Vanilla: A Cultural History of the World’s Favorite Flavor & Fragrance

by Patricia Rain

Tarcher, 372 pp., $22.95

Just about everyone instantly recognizes the flavor and aroma of vanilla, but most people don’t realize that natural vanilla comes from the fruit of a climbing orchid, or that it has recently surpassed saffron as the world’s most expensive spice. Patricia Rain, who has dedicated much of her life to the study of vanilla, is a culinary historian and lecturer, vanilla broker (www.vanilla.com), and longtime advocate for small vanilla growers worldwide. From this multifaceted expertise, she’s written a compelling and readable account of the history, anthropology, and complicated politics surrounding this most popular of flavorings. Topics include the peculiar botanical attributes of the vanilla orchid; its uses in medicine, aphrodisiacs, and perfumes; the 17th-century Jewish vanilla traders of the Caribbean; and Thomas Jefferson’s introduction of vanilla ice cream (via France) to the United States. Rain intersperses sweet and savory vanilla recipes that illustrate the text.

This article appears in December 17 • 2004.

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MM Pack is a food writer/historian and private chef who divides her time between Austin and San Francisco. A regular contributor to The Austin Chronicle and Edible Austin, she’s been published in Gastronomica, The San Francisco Chronicle, Oxford Encyclopedia of Food & Drink in America, Nation’s Restaurant News, Scribner's Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, The Dictionary of Culinary Biography, and Southern Foodways Alliance’s Cornbread Nation 1.