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Vanilla beans

Vanilla is a spice and a flavoring. The plant it grows on is the orchid Vanilla, which is a vine.

The main species picked for vanilla is called Vanilla planifolia. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both vanilla and chocolate to Europe in the 1520s.

Today, most of the flavoring is done in chemical laboratories because real vanilla beans are expensive. The pure (man-made) form of the flavoring is known as 'vanillin'. view more...