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Vanilla is comfortable, calming and genial, the Plain Jane of the spice world.  But use vanilla to flavor a savory dish instead of a bowl of ice cream, and you’ve got a whole new thing going on.

Vanilla is sweet by nature. And although it has been around for centuries (the Mayans drank hot cocoa with a vanilla-bean accent), tradition kept it firmly in the dessert category—until about 1985. According to Patricia Rain (aka “the Vanilla Queen,” vanilla.com), that’s when she began the vanilla-in-savory-dishes concept. Coincidently, Wolfgang Puck’s famous Lobster with Vanilla Sauce debuted around the same time, at Spago in Beverly Hills.

These days, many Seattle chefs are also cooking with vanilla, and it’s not just flavoring their crème brulée. Philip Mihalski, of Nell’s, regards vanilla as an “interesting, classic flavor.” To Mihalski, it is yet another component in his lineup of aromatic spices—flavors such as saffron, fennel, aniseed and cumin. Mihalski frequently creates savory dishes with vanilla, especially for wine-tasting dinners that feature oaky American chardonnays.

“The flavor of vanilla in the wine is definitely complemented by the flavor of vanilla in the food,” Mihalski says. Using only Bourbon beans from Madagascar, Mihalski buys about a pound a year from a supplier who spends several months in Madagascar annually tending to the beans.

Johnathan Sundstrom, of Lark, also plays with vanilla. He frequently makes a vanilla-bean jus, a light, reduced sauce with a touch of cream and a vanilla-bean flavor, to sauce mild seafood such as striped bass, scallops or halibut. In winter, when citrus is in season, Sundstrom favors a vanilla-and-kumquat marmalade to offset the richness of foie gras. And he is always enthusiastic about vanilla salt. Made by combining the ground beans with Welsh Halen Môn sea salt (available through Chefshop.com), Sundstrom says “it’s amazing as a finishing salt [because] it’s cakey, it’s got so much vanilla paste in there. It’s incredible on scallops.”

I find the combination of savory and sweet a match made in heaven (think Scottish shortbread made with salty, rich butter, or maple syrup–doused pancakes and sausage). So I’m happy to think about roast pork topped with a spicy, vanilla-scented gravy or prawns floating in a curried–coconut milk–and–vanilla sauce.

You must start with good quality beans. Dried and cured seed pods from one of three species of vanilla orchids (see box, page 74), the finest vanilla beans are moist and supple, oily to the touch and aromatic. You can find them in the Seattle area at grocery stores with bulk sections, such as Town & Country Markets or PCC.

To draw maximum vanilla flavor from the beans, you’ll need to open them. Vanilla pods are filled with thousands of sticky black seeds, but both the pod and the seeds hold flavor and scent. Lay the pod flat on a cutting board, hold it tightly on one end and open the bean lengthwise, cutting with a sharp paring knife parallel to the board. Scrape the seeds from the cut bean with the knife blade and slide them with your finger into whatever dish you’re cooking. Another option is to simply toss the entire split bean pod into a dish without scraping, as long as there is some kind of liquid or oil to carry the seeds.

To obtain maximum flavor from both the pods and seeds, it’s necessary to warm them.  You can cook the vanilla briefly in a dish or let the pods steep in warm liquid or fat. Rinse and dry the pods after each use (even if you’ve scraped out the seeds) and keep re-using them several times, until the aroma is faded. Then stick the pieces in a jar of sugar or coffee, cover it and, after a month or so, you’ll have vanilla sugar (lovely!) or vanilla-scented coffee. If you‘d like to have an abundance of vanilla around (and save some money at the same time), buy it in bulk at one of many vanilla Web sites. Just keep the beans wrapped tightly in plastic or an airtight glass jar, and they will keep for many months.

So go ahead—throw a piece of vanilla into your pork-chop pan gravy, or braise a chicken with some apples, stock and a vanilla bean. You’ll find out how intriguing and delicious vanilla can be. And you won’t have to wait for dessert.

Mr. Bean
Vanilla beans are the seed pods from climbing epiphytic orchids native to tropical Central America. The orchids grow best under filtered sunlight, and once
the beans are established on the plant, they take four to nine months to mature. After picking, they are cured for several months in a combination of techniques that range from sun-drying to wrapping in woolen blankets.

Bourbon vanilla beans (Vanilla planifolia): grown mainly in Madagascar, the Comoro Islands and Reunion, Bourbon pods are long, slender and oily to the touch, with a rich taste and fragrance.

Tahitian vanilla (Vanilla tahitensis): cultivated in Tahiti and Hawaii, Tahitian beans are shorter and plumper than Bourbon beans, with a thinner skin, fewer seeds and a more floral flavor.

Mexican vanilla: from the same plant as Bourbon beans, Mexican vanilla has a reputation for being stronger and spicier tasting than other varieties.

Click here to visit our Recipe Database for great vanilla recipes.