Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, 1 to 5 beans (Discovery)

A quality Madagascar Bourbon vanilla means three things: a warm, round attack of cocoa and prune, a buttery milky heart, and a long finish, slightly woody with a hint of tobacco. No bitter or smoky notes (the sign of overly harsh drying). On the nose, opening the pouch releases a dense, almost syrupy scent. On the palate, the persistence easily exceeds a minute. The natural vanillin content of our batches is around 1.8 to 2.2%, measured before shipping.

• Crème anglaise / pastry cream (1 L of milk): 1 bean split and scraped, infused for 20 min while hot, off the heat, covered.
• White chocolate ganache (250 g): half a bean · the vanilla balances the sugar of the white chocolate without covering it.
• Homemade infused rum (70 cl): 2 split beans, macerate for a minimum of 6 weeks, shake weekly.
• Savory dishes (scallops, coconut milk poultry): a quarter bean, infuse for 10 min in the warm fat. The vanilla lifts seafood and delicate poultry without overpowering them.
• Homemade vanilla sugar: 1 dried used bean plus 250 g of sugar in a jar, 2 weeks minimum.

Chef’s tip: never throw away a used bean. Rinse it, air dry it for 48 hours, then use it for vanilla sugar or to infuse a coffee. A bean has two lives.