Fruit of the Orchid

If you’ve never experienced pure, authentic vanilla, you’re in for a treat. Genuine vanilla extracts will spoil you for the weaker supermarket substitutes many of us grew up using.

No one understands this better than Patricia Rain, who’s known as the Vanilla Queen in tropical regions where the spice is cultivated. Patricia’s interest in vanilla started with culinary curiosity. She wrote Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World’s Favorite Flavor and Fragrance, a book that weaves the history of vanilla – which is the only fruit of the orchid family — with period recipes and folkloric tales.

Patricia’s curiosity grew into a passion for protecting the people who cultivate vanilla and promoting greater awareness of the socioeconomic challenges in tropical regions where it’s grown — primarily Mexico, Tahiti and Madagascar. One way she’s doing that is by supporting fair trade farms that pay appropriate wages. Through her venture, The Vanilla Company, Patricia offers pure vanilla extracts and sugars that celebrate the unique local characteristics of each area’s crop. For instance, Madagascan bourbon vanilla has the traditional flavor that we associate with vanilla ice cream and flavored beverages, while Tahitian vanilla is sweeter and fruitier with a high heliotropin content that makes it a good stomach calmative. Mexican vanilla is creamy and spicy, and it’s especially good in desserts made without heat or with a short cooking time.

We heard about Patricia from Daily Grommet friend Kathy Long, who’s a huge fan of her vanilla-infused sugars (these add a delicious flavor to coffee or tea, or when sprinkled on fresh fruits and pastries). “Patricia gave me a sugar sampler as a gift one year, and I was sold,” Kathy says. “I use the vanilla sugar in anything and everything, and I consider it the magic touch to my chicken curry.”

Patricia’s pure vanilla extracts and sugars are an affordable luxury that will make a difference not only in your baking and cooking, but also in the lives of the people who cultivate them.

— Ann