Suggested uses

Basic prep

Storage & handling

Store in a dry, cool place.

Ingredients

Vanilla

This easy-to-use paste makes adding natural vanilla flavor easy and consistent. Vanilla caviar is created by scraping the seeds from our top-quality Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans, providing rich vanilla impact without the tedious process of splitting and scraping whole vanilla beans. The second most expensive spice in the world, after saffron, vanilla is prized in both the culinary and perfuming industries for its rich, mouthwatering fragrance.

Vanilla beans are the seed pods of the flat-leaved vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia), a climbing orchid, originally from Southern Mexico where they grow wild. The name "Bourbon" comes, not from the spirit, but from the former name of the group of islands, the Bourbon Islands.

When Spanish explorers arrived in Central America, the Mayans were already using vanilla as a flavoring agent for their royal chocolate drinks. Through Spanish trading ships, these beans eventually found their way to several other tropical regions, including the Bourbon Islands, where they were cultivated using a hand pollination technique.

Vanilla became very popular in Europe after Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez brought it back from the Americas. It was initially considered a luxury for nobility and the very rich, but as the hand pollination technique was adopted, vanilla beans grew less scarce and relatively more accessible. Vanilla beans are green when harvested and become black due to the lengthy fermentation process, but remain soft and flexible.

It is estimated that 95% of the vanilla products in the world are made with imitation vanilla, rather than the superior natural vanilla extract. Take one whiff of this all-natural Vanilla Caviar, and you'll immediately notice the difference. Vanilla is mainly used in baking and pastry applications, where it is an indispensible flavoring agent in cakes, cookies, custards, ice cream, candies and more. However, in small amounts it also marries well with savory ingredients and proteins such as lobster, pork, duck and foie gras.

Vanilla has been used for various medicinal and aromatherapeutic purposes, from treating intestinal gas and fever to promoting relaxation and increasing sexual desire. In Indian ayurvedic medicine, vanilla is thought to help alleviate toothache. Vanilla is also often used as a flavoring in syrups used for making medications.