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In my childhood the only so-called vanilla ice-cream I had access to was pure white, so when I first had a taste of real vanilla ice-cream I appreciated the mellow flavour but was rather surprised with the sprinkle of tiny black flecks I could see in every spoonful. But I've become more sophisticated vanilla-wise since then and have done a lot of things with real vanilla.

I can still remember my first Bourbon vanilla pod that was given to me by a French friend. The long slightly sticky pod was of warm chocolate colour and gave off a luxuriant seductive aroma that changed my relationship with vanilla once and for all. I was previously somewhat vainly convinced that I was impervious to vanilla charms but that was because I had only used vanillin or vanillin-flavoured sugar before.

But after I got my hands on the pod I never looked back again. Especially as it is so easy to make the real vanilla work for you! All you have to do is stick a vanilla pod into a jar filled with sugar, close the jar tight and in a few days you get plenty of sweet-scented vanilla sugar and your vanilla pod as redolent as ever. One pod can provide you with sufficient quantities of rich aromatic vanilla sugar for several months.

Now I use pod-made vanilla sugar when I bake and vanilla pod only sparingly, breaking off a bit of it now and then, when recipe calls for vanilla-infused milk or cream. I can testify that vanillin doesn't even get close, so if you haven't done it yet try using a real vanilla pod some day and get under the true vanilla charms.

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