HAWAIIAN VANILLA
Most people associate Hawaii with producing some of the world's greatest coffee, but what if I were to say that over the last several years it has gained huge recognition for being America's leading producer of vanilla. The visit to the Hawaiian Vanilla Company is a must for all people visiting the Big Island. When you use a product on a daily basis that is required in so many recipes, it is exciting to see how vanilla comes to be. NO SMALL TASK Jim Reddekopp, with his family, had a vision of becoming the United States 'No. 1 producer of vanilla. This vision, I'm sure, was shared in the dreaming stages with his talented wife and chef, Tracy. Now the rest is history. Understanding the life cycle of a vanilla pod is really quite fascinating and extremely labor intensive. Great vanilla is costly for a reason: Anything that takes five years to produce from the beginning stages and depends on optimal conditions is a huge gamble on return. If the elements are not optimal, pollination of a vanilla orchid can only be accomplished by hand. There is a very short window to be able to pollinate in, so you must work quickly and thoroughly. A vanilla flower will bloom only one day per year, and only for a few short hours. If they don't hand pollinate, then they won't have any beans. Once the pollination has been completed, the bean pods will form and mature about 8-9 months later. The bean that is produced looks like a common green bean, about 6-7 inches long. You know what I find the most amazing thing about the vanilla grown in Hawaii? The plants are not grown in dirt, they are grown in coconut husks. FASCINATING BEAN Well, there you have it, some insight as to why the wonderful vanilla pods that we purchase here cost so much. So the next time you visit Hawaii, make a quick visit to the Hawaiian Vanilla Company and have yourself a vanilla tasting, you'll be glad that you did. Here is a recipe using fresh vanilla bean pods. I hope you enjoy. For more information on vanilla and how it grows go to Hawaiianvanilla.com (they also ship fresh vanilla!) SWEET VANILLA BEAN RISOTTO 1/4 cup (60 ml) butter or margarine12 cups water1 cup (250 ml) sugar2 whole vanilla bean pods1 1/2 cups (375 ml) uncooked arborio rice1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream1/4 tsp. (1 ml) saltDash of cinnamon Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. In a frying pan melt the margarine with the salt. Add the arborio rice to the butter and salt, stir. Cook for a couple of minutes.Begin to add the hot sugar water syrup a little at a time until all the moisture is absorbed. Continue to add the syrup until the rice becomes tender and creamy. About halfway, add the beans from the vanilla pods, as well as the whole pod. Let simmer. In the last five minutes of cooking, add the heavy cream and stir. Add the cinnamon and then remove the vanilla pods. Let it cool slightly before serving. Top with apples, raisins or my kids' favorite, chocolate chips. SOURCE JAMES SZUTARSKI for The Edmonton Sun NOTE FROM CHEF STEPHEN BLOCK I hear that a visit to the Hawaiian Vanilla Company is an excellent and fun thing to do in Hawaii, even for teenager kids. I would encourage our readers to make it an afternoon adventure when they are in Hawaii. I don't know that much about Hawaiian vanilla flavor but vanilla beans from different areas do taste different. The Tahitian vanilla does taste very different to me than the Madagascar which is what we are most familiar with because they have been the most prevalent vanilla beans used in the world. The flavor depends a lot on the variety of vanilla Orchid that is used, the soil and growing conditions. Mexican vanilla tastes almost identical to the Madagascar. Their Hawaiian vanilla beans for sale look to be a bit expensive, but they sell them in a glass bottle so that adds to their expense. Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
