I Heart Vanilla - The Finest Vanilla Beans and Products

“Make mine vanilla!” is what most customers would say at an ice cream parlor despite the choices of ice cream flavours. There is simply nothing more delightful than the aroma of vanilla. It is the most widely distinguished flavour in the world and yet what exactly is vanilla? If you are like many others who wonder, we are going to tell you a little bit about vanilla’s history and how it came to be one of the most expensive spices in the world.

The Totonaca’s Vanilla

Vanilla beans, also known as vanilla pods, came from the only orchid family that produces fruit. As far as history goes, the Totonaca Indians were the first civilization to discover the secrets of the vanilla orchid that grew naturally on their land. They discovered that through a careful process of curing and drying of the green vanilla pods, a wonderful aroma and flavour is developed. The vanilla pods are considered to be god’s gift to their land and it became their most prized possession used only in their sacred rituals and important rites.

News about the Totonaca’s prized crop spread far and wide during the Meso-American times. Even so, the Totonaca Indians shared their knowledge on cultivating the vanilla beans with their surrounding tribes. But the civilized world is not without its wars; the Aztecs defeated the Totonaca tribe and demanded that they relinquish their prized vanilla orchid crops as submission. And so, the cultivation of vanilla orchids spread even wider.

News about the Totonaca’s prized crop spread far and wide during the Meso-American times. Even so, the Totonaca Indians shared their knowledge on cultivating the vanilla beans with their surrounding tribes. But the civilized world is not without its wars; the Aztecs defeated the Totonaca tribe and demanded that they relinquish their prized vanilla orchid crops as submission. And so, the cultivation of vanilla orchids spread even wider.

The Vanilla Bean was introduced to the world

The precious vanilla beans became a prized spice of the world when Spanish ships docked the land. The Spaniards plundered the precious vanilla beans and brought it back to their home country. They discovered a special brew, from observing the Aztecs, that cacao, vanilla and sugar produces the most delightful and pleasing drink. The brew became the rage of the aristocratic society and for eighty years, the special cacao-vanilla drink was only served to the rich and noble.

Until the 1600s, the western world only knew the flavour of vanilla as a pairing to cacao. A servant of Queen Elizabeth I discovered that the vanilla bean could also be used as flavouring on its own. Since then, the versatility of the precious vanilla bean’s aroma and flavour was finally uncovered.