Let’s get one thing out of the way: There’s nothing plain about vanilla. Quality vanilla is elegant, complex, and multilayered. If you take care to source quality vanilla beans for your ice cream, it will turn out anything but “plain”—it will be superlative!
When it comes to vanilla, European cuisine can be grateful to the Spanish conquistadores who, in 1520, observed Emperor Montezuma drinking a beverage containing, among other things, ground black vanilla pods. Impressed, the Spaniards took vanilla back home. European cooking—dessert in particular—was never the same.
The vanilla plant is an orchid of the genus Vanilla, originating primarily from Mexican flat-leaved Vanilla species. Because of its origins, the vanilla plant thrives in a hot, humid, tropical environment. Presently, there are three major species of vanilla grown globally, all of which derive from a species originally found in Mesoamerica, including parts of modern-day Mexico. The various subspecies are grown on Madagascar, Réunion, and other tropical areas along the Indian Ocean; in the South Pacific; in the West Indies; and in Central and South America. The majority of the world’s vanilla is known as Bourbon vanilla (after the former name of Réunion, Île Bourbon) or Madagascar vanilla, which is produced in Madagascar and neighboring islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean and in Indonesia.
Until the nineteenth century, the country responsible for producing most of the world’s vanilla was Mexico. It wasn’t until the early 1800s, when the French shipped vanilla to the islands of Réunion and Mauritius, that vanilla cultivation began there. In time, cultivation spread to the island of Madagascar, and by the late 1800s, the region was producing about 80 percent of the world’s vanilla crop. Today, most of the world’s Bourbon vanilla is grown in Indonesia.
Because of the differences in terroir, vanilla’s flavor characteristics depend on geography. Tahitian vanilla is a bit more floral, delicate, less in-your-face; Bourbon vanilla has that classic taste we all conjure up when we think of vanilla. And in Bali, vanilla beans are smoked, which imparts a unique flavor to the beans.
Next to saffron, vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world. Growing vanilla pods is extremely labor intensive, and the crop and production can be affected by weather events, such as cyclones, as well as political instability. To this day, the plants must be manually pollinated using the same method that was developed by Edmond Albius in 1841. The hand-pollination must be carried out early in the morning on the day on which the flower opens. An expert can pollinate anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 blossoms a day.
Once fertilized, the pods are left to mature for four to nine months, and are picked just as their color starts to change from green to yellow. The longer the bean, the more desirable it is.
After harvest, the beans are slated for fermentation and curing. First, the beans are sweated: The pods are spread out under the sun until hot, and then rolled in blankets to “sweat” until the following morning. This process is repeated many times over, until the pods become pliable and deep brown in color. Next, the beans are dried in the sun or in heated rooms. All in all, the curing and drying process can take up to five or six months.
Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention all those products that are flavored with imitation vanilla or artificially manufactured vanillin, both flavors lacking the richness and complexity of real vanilla flavor. Isolating vanillin and trying to reproduce it artificially began in the late 1850s, and by the turn of the twentieth century, imitation vanilla was all the rage.
You can count on us never using imitation vanilla—only the real deal.
When we started making vanilla ice cream in large production batches, we didn’t have the capabilities to split vanilla beans by hand and scrape out the beans. We didn’t have the production capacity to process whole vanilla beans, so we were purchasing extract from a pastry chef we found in Vancouver. The Bourbon and Tahitian beans are aged for three months in oak barrels in vodka and then the beans are ground to a paste to achieve maximum flavor.
Eventually, we found Mr. Recipe, real name Aaron Isaacson, a one-man spice emporium who supplies chefs in New York (and beyond) with enormous, plump vanilla beans along with other spices of exceptional quality. Or, to be more accurate, Mr. Recipe found Laura at Whole Foods. Not one to mince words, he got right to the point: “I’ve got vanilla that’s better than what you’re using. In fact, I’ve got the best vanilla anyone can get their hands on!” Of course, we were skeptical: Here was this eccentric-looking guy with a waxed, upturned mustache, who randomly had the hookup on the best vanilla? As it turned out, Isaacson was dead serious; somehow, he not only gets his hands on exceptional product but also has the most incredible spice grinders that have burrs so sharp, they don’t tear the bean—they grind it clean. It is his vanilla powder that we now use along with the original, spectacular extract—and our vanilla ice cream has never been better!