Vanilla ... Not So Simple After All
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Quick Facts: Vanilla
Quick Facts: Vanilla
- Vanilla was used by the Aztecs for flavoring their royal drink xocolatl, a mixture of cocoa beans, vanilla and honey.4
- Vanilla has been considered both an aphrodisiac and a fever-reducer.4
- Four regions produce different types of vanilla: Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, Indonesian vanilla, Mexican vanilla and Tahitian vanilla.5
- Thomas Jefferson introduced vanilla to the United States in the late 1700s after discovering it while serving as the ambassador to King Louis XVI of France.6
- The United States consumes approximately 1,200 tons of vanilla beans per year.6
- When baking, be sure to cream the vanilla with shortening or butter because the fat will encapsulate the vanilla, preventing it from evaporating during the baking process.6
- To make your own vanilla extract, place one whole vanilla bean cut in half lengthwise into 3/4 cup of vodka. Cover tightly and let steep for six months before using.1
- Recipe: Lobster Salad With Grilled Peaches and Champagne Vanilla Bean Vinaigrette
Recipe: Lobster Salad With Grilled Peaches and Champagne Vanilla Bean Vinaigrette
From Chef Anthony Cole of The Spa at Chatham Bars Inn, Chatham, Massachusetts
Makes 8 servings, 680 calories, 28 grams of fat
Ingredients for lobster:
4 1-1⁄4 pound lobsters
Preparation for lobster:
1. Cook lobsters in boiling salted water for seven minutes.
2. Remove the lobsters and place them in an ice bath to cool. Once completely cool, remove the tail, claw and knuckle meat from the shell.
3. Cut the tail in half and clean.
4. Using a pair of scissors, remove one-third of the carapace shell lengthwise to form a base to hold the filling.
Ingredients for vinaigrette:
1⁄2 cup champagne vinegar
1 vanilla bean
1 cup olive oil blend
1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation for vinaigrette:
5. Scrape the vanilla bean into the vinegar.
6. Puree the vinegar in a blender and emulsify with the oils.
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ingredients for avocado mousse:
1 avocado
4 ounces buttermilk
1⁄4 cup cilantro
1 teaspoon lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation for avocado mousse:
8. Scoop the avocado meat and puree everything together in the blender
Finishing ingredients:
8 slices of grilled peach
1 cup bacon lardoons
4 cups arugula
Finishing preparation:
9. Toss arugula with one cup of vinaigrette.
10. Arrange arugula on plates.
11. Spoon avocado mousse onto each plate.
12. Complete by arranging the lobster, peaches and bacon on each serving.
- Treatment How-to: Pure Vanilla Pedicure
Treatment How-to: Pure Vanilla Pedicure
From The Spa at Tubac Golf Resort, Tubac, Arizona
The Spa at Tubac Golf Resort is a hacienda-style spa surrounded by dramatic desert landscapes, winding brick pathways, grazing cattle, cascading fountains, and the majestic Santa Rita and Tumacacori Mountain ranges.
This Pure Vanilla Pedicure includes a gentle vanilla scrub to remove the dry skin, followed by the warm application of a smooth vanilla mask to rehydrate.The treatment is then completed with a topping of vanilla body frosting. The vanilla bean used in these services contains antioxidants that encourage good health.
Treatment duration: 60 minutes
Treatment cost: $70
Products needed:
Vanilla exfoliant
Vanilla mask
Vanilla body frosting
Vanilla bath ball
Foot-sanitizing soak
Callus remover
Supplies and equipment needed:
Pedicure chair
Implements
4–6 bath mats
Marbles
Toe spacers
Disposable sandals
Step 1: Fill pedicure tub with warm water, marbles and foot-sanitizing soak. Welcome client, learn about any health concerns and invite her to sit down, get comfortable and play with the marbles in the water for relaxation and to provide a different focus. The only contraindication to the treatment is if the client has an allergy to vanilla.
Step 2: Place vanilla bath ball in the foot tub. Soak feet for 5–7 minutes.
Step 3: Take one foot out of the water, remove any existing polish and groom toenails. Apply cuticle softener to cuticles and callus remover to calloused areas on the bottom of the foot. Do not rinse. Repeat on opposite foot.
Step 4: On first foot, push back cuticles, buff the top of the nail and nip all dead skin. Place foot back in the water, and then repeat step 4 on opposite foot.
Step 5: Remove first foot from the water, pat dry and remove any calluses with a foot file.
Step 6: Exfoliate the foot and leg with the vanilla exfoliant, then place foot back in water and rinse leg thoroughly. Repeat steps 5 and 6 on the opposite foot.
Step 7: Take both feet from the water and pat dry. Apply vanilla mask to the feet, leaving it on for 5–7 minutes.
Step 8: Place both feet in the tub and rinse thoroughly, then pull feet out of tub and pat them dry.
Step 9: Massage the vanilla body frosting on the foot and leg for approximately 10 minutes.
Step 10: Remove all products from nail plate and apply polish.
By: Cathy Christensen
Posted: October 26, 2009, from the November 2009 issue of Skin Inc. magazine.
Vanilla’s flavor and fragrance are so pervasive throughout American life, it is often assumed to be a common, easily grown ingredient. However, that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. The vanilla bean is the second most expensive spice in the world, second only to saffron, and it is so pricy because it is so difficult and time-consuming to grow and ferment.
Vanilla actually is produced by an orchid (Vanilla planifolia) native only to Central America—the only orchid of approximately 20,000 varieties that bears anything edible. In order to produce the vanilla bean, the orchid needs to be pollinated by stingless Melipona bees, also only found in Central America, and the orchid flower only opens for less than a day. If not pollinated during that time, the flower will fall off and no vanilla beans will be produced.1
Because of this complicated process, hand pollination must be used to produce vanilla commercially. After being pollinated, the flowers develop thin green pods, or beans, that are picked before they are ripe and are then fermented by a process that can last as long as six months. The beans become a dark brown color and develop vanillin, a white crystalline substance on the outside of the pods that provides its flavor and aroma. At this point, they are aged to bring out their full flavor, which can take up to two years.1 This common flavor is not so common at all.
In the kitchen
Vanilla is sold as extract and essence, beans, powdered and vanilla sugar, although the extract is the most popular way the flavor is used in pastries, confections and other desserts, as well as dressings and entrees. When buying whole beans, which are perfect for use in custards, milks, creams and syrups, look for those that are shiny, black, tender, plump and moist.1
Spa cuisine chefs use vanilla’s unique, delicate flavor to enhance many dishes, including the following:
- Vanilla was used by the Aztecs for flavoring their royal drink xocolatl, a mixture of cocoa beans, vanilla and honey.4