So you think you know vanilla? Did you know it’s a fruit? From Edmund Albius who first figured out how to pollinate vanilla orchids to vanilla’s journey around the globe this bean pod is far more dynamic than we often give it credit. First cultivated by the Totonac people of what is now Veracruz, Mexico with original mythology of love and tragedy. Bourbon vanilla and Tahitian vanilla beans show very different qualities- but each different locale from Veracruz to Colombia to Reunion to Madagascar to Taha’a represent very different aromatics and flavors. The word itself has now come to mean bland or boring, but vanilla beans are anything but.
Did you know that on an island off the coast in Colombia they just came across a whole new wild type of vanilla bean? I can not wait to get the chance to smell it! But Tahitian is my favorite of course! There is this ethereal fruity floral component that is just unmatched. There are five kinds of Tahitian vanilla- Rea Rea,
Potati, Parahurahu, and
Haapape, four of which were developed on Tahiti. The ecosystems on the vanilla growing Tahitian islands are incredibly unique in ways botanists don’t yet even comprehend. The phrase French vanilla is most closely associated with it as the French colonized so many vanilla bean growing locales around the world, but also is a nod to the French culinary preparation that gives vanilla a creamy, custardy flavor and aromatic. I haven’t tasted all the vanilla in the world and while the new wild Colombian varietal is high on my list, so is the vanilla festival in Papantla, Veracruz, the origins of which pre date Spanish settlers.
Vanilla is pollinated in nature by the melipona bee though@there is speculation that native birds may also take part in pollinating these orchids.
Filmed by @cynthias.kingdom
YouTube video on decolonizing the spice trade and vanilla with @scent_festival link here: https://youtu.be/Hi6wVwUCbas?si=5ThlmirFR_AS5ByX
@fragranted makes a perfume named after Edmund Albius 
#edmundalbius #vanilla #tahitianvanilla #mexicanvanilla #veracruz #retronasalolfaction #naturalperfume #culinary #bourbonvanilla #raiatea #tahaa #huahine #totonac #veracruz #xanath #meliponabee