Madagascan Bourbon vanilla is the benchmark against which all other vanilla is measured, and the island now grows the great majority of the world's crop. The flavour is the one most of us think of as vanilla itself: rich, creamy and sweet, with warm notes of butter and caramel and a long, rounded finish. That character is made after the harvest, not on the vine — the pods come off the plant green and almost scentless, and it is the months of curing that follow, the traditional Bourbon method of scalding, sweating, sun-drying and slow conditioning, that builds the aroma. Every flower is hand-pollinated, every pod hand-picked and hand-graded, which is why real vanilla costs what it does.
A single pod will comfortably flavour 250ml of custard, ice cream base or crème anglaise. Split lengthways and scrape the seeds directly into your preparation, then drop the spent pod into the liquid to infuse further. Nothing is wasted — used pods can be dried and ground into vanilla sugar, or steeped in spirits to make extract.
Origin Madagascar
Ingredients Vanilla pod (Vanilla planifolia), Grade A
Storage Store in an airtight container at cool room temperature, away from direct light. Do not refrigerate. Well-stored pods will keep for several months.
