梵尼兰谷/Fernnie's Green Vanilla Valley

邱妈咪另外开了一个博客 梵尼兰谷， 专门写有采用到天然香草豆Vanilla的食谱， 请大家有空点击以上链接去看看。

当您用了天然的香草豆， 您就不会回头去用人造香精了。。。。

Mommy has started a new blog Fernnie's Green Vanilla Valley, specially for writing recipes using pure natural vanilla as part of the ingredients. All are welcomed by clicking the above link to drop by to have a look.  

Once you have tried the natural vanilla extract, you will never go back to the artificial fragrance additives....

 

 

香草豆

别名：香荚兰豆、梵尼兰豆荚 　　

英文名：vanilla bean 　　

利用部位：果实 

产地：墨西哥 　　

梵尼兰，又称香子兰（Vanilla），一般简称“香草”，价格仅次于藏红花芯（Saffron），是世界上第二昂贵的调味“香料之王”。

在16世纪以前梵尼兰的豆荚就被人们应用在香料饮品中，直到现在仍是唯一被利用在香料的兰花科植物，因此有「香料皇后」的美誉。

特性：草豆是名贵的热带天然香料，经科学测定，香荚兰中含有150-170种芳香成份及17种 人体必需的氨基酸，具有极强的补肾、开胃、除胀、健脾等医学效果，是一种天然滋补养颜良药，被誉为“天然香料之王”，加工后的成品干荚可直接利用，也可制 成酊剂、浸膏、油树脂。香荚兰加香产品，具有沁人肺腑的独特香气，是合成香兰素所不能比拟的，因而被广泛用于调制各种高级香烟、名酒、特级茶叶、化妆用 品、高级服装，是各类糕点、饼干、糖果、奶油、咖啡、可可、冰淇淋、雪糕等高档食品和饮料的配香原料。 　　

香草具有甜美的魁力，墨西哥印弟安人阿兹特克族用它来增添可可饮料的风味，因为西班牙人而传到欧洲各地。在15-30厘米的圆筒形黄绿色果实刚开始变黄时摘下，使之发酵、干燥，黑褐色的表皮就会产生皱褶，成为人们所称的“香草豆”。 　　

用香草豆和其他花草或茶叶混合冲泡，就能享受到甜甜的香草芳香。以前欧洲人认为它具有药效，但现在只用来添加冰淇淋、甜点、香水、香烟等的风味。加在砂糖里面，就成了香草糖。 　　

功效：当调味料、香料。 　　

注意事项：适量使用，冲泡前先用剪刀剪成1厘米长短。 　　

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Vanilla Beans

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla (V. planifolia). The word vanilla, derived from the diminutive of the Spanish word vaina (vaina itself meaning sheath or pod), simply translates as little pod.

The majority of the world's vanilla is the V. planifolia variety, more commonly known as Bourbon vanilla (after the former name of Réunion, Île Bourbon) or Madagascar vanilla, which is produced in Madagascar and neighboring islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, and in Indonesia. 

 

Vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron, because growing the vanilla seed pods is labor-intensive. Despite the expense, vanilla is highly valued for its flavor, which author Frederic Rosengarten, Jr. described in The Book of Spices as "pure, spicy, and delicate" and its complex floral aroma depicted as a "peculiar bouquet". As a result, vanilla is widely used in both commercial and domestic baking, perfume manufacture and aromatherapy.