Vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla or vainiglia is a spice obtained from the fruits of an orchid originally from Mexico (Vanilla planifolia Jacks. Ex Andrews, 1808).

Origins and History –
Vanilla is considered one of the most renowned and delicious of all spices.
This spice is obtained through a process of fermentation and processing of the pods of the plant which is grown in many tropical regions.
The use of vanilla is very ancient. The Aztecs used vanilla sticks to flavor their “food of the gods”, chocolate, and following the discovery of the Americas, the Spaniards introduced the aroma of this orchidacea to Europe.
Vanilla caused a real infatuation in Europe. It was increasingly appreciated in the French court, where Madame Montespan used it to perfume bath water. King Louis XIV, having undergone its charm, decided to seriously try to introduce it on Bourbon Island (today Reunion), but the various attempts were unsuccessful.
For more than two centuries, in the 17th and 18th centuries, Mexico, and in particular the Veracruz region, maintained the vanilla monopoly. The Totonachi (ancient Amerinda population) remained the first producers until the mid-nineteenth century. All attempts to have this orchid reproduced outside its natural habitat failed. Until the nineteenth century, it was not known that melipona bees play a fundamental role in the fertilization and formation of the fruit.
The first artificial pollination of vanilla flowers was carried out in 1836 in the Liège Botanical Garden by the Belgian naturalist Charles Morren then, in 1837, by the French horticulturist Joseph Henri François Neumann. It is no coincidence that in 1841 a twelve year old Bourbon slave, Edmond, developed the practical procedure still used today. This method of pollination, the authorship of which is unjustly claimed by the French botanist Jean Michel Claude Richard, makes the island of Bourbon the first “vanilla” center on the planet, a few decades after the introduction of the orchid on its soil in 1819. With the abolition of slavery, in 1848, Edmond was given the patronymic “d’Albius”, related to the white color of the vanilla flower.
It was then the growers of Réunion who in 1880 introduced vanilla cultivation to Madagascar. The first plantations were created on the island of Nosy Be. Later they also took hold in the eastern regions of the large island, especially in those of Antalaha and Sambava with a favorable humid climate. Production increased rapidly and exceeded 1,000 tons in 1929, it is more than ten times that of Reunion. However, the market, without any control criterion, underwent cyclical crises of overproduction, with relative collapse in prices.
Today, despite competition from other tropical countries such as Indonesia and the emergence of new products, such as the Indian one in Kerala, Madagascar still retains its role as the world’s leading exporter.
Vanilla has also been grown on Guadeloupe and Martinique, but with the preference for agricultural production of sugar cane and banana, it has practically disappeared, like many other species replaced by imported plants.
Historically, once introduced in European countries, vanilla was soon attributed to aphrodisiac virtues, both for exotic origins and exposing other theses. Some followers of the “signature” theory, identified the aphrodisiac effectiveness of the plant in assimilating the shape of the bulbs to the male testicles; others instead related the Spanish term “vainilla”, meaning “sheath”, to the female sexual organ.
It was around the 1700s that vanilla became an exciting nourishment, when with chocolate it became all the rage.
In the following century, scholars identified its stimulating and antiseptic properties that acted on the stomach and organism.
At that time the French pharmacologist Barbier dedicated a passionate apology to him where he said: “… it is a powerful aphrodisiac because it makes the genital system participate in general excitement …”
Still at the beginning of the twentieth century, doctors advised the essence to overcome sexual frigidity, and research conducted on workers who worked vanilla would have shown that among the side effects of the professional disease of “vanillism” there was also the incessant excitement sexual, crowned by numerous offspring.

Description –
Vanilla is a species of orchid whose fruits, called pods, are up to 30 centimeters long and mature after about six months from their fertilization.
The pods are formed from flowers, in groups of eight or ten, which form small bouquets. White, greenish or pale yellow in color, they have a classic structure of an orchid flower despite a somewhat regular appearance. Fertilization requires the intervention of a specialized aid: in nature, in the regions of origin it is carried out thanks to insects of the genus Melipona, a genus of bees without sting. After fertilization, the ovary that serves as a petiole at the base of the flower turns into a large “pod” hanging from 12 to 25 centimeters long. The fresh and still odorless pods have a diameter of 7 to 10 millimeters. They contain thousands of tiny seeds which are released by the explosion of ripe fruit. The collection of pods is done with immature fruits
Vanilla beans are fermented and dried; only then do they acquire the brown color and aroma that we find in the pods we purchase to flavor our dishes.

Active principles –
The active ingredient that characterizes the aroma of vanilla is vanillin, a phenolic aldehyde. The food industry mainly uses artificial aromatic substances with a similar structure, such as ethylvanillin and methylvanillin. Ethylvanillin is more expensive but is definitely more intense.
The vanilla bean contains many different compounds. The most typical and subscriber (and object of extraction) is vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde). Vanilla seeds contain 1.5 to 4% of it.
Another minor component, however quite relevant in vanilla essential oil, is piperonal (heliotropin), which contributes to structuring the specific aroma of the pod.
In addition to vanillin, which as said is the main aromatic component, vanilla contains a hundred active ingredients that influence the intensity and quality of the aroma: sugars, fats, insoluble fibers in the form of cellulose and mineral salts.

Properties and Uses –
Vanilla grows in the states of the equatorial belt, where the climate is hot and humid. The most common is Bourbon vanilla, which comes from Madagascar and Reunion Island, but the most prized comes from Thaiti.
Vanilla, worldwide, comes mainly from three areas:
– Bourbon vanilla Madagascar: Bourbon vanilla is a species of orchid that grows in Madagascar and on the Reunion island (where it is considered more valuable). It has a narrow and not very fleshy shape, unlike vanilla from other regions. Berries are 16-20 cm long.
– Tahiti vanilla: it has a very fleshy and thick pod, shorter than Bourbon vanilla (15-18 cm), the perfume is more delicate and warm, with a fruity note. Production is limited (15 tons / year) and for this reason the price is very high.
– Vanilla Tahitensis: produced in Papua New Guinea, it is considered among the best vanilla in the world. It has a fleshy, thick, dark-colored pod, with a length of 18-20 cm. Its aroma is spicy and warm, with a hint of anise. spicy, warm, with a hint of anise.
Vanilla is used to flavor sweets, sugar, milk and other pastry preparations, but also in savory dishes, especially in Eastern and African cuisines, even if we currently find it more and more also in Italian cuisine. It is also possible to extract essential oil from the pods, and use it directly in the preparations.
It is a substance that man is able to synthetically produce. Annual production is estimated to be 12,000 tons, compared to about 40 tons of natural extract obtained from the 2000 tons of seeds collected each year.
Vanillin is found on the market in the form of white or yellowish crystals (if not very pure), or liquid extract. It is very convenient because it is used like sugar (crystallized sugar) or by dosing it drop by drop, with the only warning not to overdo it, because to flavor a dessert it takes very little. The risk is to make the dessert cloying and above all to make it bitter.
Today, vanilla essence is available in two distinct forms: real vanilla extract (complicated mixture of molecules such as: acetaldehyde, acetic acid, hexanoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, eugenol, methyl cinnamate and isobutyric acid) and synthetic essence ( vanillin and ethanol), produced from various raw materials, for example from guaiacolo.
Compared to natural vanilla, vanillin has a narrower range of aromas: in fact the aroma of natural vanilla is composed of dozens of substances, the main of which is vanillin. The result of the mixture of these substances is a broader aroma bouquet, which gives the sensation of being more elegant, less cloying, less “fake”. To avoid the unpleasant fake feeling of many industrial sweets in which the vanilla aroma is prevalent and annoying, it is simply necessary to use it sparingly and above all to combine it with other spices that dampen the cloyingness, such as star anise.
Some studies have shown that the difference between natural vanilla and vanillin cannot be discriminated (if well dosed) in baked products such as donuts, cakes and shortcrust pastry, while the difference is tangible when vanilla is infused and used in creams and compounds to be eaten by the spoon in general. However, the problem of dosage difficulties remains.
Vanilla is found on the market in the form of pods. It is quite expensive (a pod costs more than one euro) and not easy to use, since it must be left to infuse for several minutes in a hot or boiling liquid, so that it releases its aroma. Subsequently the pods can be reused, although the subsequent infusion will have to be prolonged to release the same aroma. There are other methods to extract the maximum aroma from vanilla beans, and then store them in the form of syrup or flavored sugar.
To flavor a dessert without having to infuse the vanilla bean, it can be opened in two parts lengthwise and extracted from its internal pulp, and added directly to the other ingredients.
Today the most inspired chefs do not hesitate to use the spice in the most different ways, not only to flavor cocoa, cakes, creams and liqueurs.
Tahitian vanilla is highly valued for its fruity and spicy notes, which according to some are reminiscent of cherry and anise.
Madagascar spices are the best known for us, while Mexican spices are more spicy and rich, with earthy notes.
Vanilla is still fundamental for the production of chocolate, but it is also the most appreciated taste in ice cream, an aroma increasingly used for savory dishes, while it is a splendid base note for desserts and liqueurs.
Whole pods tend to yield the purest flavor, but also liquid extract, powder and pastes are very comfortable and guarantee delicious results.
Natural vanilla is expensive, due also to the work that its production requires, so much so that to meet the enormous demand created by the producers of sweets, biscuits, ice creams, pastries, soft and alcoholic drinks, it is produced, as mentioned, synthetic form in much greater quantities than the natural one: 97% of the vanilla flavor used is synthetic in nature.
Vanillin, the main aromatic compound of essence and vanilla extract, was first isolated in 1858. In 1874 it became one of the first flavors to be synthesized, using material taken from conifers.
Europeans are more likely to consume natural vanilla, especially Germany and France (75% of the Bourbon variety), compared to the United States which consume more vanilla extracts.
Vanilla demand is very differentiated by:
– agro-food industries, which represent 80-85% of world demand, with industrial chocolatiers, industrial ice cream makers such as Nestlé or Unilever and the beverage industries. So the only decision of Coca-Cola to propose its vanilla flavored carbonated drink (Coca-Cola Vaniglia, called Coca-Cola Vanille in France or Vanilla-Coke in English-speaking countries, which was never marketed), has aroused a 10% increase in world demand;
– private individuals, chocolatiers, ice cream makers and cooks;
– cosmetic industries, for the production of perfumes and other personal products.
Vanilla, in addition to having an important role as a flavoring, according to recent studies would also act as an antidepressant for the presence of molecules very similar to human pheromones.
In itself, vanilla does not contain any toxic or harmful molecule for the body, but this does not mean that it is a product to be considered completely safe, especially in the case of its extract.
In certain cases, vanilla can seriously harm human health. This circumstance is not attributable to the chemical profile of the original Vanilla pod, but to human intervention on certain derivatives. This is the case with Mexican vanilla extract, in particular the one sold locally (Original Vanilla).
According to what has been ascertained by the control bodies, it is not uncommon for these products to be cut with the extract of “tonka bean” to decrease costs and increase profits. Well, the latter plant contains coumarin (1-benzopyrane-2-one, aromatic molecule), known for its harmful effect on health. In fact, it has been shown (on guinea pigs) that coumarin has a remarkably toxic effect on liver cells, therefore, in America its presence in food is completely prohibited. In parallel, in Europe (Switzerland and Germany) a “maximum tolerable daily dose” of coumarin equal to 0.1mg / kg of body weight is accepted, as it is considered not entirely safe for humans. We remind you that all non-European imported foods are strictly controlled and subjected to systematic chemical analyzes, which is why vanilla extracts that can be purchased in Italy should not contain traces of “tonka bean”.

Preparations –
Natural vanilla is commercially available in 4 distinct forms:
– Whole pod;
– Vanilla powder (dry berry powdered and mixed with sugar, starch and other ingredients);
– Vanilla extract (in alcoholic solution or possibly glycerol, at least 35%);
– Vanilla sugar (nothing but sugar and vanilla extract).
The flavoring function of vanilla in food can be obtained by adding the specific extract or by adding the whole pod in the cooking of liquid products. The vanilla effect is enhanced by the longitudinal opening of the pod or by totally extracting the pulp with the seeds. Natural vanilla, being brown in color, gives a brown hue to the preparations that contain it. Although the quality one requires very little, as often happens, the use of chemical extracts (less expensive) is preferred on an industrial level.
Among the best known preparations that use vanilla we mention: vanilla ice cream, Catalan cream, vanilla yoghurt, chocolate or caramel or vanilla coffee etc.
A particularly pleasant mix of spice for desserts is vanilla, star anise and cinnamon, which can also be used for salty dishes with a sweet tendency, such as pumpkin risotto. Obviously in savory dishes, where the aroma of spices must be very in the background, the quantities must be reduced compared to desserts.

Guido Bissanti

Warning: The information shown is not medical advice and may not be accurate. The contents are for illustrative purposes only and do not replace medical advice.