Vanilla beans 17 a 18 cm from Madagascar

Vanilla beans are ideal for giving dishes an authentic vanilla flavor. For € 3.50 you can buy a vanilla bean from the herbs king.

General information vanilla beans:

Vanilla beans are a flavoring from the fruits of the climbing orchid of the Vanilla genus. The name comes from the Spanish word vainilla. The vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia) supplies the spice vanilla pods, which is not only used in food, but also in tobacco and perfume (it is an aphrodisiac). The plant is originally from Mexico, although it is now grown almost everywhere among the tropics. Madagascar is one of the largest producers of vanilla.

Use vanilla beans :

The aroma of vanilla in cream, cake, cake and other foods can be obtained by adding some vanilla or by cooking with vanilla beans. A stronger aroma can be achieved by cutting the beans open, so that the very tasty marrow is released from the inside of the pods. Quality vanilla has a strong tasting / fragrant aroma, but synthetic vanillin or vanilla of poorer quality is usually added to foods, because this is much cheaper.

Although there are many different substances in vanilla, vanillin is the most important aroma substance that produces the strong odor. Because real vanilla is quite expensive and the world production of natural vanilla is not nearly enough to cover the need, vanillin is artificially counterfeited. This includes the use of lignin from wood (usually wood waste from the paper industry) or clove oil. The scent substance of clove mainly consists of the oily liquid eugenol, which can be converted into vanillin.