Patricia Rain

Take a whiff of this successful commodity history of vanilla. So little thought is given to something that is so commonly consumed that the full extent of its discovery, cultivation and violent history is quite surprising. This takes it all in from the Aztec discovery of the merits of this orchid, to the conquistadors introduction to Europe, to the now around the world cultivation. Fashion, politics, food, economics all figure in the life of vanilla. A few recipes are included, some quite show more antiquated, but entertaining. Those skinny black beans have quite a story to tell. Dish up a bowl of ice cream when you're done. show less

While I enjoyed learning more about vanilla, this was a somewhat frustrating read. For one thing, I think this book is in dire need of a copyeditor. I found it rather disorganized and there were several sections that did not seem to follow from anything previously discussed. There were also portions containing a great deal of extraneous information. And there were multiple sentences that simply made no sense scattered throughout, and every time I came across one it drove me to distraction. show more This book also lacked an index, which made it almost impossible to refer to previously provided information when necessary. I had no idea how much I appreciated indices before this.

Including the recipes was a great idea, but it would have been even better if more of them had been linked more closely to the text. For example, during a discussion of Tahitian vanilla, the text said that since fresh fish is a dietary staple in Tahiti, almost everyone had a recipe for mahi-mahi in vanilla cream sauce. But the recipe that immediately followed this section was not for mahi-mahi in vanilla cream sauce but for papaya chicken, which was not previously discussed at all. The last chapter was devoted to a variety of vanilla recipes and was interesting because it showed some of the savory applications of vanilla (an aspect I did not think much of at all before).

And if you can get past its weaknesses, you can extract (pun intended) a great deal of information from this book, which is why it's getting a higher rating than I would otherwise give. show less

While I enjoyed learning more about vanilla, this was a somewhat frustrating read. For one thing, I think this book is in dire need of a copyeditor. I found it rather disorganized and there were several sections that did not seem to follow from anything previously discussed. There were also portions containing a great deal of extraneous information. And there were multiple sentences that simply made no sense scattered throughout, and every time I came across one it drove me to distraction. show more This book also lacked an index, which made it almost impossible to refer to previously provided information when necessary. I had no idea how much I appreciated indices before this.

Including the recipes was a great idea, but it would have been even better if more of them had been linked more closely to the text. For example, during a discussion of Tahitian vanilla, the text said that since fresh fish is a dietary staple in Tahiti, almost everyone had a recipe for mahi-mahi in vanilla cream sauce. But the recipe that immediately followed this section was not for mahi-mahi in vanilla cream sauce but for papaya chicken, which was not previously discussed at all. The last chapter was devoted to a variety of vanilla recipes and was interesting because it showed some of the savory applications of vanilla (an aspect I did not think much of at all before).

And if you can get past its weaknesses, you can extract (pun intended) a great deal of information from this book, which is why it's getting a higher rating than I would otherwise give. show less

Interesting, informative and well written, for inquiring minds!