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VANILLA BOURBON:
The culture of vanilla is very delicate. And this orchis requires many care and it is necessary to be very patient to collect its fruits of the arts.
It is cultivated on the EAST and south coasts of the Reunion island. One reproduces the vanilla plant by cutting because its reproduction by the seeds, which are in the pods, is too long and random.
A part of the foot is put out of ground against a tree tutor, then progressively, the plant grows and climbs around this tree.
Flowering starts as from September to finish in November.
Every morning, it is necessary to fertilize the flowers by hand (Albius method).
For fecundation, it is necessary to await 8 to 9 months to be able to collect the green pods (between June and September).
Scalding consists in putting the pods in a basket and plunging it into a water at 65° centigrades and this during 3 min.
Steaming: The pods are drained then put in upholstered wood boxes.With the end of 1/2 day, vanilla lost a good part of its weight and became of color dark chestnut.
Drying: Once the pods left the cases, one lays out them with the sun from 3 to 5 hours per day and this during 1 week.
Sorting consists in drawing aside the pods of bad quality which will be intended in theory for industrie (vanilla powder, extract...). There will be thus two kinds of vanilla: industrial vanilla and domestic vanilla (the best one).
L’Affinage (refining): The pods are given in trunks out of wooden upholstered with greaseproof paper to isolate from external humidity which could do them to go mouldy. L’affinage in the trunks will last approximately 8 months.
Calibration consists in sorting, the pods known as domestic, by size. The vanilla cases are then put under seals by the Fraud Squads and of the quality control, during 1 month. If vanilla arises without traces of moulds, you will have the guarantee that vanilla will be prerved during several years.
Conditioning: They will be then conditioned in boots, sachets or in the forms of small braided objects.
On the whole, one will have needed 1 kilo of green vanilla to make 250gr dry vanilla like 19 month between fecundation and the sale.
