When people talk about Tahitian vanilla, they often think they are talking about a single vanilla. In reality, two major cultivars share the plantations of Polynesia, and they are as different as two grape varieties from the same vineyard. There is the Tahiti cultivar, fine and floral, and there is Haapape, its giant and gourmand version. It is this latter one I want to talk about, as it is probably the most spectacular, the fleshiest, and the most generous pod in the entire vanilla universe.

What is the Haapape cultivar?

Haapape is a cultivar of Vanilla x tahitensis, the hybrid vanilla born from crossing planifolia vanilla with wild odorata vanilla in Mayan gardens. Like all Tahitian vanilla, it shares this prestigious ancestry. But it holds a secret of its own, written in its cells. It is nicknamed the black gold of the Pacific, and its name honors an ancient district on the north coast of Tahiti.

It is a robust climbing vine with thick stems and long, dark green leaves. Planters often prefer it to the Tahiti cultivar because its vine is more vigorous, more productive, and its large white flowers are significantly easier to pollinate by hand.

Why are its pods so large?

Here lies the core of its identity, and it is pure genetics. Most vanillas, including Bourbon, are diploid: their cells contain 32 chromosomes. Haapape, on the other hand, is tetraploid: its cells contain 64, or double the amount. This doubling of the chromosomal makeup causes what botanists call the gigas effect, a natural gigantism that increases cell volume and, consequently, the size of the entire plant.

The result is visible to the naked eye. Stronger vines, leaves marked by a characteristic central groove that allows it to be recognized at a glance in the fields, and above all, monumental pods. Where the Tahiti cultivar yields short, thin pods, Haapape produces pods of 18 to 22 centimeters, weighing an average of 12 grams. A kilo of Haapape contains only about 85 pods, they are that heavy and fleshy.

What is its aromatic profile?

While the Tahiti cultivar plays the card of floral finesse, Haapape plays the card of warm indulgence. As soon as you open a pod, you are struck by powerful, round notes of prune, dark cocoa, almost melted chocolate, and velvety vanilla. Then unfold warm nuances of gingerbread, speculoos, star anise, licorice, sweet caramel, and tonka bean. It is an enveloping vanilla, perfect for those who find the classic Tahiti too ethereal.

What does the chemistry of this vanilla say?

Its vanillin content is low, around 0.8% of dry weight, far from the 2.2% of Madagascar vanilla. But it would be a mistake to conclude that it lacks power. Its strength lies elsewhere: anisyl derivatives alone represent about 70% of its volatile compounds, compared to barely 7% in planifolia. Anisyl alcohol gives it its floral and anisic notes, anisaldehyde carries the olfactory impact, and a touch of heliotropin accentuates the floral register. Its high fat fraction explains its fleshy and oily appearance. Finally, like all Tahitian vanilla, Haapape contains no coumarin, unlike pompona, making it a prestigious food product with no restrictions.

How does it differ from the Tahiti cultivar and Bourbon?

This is the whole point of knowing these three vanillas well, which cater to three different desires.

One number sums up Haapape's generosity: thanks to its dimensions and its richness in pulp, a single one of its pods is equivalent in fragrance to about three standard Bourbon vanilla pods. It is a vanilla of abundance.

How is it prepared and cured?

Like all Tahitian vanilla, Haapape is never scalded in hot water. Its indehiscent pod, which does not open, fully ripens on the vine for about nine months after the hand-pollination of the flowers. It is harvested pod by pod as soon as its tip turns yellow-brown. Then comes the cold preparation: washing, alternating drying in the mild morning sun and sweating under blankets in the afternoon, manual massaging of each pod at least fifteen times to distribute the pulp, and finally curing in lined wooden trunks for four to nine months, which develops its chocolatey aromas. After several years of storage, a frost of vanillin crystals may even form on its surface, a sign of optimal concentration.

How to use it in cooking?

Haapape is more versatile than the Tahiti cultivar. Its gourmand roundness allows it to express itself just as well in milk or cream infusions for a crème anglaise, a flan, rice pudding, or a ganache, as in cold preparations like panna cottas, poached fruit syrups, and sorbets. In savory dishes, its anise and licorice notes elevate a white fish carpaccio or pan-seared scallops. A chef's tip, however: split the pod and scrape its seeds with your finger rather than a knife, as the blade tears off bitter fibers. And keep its empty pod to flavor sugar or milk.

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