Vanilla Beans, Madagascar Bourbon

Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans come from the island of Madagascar, one of the Bourbon Islands off the southeastern coast of Africa. The seeds of a climbing orchid, vanilla beans are hand-harvested and sun cured. The dark brown wrinkled pods are wonderfully fragrant and add a rich, sweet, buttery smooth creamy vanilla flavor.

Vanilla beans are ready to use whole for infusing or split lengthwise and use the scraped seeds for more intense flavor and the classic vanilla bean fleck. Vanilla beans are a great flavoring for ice cream, cakes, cookies, chocolate, coffee, fruit desserts and most sweet dishes. A small amount of natural vanilla also complements rich savory dishes such as lobster and veal. Use vanilla as a secret ingredient in tomato sauces, stews and chili.

One whole vanilla bean is equivalent to approximately one tablespoon of pure vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste or vanilla powder.