans are then cured, or dried. Curing shrinks the bean and turns it a rich, chocolate-brown color. Curing also gives the bean the flavor and aroma of vanilla as we know it.
Vanilla extract is prepared by a complicated and expensive process. The beans are chopped into small pieces and then percolated with alcohol and water. Food scientists have developed artificial vanilla flavors that cost less.
