Can the seed pods of vanilla beans be used in cooking as well as the beans?
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla native to Mexico. Etymologically, vanilla derives from the Spanish word “vainilla”, little pod.[1] Originally cultivated by Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican peoples, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both the spice and chocolate to Europe in the 1520s.[2] Attempts to cultivate the vanilla plant outside Mexico and Central America proved futile because of the symbiotic relationship between the tlilxochitl vine that produced the vanilla orchid and the local species of Melipona bee; it wasn’t until 1837 that Belgian botanist Charles François Antoine Morren discovered this fact and pioneered a method of artificially pollinating the plant. Unfortunately, the method proved financially unworkable and was not deployed commercially.[3] In 1841, a 12-year-old French-owned slave by the name of Edmond Albius, who lived on Île Bourbon, discovered the plant could be hand pollinated, allowing global cultivation of
Vanilla came to Europe in the 17th century with the conquistadors of Mexico. It was used together with chocolate drinks and as a perfume. Vanilla flavor comes from the fruit pod of the tropical orchid Vanilla planifolia. It grows on vines which use trees as support in the wild. Vanilla pods are harvested green and cured for several months, to develop the flavor with which you are familiar. The vanilla flavor is comprised of several hundred chemical compounds and is contained in the pod and the tiny seeds. The flexible pods are four or more inches long, and have a black-brown, wrinkled appearance. Germans use the vanilla bean (“Vanilleschote”) and vanilla sugar (“Vanillezucker”) in their cooking, but not vanilla extract. Split vanilla beans (or pods) are soaked in milk or cream before making custards and puddings, or the seeds are scraped from the pod and beaten into batters and doughs. The seed pod is often placed in a jar with sugar to make vanilla sugar. Dr. Oetker sells “Bourbon Van
