1 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to food Stuff. I'm Anny Yes, and 2 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren vogelbaumb and this is our not So Vanilla 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: Vanilla episode. That's right, we're tackling vanilla and we're going 4 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,279 Speaker 1: to talk about why vanilla has got kind of a 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: bad connotation to its being born. Right, it's not at all. No, no, no, no, 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: and thank you too, listener Gina for suggesting. She also 7 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: sent in a book suggestion, Vanilla queen, we really need 8 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: to start up the food Stuff book Club. Oh yeah, 9 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: our our list of books is long and ever growing. Yeah, 10 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: because I don't read about food enough. No, let's definitely 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: start a book. Oh it would be delightful though. Okay, alright, 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: So vanilla, yes first, oh yes, Oh indeed. And most importantly, 13 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: it's the flavor of America's favorite ice cream. Yeah, which 14 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: I found a little surprising, but according to the Internet 15 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: ice Cream Association, so I guess they would know. Of 16 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: Americans favorite vanilla, followed by chocolate with an eight point 17 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: nine percent. I guess it's spread after after vanilla. Many 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: categories of ice cream flavor. My favorite, if I had 19 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,680 Speaker 1: to choose a general one is chocolate, and my little 20 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: brothers was vanilla, and will you see it in some 21 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: pretty serious arguments about it, because I'd be trying to 22 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: convince him why he was wrong, like that, you're just frong. 23 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: Chocolate involves vanilla flavoring, and it's also got chocolate flavor 24 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:37,639 Speaker 1: exactly right. It's science. It's it's scientifically proven that you're wrong, Bobby, 25 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: if you're listening. Um, So, vanilla it's a species of 26 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: the orchid family. The being itself comes from a seed 27 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: pot of the evergreen climbing orchids that sort of looked 28 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: like vines. Bonds that can reach up to one and 29 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: five ft are thirty two ms. Yeah, they kind of 30 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: getting stores. Specifically comes from one of three species, the 31 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: largest share being vanilla plant foila a k. Mexican or 32 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: Bourbon vanilla. But you can find vanilla to heat nous 33 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: a ka to heati vanilla, and sometimes vanilla pompona a 34 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,799 Speaker 1: k a West Indian vanilla. About three fourths of vanilla 35 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: we by today comes from Madagascar and Reyjon, which is 36 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: an island off the coast of Madagascar. It used to 37 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: be named Bourbon, hence Bourbon vanilla. And that's why, Okay, 38 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: I have always wondered that it also does have a 39 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,239 Speaker 1: little bit of a bourbony flavor to it. Yeah, it 40 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: kind of does. Most of the rest of our vanilla 41 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: supply comes from Mexico and Tahiti. The main flavor compound 42 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: in vanilla is called vanilla and it can be created 43 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,079 Speaker 1: in labs pretty cheaply and easily. But there are over 44 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty flavor and aroma compounds in vanilla pods. 45 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: Experts talk about vanilla's TAROI yeah, so much to are 46 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: happening in these episodes. There are Tahitian vanilla has notes 47 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: of cherry florals and marshmallow. Madagascar vanilla has notes of 48 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: rum and bourbon, prunes and wood. And Mexican is a 49 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: little bit more subtle of a vanilla. It's got notes 50 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 1: of wood, spice and nutmeg and McCormick. I'm sure most 51 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: of you have heard of this. It's like that company, 52 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: one of the brands and spices and stuff. Yeah, and 53 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: they sell vanilla and they have a chart of vanilla 54 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: tasting chart and it's like a big wheel. And I 55 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,559 Speaker 1: spent far too much time reading like all of the descriptions, 56 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: and I mean vanilla tasting. Why is that not a thing. 57 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: Oh it can it be a thing? Let's make it 58 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: a thing. Okay. There aren't too many orchids you can eat, 59 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: but this happens to be one of them. It's a 60 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: bit sensitive of a plant as well. It needs to 61 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: be in a tropical or sub chocol climate. Like seriously, 62 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: it's not able to grow ten to twenty degrees north 63 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: or south of the equator, or it's only able to 64 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: grow there. Yes, otherwise that would be like a lot 65 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: of vanilla we're looking at the different, the opposite problem. 66 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: It's native to the Caribbean and parts of South and 67 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: Central America, and the blooming season last a couple of months, 68 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: with a handful of fragile flowers of green or yellow 69 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: or white blossoming each day. The flowers are so fragile 70 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: that they can only be pollinated naturally in the wild 71 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: by a species of many pone b are possibly the 72 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: eu glossin bees. These are tiny little bees, and maybe 73 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: birds can pollinate them too, but either way, these pollinators 74 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: only exist in Mexico, which means that vanilla beans grown 75 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: elsewhere must be hand pollinated. That they are very often 76 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: hand pollinated in Mexico to to ensure production quantities. Some 77 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: expert farmers say that as few as five of the 78 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: flowers on any given plant should be pollinated in order 79 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: to achieve the best quality fruit. Mm hm oh and 80 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: uh did we mention the flower is only open one 81 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: day a year, one day year, one morning a year. 82 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: In fact, yes, the flowers closed by the afternoon. And 83 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: if they weren't pollinated in that too, any time, any 84 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 1: window so long, they just fall off and die. Yeah. Yeah, 85 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: no fruit, it's wild to me. Who yeah that The 86 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: flowers themselves, by the way, are very neutral y scented. Yes, 87 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: the fruit part, as the name pod implies, looks forty 88 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: pod like, reaching up to eight inches or twenty centimeters, 89 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: generally over a month to a month and a half 90 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: long on period, but it could be much longer, like 91 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: nine months. Um. Farmers harvest them when they're an unnipe 92 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: greenish goldish color, and at that point they're pretty bland. 93 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: Their Their flavor and characteristic rich brown color is developed 94 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: during this whole post harvest curing process that depends on 95 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: heat and enzymes in the beans and bacteria poop. Maybe, oh, Lauren, oh, 96 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: every time, it's exciting. Okay, so um. After vanilla beans 97 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:03,799 Speaker 1: are harvested, they go through this production process of cooking, sweating, drying, 98 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: and crying, and growers around the world have developed different methods, 99 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: but but basically, first you sort the pods by length, 100 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: then soak them in hot water or expose them to 101 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: heavy sunlight to reach an internal temperature of about sixty 102 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: five degrees celsius or uh that's about a hundred and 103 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: fifty degrees fahrenheit to kill the beans um, stopping any 104 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: potential growth processes and killing off most bacteria or fungi 105 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: that might be floating around in there. Um. Then sweat them, 106 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: meaning you keep the beans hot and not too dry 107 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: and well covered at around like fifty degrees celsius a 108 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: k ae fahrenheit. This let's a number of ensmatic processes 109 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: begin to happen inside the beans. Their cellular structures begin 110 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: breaking down. It also allows a few heat tolerant bacteria 111 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: to thrive. You then dry the beans out very very slowly. 112 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: You want them to decrease to about fifteen of their 113 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: original water weight, depending on their size and quality, and 114 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: depending on the farming traditions. This may be done by 115 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,679 Speaker 1: setting the beans out in the sun for a single 116 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: hour every day it's really intensive. The final step is 117 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: conditioning or curing the beans by keeping them warm and 118 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: kind of slightly humid, and this continues the flavor and 119 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: aroma development process. Once they're cured, vanilla beans can keep 120 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,239 Speaker 1: for like two to ten years, depending on how careful 121 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: you are about it, and all of this research is 122 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: being done into the role of those heat resistant bacteria 123 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: in the development of these flavors. Um Tests and cultures 124 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: taken from a few different bean processors around the world 125 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: have found differing populations of bacteria, but a few strains 126 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: of Baccillus were commonly dominant, and scientists think that the 127 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: bacteria player role in helping breakdown cellular structures of the 128 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: vanilla beans, thus releasing some of the compounds or precurses 129 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: precurses to the compounds that give vanilla all of its 130 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: flavor and aroma. Um. The bacteria might also help process 131 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: some of those precursors into their final forms, and they 132 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: might help keep the temperature of the curing beans warm 133 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: enough to prevent the growth of unwanted fungi and bacteria. 134 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: The whole shebang takes like five to eight months and 135 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: is just super person nickety um. These traditional manual methods 136 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: are still used by many farmers and production firms, mixed 137 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: in with a little bit of like modern sterilization and 138 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: climate control technologies. Depending on the size and the swagger 139 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: of the operation. Um, you have to keep careful track 140 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: of each individual vanilla bean pods development, like any sign 141 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: of mold growth will send a being oh way back 142 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: to the killing stage. My goodness, because of all the 143 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: time and work vanilla takes. It's the second costliest spice 144 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: at around pounds. First. Oh, I'm glad you're asked. It's saffron. Oh, 145 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: of course, saffron. Of course. Whole other episode. Vanilla powder 146 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,199 Speaker 1: is what you get after grinding whole vanilla beans, and 147 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: vanilla extract is chopped up and macerated beans aged in 148 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: solution to bring out the flavor. According to the FDA, 149 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 1: to qualify as pure vanilla extract, there needs to be 150 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: thirteen point three five ounces of vanilla beans for every 151 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: gallon while extraction is happening in alcohol. That primary flavor compound, 152 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: vanilla makes up only one too of any given vanilla bean. 153 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: Most of this processing happens in factories outside of the 154 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: countries that actually produced vanilla, which has traditionally meant that 155 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: the farmers who do the bulk of the labor see 156 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 1: a minority of the profits. That's a starting to change, 157 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: but it is slow going, unfortunately, thanks in part to 158 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: the need to add flavor to low carb or low 159 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: fat products and in part because we just love it. 160 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: Vanilla are Vanilla flavoring, to be more precise, is in 161 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: over eighteen thousand products worldwide. Yeah, and about that flavoring thing. Yeah, 162 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: bolt products with vanilla in the name. You know, your 163 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: vanilla way, for your vanilla pudding, even your cheap vanilla vodka. 164 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: They don't contain the real thing. No, orchids were harmed 165 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: in the making of those products. That's in part, at 166 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: least because the labor intensiveness and priceiness of vanilla, which 167 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: means we don't actually produce a whole lot of it, 168 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: about two thousand metric tons. It may sound like a 169 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: lot in the face of vanilla demand, it really isn't that. 170 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: The synthetic stuff we produce over twenty thousand metric tons 171 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: of that a year. The balance between naturally and synthetically 172 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,439 Speaker 1: sourced vanilla is changing, though due to that whole marketing 173 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,439 Speaker 1: and or consumer pushed towards all natural ingredients. In the 174 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: past five years, consumer interest has pushed huge companies like 175 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: Nestlee and Hershey's to switch back to naturally sourced vanilla, 176 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: which has driven the cost of vanilla beans up to 177 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:58,679 Speaker 1: more than ten times what it used to be. Invitation vanilla, 178 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: by the way, is entire. They composed of the ever 179 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: mysterious artificial flavorings. Okay, okay, So in vanilla beans, you 180 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: get a molecule of vanillin by breaking down a sugary 181 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: molecule of of gluco vanillen, But there are lots of 182 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:16,839 Speaker 1: other ways to get the same molecule. You can use 183 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: easter bacteria to to ferment like an oil from cloves 184 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: or this acid from rice brand. If they're fed one 185 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: of these things, these specialized and often proprietary microorganisms basically 186 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 1: poop vanillen um, those are considered natural vanillen. You can 187 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: also heat and pressure treat and alcohol that comes from 188 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,599 Speaker 1: spruce trees to produce vanillen. As of the nineteen nineties, 189 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: a lot of the world's vanlon was actually a byproduct 190 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: of the wood, pulp and paper industries. Uh And you 191 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: can synthesize vanilla in a lab using an oil that's 192 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: a byproduct of the petroleum industry. Those last two are 193 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: considered artificial, and the petroleum version is the cheapest of 194 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: the lot by far, especially since wooden paper industries have 195 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: been working to reduce waste over the past couple of decades. Um. 196 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: I was reading ahead in the outline, and I'm very glad. 197 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: I was hoping that you would answer this question. Okay, alright, So, 198 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: so I heard that the artificial stuff is made from 199 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 1: beaver butt glands. Is that true? Is it? No? Well 200 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: there you go. Well, okay, well, it is true that 201 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: beavers produce a kind of vanilla scented substance in a 202 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: gland near the base of their tails. But believe it 203 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: or not, it's not actually financially viable to milk beaver 204 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,679 Speaker 1: glands at a rate that would satisfy the world's interesting flavoring. 205 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: I know, weird. Um. This this stuff is called castoreum, 206 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: and beavers use it to mark their territory and to 207 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: impress humans by smelling just absolutely lovely. Beavers smell really nice. 208 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: I had no idea me neither. Castorium did see some 209 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: used in the eighteen hundreds as a perfume ingredient and 210 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: occasional food additive, especially during the time when beaver was 211 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: just all the rage in fashion and so they were 212 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: thus being hunted in large numbers. And it does still 213 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: show up sometimes in the fragrance industry, but it's pretty uncommon. Well, 214 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: there you go, question answered. I'm sure all of you 215 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: are waiting to know. Yes, in ice cream, which actually 216 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: does play a big part in the story of vanilla, 217 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: apart from the silly pole we wanted to throw in there. Um, 218 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: tastesters can tell the difference between vanilla and vanilla, and 219 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 1: the former being more distinct and flavorful than the ladder, 220 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: which often ended up with the descriptor bland or non 221 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: distinct attached to it. However, and things like cakes that 222 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: are heated, tasters generally couldn't tell the difference. Yeah. Oh, 223 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: and I did want to put in here that vanilla 224 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: ice cream is one of the few products here in 225 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,679 Speaker 1: the US that the FDA says must contain natural vanilla 226 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: if it doesn't want to have to specify artificial vanilla 227 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,679 Speaker 1: and its name. I was at the grocery store today 228 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: and I noticed this, and also so many things claiming 229 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: to have some vanilla beans in there. Anyway, the US, 230 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: with our notorious sweet tooth, is the largest importer of 231 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: vanilla on average five point four grahams a person, which 232 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 1: comes out to sixty million vanilla beans a year. Yeah. Okay, 233 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: so that's a lot. That's the intro. Yeah, oh, welcome. 234 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: This is one of those long and twisty outlines that 235 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: it's like, oh goodness, you never know, we're not I 236 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: will take you. Yeah, well, except we do know where 237 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: it's going to take us. Well, first of all, because 238 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: we wrote it. And second of all because right now 239 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: it's taking us towards a quick break for a word 240 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you sponsored. All right, 241 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: let's let's look at the history of vanilla. It's it's 242 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: hard to pin down. It's a difficult one. Yeah, because 243 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: vanillan does not leave behind a chemical residue like chocolate does. 244 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: Thank you chocolate. Um Matt being said, here's what historians 245 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: have pieced together about vanilla's history. So the Maya in 246 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: the southeast of Mexico and Central America were the first 247 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: to grow vanilla for use as a cacao flavoring as 248 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: as far back as six thousand BC. That's mostly for 249 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: for cocoa as a drink sweetened with honey, and researchers 250 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: think that vanilla was originally reserved for people of very 251 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: high political position. They put ground up vanilla orchid and 252 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: necklaces to ward off illness or other bad health stuff. 253 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: They used it as a fragrance, stimulant and insect or 254 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: pill in a medicine, mixed it with copal resin and 255 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: burned it as an incense, and of course in aphrodisiac 256 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: obviously obviously, However, the Totonac people in Vera Cruz, Mexico 257 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: are often cited as the first to cultivate vanilla beans 258 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: and to figure out that they became more flavorful when sweated, 259 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: primarily for dismal use. Wherein the Aztecs took over the 260 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: Totonac in the fifteenth century. The Totenac were forced to 261 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: pay tribute to the Aztecs in the form of thousands 262 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: and thousands of vanilla being, which they called black flower 263 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 1: after what happens to the flower once the fruit is harvested. 264 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: Unlike the Totonac, the Aztec used vanilla for flavor, especially 265 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: in the chocolate drink that they called chuckle attle. Did 266 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: I say that correctly, I think so excellent. The Totana 267 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: believed that vanilla was a gift from the gods and 268 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,720 Speaker 1: a source of eternal happiness. Their mythology included the tale 269 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: of how the vanilla or kid came to be that 270 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: goes something like this. Once upon time, Princess nut fell 271 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: head over heels in love. Her father refused to allow 272 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: her allow her to marry said love, however, on accounts 273 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: of him being a puny mortal, so the couple eloped 274 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: no nattier not because they both were captured in Their 275 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: heads were chopped cleaning off, their blood soaked into the earth, 276 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,119 Speaker 1: and from that spot grew the first vanilla orchid. The 277 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: Totonac sought as their duty to take care of and 278 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: protect these vines and to make them productive through the 279 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: marriage of vanilla. Which is a more pleasant way of 280 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: saying collination. That's a lovely myth. Yeah, well, I mean, 281 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: I mean there's heads getting chopped off. I mean, not 282 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: for the two people involved, but it's sort of sweet. Yeah, yeah, 283 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: kind of. When the Spanish arrived in fifteen nineteen, frequent 284 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: food stuff cameo. Hernan Cortez ran into it at Vera 285 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,880 Speaker 1: Cruz and he also ran into the Totonac. Some sources 286 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: say that Montezuma served Cortez Cacao in fifteen twenty, while 287 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: others say that the Totonac teamed up the Spanish to 288 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: overthrow the Aztecs. Either way, Vanilla's name comes from the 289 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: Spanish vanilla, which translates to little pod or in Latin vagina. 290 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: There's actually a lot of references to vagina, including the 291 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: nine months, the possible nine months it takes. Yeah. Yeah, anyway, well, 292 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: I think we come back to that, okay, perfect um. 293 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: Around this time, vanilla was introduced to Asia and Africa 294 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: courtesy of the Spanish and Portuguese, and by introduced to 295 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: we almost certainly mean smuggled out too, because yeah, a 296 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: lot of the Mexican peoples were trying to keep a 297 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: lockdown on that kind of thing. Yes, they absolutely were. 298 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: Cortez brought Vanilla back with him to Europe, and in 299 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: fifte the first written description of vanilla was pinned by 300 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:36,639 Speaker 1: Bernardino de Sahagun and Bernard Diaz. Europeans were totally in 301 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: adding vanilla in to hot chocolate as a replacement for 302 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 1: cinnamon once they accepted hot chocolate, which did take a minute. Yeah. 303 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: One Spanish fellow dubbed it a drink for pigs. Oh, 304 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,880 Speaker 1: I know, it's just hot chocolate, right, that's such strong emotion. 305 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: They also mixed it with tobacco and used it as 306 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: a nurse s iimmulant and surprise and aphrodisiac. Some historians 307 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,360 Speaker 1: think partly due to the vagina Latin root word, which 308 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,639 Speaker 1: is the saddest reason ever to use something as an apronusiac. Yeah. Well, 309 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: I guess it's not the sadiest reason, but it's not 310 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: a great reason. It's not very well founded. In sixteen 311 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,880 Speaker 1: o two, with hopes of appeasing Queen Elizabeth, the first 312 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 1: sweet tooth her apothecary in head of the apothecary, Hugh Morgan, 313 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: came up with sweetmeats flavored solely with vanilla. Queen Elizabeth 314 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: loved them, which meant that other people wanted to try them, 315 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: which led to vanilla spreading throughout Europe. Alcoholic beverages, tobacco, 316 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: and perfumes got the vanilla treatment. In seventeen hundreds and 317 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty four, we get the first recorded use of 318 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: the word vanilla from botanist Philip Miller's book The Gardener's Dictionary. 319 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 1: A little less than ten years later, in seventeen sixty two, 320 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 1: a German physician named Bazaar Zimmerman published a work that 321 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: claimed that after a three and forty two impotent men 322 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: drank vanilla, they quote changed into astonishing lovers of it 323 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: at least as many women. Mm hmm. Interesting study. Yeah, 324 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: it was so popular as an aphrodisiac. It's it was 325 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: like the one for a long time, you know. It's 326 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 1: also if we're kind of plotting a food stuff bingo 327 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: card and uh oh yeah, and I think aphrodisiac has 328 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: to be on there. It absolutely does. Around eighteen hundred, 329 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: a French priest smuggled an orchid out of Mexico, Yes, 330 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: smuggled intrigue. Uh. Spanish controlled Mexico had a monopoly on 331 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: vanilla and the plants were under an export ban. But 332 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,040 Speaker 1: this guy got him out to Tahiti and from there 333 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: the French would try to cultivate them in multiple locations 334 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans. Vanilla intrigue. And this 335 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: brings us to someone else who makes a frequent cameo 336 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: and food stuff episodes. But first, one last break for 337 00:20:51,640 --> 00:21:05,160 Speaker 1: a word from our sponsor, and we're back, thank you sponsoring. Yes, 338 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: so you'll never guess who's coming up again. Oh, you 339 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: probably will. It's Thomas Jefferson. Oh yeah, yep and his 340 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: many galivants. Across France, he encountered ice cream flavored with vanilla, 341 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: which had by then spread to much of Europe with 342 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: the help of Queen Elizabeth the First. Jefferson loved the 343 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 1: stuff so much he even wrote down a recipe for 344 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: vanilla ice cream fairly similar to how we make it 345 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: today that you can find in the Library of Congress 346 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: h Man. Jefferson brought back waffles and vanilla ice cream 347 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: and wine jellies from France. He's I like, despite a 348 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: number of other things, I would have totally gone to 349 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: his parties, like a waffle for all, like with vanilla 350 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: ice cream on the side and some wine jellies to 351 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,119 Speaker 1: help you loosen up a bit. Yeah, that's a lot 352 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:53,159 Speaker 1: of sugar, but it'd be fun at first. Yes, you know, 353 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: he didn't have Netflix back then. You had to make 354 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: your own fun. It's true. Also, he got the pods 355 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,360 Speaker 1: from Paris, but they probably originally came from Central America. 356 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: So yeah, in eighteen o five, Vanilla pops Up and 357 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: its first cookbook, and it's one we've talked about before 358 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 1: HANDA Glasses the odch of cookery. It basically called for 359 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: adding vanilla to hot chocolate. And if you're seeing a 360 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: theme here, vanilla and chocolate, vanilla and hot chocolate. It 361 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: was used to cut like the bitterness right right, Yeah, 362 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: It was a popular way to cut the bitterness without 363 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: needing to add too much sugar exactly which the girl 364 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: was expensive. Right. Another cookbook we've mentioned, Mary Randolph's four, 365 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:33,480 Speaker 1: The Virgin Housewife. It's not the Virgin Housewife. It is 366 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: the Virginia Housewife. I just have a aphrodisiac on the brain. 367 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,679 Speaker 1: It came with the first written American recipe for vanilla 368 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: ice cream, and Europeans, of course for attempting to grow 369 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: their own vanilla, but they found the seeds they produced 370 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: weren't flavorful due to the total nach successfully keeping the 371 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: process of curing a secret, and also because the bee 372 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: needed for vanilla pollination could be found in Europe, or 373 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: at least the bee we think needed for vanilla poll nation. 374 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: Um Europe's increasing demand for vanilla, which they nicknamed chocolate drug, 375 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: caused a depletion of wild vanilla, and as a result, 376 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,119 Speaker 1: the total Knock built vanilla farms in the seventeen sixties. 377 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: All of these things allowed them to maintain their position 378 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,679 Speaker 1: as the primary producer of vanilla from the seventeen sixties 379 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: to the eighteen forties. Europeans were determined, however, to find 380 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,640 Speaker 1: a way to cultivate their own flavorful of vanilla. In 381 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: eighteen nineteen, some Frenchmen sent vanilla beans to the French 382 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:31,120 Speaker 1: controlled Reunion and Mauritius Islands, crossing their fingers had go there. 383 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: Years later, in eighteen forty one, on the island of Reunion, 384 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: twelve year old slave Edmund Albius figured out hand pollination. 385 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,159 Speaker 1: Jean Michel Claude Richard, a famous French botanist, immediately to 386 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: credit U immediately for teaching Albeous this method, uh and 387 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: in later recountings of the story, some papers claimed Albous 388 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:58,640 Speaker 1: was white. When slavery was abolished in eighteen forty eight 389 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: in impavary Ish, Albius died soon after, so he didn't 390 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: make any money off of what was basically like the 391 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: invention that made vanilla possible. Right. This also means that 392 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 1: possibly most of our vanilla supply can be traced back 393 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 1: to that first cutting of a vanilla orchid from Paris's 394 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: Jordan de plant possibly, which is cool to think. The 395 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: discovery of hand poll nation was the catalyst. First several things. First, 396 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:33,199 Speaker 1: it toppled Mexico's monopoly of the vanilla trade. Second, the 397 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,359 Speaker 1: French sent vanilla orchids, first to the Comoros Islands and 398 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,439 Speaker 1: then to Madagascar with instructions and how to cultivate them. 399 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: The production of vanilla in these locations sailed past Mexico's 400 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 1: by seventy nine, and it only took until eight for 401 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,679 Speaker 1: them to supply of the world's vanilla two hundred metric 402 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,880 Speaker 1: tons worth. There were other factors that contributed to Mexico's 403 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,440 Speaker 1: loss of their lead in the trade. Around that time, 404 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: its coastal rainforests were being stripped bare by the tropical 405 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,719 Speaker 1: wood industry. A cedar and mahogany trees were part of 406 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: vanilla orchids natural climbing habitat, and suddenly all that was gone. Yeah, 407 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,640 Speaker 1: and this just so happened to coincide with an exponential 408 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: increase in demand for vanilla as its solidified its place 409 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: as the preferred ice cream flavor, and with the eight 410 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: eight six introduction of a little beverage you might have 411 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 1: heard of coca cola. What it's part of that secret 412 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 1: recipe it is. It's one of the few things. So 413 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: was cinnamon. Uh, one of the few things that they 414 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: will admit is in there. Yep. The esteemed brain tonic 415 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 1: and intellectual beverage called for vanilla. Vanilla was added to 416 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 1: all kinds of things as the availability of it increased, 417 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: stepping back of it. Joseph Burnett soaked some vanilla beans 418 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: and grain, alcohol and water in eighty seven and got 419 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:54,400 Speaker 1: vanilla extract and German scientists isolated the first synthetic vanilla 420 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: that vanilla in eighteen seventy four from cheaper sources like 421 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:04,400 Speaker 1: governor yea, yeah, sure, yeah whatever. Um. In a case 422 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: of too little, too late, the Academy of Sciences and 423 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: Gastronomic Arts recognized the total knock for their role in 424 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: bringing vanilla and the process behind cultivating it to the 425 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: world in oh, I mean yeah, they did really good 426 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: job keeping it hidden for a while. Um. By some estimates, 427 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: by the time nineteen thirty two came around, of all 428 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,400 Speaker 1: ice cream in the US was vanilla. Oh wow? Yeah, 429 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: a typhoon allowed to a substantial increase in Vanilla's market 430 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: price in the seventies, a price level they maintained and 431 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: told the cartel that had controlled Vanilla's pricing and distribution 432 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:46,680 Speaker 1: of vanilla since the nineteen thirties fell apart. In nine, 433 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: that cartel was toppled by the International Monetary Fund and 434 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:56,360 Speaker 1: an effort to boost global competition and vanilla intrigue. Indeed, 435 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: prices fell in the following years to twenty dollars aequila, 436 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 1: a decrease UH. This changed when market factors like the 437 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: boom and premium ice creams by companies like Ben and 438 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: Jerry's and Haggandas caused demand to increase some fifty from 439 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: n through two thousand UH. This was immediately followed by 440 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:23,360 Speaker 1: another typhoon. Another typhoon struck in two thousand, Coupled with 441 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: political instability and regions that grew vanilla and bad weather 442 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: in general, this caused the price of vanilla to shoot 443 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:33,160 Speaker 1: up to five hundred dollars tequilo and two thousand four. 444 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,920 Speaker 1: By two five, the price is back down to forty 445 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 1: dollars quilo due to a number of factors like more 446 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,359 Speaker 1: countries trying their hand at vanilla production and increased demand 447 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:46,359 Speaker 1: for imitation vanilla. But as you can see, this is 448 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 1: a product subject to some serious pricing fluctuation. Oh yeah, 449 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: and that's actually been particularly intense in the past few 450 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: years because the demand for artificial vanilla um and also 451 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 1: taxation of natural vanilla by the government was so great 452 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,919 Speaker 1: during the nineteen nineties that orchid farmers in Madagascar abandoned 453 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: their plantations. Real vanilla was not worth the cost of 454 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 1: production to them. This happened in Mexico to from the 455 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies on. Wages were so much higher instituts and 456 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: oil industries there that yeah, vanilla production just did not 457 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,360 Speaker 1: make sense. That flipped when those big companies like Nestlie 458 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,400 Speaker 1: started buying up pods again, as suddenly there wasn't nearly 459 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,160 Speaker 1: enough supply to meet demand and the price skyrocketed, especially 460 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: because all those farms had shut down and it can 461 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: take three to five years for a new or rebuilt 462 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: production to start producing pods. This has created some really 463 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: bizarre economic effects. The National Central Bank of Madagascar actually 464 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: ran out of the large bills that vanilla traders used 465 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: to pay farmers, with uh crops being stolen from fields, 466 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: some farmers harvesting pods too early to produce good quality vanilla, 467 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: and weather is still an issue, especially given the rate 468 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: at which climate changes messing up our weather patterns. Uh 469 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 1: cyclone that hit Madagascar this March of destroyed about a 470 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: third of the vanilla crop, pushing demand and prices even higher. 471 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: All of this means that some researchers are working on 472 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: developing genetically modified orchids that would produce more vanilla to 473 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: help offset some of these fluctuations. And another interesting science thing, 474 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, two thousands six study found that vanilla was 475 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: effective in preventing bacteria quorum sensing, which is something bacteria 476 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: do that coordinates behaviors like virulence and antibiotic resistance. So 477 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: scientists think that vanilla intake could be useful in preventing 478 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 1: bacterial pathogenesis. Yeah, very very very early, but still oh yeah, yeah, yeah, 479 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 1: it's coorum sensing is really fascinating. It's basically bacterial communication 480 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,480 Speaker 1: and lots of great implications there. That is, it was 481 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: really cool to run into you. Like I said, you 482 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: never know what a topic is going to take you. 483 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: Who knew we'd be talking about bacteria coorum sensing in 484 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: Vanilla episode, not me, but that brings us to the 485 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: present with Vanilla everywhere and all kinds of things and 486 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: our appetite for it apparently on ending. Yeah. Yeah, um, 487 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: so that's the story of Vanilla. It is. It is 488 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 1: quite a twisty turny one. Uh and kind of guys 489 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: probably know. But the reason that at the beginning of 490 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: the podcast why Vanilla is like vanilla bland and distinct 491 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,280 Speaker 1: whatever is because it's it's everywhere, but also because it's 492 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: usually that invitation stuff or not right. Yeah, We've got 493 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: a discussion with one of your friends about this and 494 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: he had some strong feelings about how Vanilla was very 495 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: good and not vanilla at all. Yeah, you gotta watch 496 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: out for cook industry. Food industry friends find they have opinions, 497 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: chefs have opinions. Sometimes it's weird, very weird. Speaking of opinions, Yeah, 498 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: brings us to listener mail yes Els wrote in after 499 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 1: our Roman episode. When I was middle school, the most 500 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: popular snack around was to take a brick of instant ramen, 501 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: crush it up a little in the packet, and then 502 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 1: sprinkled the seasoning over it. We'd eat the little chunks 503 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: of dry ramen with seasoning like chips. It used to 504 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 1: be a school black market. Whoever could bring the best 505 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 1: flavor could sell it for like three dollars a pack, 506 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: which is a lot of money for a twelve year 507 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: old and also pretty big price. The kids who brought 508 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: the lime chili shrimp made bank. The school got so 509 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:31,200 Speaker 1: fed up with it that they started buying cases of 510 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,920 Speaker 1: ramen from Costco and selling each flavor of ramen for 511 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: like fifty cents, and that effectively killed the raman black market, 512 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: though not the amount of dry raman consumed. Where this 513 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,480 Speaker 1: trend of eating dry dry Roman came from, I have 514 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 1: no idea. I'm convinced someone was playing a trick on 515 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 1: a gullible friend and it just kept going until the 516 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 1: whole school was doing it. I never heard of any 517 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: anyone else doing it, but I visited recently and they 518 00:31:54,280 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: still sell the raman for cents. That's that's hilarious to me. 519 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: In college, I said in a Roman episode, I'd pretty 520 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: much lived off for ramen, but when I didn't have 521 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: time to cook it, I would just like people would 522 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 1: see me walking around campus with the block. It was 523 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 1: a sad time and oh dude, in my life, Yeah, 524 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: I wasn't even putting the seasoning on it, So I 525 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: these twelve year olds were step ahead of me in 526 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: that that regard. Well, you know, we all do what 527 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: we have to. Yeah, and apparently at one point in 528 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 1: my life that was eating dry blocks of dry ramen. 529 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: I'm unseasoned. I'm glad that you've come a little bit 530 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: further than a little bit. Um Savvy also sent us 531 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: this note about our Vegemite episode. The amazing thing about 532 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: Marmite is its marketing scheme. The owners obviously know it's weird, 533 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: and even though I'm now twenty seven, I still vividly 534 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: remember the commercials for it from when I was a child. 535 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: Their phrase was marmite you either love it or you 536 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: hate it, and the commercials consisted of things like a 537 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: man kindly giving a homeless man of sandwich, only to 538 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: have it thrown at him a few moments later when 539 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 1: the man realizes it has marmite in it, or my 540 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: personal favorite, a man wakes up in the morning and 541 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: smells his milk and makes a face, realizing it's rancid. 542 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,360 Speaker 1: Then he accidentally uses the knife his girlfriend spread marmite 543 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 1: with to butter his toast, chokes and begins to chug 544 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:19,720 Speaker 1: the rotten milk to get the taste of the marmite 545 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: out of his mouth. Again. This was an ad for 546 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: marmite genius. I still laugh when I think of them. 547 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 1: That's pretty excellent. I mean, you gotta embrace you, gotta 548 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: embrace you, gotta know who you are exactly. Yeah, So, 549 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 1: thank you so much to both of them for writing us. 550 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 1: You can write us as well. Our email is food 551 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: Stuff at how stuff works dot com. We're also on 552 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 1: social media. You can find us on Twitter and Facebook 553 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,080 Speaker 1: at food Stuff hs W. You can also find us 554 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: on Instagram at food Stuff. Thank you so much to 555 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 1: our audio engineer, Tristan McNeil and Dylan Fagin, and we 556 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:00,000 Speaker 1: hope to hear from you, and we hope that lots 557 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: more good things are coming your way. M