Where Did Vanilla Come from?
Vanilla Is a Native of South and Central America and the Caribbean; and the First People to Have Cultivated It Seem to Have Been the Totonacs of Mexico's East...
Vanilla is a native of South and Central America and the Caribbean; and the first people to have cultivated it seem to have been the Totonacs of Mexico's east coast. The Aztecs acquired vanilla when they conquered the Totonacs in the 15th Century; the Spanish, in turn, got it when they conquered the Aztecs.
Where does real vanilla come from?
Most vanilla beans available today are from Madagascar, Mexico and Tahiti. As with wine, chocolate and coffee, vanilla from each country has its own distinctive flavor profile and characteristics, owing to the different climates, soils, curing methods and vanilla species.
What was vanilla invented for?
Vanilla first left Mexico in the early 1500s on ships bound for Spain. It was originally believed only to have value as a perfume. It wasn't until Cortes arrived in 1519 that they discovered that it was also used as a flavor.
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