Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, plump black Grade A pods from the SAVA region

Aromatic profile

Culinary use

• When to add : steep the split pod in a hot fatty liquid (cream, milk, melted butter) off the boil, then scrape the seeds back in
• Dosage : one pod per 500 ml to 1 L of liquid, to taste
• Ideal pairings : creme anglaise and custard, dark chocolate ganache, rice pudding, panna cotta, cream sauces for poultry and shellfish
• Avoid with : raw, sharply acidic dishes that flatten it, aggressive aromatics like raw garlic

The grain in detail

Madagascar Bourbon vanilla is roughly three-quarters of the world's black-pod vanilla, and the SAVA region, Sambava, Antalaha, Vohemar and Andapa, is its epicenter. The vine, Vanilla planifolia, climbs living support trees in the shade of the lowland forest, where humidity stays high year-round. Here's the part that makes it Bourbon, not just Malagasy: the post-harvest curing. Each flower is pollinated by hand the morning it opens, nine months before the green pods come off the vine. Those pods are then blanched in water around 65 degrees Celsius (149 Fahrenheit) to stop enzymatic ripening, sweated in covered crates, dried slowly in sun and shade, and finally conditioned in trunks for months. That's when the vanillin and the hundreds of other aromatic compounds actually develop, so the curing, not the soil, is what you're paying for. A good Grade A gourmet pod runs 1.8 to 2.2 percent vanillin, stays supple at 30 percent moisture or more, and measures 16 cm or longer. The flavor is cocoa-forward and lightly caramelized, propped up by prune, dried fruit and a touch of pale leather. It's the most heat-stable vanilla there is, which is why it belongs in set custards and ganaches where fat carries the aroma; in savory cooking it sits quietly behind shellfish, lobster and cream-sauced poultry. Here's the catch worth its own line: the Malagasy market is volatile. After the 2017 to 2019 price spike sent beans north of $500 a kilo, prices have eased, but supermarket pods are often hollowed-out, dried-stiff things sold past their prime. To spot a good one, check that it bends without snapping, has no frost of crystals on the skin (that's oxidation, not quality), and hits you with cocoa the second you open the tube.

History & origin

Vanilla is native to Mexico, where the Totonac people grew it long before the Spanish arrived. It couldn't be farmed anywhere else until 1841, when Edmond Albius, a twelve-year-old enslaved boy on Reunion, worked out how to pollinate the flower by hand. Bourbon vanilla takes its name from Ile Bourbon, the old name for Reunion, from where the crop spread to Madagascar, the Comoros and the Seychelles in the nineteenth century. Today the SAVA region is the undisputed center of the trade.

Indicative price

Reference format : 1 bean — from $2.50 to $3.50 (median : $2.85).

Storage

An airtight glass tube, kept dark and at room temperature. Never the fridge, where it cristallizes and risks mold. A well-kept pod holds 18 to 24 months.

Where to buy?

Tags

• vanilla
• Madagascar
• SAVA
• Bourbon
• Vanilla planifolia
• pastry
• creme-anglaise

Frequently asked questions

How do you store Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla?

An airtight glass tube, kept dark and at room temperature. Never the fridge, where it cristallizes and risks mold. A well-kept pod holds 18 to 24 months.

What dosage for Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla?

one pod per 500 ml to 1 L of liquid, to taste

When should you add Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla in cooking?

It's best used steep the split pod in a hot fatty liquid (cream, milk, melted butter) off the boil, then scrape the seeds back in.

What should you avoid pairing Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla with?

Avoid with: raw, sharply acidic dishes that flatten it, aggressive aromatics like raw garlic.