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Everything you need to know about vanilla, spices, peppers and salts, from the grower to the plate.
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- 01 Vanilla Choosing the right Bourbon vanilla
- 02 Vanilla How to store vanilla beans
- 03 Vanilla Uses & vanilla recipes
- 04 Vanilla Bourbon Planifolia vanilla: the full story
- 05 Vanilla Buying vanilla direct from the grower
- 06 Vanilla Pompona Vanilla
- 07 Peppers & berries Black pepper from Madagascar
- 08 Peppers & berries White pepper from Madagascar
- 09 Peppers & berries Voatsiperifery wild pepper
- 10 Peppers & berries Pink peppercorns from Madagascar
- 11 Peppers & berries Wild pepper, white pepper & pink peppercorn blend
- 12 Spices Cinnamon from Madagascar
- 13 Spices Turmeric from Madagascar
- 14 Spices Ginger from Madagascar
- 15 Spices Clove from Madagascar
- 16 Spices Combava (kaffir lime) from Madagascar
- 17 Spices Curry from Madagascar
- 18 Spices Piri-piri chili from Madagascar
- 19 Spices Sesame seeds from Madagascar
- 20 Spices Madagascar spice base
- 21 Salts & oils Gourmet salts & blends
- 22 General Craft & growers
- 23 General Health benefits & uses
- 24 General Recipes & pairings
- 25 General Spice glossary
- 26 Vanilla How to use a vanilla bean
- 27 Vanilla Bourbon, Tahiti and Pompona vanilla: differences and choice
- 28 Vanilla Extra long 16-20 cm Bourbon vanilla: the premium size
- 29 Vanilla Vanilla caviar: caviar, powder or extract, which to choose
- 30 Vanilla Vanilla grades: gourmet, TK, red and cuts
- 31 Vanilla Vanilla custard: getting the real thing right, with the bean
- 32 Vanilla Vanilla rum infusion: the method, bean by bean
- 33 Vanilla How many vanilla beans: dosage by recipe
- 34 Vanilla Vanilla caviar: what it is, how to extract it
- 35 Vanilla What a vanilla bean really costs
- 36 Vanilla Frost on a vanilla bean: vanillin, never mold
- 37 Vanilla Bourbon, Tahitensis or Pompona: which variety to choose
- 38 Spices Madagascar turmeric: benefits, dosage and recipes
- 39 Spices Madagascar clove: culinary, health and traditional uses
- 40 Spices Spiced Madagascar punch: recipes and tradition
- 41 Spices Malagasy curry: traditional recipe and heritage
- 42 General FAQ: vanilla and spices
- 43 Vanilla Vanilla prices: why they rise, why they fall
- 44 Vanilla Spotting poor quality vanilla
- 45 Vanilla Vanilla in savory cooking
- 46 Vanilla Can you freeze vanilla
- 47 Vanilla Making your own vanilla extract
- 48 Vanilla Making your own vanilla sugar
- 49 General Natural flavoring or synthetic flavoring: the difference
- 50 Vanilla How much caviar a vanilla bean yields
- 51 Vanilla Vanilla, allergies and children's diets
- 52 Vanilla Vanilla in professional pastry
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Where each spice comes from
Our map holds two points. Vanilla grows in the SAVA, in the north-east. Peppers, spices and combava come from Vangaindrano, in the south-east.
Madagascar · our terroirs
SAVA
Vangaindrano
Bourbon vanilla
Peppers and berries
Cinnamon
Clove
Turmeric
Ginger
Combava
Pili-pili chilli
Prepared Bourbon pods, standard grade.
Madagascar black pepper, whole peppercorns.
Dried bark, rolled into sticks.
Whole cloves.
Turmeric powder and cut rhizome.
Ginger rhizome and slices.
Our combava powder, in a glass jar.
Dried pili-pili, whole and crushed.
Vanilla
Sambava, Antalaha, Vohémar, Andapa. Our vines climb there, on the north-east coast, and flowering runs from September to November.
Peppers and berries
Black pepper, white pepper, pink berries. Voatsiperifery is not planted: it is gathered from the vine, in the forest.
Cinnamon
Our cinnamon trees grow in agroforestry. The bark is taken from young branches in the rainy season, when the sap rises.
Clove
The clove is a flower bud, picked before it opens. It then dries until it hardens and turns deep brown.
Turmeric
The rhizome comes out of the ground, is washed then sliced. We dry it at low temperature: that is what preserves the colour and the curcuminoids.
Ginger
Same soil as turmeric, same botanical family. We offer it as a powder and in a grinder, depending on how you cook.
Combava
A small green citrus with a bumpy skin. Everything is in the zest, which we dry before grinding it into powder.
Pili-pili chilli
Picked bright red, with no green patch. It dries in the sun on racks, then is sorted by hand, fruit by fruit.
Two terroirs, one family. No broker between the plot and your jar.
Vanille Désiré · MadagascarPhotographs from our own catalogue. The outline of the island is a simplified drawing with no cartographic value. With us, vanilla comes only from the SAVA; peppers, spices and combava come from Vangaindrano.
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