I still have a bottle of Villa Vainilla that was given to me by a sweet representative of their company who sent me a bottle. Villa Vanilla has made pure vanilla extract from beans from Papantla, Veracruz the center of the vanilla growing region in Mexico.

Tahitian pods are also perfect for bringing a touch of luxury to strawberry jam, or a warm strawberry sauce for pancakes, and of course they are unbeatable in custard. While vanilla is very expensive right now, we only use a little, and it improves with aging so it won’t go bad if you keep it in a cool, dark place such as a cupboard away from the stove. To round it out, all of that is elevated by a subtle spiciness of tuberose, along with a taste of dry chili. Substituted at a 1:1 ratio, the subtle differences may not be as apparent, but they do set the stage for inspiration.Simply opening the container releases aromas that will make your mouth water, and they are packed full of pure flavour. Baking: Here is another Detoxinista recipe for a Banana Snack Cake I recommend to all my students, as it allows us to enjoy cake without the rush and crash that comes from eating refined sugar and flour. Veracruz, the birthplace of vainilla: Papantla, a town in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, is considered the birthplace of vanilla.

A mystery to the world until 1836, a Frenchman observing very closely the original Vanilla plant, in Mexico, discovered the reason. Our extracts contain no alcohol but do contain 20% more vanilla bean extractives than required by the Standard of Identity. You will find information in the FAQ’s and Fast Facts blogs, but further in are descriptions of each of the signature flavors of vanilla.

Extracts that contain no sugar or only a small percent of sugar and no corn syrup or caramel color are cleaner tasting. Having worked with vanilla since the 1980s, my experience is that people are most comfortable with the vanilla they are familiar with. Mexico is producing very little vanilla now and it also has a history of over 100 years of producing imitation vanilla extracts. The pollinated orchid will produce a long green bean in a few weeks, but the bean must remain on the vine for nine months to develop its complex flavor and fragrance profile. The small yellow-green orchid blooms for only a few hours before wilting unless it is naturally pollinated.

The quality of our products is very high and purchases from us helps to make it possible for the work I do representing smallholder vanilla growers worldwide. As you know, I traveled back to Mexico this Christmas, and something that is found EVERYWHERE there is “Mexican vanilla”. I am a serious cookie baker, and one of my secrets was to bury one of those dried up things in my sugar container.It’s difficult to recommend a particular vanilla to someone because a lot depends on personal preference. I recently purchased my first bottle of Nielsen-Massey Organic Vanilla Extract in Atlanta, Ga while visiting there. Our Pure Mexican vanilla contains this higher 35% alcohol content, and is therefore best utilized in those items which require high heat, such as baking. It was our director, Martin Rayner, who first discovered the superb quality of Nielsen-Massey’s Madagascan Bourbon vanilla and brought it to the attention of home cooks and bakers in the UK. A big surprise, I know, but vanilla has always been very expensive and a large percentage of Mexicans can’t afford pure vanilla.

As per reputable companies, we are a reputable company and most big brand name vanilla companies in the US are reputable. The Totonacs considered vanilla a sacred herb and used it in ritual offerings, as a perfume and for medicine, but rarely as a flavoring. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.I mean, we still go once in a blue moon, but I can count on ONE hand the number of ice cream parlour trips we’ve made IN THAT TIME, and I will NEVER be able to count the number of times I’ve made this recipe!