Vanilla: A Cultural History of the World's Favorite Flavor and Fragrance

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Overview

It has seduced kings and comforted millions. Part culinary history, part cultural commentary, Vanilla tells the remarkable story of the world's most popular flavor and scent.

The Spanish considered vanilla the ultimate aphrodisiac, the Totonac Indians called it the fruit of the gods, and the Aztecs taxed the Mayans in vanilla beans, using the beans as currency. Today, vanilla is in our coffee, our perfume, tea, home products, body lotion, and just about anything imaginable.

Patricia Rain explores the incredibly diverse effect of vanilla on the worlds of food, medicine, psychology, and even politics. She intertwines the ...

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Overview

It has seduced kings and comforted millions. Part culinary history, part cultural commentary, Vanilla tells the remarkable story of the world's most popular flavor and scent.

The Spanish considered vanilla the ultimate aphrodisiac, the Totonac Indians called it the fruit of the gods, and the Aztecs taxed the Mayans in vanilla beans, using the beans as currency. Today, vanilla is in our coffee, our perfume, tea, home products, body lotion, and just about anything imaginable.

Patricia Rain explores the incredibly diverse effect of vanilla on the worlds of food, medicine, psychology, and even politics. She intertwines the fields of cultural anthropology, botany, folklore, and economics, tracing the marvelous path of vanilla throughout world history. Vanilla shows how the impact and marketing of this ubiquitous little bean over the last eight hundred years saved the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Tahiti, put Madagascar on the map, drove the success of the great Parisian perfume houses and Europe's confection industry, and spurred trade routes across the Indian Ocean. Rain examines the rich history of vanilla with exacting detail and discusses its current role in our lives and the modern retail world, where the "vanilla boom" has caused the prices of many common consumer items to skyrocket.

Filled with fascinating insights, quirky characters, trivia, and even recipes, this beautifully written book is perfect for vanilla lovers, history buffs, and anyone interested in a real-life captivating story.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Ever wonder how to tell mildew from crystallized essence on those vanilla beans in your cupboard? Ever hear about the 17th-century Jewish vanilla curers of Guyana? Need a recipe for Chipotle-Vanilla Salsa? Thanks to her extensive experience in the vanilla field (Rain's a vanilla broker, president of the Vanilla.COMpany, and author of The Vanilla Cookbook), Rain can discuss everything from the various international terms for the hand-pollination of vanilla flowers to the ethical issues raised by synthetic vanilla. In this surprisingly comprehensive survey, she takes readers through the history of vanilla production from Mexico to Indonesia, covering relatively obscure producers like the French island of R union, as well as Madagascar and the nearby Comoro Islands. While the vanilla orchid is sensuous and aesthetically pleasing, the story (as Rain presents it) of how various colonial powers subjugated indigenous producers to reap the profits from its cultivation is not as pretty. Rain leavens this sometimes depressing history with recipes, folkloric tales and personal vignettes. While few readers may want to drink even a modern adaptation of Aztec hot chocolate or prepare an Indonesian rice pudding with "black glutinous rice," pandan leaf and palm sugar syrup, Rain's advice on choosing and using vanilla in the home kitchen is quite useful. Photos, illus. Agent, Judy Capodanno. (Nov.) FYI: This is the second book on vanilla in recent months, after Tim Ecott's Vanilla, which Grove published in June (Forecasts, May 3). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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From The Critics
Acknowledging but marveling at the fact that the term vanilla is commonly used today as an adjective equivalent to plain or ho-hum, this work traces the agricultural, botanical, culinary, and cultural history of the plant and flavor, vanilla. Certainly the tale satisfies anyone's taste for adventure, with ample power plays, riches gained and lost, botanical discoveries, and world travel. Rain (Vanilla Cookbook) leads readers through the dynamic story of vanilla, beginning in central Mexico and continuing across the world to such disparate places as Tahiti, the West Indies, and the United States. Thorough and lively, but possibly a bit too exhaustive in coverage for the casual reader, the text is punctuated with sidebars highlighting recipes both ancient and contemporary, short biographical accounts of key players, and additional details on related scientific, anthropological, and culinary topics. Interested parties may also want to consider Tim Ecott's Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid. Appropriate for academic and public libraries, though possibly a bit narrow in focus for smaller collections.-Courtney Greene, DePaul Univ. Lib., Chicago, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781585423637
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
  • Publication date: 10/21/2004
  • Pages: 384
  • Product dimensions: 5.74 (w) x 8.58 (h) x 1.25 (d)

Meet the Author

Patricia Rain is a culinary historian, lecturer, vanilla broker, consultant, and president of the Vanilla.Company (www.vanilla.com). She is the author of The Vanilla Cookbook.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1
1 Xanat, Quetzalcoatl, and the Gods' Legacy 13
2 Intoxicating Europe and New Spain 39
3 Tropical Migrations 71
4 The City That Perfumed the World 91
5 The Flavor for Everyone 131
6 Vanilla Thrives Worldwide 167
7 The Industry Comes of Age 239
8 The Politics of Our Passion 307
9 Out of the Cupboard and onto the Table 325
Bibliography 369
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