Chapter 1
The art of botanical catfishing
Chapter 2
Vanilla, the orchid in your kitchen
Chapter 3
Orchidelirium and the Victorian craze
Chapter 4
The ultimate botanical rule-breakers
Ch 2 · Vanilla, the orchid in your kitchen
misslily Aztecs mixed Mesoamerican vanilla with cacao, but early European attempts failed without the orchid's tiny, iridescent Melipona bee pollinator.
misslily A bamboo splinter technique from Réunion Island made global vanilla cultivation possible.
Fun Fact
Vanilla orchid: Vanilla is the only edible fruit produced by the entire Orchidaceae family, which contains over 25,000 different plant species.
Glossary
vanilla (noun)
A substance obtained from the beans of a tropical orchid, used as a flavoring in food. Each orchid flower blooms for only one day, requiring growers to hand-pollinate them in the morning.
A substance obtained from the beans of a tropical orchid, used as a flavoring in food. Each orchid flower blooms for only one day, requiring growers to hand-pollinate them in the morning.
Quiz
Why did early European attempts to cultivate vanilla vines outside of Mexico fail for decades?
Quiz
What simple tool did Edmond Albius use to perform his famous hand-pollination technique?
Quiz
In what year did Edmond Albius invent his revolutionary vanilla hand-pollination technique?
Quiz
What physical action must be performed during hand-pollination to fertilize a vanilla orchid?
Quiz
What is the name of the membrane flap that prevents vanilla orchids from self-pollinating?
Quiz
Which island nation is currently the world's leading producer of hand-pollinated vanilla?