Mexican vanilla is considered the purest and most flavorful type of vanilla due to its unique pollination process. The vanilla pods must go through a lengthy curing and fermentation process to create the extract used in cooking. Consumers should be wary of inauthentic Mexican vanilla, which may contain coumarin and cause dangerous reactions.
The vanilla flavor comes from the vanilla plant, a type of orchid that grows in tropical climates. Mexican vanilla, which many consider the purest and most flavorful version of vanilla, originated in southern Mexico and Central America and is the only type of vanilla plant that can be naturally pollinated. Mexican vanilla pods have a somewhat distinctive shape and produce a distinctive flavor as well.
The flowers of this plant only flower for several hours before they shrivel and die, but if they are pollinated while open, they will produce a string of long, thin vanilla beans. When these beans ripen they are harvested, but at this point they have no smell or taste. To create the vanilla extract used in cooking and baking, the pods must first go through a lengthy curing and fermentation process, which can take more than six months to complete.
There are different types of vanilla, but Mexican vanilla is considered exceptional because it is the original type of vanilla. All other vanilla plants in the world come from this area. The vanilla plants in Mexico are unique because they are the only vanilla plants that can be pollinated naturally, a process necessary to produce beans. Flowers can only be pollinated by a specific bee variety called Melipona. Vanilla flowers in other areas of the world must be hand pollinated.
While there are different types of vanilla, the two most popular varieties are Mexican vanilla and Madagascar vanilla. Though from the same plant species, there are subtle differences in flavor due to their method of pollination and climatic differences between the two areas. While Madagascar beans produce a sweet flavor, Mexican vanilla has a distinct, rich, smooth flavour. Even the beans themselves differ, as Madagascar beans are quite thin, while Mexican beans are dark in color and often thicker than Madagascar beans.
Consumers should be wary of inauthentic Mexican vanilla. An artificial vanilla flavor has been sold in Mexico that smells and tastes like vanilla, but is actually an extract of the tonka plant. This plant contains a substance called coumarin that can cause a dangerous reaction in individuals taking blood thinners. If buying authentic Mexican vanilla while traveling, consumers should protect themselves by being wary of business extremes that might indicate artificial products and make sure the ingredients list the vanilla bean and not the tonka bean. Vanilla extract and other coumarin-containing products are banned in the United States.
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