Editing Vanilla (section)

==Uses==
[[File:Pure Vanilla Powder.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|A vanilla powder preparation made from sucrose and vanilla bean extracts]]
[[File:Rhum arrangé Madagascar.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.0|Vanilla rum, [[Madagascar]]]]

The four main commercial preparations of natural vanilla are:

* Whole pod
* Powder (ground pods, kept pure or blended with sugar, starch, or other ingredients)<ref>The [[Food and Drug Administration|U.S. Food and Drug Administration]] [http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=169.179 requires at least 12.5% of pure vanilla (ground pods or oleoresin) in the mixture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929120807/http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=169.179 |date=29 September 2006 }}</ref>
* [[vanilla extract|Extract]] (in alcoholic or occasionally [[glycerol]] solution; both pure and imitation forms of vanilla contain at least 35% alcohol)<ref>The [[Food and Drug Administration|U.S. Food and Drug Administration]] [http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=169.3 requires at least 35% vol. of alcohol and 13.35&nbsp;ounces of pod per gallon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501172352/http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=169.3 |date=1 May 2010 }}</ref>
* [[Vanilla sugar]], a packaged mix of sugar and vanilla extract

Vanilla flavoring in food may be achieved by adding vanilla extract or by cooking vanilla pods in the liquid preparation. A stronger aroma may be attained if the pods are split in two, exposing more of a pod's surface area to the liquid. In this case, the pods' seeds are mixed into the preparation. Natural vanilla gives a brown or yellow color to preparations, depending on the concentration. Good-quality vanilla has a strong, aromatic flavor, but food with small amounts of low-quality vanilla or artificial vanilla-like flavorings are far more common, since true vanilla is much more expensive.

Regarded as the world's most popular aroma and flavor,<ref name="Rain-2004">{{cite book|author=Rain, Patricia|title=Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World's Most Popular Flavor and Fragrance|isbn=9781585423637|publisher=Tarcher|year=2004|url=https://archive.org/details/vanillaculturalh00rain}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Le Cordon Bleu Cuisine Foundations | page = 213 | isbn = 978-1-4354-8137-4 | author = Le Cordon Bleu | author-link = Le Cordon Bleu | publisher = Cengage learning | year = 2009}}</ref><ref name="Parthasarathy-2008">{{cite book | title = Chemistry of Spices | last1 = Parthasarathy | first1 = V. A. | last2 = Chempakam | first2 = Bhageerathy | last3 = Zachariah | first3 = T. John | isbn = 978-1-84593-405-7 | publisher = [[CAB International|CABI]] | year = 2008 | page = 2}}</ref> vanilla is a widely used aroma and flavor compound for foods, beverages and cosmetics, as indicated by its popularity as an [[ice cream]] flavor (as of 2004, around half of vanilla flavor consumed in the US was eaten in ice cream).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idfa.org/news-views/news-releases/article/2013/07/23/vanilla-remains-top-ice-cream-flavor-with-americans|title=Vanilla remains top ice cream flavor with Americans |publisher=International Dairy Foods Association, Washington, DC|date=23 July 2013|access-date=29 August 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916103845/http://www.idfa.org/news-views/news-releases/article/2013/07/23/vanilla-remains-top-ice-cream-flavor-with-americans|archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McGee |first=Harold |author-link=Harold McGee |title=[[On Food and Cooking]] |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]] |year=2004 |isbn=1-4165-5637-0 |location=New York |pages=433}}</ref> Although vanilla is a prized flavoring agent on its own, it is also used to enhance the flavor of other substances, to which its own flavor is often complementary, such as [[chocolate]], [[custard]], [[caramel]], [[coffee]], and others. Vanilla is a common ingredient in Western sweet [[baked goods]], such as [[cookies]] and [[cake]]s.<ref name="Parthasarathy-2008"/><ref name="Zhu-2018"/> Despite the expense, vanilla is highly valued for its flavor.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Book of Spices | last1 = Rosengarten | first1 = Frederic | publisher = Pyramid Books | year = 1973 | isbn = 978-0-515-03220-8 | url = https://archive.org/details/bookofspices00fred }}</ref>

The food industry uses [[vanillin|methyl and ethyl vanillin]] as less-expensive substitutes for real vanilla. Ethyl vanillin is more expensive, but has a stronger [[note (perfumery)|note]]. ''[[Cook's Illustrated]]'' ran several taste tests pitting vanilla against vanillin in baked goods and other applications, and to the consternation of the magazine editors, tasters could not differentiate the flavor of vanillin from vanilla;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=18889 |title=Pure versus Imitation Vanilla Extract |publisher=Cooks Illustrated |date=1 March 2009 |access-date=30 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505092901/http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=18889 |archive-date=5 May 2013 }}</ref> however, for the case of vanilla ice cream, natural vanilla won out.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=23742 |title=Tasting lab: Vanilla Ice Cream |publisher=Cooks Illustrated |date=1 May 2010 |access-date=30 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510034538/http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=23742 |archive-date=10 May 2013 }}</ref> A more recent and thorough test by the same group produced a more interesting variety of results; namely, high-quality artificial vanilla flavoring is best for cookies, while high-quality real vanilla is slightly better for cakes and significantly better for unheated or lightly heated foods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=18889|title=Vanilla Extract|date=1 March 2009|access-date=19 June 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627131955/http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=18889|archive-date=27 June 2012}}</ref>

The liquid extracted from vanilla pods was once believed to have medical properties, helping with various stomach ailments.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Vanilla|last = Jaucourt|first = Louis|date = 1765|journal = Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers|hdl = 2027/spo.did2222.0000.830}}</ref>