Vanilla comes from orchids of the genus Vanilla. While the major species of vanilla orchids are now grown around the world, they originally came from Mesoamerica, including parts of modern day Mexico and Guatemala. The vanilla orchid is a vine-like plant that grows up trees. The vine can grow up to 30 feet.
The vanilla species of commerce, Vanilla planifolia, known as Mexican or Bourbon vanilla, is native to tropical forests of southeastern Mesoamerica. By the nineteenth century, V. planifolia was introduced into other tropical countries in Asia and Africa from the original Mexican cultivated stock. Vanilla was used in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica for a variety of purposes: tribute, fragrance, cacao flavoring, medicinal and by numerous indigenous groups such as the Maya, Aztec, and Totonac.
In this sense, vanilla is a gastronomic legacy that Mexico has imparted to the world. Beginning in the mid- to late eighteenth century, the Totonac of the Papantla region of the state of Veracruz were the first and only vanilla exporters in the world for nearly 100 years, in part because of the exceptional quality of the vanilla that was produced. Gold medal prizes for
Mexican vanilla were awarded in Paris -1889 and Chicago -1892.Papantla was famed as, ‘‘the city that perfumed the world.’’
Initially, Mexican vanilla production depended on harvesting the fruits from the wild, which were the result of natural pollination by bees that are endemic to the New World tropics. However, the Mexican monopoly on vanilla fell apart with the discovery of a method for hand pollination of vanilla by a twelve-year-old boy slave, Edmond Albius. This knowledge enabled other countries to become vanilla producers.
By 1870, French colonies in the Indian Ocean, especially Reunion and
Madagascar, surpassed Mexico as the leading producer. As of today, Madagascar has retained the leading role in production of vanilla.
Although Mexico has lost its standing as the major vanilla exporter, it continues to be the center of origin and genetic diversity for this important orchid. Cultivation in Mexico endures to the present, mostly by the Totonac, who have continued to use their vanilla crop as a means to obtain cash, and because it is part of their historical and cultural fabric.