Why does the distinction between vanilla and vanillin matter?
Production of vanilla spread well beyond Central America, once it was discovered that vanilla orchids could be fertilised manually. It has been grown in tropical regions as diverse as the Caribbean islands, Tahiti, Runion, Madagascar (the world leader) and the Indonesian archipelago. Despite this, since the 19th century, demand has vastly outstripped production of natural vanilla, so that synthetic routes to vanillin had to be found. Nowadays less than 5% of vanilla flavouring comes from natural sources; many people are so conditioned to the use of synthetic “vanilla” flavour that they prefer it to the real thing, and may wonder about the tiny flakes of vanilla beans they find in an up-market ice cream.
