Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) is an evergreen vine that can reach up to 15m in length. It has thick stems and greenish to yellow flowers. The fruits are long, thin pods that contain thousands of tiny, black seeds. Vanilla has fleshy aerial roots that cling to trees and allow it to climb.
The most widely known vanilla orchid, and the only one cultivated for vanilla production, is the flat-leaved vanilla plant (Vanilla planifolia), native to Mexico. Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) is credited with bringing vanilla to the Old World in the 16th century, when it was used as a way of 'flavouring' chocolate. Today, vanilla is one of the world's most popular spices, and the second-most expensive after saffron. However, before it became readily available, cultivation and production needed to overcome a real hurdle - when grown outside of Mexico, the orchid would not flower and bear fruit...
The successful cultivation of vanilla outside of its native Mexico is down to Edmond Albius (1829–80), a 12-year-old slave from the Réunion Island. Edmond was born into slavery in 1829, in Sainte-Suzanne on the island of Réunion (then known as Bourbon). Reunion is located 500 miles east of Madagascar and was colonised by the French.
At an early age he was sent to work with Ferréol Bellier-Beaumont on the Belle-vue plantation, where he learnt about horticulture and botany. Edmond discovered how to artificially pollinate vanilla in 1841, after which vanilla production on the island developed quickly. By 1858, Réunion was able to transport 2 tonnes of vanilla beans back to France; by 1867 this had increased to 20 tonnes and by 1898, 200 tonnes. By the late 19th century, Réunion was the world's largest producer. Of course, Edmond was never compensated for his contribution, dying practically penniless at the age of 51.
For a long time, vanilla was used as an additive for chocolate - the Aztecs used it in a chocolate drink called Xocolatl. Vanilla gained recognition as a flavour in its own right in the early 17th century when apothecary, Hugh Morgan, developed a chocolate-free, vanilla flavored candy for Queen Elizabeth I. In France, vanilla became a favorite flavor for ice cream and Thomas Jefferson brought the recipe to the USA after a stint in Paris as American minister to France. By the late 1800s, demand for vanilla skyrocketed as it became an integral ingredient in soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Image: Vanilla planifolia, image (c) Malcolm Manners from Lakeland FL, USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons; Vanilla pods drying in Mauritius (c) CC PickPik.
