Vanilla
A flavoring extracted from orchids of the genus Vanilla This article is about the flavoring. For other uses, see Vanilla (disambiguation). Vanilla planifolia , flower Dried vanilla fruits Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla , primarily from the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla ( V. planifolia ). The word vanilla , derived from vainilla , the diminutive of the Spanish word vaina ( vaina itself meaning a sheath or a pod), is translated simply as "little pod". [1] Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people cultivated the vine of the vanilla orchid, called tlīlxochitl by the Aztecs. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both vanilla and chocolate to Europe in the 1520s. [2] Pollination is required to set the vanilla fruit from which the flavoring is derived. In 1837, Belgian botanist Charles François Antoine Morren discovered this fact and pioneered a method of artificially pollinating the plant. [3] The method proved finan