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A dash of vanilla

Besides ice creams and cakes, vanilla is used to flavour medicines

VANILLA The climber

Vanilla is derived from the dried, cured beans or fruit pods of the large, green-stemmed climbing, perennial, Vanilla planifolia, which is a member of the orchid family.

Although vanilla beans are sometimes used in their whole form, they are most commonly used for producing extracts and flavours.

Vanilla originated in Mexico, but Madagascar, Indonesia and Uganda produce some of the best beans. Most of the world's high quality beans come from Madagascar, an island off the coast of Africa.

Vanilla is mostly used in ice creams, soft drinks, eggnog, chocolate confectionery, candy, tobacco, puddings, cakes, cookies and liqueurs and as a fragrantly tenacious ingredient in perfumery.

Medicinal properties

Vanilla is considered an aphrodisiac. A German study in 1762 found that a medication based on vanilla cured impotence.

It was also believed that vanilla was a febrifuge, used to bring down fever, though it is rarely used for any medicinal purposes other than as a pharmaceutical flavouring.

Now for a recipe.

Vanilla shrimps

Ingredients

White wine: quarter cup

Vanilla extract: 1 tbsp
Minced onion: half tsp
Pepper powder: half tsp
Garlic powder: quarter tsp
Shrimps cleaned: 450 gm
Butter: 2 tbsp
Chicken broth: half cup

Method: In a dish, mix wine, vanilla extract, minced onion, pepper powder and garlic powder. Add shrimps and leave it to marinate for 30 minutes. Reserve marinade. Saute shrimp in butter until pink. Remove shrimp from skillet. Add reserved marinade and chicken broth, boil till almost dry. Add the shrimps and toss well. Serve hot.

VINOD KUMAR

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