Vanilla is one of the most popular flavorings around the world, and it is grown in many places, including Papua. You should know that in France it has even become the favorite flavor of the French and in Brazil it occupies a good place with coffee.
The cultivation of vanilla in Papua is starting to become an important player in the economy and growing this princess is a complex process that involves several stages, from planting to harvesting and preparation.
Vanilla is an orchid that grows under the trees of the Papua rainforest. You can also see cultures under artificial protections. But it is not rare to see as in Brazil, several cultures on the same ground.
In the Arnaud Vanille plantation in Brazil, the project is to cultivate acai, cocoa and vanilla on the same land, the acai makes a high canopy, the lower cocoa tree is an ideal support for vanilla.
The cultivation of vanilla even in Papua and more done by cutting than by seed. Cuttings are rarer and less uncertain than seeds. Pollination is always manual. Farmers therefore have to pollinate the vanilla plants by hand, which is a tedious process and that is why the price of the vanilla bean is very high. Because it requires a lot of labor.
After pollination, it takes about 7 to 9 months for the vanilla pods to mature. But after 2 months they will have adult size and it is during the last two weeks that the vanilla plant will give the level of vanillin to the vanilla pod.
The vanilla pods are picked by hand, one by one, when they reach maturity. Attention it is the big difference between the vanilla planifolia and the vanilla tahitensis it is that the vanilla tahitensis you can leave it longer on the foot and it will not open unlike the vanilla planifolia which must be picked at the right moment.
Harvesting vanilla can be a difficult and experienced process, as the pods must be picked at a specific time to ensure their quality. As we explained.
Once it is picked, it will have a first sorting of the vanilla, the vanilla pods are subjected to a preparation process called "scalding". This consists of putting the vanilla in a bay at 63°C for example in the Arnaud vanilla plantation for 2 to 3 minutes then the pods will be put in blankets for the chemical reaction to take place and then dried to sleep.
The total preparation process can take up to 6 months.
After the vanilla beans are dried, they are sorted to remove poor quality beans and graded according to their quality.
The best quality vanilla beans are going to have the gourmet designation and the poor red quality here, the vanilla is hard and not soft and glistening like gourmet vanilla. Gourmet vanilla for food and pastry trades, red vanilla for industry and perfumers.
In conclusion, growing vanilla in Papua is a complex process that requires a lot of time, effort and skill to produce quality vanilla.
Cultivation, harvesting and preparation methods are the same in most vanilla-producing countries.
You should know that in Papua, Planifolia vanilla and tahitensis vanilla will have the same method of preparation called bourbon, that is to say scalding. While tahitensis vanilla from Papua, no, it will be dried on the stalk and then traditionally in the sun as we explain on our blog.
So what is the best vanilla bean in the world?
If we talk from a technical point of view and about vanillas that are going to have more than a ton of production per year to eliminate micro-batches, vanilla planifolia is the best vanilla in the world if we take its flavor in vanilla it ie vanillin which is superior to tahitensis. From a culinary point of view, tahitensis vanilla will have aniseed notes and long floral vanilla in the mouth, vanilla planifolia rather warm and chocolate notes.