A pleasant surprise on my doorstep: A Vanilla Pod!

Last week, got a very pleasant surprised delivered to my address: Tahitian Vanilla pod! I must admit, It’s my first time to actually hold a REAL vanilla pod. Since most of the time, the ones available on the supermarkets the the synthetic versions or at least the vanilla extracts.

The pod was vacuum sealed but the strong aroma of vanilla is very obvious. Para na syang air freshener sa room ko!

The process of growing, pollinating up until harvesting vanilla is very labor intensive and time consuming. this is the reason why vanilla beans are still a prized commodity until today. The vanilla orchid blooms only for a day. In order to gain the prized vanilla beans, the flower must be hand pollinated, right on that same date, or else the flower will fall off from its stem on the next day. So to guarantee a steady supply of vanilla in the world market, hand pollination is done, the very moment a flower blooms.

I did some research and learned that there are actually three types of Vanilla. And, no, French Vanilla is not one of them

These three are the Bourbon-Madagascar, Mexican, and the Tahitian Vanilla. The Tahitian Vanilla is the thickest among the three and is the darkest in color. the ones sent to me has a deep chocolate brown tint. Tahitian Vanilla is also known for being very aromatic. This variety is perfect flavoring for pastries, confections, desserts, drinks and gourmet cooking.

Tahitian Vanilla is grown in the island paradise of French Polynesia. At less than a ton of harvest in a year, this variety is the rarest among the three. This also explains why the Tahiti Vanilla is so expensive.

Top gourmet chefs all over the world also prefer to use the variety because of its superb aroma and flavor burst. Among the popular chefs using these beans are: Joel Robuchon, Alain Ducasse, Guy Savoy, Alain Senderens, Wolfgang Puck, etc.

Here in the Philippines, one company has actually brought these highly-prized beans closer to our homes. The Vanilla Company is distributing vanilla beans in the Metro. For more info, you may visit their website or contact them at 0915 4608888 or email them at info@thevanillaco.com