A journey to the remote Indian Ocean island reveals the story behind the fragrant, delicious, ubiquitous spice—and the ...

But the extract is made by steeping vanilla beans in alcohol. Vanilla beans are the pods of a flowering plant. And then there ...

Flowers on the vanilla orchid plant bloom one at a time ... Single pods of Tahitian vanilla beans can sell for up to $9, while you can grab up to three Madagascan vanilla beans for the same ...

Used as a spice in baking, cooking, and even perfumery, vanilla beans are long, thin pods that are the fruit of a flowering orchid plant. Here’s a closer look at the sweet and savory world of ...

Vanilla plant flowers are hand-pollinated, and the bean pods must be ripened, dried, and conditioned for months to get their distinctive flavor and aroma. Because true vanilla extract is expensive ...

The vanilla bean on my desk comes from the small Hawaiian ... species most widely grown — is a hermaphrodite (like most flowering plants), with both male and female parts, it can’t pollinate ...

At the time, only bees were known to pollinate vanilla flowers — something that ... it takes nearly a year to fully grow and dry the beans. When the pods shrivel and become supple, they turn ...