Vanilla:
description Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) is an orchid native to Mexico that gives edible fruits: the pods. The vanilla pods can reach 30 cm long and, once caught, are fermented and dried. There are several plants vanilla, among them the prized vanilla Bourbon, Reunion Island and Madagascar and Tahiti vanilla, from the pods very dark and fleshy and fruity and sweet. Vanilla: properties and benefits Vanilla is a natural antiseptic, but also a valuable calming, it is very useful to combat stress and insomnia. A good warm milk flavored with vanilla is in fact an excellent remedy for those who have trouble getting to sleep. The particular aroma of vanilla is given by the presence of vanillin, a polyphenol with antioxidant properties that helps to keep the body young counteracting the action of free radicals. Vanilla has always been attributed aphrodisiac. The followers of the theory of signatures assimilate the form of bulbs vanilla testicular and associated with this plant the property to stimulate sexual arousal. At the beginning of the twentieth century doctors advised taking vanilla to combat frigidity and between the symptoms of the "vanillismo" (set of disorders caused by handling or ingesting vanilla) as well as dermatitis and illnesses was also counted an uncontrollable sex drive. Vanilla: Vanilla use in kitchen has a very sweet taste and aromatic, fresh and exciting, more intense in the Bourbon variety and rather delicate in Tahitian. The use of vanilla in cooking dates back to ancient times, when the Aztecs joined the chocolate for a sweet drink, ancestor of our chocolate flavored with vanilla. According to legend, the Aztec emperor Montezuma offered Hernando Cortés chocolate scented with vanilla that the Spanish win back at home making discover the flavor to the entire Old Continent. Vanilla is mainly used in confectionery products to flavor sugar, chocolate, milk and liquor and vanilla cream is one of the main ingredients of many cakes and sweets. Vanilla cover the flavor and scent of yeast cakes and biscuits, making them even more attractive. In some kitchens, such as Eastern or African, the vanilla aroma is also used to prepare savory. The vanilla pods contain within them the seeds that can be used directly in scattering preparations, while the pod can be placed in a jar of sugar which will be characterized by the smell of vanilla, ideal for sweetening coffee. In France and the Anglo-Saxon countries, Coca-Cola has marketed a vanilla-flavored drink: Coca-Cola Vanilla. Vanilla: curiosity Vanillin is the main aromatic molecule present in vanilla (up to 4%) but is a substance that man is able to produce synthetically, for this is available on the market at more or less high, depending on which Whether it is natural vanillin or less. European legislation considers the synthetic vanillin as a product identical to natural, but the words to declare the use is "aroma" and not "natural". Synthetically produced vanillin has a bouquet of aromas reduced rather than natural and is widely used in the food industry. The production of vanilla is a very difficult and delicate, in fact fertilization of orchids that produce pods must be done manually as a single insect can play the role of mediator between flower and flower but it is an insect that is found only in Mexico.
