Ten Reasons Why I like Living in Rurutu: #8

Vanilla, aaaah! I've recently received a shipment of vanilla from Raiatea, so I have nearly a kilo of the stuff on hand. It's not why I moved to French Polynesia, but it's definitely a big bonus; good vanilla, readily and inexpensively available, what luxury. Of course, I could grow my own, and I am planning to, after all Viriamu's grandfather used to have a plantation out back.

For those who are unfamiliar with vanilla beans, they are seed pods of an orchid species originating from Mexico. The Spanish conquistadors brought the beans back to Europe from the New World along with cocoa; it was used initially as a flavouring for chocolate and as an aphrodisiac. The orchid was introduced to Tahiti in the nineteenth century, and is now recognized as its own species Vanilla tahitensis. The flowers must be hand-pollinated (as there are no natural pollinators) and are ephemeral, lasting just 24h if unpollinated. Once the seed-pods have set they need to be cured and dried, a time-consuming and complicated process, but I reckon that the results are worth it!

I use vanilla in lots of things....you might even say that I'm a bit obsessed. It's an essential ingredient of my jams, cakes and homemade ice-cream, of course, but I also like to use it to add flavour to curries and my own version of vanilla fish, a classic tahitian dish. I've been making vanilla infused monoi for a while, as well as soap. I like it in coffee, in tea and in rum ;-) The girls love my vanilla yoghurt. In short we can't get enough of it!