 And now, the history of Vanilla! Vanilla is actually a specific type of orchid. Huh? Vanilla isn't orchid? Uh, yeah, but we actually kind of covered this last week. Well, yeah, but normally when I interrupt you, then you just launch it to another fact and then it just disappears. Wasn't the plan this time, here. Okay, I'm easy. Vanilla consists of 110 species, but only four specific varietals contain the edible fruit that we love so much. Ah! Told ya! Fact! Dang it! She's under me! Vanilla is the only type of orchid that is actually used as a spice. Vanilla, according to some, comes from the Spanish word vany, which means little pod or little scabber. But this is the tame version. According to the Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World and other reputable sources, the actual root is vina, which, according to the source and usage, could mean several different things, including scabbard, sheath, and vagina. Now this is actually because the orchid's pollen chamber is shaped kind of like a, uh... You get the idea. While most stories link Vanilla's origins to Mexico, residues of vanilla and other chemicals were discovered by archaeologists in burial jugs of a Bronze Age tomb in Megado, Israel. Which, according to some historians, means it is likely acquired by sea trade almost 3,800 years ago. The more popular and well-known belief is that vanilla was first used by the pre-Columbian Mayans. But it is thought that the first people to really cultivate vanilla were the Teutonic people of what is now Veracruz, Mexico. Now there is a lot of mythology involved with vanilla, and if you want another video on that, I'm happy to do it, just let me know in the comments down below. For now, I'll include one little bit of folklore that was included by just about every source I looked at when researching the history of vanilla. The story goes like this. Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess, but not just any princess, a god like deity. She fell in love with a handsome young commoner. Sadly, the girl's parents had forbidden her from marrying a mere mortal, so the young lovers fled into the forest hoping to elope and get hitched. And they were found by a local priest who beheaded them for their transgressions. Yay! Happy endings! But the good part is that where their blood touched the ground, a vine of tropical orchid grew. That's right my friends, their blood gave us vanilla. Yay! Don't you just love ancient mythology? Let's get back to the ancient Tautonic people of Mexico who were the first ones to actually properly use vanilla, which was actually called the Tluxaca Chidi Vine. Toxic Tahiti, Tluxa Chidi, Tluxa Chidi Chidi Bang Bang Vine. Let's just call them what they really are, vanilla pods. And for hundreds of years the Tautonics were the soul keepers of the secret of how to make vanilla from these strange pods. That is, until they are defeated by the Aztecs, who forced them to relinquish control of this revered exotic fruit. The Aztecs called it the Black Flower, because of how the orchid pod turns black once it matures during harvesting. SIDEMORE! There is actually some research that says the Olmeca people were the first ones to use vanilla as a flavoring in beverages. Now you know. There's apparently some trade of vanilla back to Spain as early as 1500. But things really get crazy for vanilla when that evil conquistador cumquat head, Hernan Cortez, arrives on the scene in 1519. Aztec Emperor Montezuma, for whatever strange reason, thinks that Cortez is the embodiment of their god, Coexacatl. Montezuma decides he's going to impress Cortez by offering him the drink, Chocolato. A tasty mixture of cocoa beans, honey, vanilla pods, pots other funky ingredients like maize, pimentos, and chili peppers. Hey, give it a try. It might be tasty. Ooh, you might even do a recipe video on it. Woo! Sounds like conch. Cortez was understandably bone away by this bad ol' Mama Gemma of a mixture. Or maybe it was the fact that it was served in ceremonial gold goblets. Cortez manages to get ahold of the recipe and, in payment, he slaughters Montezuma and destroys his whole civilization. Great guy, that Cortez! So Cortez brings vanilla back to Spain, and vanilla makes its way into its first botany dictionary in 1571. For nearly a century after this, vanilla is solely used as a tasty drink by the rich and nobility. It's in 1602 that Hugh Morgan Queen Elizabeth I's apothecary thinks, Hey, why don't I use this awesome vanilla for flavoring by itself? So he puts it in some sweet meats for Elizabeth and she goes gaga over it. After this good ol' Queen, Lizzie reintroduces it to Europe, where it's used in chocolate, tobacco, perfume, and for various medicinal purposes. It's finally in 1754 that vanilla takes another step forward and is entered into its first English language botany book. The Gardner's Dictionary by Philip Miller. And this brings us to a really interesting bit in vanilla history involving the third president in the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Now before he became president, Jefferson served as the American minister to France, where he learned about the awesomeness of vanilla, and he brought it back with him to America in 1789. But while he was in France, he actually learned how to use vanilla beans in ice cream. And once he got home, he created a recipe for the first vanilla ice cream in the history of America. And this original recipe is still kept in the Library of Congress to this day. Jefferson! And after this, demand for vanilla began to spread even more worldwide. And in order to take advantage of this need for production, somebody happened to smuggle the first vanilla vine from Mexico to the Bourbon Island of Reunion off Madagascar. Unfortunately, for almost 50 years, production is very limited outside of Mexico because they just didn't know how to get the vanilla pods to grow properly. The problem was so bad that it was often referred to as the Curse of Montezuma. Turns out, they needed a bee. Belgian botanist Charles Moran discovered that the melapona bee was needed to ensure that the vanilla orchid was pollinated properly. A more recent study suggests that you glossing bees are actually responsible. Either way, it's the bees that are awesome. Let's hear it for the bees! Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz. So, this problem with the bee pollination kept going on until about 1841 when a very unlikely thing happened. A 12-year-old slave named Edmund Ulbius, who oddly enough was taught a little botany by his owner, happened to solve the vanilla problem by devising a method by which you can pollinate the vanilla orchid by hand. And it's the same method that is still used in vanilla cultivation to this day. Not too long after this, in 1858, French pharmacist Nicolas Theodore Gobley figured out that vanilla was the primary compound responsible for vanilla's tasty flavor. Two German chemists took this knowledge and figured out the chemical structure of vanilla. And what this did was allow them to create the very first synthesized vanilla. They planned to commercialize this product and make it a huge financial success. They failed. But the second process, oh yeah, the second process they created to synthesize vanilla, that was a great success. This process became known as the Reimer Timing Reaction. And the Harman and Reimer company would later become SimRise, which is still one of the largest producers of vanilla extract in the world. Unfortunately, this process is also what gave us imitation vanilla flavoring. Oh, the horror! Still, this process ended up lowering vanilla prices. Vanilla's dominance was to continue growing thanks to John S. Pemberton's new drink concoction called Coca-Cola. Early recipes listed vanilla as one of Coca-Cola's ingredients and advertised it as an esteemed brain tonic and intellectual beverage. While there is some research that says vanilla is good for things like skin, hair, and, you know, digestion, this was just a market employee. It's not actually some miracle brain tonic. In order to deal with increasing demands, vanilla production was expanded from the Bourbon Islands to mainland Madagascar. And by 1898, Madagascar and the Bourbon Islands produced about 80% of the world's vanilla. These days, Mexico is no longer one of the top producers of vanilla. The islands of Indonesia, Madagascar, as well as South and Central America are the biggest producers. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, Indonesia is now currently responsible for the vast majority of the world's Bourbon vanilla production, and 58% of the world's total vanilla production. Vanilla is now the world's second most expensive spice trailing only saffron. Well played, saffron. Well played. Vanilla is so expensive because it can only be grown 20 degrees north or south of the equator. And it's incredibly labor intensive, taking almost a year after the vanilla is harvested to actually get vanilla out of the pods. And most of this work is still done by hand. Today, vanilla is not only a tasty flavor in your foods and beverages, but can also be found in perfumes, a flavoring for medicines, and a studly odor repellent for pungent products like rubber tires, paint, and cleaning products. And because of vanilla's continued high demand and its difficulty in being made, most of the market is currently overrun by synthetic imitation vanilla. In fact, 95 to 98% of the vanilla used in the world today is currently synthetic. And that means that there's actually a real possibility that you've never actually tasted pure, real vanilla. Wow. So the next time you want some real vanilla, read your labels very carefully. Real vanilla should not contain any added sugar or corn syrup. Also, the best vanilla extracts or pure vanilla is usually only found in boutique cooking stores or online. Try some of the good stuff. Believe me, you'll notice a difference. As always, if you liked this video, please go ahead and hit that like button, subscribe, and share it with your friends. If you want to learn more about vanilla, go ahead and click on the links in the description below. My question for today is, are you a fan of vanilla? If so, how do you like to use it most? Let me know in the comment section down below. Until next time, be kind to each other and use real vanilla.