Welcome to the FabulousFusionFood page for the history of the spread of Vanilla from Mexico to the remainder of the world. Here you will how vanilla bucked the trend of the prevalent spice trade and traversed the globe from West to East. You will also learn the problems encountered in growing vanilla outside its native Mexico and why this spice remains the world's second most expensive (after saffron)

Please note that this recipe page (and all the other recipe pages on this site) are brought to you in association with the 'One Million People' campaign, which attempts to make available a number of ancient texts (particularly those relating to recipes) available for free on this site.

This page is presented as part of my 'History of the Spice Trade' section of the FabulousFusionFood Recipes site. You can use the table below to navigate the various sections of this history:

History of the Spice Trade History of the Spice Trade — The Ancient World History of the Spice Trade — The Middle Ages History of the Spice Trade — The European Ages of Discovery and Conquest The World-wide Spread of Chillies Spice Guide page for Chillies The History of Vanilla Adoption Spice Guide page for Vanilla The History of Saffron Adoption The History of Black Pepper Adoption Geographic List of Herbs and Spices

FabulousFusionFood History of the Spread of Vanilla from the New World to the Old

Migration of Chillies from the New World to the Old

In the fifteenth century, the Aztecs invaded the central highlands of Mexico and conquered the Totanacs. They soon developed a taste for the vanilla pod and named it tlilxochitl (literally, 'black flower' for the mature vanilla pod which shrivels up and turns black soon after it is picked). Indeed, such was the demand of the Aztecs for vanilla that the subject Totanacs paid them tribute by sending vanilla pods to the Aztec capital in Tenochitlàn.

The Aztecs would make a drink from vanilla called xocoatl (which gives us our word 'chocolate') by pouring hot water over pulverized cacao seeds and vanilla pods). It was the Aztec emperor, Montezuma who first gave this drink to Hernan Cortés in 1520, proffered in a gilded tortoise-shell goblet.

It was Cortés who introduced both cocoa and vanilla to Spain and for several centuries the Spaniards imported these ingredients and mixed them to produce chocolate which was exported throughout Europe. Indeed, it was the Spaniards who gave vanilla it's modern name, vanilla, which derives from the Spanish word vanilla the diminutive of vania, literally meaning 'sheath' (the pod that encloses the flavoursome seeds and pith within). Though the Spanish term was used to mean 'little pod' denoting the skinny appearance of the vanilla plant's bean pod. The word itself did not enter the English language until 1754 when the botanist, Philip Miller first wrote about the genus in his Gardener's Dictionary.



Until the mid 19th century Mexico was the sole producer of vanilla. Indeed, in its native habitat the orchid forms a symbiotic relationship with the tlilxochitl vine (in fact, is is the mycorrhizal fungi associated with this vine that allows the seeds to germinate) and to grow elsewhere, careful preparation of the ground is needed (but the lack of the appropriate fungi means that the plant cannot be reproduced by seeds, only by cuttings). By the mid 18th century, with three-way quest of the British, French and Dutch to control the spice trade many plant collectors had brought the vanilla vine back to Europe and many attempts were made to grow it in greenhouses.

Global Transplantation of Vanilla Vines

By the 1800s, the vine had been established in many botanical collections but none had flowered. Indeed, the first recorded instance of a flower being produced outside Mexico was in 1806 or 1807 when a single orchid appeared on a vine growing on a vine in Charles Greville's greenhouse in London.

This led to renewed attempts to grow vanilla outside its native realm and the Dutch transplanted vanilla vines to the Molucca islands (which they controlled). The French (actually a missionary turned horticulturalist, Pierre Poivre) managed to attain cuttings from these vines which they smuggled to the Île de Bourbon (now Réunion) in the Indian ocean. The plants were established, but soon died and it is likely that they were poisoned by an employee of the Dutch East India Company. Pierre Poivre managed to smuggle a second batch of vine cuttings from the Moluccas, but though these were established they did not thrive.

It was not for another 50 years that the planters of Réunion were able to successfully grow vanilla vines on the island. By a quirky twist of fate, the cuttings that they established were donated by the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, who had sourced their cuttings from the very vine that had flowered in Charles Greville's greenhouse in 1806.

Fertilzing the Vanilla Orchid Flowers

Though vines had been transplanted across the globe by now, and they were yielding flowers, none of these flowers were ever fertilized to yield seed pods. It was not until 1836 that a Belgian botanist, Charles François Antoine Morren discovered that, in its native Mexico, the vanilla orchid was pollinated by a single species of Melipona bee native to the region. He was having coffee on a patio in Papantla (Veracruz, Mexico) where he noticed black bees flying around the vanilla flowers next to his table. Moving closer, he saw that the bees would land on the flowers and then work their way under a flap inside the flower, transferring pollen in the process. Within hours, the flowers closed and several days later the vanilla pods would begin to form. By 1841 he had developed a method of artificially pollinating the flowers, but this method was too labour-intensive to prove economically viable. After Morren's discoveries, however, attempts were made to introduce the Melliponia bee to those regions growing vanilla vines, but none of the bees survived outside their native Mexico.

Then, in 1841, a planter on the Île Bourbon, Bellier-Beaumont found two vanilla pods growing on a single vine. One of his slave boys, a 12-year old naked Edmond Albius claimed that he had pollinated the flower by hand. The claim was disputed by the Parisian botanist, Jean-Michel Richard who said that he had discovered the technique and demonstrated in when he had visited the Île Bourbon. However, Bellier-Beaumont himself campaigned on behalf of Edmond who was eventually given his due credit in a story published in the Album de l’île de Réunion and the pollination method became known as the le geste d’Edmond.

For this method, a bevelled sliver of bamboo is used to lift the membrane separating the anther and the stigma of the plant. Then, using the thumb the pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma and the flower is pollinated. This allows the flower, which is self-fertile to produce fruit. Vanilla flowers typically only last a day (often much less) so that vanilla growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers that need to be immediately hand pollinated. This makes vanilla production very labour-intensive and explains the spice's cost. Vanilla vines typically flour in spring.

By the late 19th century, almost 80% of all vanilla imported into Europe came from the French colonies (both in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific and this saw the gradual decline of Mexican vanilla production. Within 20 years Madagascar had become the world's largest producer, and remains the largest producer even today (it produces 58% of the world's vanilla, followed by the Philippines with 23%). Mexico, the home of vanilla, is the world's fourth largest producer at only 2% of the total, though there is a move to promote Veracruz vanilla as a gourmet product.

Modern Propagagion of Vanilla Vines

Vanilla vines are typically grown from cuttings (these need from non-flowering parts of the parent vine) and are allowed to wilt briefly before being rooted in a propagator or directly in the ground (which must be properly prepared, typically with a mulch of coconut husks and leaf-litter). The cuttings are typically sections of the vine with six or more leaf nodes, a root opposite each leaf. The two lower leaves are removed, and this area is buried in loose soil at the base of a support. The remaining upper roots will cling to the support, and often grow down into the soil. The vine needs to be planted in humid conditions and 50% shade and the plant will take at least 3 years to mature before any flowers are produced.

Once the flowers have been pollinated, the fruit pods need to be allowed to grow before harvesting. Harvesting itself is also a labour-intensive process. Though the fruit pod grows quickly on the vine, it takes a long time to mature (typically up to 10 months) before it can be harvested. The pods begin to reach maturity when the immature green pods begin to show a pale yellow discolouration. Each pod matures at a different time and this necessitates a daily harvest. The pod is ready for picking (which must be done by hand) when it just begins to split on the end (if the pod is over-mature it will split on preparation and its value is greatly diminished).

Preparation of Vanilla Pods

Once picked, the pods need to be prepared ready for market. This process is generally known as 'curing'. The first stage is killing where the vegetative tissue of the pod is killed to prevent it from growing. The pods can be dried in the sun, can be frozen or can be dipped in a water bath at 65°C for three minutes.

After killing, the pods are sweated. The are wrapped in woollen cloth and their temperature is raised, under high humidity, to between 45°C and 65°C in direct sunlight for one hour per day for up to ten days (when the beans are not in direct sunlight they are stored in wooden boxes in air-tight containers. This process allows for the enzymes in the pods to catalyze the reactions that produce the characteristic vanilla colour, flavour and aroma of the pods.

Once the beans have been sweated, they need to be dried. Typically they are spread out in the sun during the morning (but are returned to their air-tight boxes in the afternoons). This process is repeated until the moisture content of the pod has reduced to between 25% and 30% (in their 'raw' form the content is between 60% and 70%). This prevents rotting of the pods and locks in the vanilla aroma.

After drying the beans are conditioned. They are stored in closed boxes for a few months, a process that allows the fragrance to develop.

Once processed, the beans are graded, wrapped in paraffin paper and stored. The best beans are the longest and Grade A pods are 15cm or longer and have a higher moisture content. Grade B pods are between 10 and 15cm in length and are typically used to make vanilla extract.

Grade A pods are typically sold whole or can be ground to make vanilla powders. Such powders being sold pure or mixed with sugar, starch and other ingredients. To make vanilla extract, Grade B vanilla pods are split and are then macerated and percolated in a solution of ethanol and water. Typically 35% alcohol and 85g vanilla pod per litre (though double and triple strength versions are also available).

The food industry is the largest consumer of vanilla (typically using the alcohol extracts) and by far the major use is in the flavouring of ice cream. Indeed, vanilla ice cream has become so much the default flavour for ice cream that the term 'vanilla' has come into colloquial use to mean 'plain'.

For classic recipes incorporating vanilla as a spice ingredient, please see the Spice Guide page for Vanilla. Here you will find all the classic vanilla recipes, as well as some rather unusual savoury vanilla recipes from the Island of Réunion.