The beautiful orchid pictured above is the flower of Vanilla planifolia. Did I know that vanilla came from an orchid? It seems as though I should have, but somehow it seemed like "new news" I stumbled upon while reading about orchids. It turns out that little brown bottle of vanilla extract has an interesting history and without one young man's ingenuity that led to it's availability, we may be more dependent on... wood polymers and the scent glands of beavers.The vine of vanilla planifolia will bear the fruit known as vanilla pods (sometimes incorrectly called beans) only after the flowers are fertilized. These pods are harvested and the oil extracted from them adds the "vanilla" to vanilla extract and other natural vanilla flavorings. But this tiny flower, native to Mexico, will bloom and then die in about one day if pollination does not occur. And, as if the time constraints weren't pressure enough, this plant can only be pollinated by a very localized species of the tiny Melipona bee. In the wild, there is only about a 1% chance that pollination and pods will occur. Attempts to cultivate the vanilla orchid outside of Mexico and Central America proved futile without the Melipona bee. So even though Hernan Cortes introduced vanilla (remember he addicted us to chocolate also) to Europeans in the 1520's, it was not an easy commodity to get.
A picture of Edmund Albius, whom we should say a "thank-you" to when we enjoy vanilla.But the ingenuity of a young man who was patient and observant put this dilemma to rest. In 1841, Edmond Albius, a 12 year old slave, orphaned at birth, observed the Melipona bee carefully enough to discover that he could replicate the bee's work by using a thin stick or blade of grass combined with a simple thumb gesture. Albius' pollination technique is still used today. His method was much faster and more cost effective than hand pollination techniques previously developed by botany professors, giving the world the delicacy of real vanilla. Edmond died in poverty in 1880, unknown as he is today.
A drawing of the Melipona bee can be seen on the far right in this drawing...he's the one with the white tail and no stinger.
This Mexican vanilla is named for the Melipone bee.Even with Edmond Albius' help, vanilla is still the second most expensive spice (after saffron) due to the labor intensive cultivation process. But beware, because all that says vanilla is not real vanilla. About 95% of vanilla products actually contain artificial vanillin, which is produced from lignin, a polymer found in wood. Most synthetic vanillin has only one of the 171 identified aromatic components found in real vanilla pods. Yet synthetic vanillin from wood polymer will seem pretty pleasant after hearing the following food fact: In the United States, Castoreum, the erudate from the scent sacs of mature beavers, has been approved by the FDA as a food additive. Castoreum is understandably simply referred to as "natural flavoring" in the list of ingredients. It is used in foods and beverages with vanilla and raspberry flavoring as well as cigarettes and perfumes.
"Thank-you, Mr. Albius. You may have saved me from the Castoreum farm."
