GLOSSARY: VANILLA

VANILLA is the genus name of a group of tropical vines that are in the orchid family and native to the Americas. It is the only orchid plant that bears edible fruit among its 35,000 species.

VANILLA is the second most expensive spice after saffron, due the extensive labor required to grow the seed pods used in its manufacture. When the plant matures at three years, it flowers for just one day. In that time, it must be hand-pollinated. The plant will not bloom for another year. When the bean is removed nine months later, it must then undergo several months of drying and fermenting. Regardless of its high cost, vanilla is widely used in both commercial and domestic baking, perfume manufacture and aroma therapy.


The word VANILLA comes from the Spanish ‘vainilla’ and refers to the shape of the plant’s seedpods. The seedpods have been used for flavouring food for hundreds of years. It is believed that the Totonaca people of Mexico were the first cultivators of VANILLA, during the Mesoamerican period. According to Totonac mythology, the tropical orchid was born when Princess Xanat, forbidden by her father from marrying a mortal, fled to the forest with her lover. The lovers were captured and beheaded. Where their blood touched the ground, the vine of the tropical orchid grew. They believed this exotic fruit had been bestowed upon them by the Gods and continue to cultivate VANILLA today.

When the Aztecs conquered the Totonacs, and the conquerors soon developed a taste for the VANILLA bean. They named the bean "tlilxochitl", or "black flower", after the mature bean, which shrivels and turns black shortly after it is picked. After they were subjected to the Aztecs, the Totonacs paid their tribute by sending VANILLA beans to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

In the 16th century, the Spanish conquistadors under Cortez, watched Montezuma, Emperor of the Aztecs, pulverize VANILLA beans, combine them with chocolate and serve it as a drink in golden goblets to his most honoured guests. The Spanish caught on quickly and by the middle of the 15th century, were importing it to Europe to use as a flavour in the manufacture of chocolate.

There are currently three major cultivars of VANILLA grown globally, all derived from a species originally found in Mesoamerica, including parts of modern day Mexico. The various subspecies are:

 Vanilla planifolia (syn. V. fragrans), grown on Madagascar, Réunion and other tropical areas along the Indian Ocean;

 V. tahitensis, grown in the South Pacific; and V. pompona, found in the West Indies, Central and South America; and

 V. planifolia variety, the majority of the variety produced and more commonly known as "Madagascar-Bourbon" vanilla, which is produced in a small region of the East African nation of Madagascar and in Indonesia.

Today, VANILLA beans grow within 20 degrees north and south of the Equator in the tropical regions of the world.

Madagascar and Indonesia grow the majority of the world’s VANILLA beans. Other countries around the Pacific Rim which grow and supply VANILLA to the world include Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Philippines, Fiji, Tonga, India, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

VANILLA is available in a variety of forms:

 Vanilla beans (pods): Depending on origination, pods will range in length from 6 to 12 inches. Some are slender; others are thick. They will generally be dark in colour. Taste among species is different, although Madagascar and Mexico beans are very similar.

 Pure vanilla extract (or essence): This naturally extracted product is also aged for maximum flavour. Bean quality may vary. Extract also may contain alcohol per food standards regulations in countries of sale.

 Vanilla paste: Contains no alcohol, easy to dissolve, and has the same strong flavour as extract.

 Vanilla powder: Quick-dissolving with no sugars or alcohols.

 Vanilla flavoring: A combination of natural and synthetic ingredients.

 Imitation vanilla: Contains additives and synthetic, rather than true vanilla. This is not altogether inferior and many cooks prefer it. Usually used in place of vanilla essences and extracts that contains alcohol due to religious reasons.

Source: Wikipedia, Vanilla Plantation, Wise Geek and Big Oven.

GLOSSARY: PALM SUGAR AND GULA MELAKA

GULA MELAKA

Source: Eating Asia

PALM SUGAR was originally made from the sugary sap of the Palmyra palm or the date palm. Now it is also made from the sap of the sago and coconut palm and is also sold as "coconut sugar." It is sold in granulated form, paste, in tubes, blocks or tin cans. It may be light-colored or dark, soft and gooey or hard. As a lightly-processed product of cottage industry, it varies greatly from batch to batch.

GULA MELAKA, which hails from Malaysia, is made by making several slits into the bud of a coconut tree and the sap is then collected. Next, the sap is boiled until it thickens after which, in the traditional way, it is poured into bamboo tubes between 3-5 inches in length, and left to solidify to form cylindrical cake blocks. Alternatively it can be poured into glass jars or plastic bags. GULA MELAKA is used in some savory dishes but mainly in the local desserts and cakes of the Southeast Asian region. Gula Melaka Sago Pudding is one of many desserts made with GULA MELAKA. It is among some of the more popular gastronomic delights of Peranakan (Chinese-Malay) origin. This dish consists of a bland sago pudding served with GULA MELAKA syrup. In some ways it resembles the international Creme Caramel and differs only in the ingredients used. It can be served either cold or hot. To enrich the pudding, coconut milk or 'santan' its Malay name, is added. GULA MELAKA is also the essential ingredient in making another popular dessert/drink, the CENDOL (see my GLOSSARY post and RECIPE on CENDOL).

GLOSSARY: PANDANUS/PANDAN LEAF

The edible Pandanus Leaf (Pandanus amaryllifolius) or commonly know as PANDAN, is a leaf that is used extensively in South Asian (Sri Lanka and India) and Southeast Asian (predominantly in Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian and Thai) cooking. The leaves are used in both savoury and sweet dishes.

PANDAN leaves are used in Southeast Asian cooking to add a distinct aroma to rice and curry dishes such as NASI LEMAK, kaya (a coconut jam) and desserts such as PANDAN cake. PANDAN leaf can be used as a complement to chocolate in many dishes, such as ice cream. If using whole, fresh leaves are typically torn into strips, tied in a knot to facilitate removal, placed in the cooking liquid and then removed at the end of cooking. It can also be ground with some water in a blender to extract the juice as flavouring for desserts and to make PANDAN cake.

In Thailand, pieces of marinated chicken are enclosed in the PANDAN leaf and grilled or deep fried. In the Southeast Asian countries, the leaves are pounded and strained (or blended with a little water) to yield flavour and colour for cakes and sweets.

Kewra which is popular in the Indian sub continent, is distilled from the Pandanus flower, and is used to flavor drinks and desserts in Indian cuisine.

The PANDAN flavour is delicate, and as important to Asians as vanilla is to Westerners. In Canberra, you can find fresh and/or frozen PANDAN leaves at most oriental grocers. I usually get my PANDAN leaves fresh from LAE Grocers, Southlands Shopping Centre in Mawson, Woden. I then freeze the leaves whole, in a plactic bag for later use.


To make PANDAN flavoured desserts, the PANDAN leaves are usually shredded and are either pounded or blended in a blender with some water to obtain its juice which is then used as the flavouring. Nowadays, there are PANDAN paste and PANDAN essence that can be used instead and are sold at most Asian grocers. The PANDAN paste comes complete with the green colouring of the PANDAN and is used to make Asian desserts that are traditionally green. If you can't find PANDAN paste, subsitute with PANDAN essence and add a few drops of green food colouring to get the same results. You can find Kewra at all Indian grocers in Canberra.

The non edible variety of PANDAN is also used for handicrafts in Malaysia. Craftswomen collect the PANDAN leaves from plants in the wild. The young leaves are sliced in fine strips and sorted for further processing. Later, the weavers will produce basic pandan mats of standard size or roll the leaves into PANDAN ropes for other designs. This is followed by the coloring process, in which the pandan mats are placed in drums with water-based colors. After drying, the colored mats are shaped into the final product, for instance a place mat or a jewelry box. Final color touch-ups are applied to assure a product of high quality. The whole process from harvesting of raw materials to finished product is handled by craftswomen, making this a truly community-based handicraft product.

GLOSSARY: CHIANTI

Chianti [Pronounced kee-an-tee] is a famous red wine of Italy, which takes its name from a traditional region of Tuscany where it is produced. It used to be easily identified by its squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called fiasco ("flask"; pl. fiaschi). However, the fiasco is only used by a few wine makers now and most Chianti is bottled in traditionally shaped wine bottles.

Low-end Chianti is fairly inexpensive, with basic Chianti running less than $10 for a bottle. More sophisticated Chiantis, however, are made and sold at substantially higher prices. Therefore, in the case of Chiantis, price is a reflection of quality. Chianti is generally consumed at room (technically "cellar") temperature, like most other red wines.

GLOSSARY: ROSE WATER

Rose water is the aqueous remnants of the distillation of rose petals. Rose water was first produced by Muslim chemists in the medieval Islamic world through the distillation of roses, for use in the drinking and perfumery industries. Crushed rose petals are steam distilled, which then produces the essential rose oil and the rose water. Rose water is used to flavour food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations and for religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia.

Rose water has a very distinctive flavour and is used heavily in South Asian, West Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine—especially in sweets. For example, rose water gives loukoumia (Turkish Delight) and gulab jamuns their distinctive flavours. In Iran it is also added to tea, ice cream, cookies and other sweets in small quantities, and in the Arab world and India it is used to flavour milk and dairy-based dishes such as rice pudding. In Malaysia and Singapore, rose water is mixed with milk, sugar and pink food colouring to make a sweet drink called air bandung. In Western Europe, rose water is sometimes used to flavour both marzipan and a shell-shaped French cake known as madeleine. Rose water is frequently used as replacement for red wine and other alcohols in cooking by Muslim chefs.

A rose water ointment is occasionally used as an emollient, and rose water is sometimes used in cosmetics such as cold creams. Zamzam water, used to clean the Kaaba, a holy shrine of Islam located in Mecca, includes rose water as a component. Rose water is used in some Hindu rituals as well.

Rose water and rose essence are different, but related flavourings. Rose essence is a much more concentrated form of rose water and is quite strong. If you don’t have rose water handy, a rough conversion is 5ml of rose essence is equivalent to 15ml of rose water.