Kathy FitzHenry from The Occasional Gourmet (San Francisco, CA) defines Vanilla as: "Vanilla is the fruit of a green orchid plant that grows in the tropics. It is native to Central America and is grown in many tropical areas including: Madagascar, Reunion, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu and other areas throughout the world.

The Vanilla flavor comes from the level of vanillin that is created during the processing of the ripen pods. Pods are picked green and then are dried/heated during the day and covered and sweated at night. This process creates the vanillian and gives the vanilla beans its flavor.

The bean pods should be pliant, slightly tacky and sable brown to brown black in color. Do not buy a bean pod that appears shriveled or cracked. Most bean pods range between 8 and 12 inches in length and ¼ to ½" in width depending on the type of bean pod "