Vanilla From Orchids

Today I learned Vanilla is the only fruit from the massive {30,0000+} Orchid family. Vanilla has been hand-pollenated since the 1840's. The orchid blooms around 5 a.m. and begings to wilt around 10. The flower will be dead in another 2 hours unless it's hand-pollenated. Usually a tiny bamboo stick -- like a toothpick -- is used to pollenate. If it isn't done, you get no bean. There is no aroma and no flavor in the big green bean. You gotta process it before you get the deliciousness. The Mayans, among others, figured this part out. The Aztecs prized it when they came to power and asked for vanilla as part of tax payments. So, for a while, vanilla was so rare it was worth more than money. In the 1980's it was discovered to be an aphrodesiac. Patricia Rain wrote the fab book, Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World's Favorite Flavor and Fragrance. You can hear her interview here.