Description

Vanilla is one of the spices that is highly valued for its distinctive, sweet and smooth aroma and taste. Vanilla comes from the flower pods of the "Vanilla planifolia" plant which belongs to the orchid family. This plant mainly grows in tropical areas, such as Mexico, Madagascar, and Indonesia. The process of producing high-quality vanilla takes a long time, starting from selecting ripe flowers, manual picking, to processing vanilla pods which involves drying and fermentation processes. The end result is a vanilla pod rich in tiny black seeds that contain the compound vanillin, the main cause of vanilla's delicious aroma and taste.

Vanilla is widely used in the food and beverage industry, either in extract, paste, or powder form, to add flavor to cakes, ice cream, chocolate, coffee, and various other products. Apart from providing an alluring taste, vanilla is also known to have calming properties and can be used in cosmetic and aromatherapy products.