Vanilla is a climbing vine from the orchid family, native to Mexico.
The orchid does not require much attention, but during its pollination, yes. Check out vanilla cuttings in water .
It first crossed the Atlantic Ocean to arrive in Europe then the Indian Ocean in the 19th century to reach Madagascar, which quickly became the world's leading producer.
You should know that the majority of vanilla plants come from Asia, according to writings;
In Central America, the Melipone bee was responsible for pollinating flowers. But Edmond Albius discovered that hand pollination of the flower was possible, which made it possible to extend vanilla production to regions where the Melipone bee was not present.
We must give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, it was a Belgian, a botanist from Liège who was the first to discover the pollination of vanilla.
This essential procedure must be done daily on open flowers, because you have less than 12 hours to fertilize its princesses.
After nine months, the pods develop and resemble giant beans. You should know that it is in the last two weeks that the vanilla plant will give vanillin, that is to say the aroma of vanilla.
The vanilla is harvested by hand when they reach maturity, and a long process begins to transform these odorless green fruits into a deliciously aromatic and flavorful spice. The preparation is done in 8 steps:
- scalding
- steaming
- sun drying
- Drying in the shade
- Refining
- Calibration
- Export
- Packaging in France
Did you know that tahitensis vanilla does not open at full maturity and Madagascar vanilla and planifolia variety does.
The production and processing of vanilla requires patience and incredible know-how, to have a Prestige vanilla.
This spice is the most difficult to produce, a bit like red pepper .
The different varieties of vanilla and countries of origin:
Vanilla Planifolia:
- The islands with the bourbon appellation
- Mexico
- Indonesia
- Brazil
- Uganda
- Papua
- And many other countries that we explain in our blog
Vanilla Tahitensis:
- Brazil
- Tahiti
- Mauritius
- Papua
Vanilla Pompona:
- Brazil
- Guadeloupe
- Madagascar
Vanilla Dubia:
As you can see, Brazil has an important place in vanilla production with a wide variety of vanillas. And Comptoir de Toamasina was the first specialist in the purchase and sale of vanilla to source this vanilla and want to produce it in Brazil.