The main species harvested for vanillin is Vanilla planifolia. It is a native of Mexico,

The cultivation of vanilla requires knowledge and a lot of care. The farmers of the totonocapan know this and they advice people that the plant is “jealous” and do not like stranger around their fields. Every morning they open one or two orchids that are destined to die that same day to make room for the ones for the next day. The farmers choose from each plant five or six flowers to obtain three or four fruits. They know better to abuse the reproductive capacity may burn out and weaken the plant to diseases. The processing of the vanilla starts with the curing process of the green vanilla pod or bean.

Vanilla is a vine: it grows by climbing over some existing tree, pole, or other support. It can be grown in a wood (on trees), in a plantation (on trees or poles; possibly alternating with rows of sugar cane), or in a "shader", in increasing orders of productivity. If left alone, it will grow as high as possible on the support; every year, growers fold the higher parts of the plant downwards so that the plant stays at heights accessible by a standing human.

The part of the plant in which the distinctive flavory compounds are found is the fruit, resulting from the pollination of the flower. One flower produces one fruit. Vanilla planifolia flowers are hermaphrodite: they carry both male (anther) and female (stigma) organs; however, to avoid self-pollenization (which would tend to result in genetic deficiencies), a membrane separates those organs. Such flowers may only be naturally pollinated by a specific bee found in Mexico. Growers have tried to bring this bee into other growing locales, to no avail. The only way to produce fruits is thus artificial pollination.

A simple and efficient artificial pollination method was introduced in 1841 by a 12 year-old slave named Edmond Albius on Réunion, then a French colony, in the Indian Ocean. This method is still used today. Using a needle, an agricultural worker folds back the membrane separating the anther and the stigma, then presses the anther on the stigma. The flower is then self-pollenized, and will produce a fruit. The vanilla flower lasts about one day, sometimes less, thus growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers, a human-intensive task..

Growers reproduce the plant by cutting: they cut off parts of the plants, plant them in the ground and wait for them to grow new roots.

Vanilla named in Nahuatl tlilxóchitl, was one of the tributes that the Aztecs demanded to the conquered people in the eastern territories of central Mexico that is the totonocapan region of Veracruz. Years alter with the arrival of the Europeans, the vanilla started a long journey; the vanilla beans went to Spain they were used in fragrance making and also to aromatize the chocolate just like the Mexican Indians did it at the time. Now the plant of the vanilla went to England by the year 1800 to go all the way to the French botanical gardens. The vanilla migration did not stop there; it went on to the Indian Ocean and in the middle of the XIX century arrived in Madagascar.

The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. Today they reside in the state of Veracruz. They built the Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (which city they claim to have built).

	Vanilla extract is made by percolating alcohol and water through chopped, cured beans, somewhat like making coffee. Vanilla extract is very powerful, a few drops sufficing for most uses. Vanilla bean is a bit more time consuming to use than the extract, but imparts the stongest vanilla flavour without the alcohol of extract. To flavour a liquid base for creme sauces, puddings, ice creams, etc., allow one bean per pint to steep in the liquid by boiling and allowing to cool for an hour before removing the bean. This can be repeated a few times if the bean is washed after use, dried and kept airtight. Ground vanilla can also be used, but use half as much and leave in the liquid. Many recipes call for slitting the bean lengthwise and scraping out the tiny black seeds. Airtight storage is necessary, otherwise the aroma will dissipate. A good way to store whole vanilla is to bury it in sugar. Use a jar with a tight-fitting lid that will hold about a pound of sugar, burying the bean so that no light can reach it. After 2 -3 weeks the sugar tastes of vanilla and can be used in coffee or in other recipes and the bean can be removed for other uses and returned to the sugar after cleaning. Keep topping up the sugar.
	THE LEGEND:
	Teniztli, the third totonacan king, consecrated his beautiful daughter Tzacopontziza (morning star) to Tonacayohua (the harvest goddess) service; even though she had made a chastity promise, she met prince Zkotan-Oxga (young deer), and fell in love. Young deer kidnapped Morning Star but the priests set a quest to look for them and when they found them they cut their throats and offered their hearts to Tonacayohua. In the place of the sacrifice a small brush was born and by its side an orchid that in one morning it was covered by flowers of an exquisite aroma. And that’s how the blood of the prince and princess transformed itself into a brush and into an orchid. So from the blood from a princess vanilla was born that in totonacan is called Caxi-Xanath, and it means hidden flower and from vanilla our diosa vanilla (vanilla goddess) was born.

Common Uses

There are three main commercial presentations of natural vanilla:

• Whole bean
• Ground vanilla
• Extract (alcoholic solution; per Food and Drug Administration requirements, at least 35% vol. of alcohol)

Vanilla flavor in creams, cakes and other foodstuff may be achieved by adding some vanilla essence or by cooking vanilla beans in the liquid preparation. A stronger aroma may be attained if the beans are split in two; in this case, the innards of the beans (the seeds), consisting of flavorful tiny black grains, are mixed into the preparation. Natural vanilla gives a brownish to yellowish color to preparations, depending on concentration.

Some connoisseurs still regard the Totonac vanilla as the best.

Vanilla flower