The Journey of Vanilla: From Plant to Extract From Our Sponsor

Vanilla is, in truth, a mystical Mexican orchid that is so difficult to cultivate it s surprising anyone knows what it tastes like. Luckily for us, and for vanilla plants, the flavor is so good that much of the last 500 years have been dedicated to propagating and developing this tasty plant. Vanilla is native to Mexico, where Aztecs, Totonacs, and Mayans enjoyed and traded it for many centuries before the arrival of Cortes and his conquistadores in the 16th century. After the conquering Spanish first tasted vanilla, they brought the beans back to Europe, where royals, bakers, and perfume makers soon asked for more of this magical flowering tasting machine. As they did with many foods, Europeans increased their access to vanilla through a mutually reinforcing combination of science, conquest, and forced labor. It was a young slave working in the French colony of Réunion, the twelve year old Edmond Albius, who realized that the vanilla plant could be pollinated, but only by hand, while a