This vanilla extract is created from real vanilla pods and is essential in a wide variety of cooking and baking. Enjoy in a wide range of foods, from classic sweet treats (cookies, pastries, ice cream and more) to savoury foods (soups, sauces, vegetables and more). Try putting some in your home made smoothies, for a superb taste.
Vanilla, the most popular flavour in the world, originated in Mexico. Brought to Europe about 1520 by the explorer Cortez, it was first used only in conjunction with cacao beans in a drink called Chocolatl. Since 1602 it has been enjoyed as a flavour by itself. Grown mainly in Madagascar and Indonesia, as well as other minor areas, the vanilla bean, or pod, is the only edible fruit-bearing orchid. Each flower, open only one day a year, must be hand pollinated to produce a pod which requires a labour intensive 3-6 month curing process to develop full flavour. About 5 pounds of harvested pods produce only 1 pound of cured pods. One tablespoon of vanilla extract is equivalent to one vanilla bean.