Organic Vanilla Beans

The full, rich, buttery smooth flavor of vanilla is found in the fruit (pods) of the vanilla plant. Tiny black seeds sit in oily liquid inside the pods. One flower produces only one pod. The vanilla flower lasts about one day or less so vanilla growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers to manually pollinate them, making vanilla the second most expensive spice after saffron. Both the pod and the seeds are used in cooking. Probably the world's most popular flavor of ice cream, vanilla is used on its own as well as to enhance the flavor of chocolate, coffee, caramel and custards. Vanilla beans is absolutely essential for crème brûlée, one of the most heavenly French desserts.