Vanilla

Patricia Rain and Pesach Lubinsky

Mesoamerica

The tribes living in the northern regions of vanilla’s natural range were the first to incorporate vanilla into their lives, perhaps as early as 2000–2500 years before the Spanish Conquest of Mexico in 1520. From Central Mexico to Costa Rica, there was a passion for pungent, aromatic fragrances. Vanilla had sacred and religious connotations as did corn and cacao. These were gifts bestowed upon them by the gods and were treated with reverence. Corn provided nourishment, cacao was a ceremonial drink, and vanilla was a fragrant incense. Vanilla beans were ground and mixed with copal (a dried resin from the Copalli tree with a pleasing pine-like odor) to perfume their temples. The native peoples were highly knowledgeable about the medicinal use of herbs, and may well have used ground vanilla bean for lung and stomach disorders as well as used the liquid from green beans as a poultice for drawing out insect venom and infections from wounds. Their medicinal skills far surpassed those of the Europeans at the time of their arrival in Mexico in the sixteenth century. While vanilla taken to Spain in the early 1500s was valued as a commodity, for the tribal peoples of the Americas vanilla was reverently considered as a sacramental herb.

During the pre-Classic period, approximately 1500 bc, extensive trade routes developed throughout Mesoamerica, and the bartering of goods between groups living in the various different climates and altitudes, brought about cultural exchanges including the sharing of important discoveries and spiritual beliefs. This is likely the time when vanilla was first used and traded among coastal tribes.

As the hunting and gathering nomadic lifestyle was slowly replaced by a more agrarian and settled existence, the population expanded, and adequate food production became increasingly important. Greater focus was placed on the nature gods, such as Tlaloc and Xipe Toltec, as it was believed that they controlled the rain, the sun, the winds, and the harvests. Pleasing the gods meant abundant food supplies.

It was during this time period that the Olmecs, the “mother culture” of Mexico, emerged. They lived in the humid forests and open savannahs along the Gulf Coast of southern Vera Cruz and Tabasco. In addition to being skilled artists and having highly developed commerce, the Olmecs made huge contributions to the development of what came to be the backbone of Mesoamerican diet—maize.

The Olmecs developed a technique that inadvertently changed the nutritional value of maize, which had not been particularly important until then, and subsequently, literally fueled the growth and development of all of Mexico. Instead of boiling dried maize kernels until they were soft, or pounding them into powder, corn was cooked with white lime or wood ashes and then left overnight in the cooking liquid. The transparent hulls (pericarp) of the treated kernels now slipped off easily, making it much easier to grind the corn into a smooth dough (known as nixtamalli in Nahuatl, masa in Spanish). This simple shift in preparation changed corn from a low-protein grain into a high-protein food, creating Mexico’s staff of life.

The Olmec were quite possibly the first to also domesticate cacao, and with the domestication of cacao, the use of vanilla as a flavor followed at some point in this early history. They also created atole, a mildly fermented corn drink that was sometimes flavored with vanilla.

Over a period of time, the Olmeca culture was eclipsed by the Maya, who were brilliant artists, architects, and scientists, and who spawned a renaissance in pre-Hispanic Mexican culture. They also made major culinary advances, including perfecting the cultivation of cacao and creating the drink, chocolatl, which later became popular among Aztecs at the time of the Conquest. And it was during the time of the Maya, that vanilla was probably introduced as one of the flavorings for chocolatl.

However, vanilla was not always used in this adored beverage. There are at least 12 different chocolatl flavor versions, depending on the event and what was at hand, not unlike our flavor choices for coffee, milkshakes, and Italian sodas. While the Totonacs, an important group of people who emerged a little later in Mesoamerican history, were possibly the first to domesticate vanilla, their predecessors certainly enjoyed the fruits wild from the forest.

According to Totonac legend and popular belief, the Totonacs were the first people to identify and domesticate vanilla. Written history challenges this belief. The Totonacs who came from the Central Valley of Mexico probably knew nothing of vanilla until they came to the Gulf Coast. However, there is now strong evidence that there were also Totonacs living on the Coast and that the groups converged at some point in Mesoamerican history. What is known for certain is that vanilla has been central to the lives of Totonacs for at least hundreds of years, and it has become so enmeshed with their history and lore, that it belongs to them culturally (see the appendix).

The Maya called it Zizbic, the Zoques-Popolucas, Tich Moya, the Totonacs, Xanat, and much later, the Aztecs named it Tlilxochitl. Interestingly, Xanat (also spelled Xanath and pronounced cha-nat) is the generic term for the flower in the Totonac language, which is curious, given its stature within their culture. It is also sometimes called caxixanath (catch-e-chanat), which means “hidden flower,” as the orchids are neither showy nor prominent in the forest, and only last for a day.

Vanilla, in early times, was harvested from the forest when it was fully ripe and split open, filling the air with its distinctive fragrance. Instead of the 100–200 beans that are typical on hand-pollinated plants, there were eight or nine beans, pollinated at random by the forest insects. With such a seductive aroma, it is certainly understandable that the coastal and low mountain forest dwellers would be drawn to the seedpods and experiment with ways to fragrance their lives with its alluring perfume. If cacao was the food of the gods, vanilla was definitely the nectar that accompanied it!

Vanilla in New Spain

There are several accounts of vanilla in New Spain during the 1500s. An Aztec herbal book was compiled in Nahuatl and written in Latin in 1552 by Martin de la Cruz and Juan Badiano. The manuscript entitled Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis was finally translated in English and published in 1939 (An Aztec Herbal: The Classic Codex of 1552, William Gates). This is the earliest known document that specifically mentions vanilla. The book tells us that the Aztecs ground flowers with other aromatics and wore them around the neck as a medicinal charm or amulet. It is very likely that amulets such as these were first created by the Gulf Coast tribes who gathered vanilla. On the other end of the spectrum, vanilla was made into an ointment as a treatment for syphilis. As we know that vanilla flowers last only for a day, the flowers may have been dried and then brought by the pochteca traders to the Valley of Mexico, though there are anecdotal comments about Moctezuma growing vanilla in his extensive botanical gardens. The book also contains the first known illustration of the vanilla plant.

The Aztecs were talented herbalists as were most of the Mesoamerican peoples. Whether they independently identified vanilla’s curative powers or learned of it from the pochteca traders, the rare and valued vanilla was important as a medicine as well as an aphrodisiac in their culture.

In 1529, Franciscan Fray Bernardino de Sahagun came from Spain with the assignment of converting Aztecs into Christianity. The enlightened friar first learned Nahuatl, the Aztec “Mother language,” then taught young indigenous men to write their history in Nahautl using Spanish spelling. For the next three decades, they collectively recorded all aspects of the Aztec culture. The 12-volume history, written in both Nahuatl and Spanish went to Spain, but it was considered heretical by the Catholic Church, and much of the body of work was not published until 1829. However, the Aztec materials ultimately ended up in the Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy, where it became known among scholars as the Florentine Codex.

Fray Bernardino Sahagun mentioned the widespread use of hot chocolate among the colonizers. He said, “It is perfumed, fragrant, precious, good, and a medicine. It is toasted and mixed with cacao. I add vanilla to cacao and drink it like vanilla.” (These were his words; what he meant by “drinking it like vanilla,” is uncertain.)

Cacao and vanilla could both be purchased in the market place in New Spain, but only the wealthiest people and the clergy in New Spain could afford its use.

Vanilla as Medicine in New Spain

According to Fray Sahagun, chocolate, mixed with vanilla and two other aromatic herbs was a remedy for cough and a cure for spitting blood. On the basis of Sahagun’s comments, researchers until now have wondered whether vanilla was used to treat lung diseases such as tuberculosis, which plagued the native peoples since prehistoric times. Recent medical discoveries have found that another dreaded disease that caused severe lung distress, may also have been what Fray Sahagun referred to in his notes as cocoliztli (Nahuatl for pests) one of the deadliest plagues in history. Doctor Francisco Hernandez was sent to New Spain by King Philip II in 1570 to study the colony’s natural history, the medical usefulness of the herbs and other native treatments, and to do an anthropological history of the country. He spent seven years in the Valley of Mexico, learned Nahuatl, studied indigenous medicine, and wrote his observations in Latin, creating The Natural History of New Spain (Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus) a six-volume collection describing over 3000 plants. The books were accompanied by 10 folio volumes of illustrative paintings by Mexican artists.

In his writings, Hernandez referred to vanilla by its Nahuatl name, Tlilxochitl, which means black pod for the vanilla bean. However, he erroneously translated it to mean black flower, which led to centuries of confusion over the increasingly popular bean. He also classified vanilla as Araco aromatico. Hernandez wrote about the medicinal properties of vanilla that he learned from the native physicians, “A decoction of vanilla beans steeped in water causes the urine to flow admirably; mixed with mecaxuchitl, vanilla beans cause abortion; they warm and strengthen the stomach; diminish flatulence; cook the humours and attenuate them; give strength and vigor to the mind; heal female troubles; and are said to be good against cold poisons and the bites of venomous animals.”

In itself, vanilla sounds like a miracle cure, but Francisco Hernandez also talks about three flavorings that “excites the venereal appetite,” the Viagra of the sixteenth century. Vanilla, cacao, and macaxochitl (a plant related to black pepper and known now as acuyo) were the top three contenders that would do the trick. In fact, centuries later, vanilla’s reputation as an aphrodisiac still continues.

Traditional Totonac Vanilla Farming

Until the late 1600s, vanilla only grew wild in the forest. Over a period of time it was domesticated by cutting the vines and planting them closer together in the forest to create ease in harvesting. Domesticating vanilla also made it easier for the insect pollinators to reach the flowers and production improved dramatically.

It was not until 1875 that some French men living on the Vera Cruz Coast brought from France the technique for artificially pollinating vanilla. Initially, they kept this information among themselves and vanilla processors, but the Totonacs accused them of stealing their beans because of their larger harvests, so the Totonacs were taught the technique as well. This innovation changed the Mexican industry completely, of course, and the Totonac growers became wealthier, though never as wealthy as the Euro-Mexicans who purchased their green beans and sold the dried beans to Europe and America.

The following explains the traditions, uses, and spiritual value of vanilla in the Totonac culture.

The Totonacs grow their own vanilla in a similar environment to the way it grows naturally in the forest. Their method and rituals remained virtually unchanged until the 1970s. Today, the Totonac farmers continue to grow vanilla in a similar fashion, but most of the rituals surrounding the cycle are no longer practiced.

Before any work began, Kiwigilo, the “old man of the forest,” was consulted and permission was requested to clear the land. At this time, they also requested that no venomous snakes would come into the vanilla plantation.

It was customary to make a promise to Kiwigilo at the time of planting to ensure a good harvest. A ritual meal of fiery mole with turkey was prepared and given to the land as an offering for fertility and to ensure that the vanilla thrived. Small tortillas were prepared in the numbers of two, four, five, eight, ten, and twelve to use as ritual foods for the gods. These were traditional numbers that were syncretized with Catholicism to represent the 12 Apostles.

There were two altars in the traditional Totonac home. The main altar, the one most people saw upon entering the house, was the Catholic altar. It was—and still is—decorated with woven palm ornaments, pictures of saints, icons, flowers, and candles. In a prominent spot there would be offerings of food and drink.

The traditional Totonac altar was below the main altar and dedicated to Kiwigilo. It was usually hidden behind small decorative cut paper banners (papel picado). Fabrics decorated with ritual designs covered the altar. Idols and figures made of stone or iron—legitimate archeological pieces found by the Totonacs in the countryside during their work in the fields—decorated the altar. These idols were passed from fathers to sons over the generations. Offerings consisted of native plants and fruits, minerals, bones, animal skins, bird feathers, maize and seeds, earth, and water. Cigars made from locally grown tobacco were also placed on the altar. In the Catholic churches in the rural areas throughout Totonacapan, it is still common to see the patron saints of the town dressed in traditional Totonac dress with small offerings of water, refino (sugarcane alcohol), and maize kernels at the feet of the saints. Placed there at the beginning of the planting season, would guarantee a good harvest.

Next, the land was cut back and then burned to clear out the forest understory. Acahual were allowed to remain as they provided the necessary shade for the vanilla. Rapid-growing bushes that were easy to propagate were planted to serve as tutors for the vanilla; traditional bushes and small trees included ramon, laurel, chaca, capu-lin, pata de vaca, balletilla (cachuapaxtle), cojon de gato, and pichoco. These bushes were chosen for their small leaves and year-round foliage so that the sun/shade balance would be maintained. Healthy vanilla vines (esquejes) 2–3 m in length were cut from the forest and planted individually or in rows of twos next to the tutors.

For the Totonacs, each of the many varieties of vanilla that grew in the region had religious significance. Vanilla pompona, called Vainilla bastarda, was considered the

“Queen of Vanilla,” and was always planted at a key point on the plantation. As V. pompona is larger and hardier than V. planifolia, it was believed that it would protect the other plants, and that if bad spirits or harm to the family came through disease or curses, it would affect V. pompona first and be absorbed, leaving the family safe.

V. planifolia was known as Vainilla mestiza. Vainilla rayada also known as Vainilla rayo or Vainilla de taro (bamboo vanilla) has a striped leaf and similar fragrance to planifolia. It was the vanilla that was always dedicated to the most important cult of fertility. There was also Vainilla de puerco (pig vanilla), Vainilla de mono (monkey vanilla) and Vainilla oreja de burro (donkey ear vanilla) Vainilla de monte alto (vanilla of the tall forest), and others, each with its own special story, most of which, unfortunately, have never been recorded and are probably lost forever.

Traditional plantations ranged in size from 10 to 30 ha. A compost of dead leaves and other forest matter was applied to the base of the plants in February, August, and December.

It took between three and four years for the first blooms to appear on the traditional plantation. March 18th was the Fiesta de Fecundacion, the celebration of fertility. Flowering commenced at this time and continued into early May. During pollination there were dietary restrictions. Beef and fish were prohibited as were some other foods, in order not to forfeit the setting of the flowers. They also abstained from sex during the period dedicated to pollination.

Once artificial pollination was discovered, it was always called “the marriage of vanilla.” Because the pollination was done manually with a small stick, moving the pollen from the male anther and depositing it on the female stigma, it was similar to intercourse. The fact that it took between eight and nine months for the vanilla bean to develop, the entire cycle was not unlike that of human procreation. For this reason, the vanilla was perceived, in the Totonac vision of the world, as divinely tied to humankind.

According to Totonac belief and practice, vanilla orchids have both male and female plants. The males produce lots of flowers but the beans do not set, and quickly drop-off. As the plants essentially look the same, if the plants do not bear fruit over four years they were removed from the plantation, a practice continued today. It was recently shown that a chromosome alteration (triploidy) was responsible for sterility in some vines because of unviable pollen.

The stick used for pollination was—and still is—carefully prepared. Some farmers believed that the type of wood does not matter, but others believed that the heart of the chaca was the only wood to use. The tip was whittled with a knife or machete until it had a thin, chisel-like point. Plants high up and out of reach were pollinated because they were less likely to be stolen. Ropes or ladders were used to reach the blossoms. V. pompona was sometimes used for pollination. The flower was cut and carried to the cultivated vine; the pollination process was the same except that it used two flowers rather than just one. The pods from this cross were larger and heavier, but not as desirable. A day or two after pollination, the flowers were checked to make sure the beans had set. If not, additional flowers were pollinated to ensure maximum production.

Once the vanilla was pollinated, there was little that needed to be done for the plants until the time of harvest. This allowed time for caring for the family milpa (cultivated crops), hunting, and other necessary tasks. It was also a time of concern, especially if the rains did not return on time. Papantla has always had very inconsistent rainfall and consequently there has been great preoccupation with the rain cycles. As the soil is thin and much of the land sits on a great limestone shelf, the heavy rainfall is quickly absorbed into the land. If rain does not return by May, it can be disastrous for vanilla and food crops alike. Therefore, prayers and offerings were made for rain on a continual basis.

The beans were originally harvested when they were ripe and beginning to dry. Later, as techniques improved and standards were set, the beans were harvested when they were nearly ripe. The finest beans—those with the greatest amount of oil—were harvested in late January and early February. The majority of the vanilla was brought to the casas de beneficio and sold green. Depending on where the families lived, it was sometimes easier to keep the beans on the ranchos and dry them there. Also windfalls and vanilla that matured early were dried at home. These beans were not considered as premium quality. However, some of the Totonacs became beneficiadores and purchased beans from their neighbors, then dried them using the same methods as the Europeans and Mestizos. This was especially common in the pueblos tucked into the sierra that were not easily accessible to Papantla though a few of the beneficiadores in Papantla would travel to the ranchos to collect the vanilla.

In the initial stages of commercial vanilla production, vanilla was counted by the thousands. Later, it was sold green in lots of 100 pods. Then it was sold by the pound in rolls of 3–5 pounds each; 100 green beans were considered about 5 pounds. Now it is sold by the kilogram, both as green beans, and as dried.

Papantla was known as Kachikin, or “the city.” Trips to Kachikin were planned for the delivery of beans or for festivals and holy days, and combined with picking up supplies unavailable outside of the town. Burros or mules were the primary method of transporting goods. When the vanilla was finally ready for shipment from Papantla, it was loaded into tin boxes and then into larger cedar boxes. The boxes were carried by the mules either through the hills to Tecolutla, where they were floated in flat-bottomed boats called chalanes or be taken by mule back into the mountains to the rail head at Tezuitlan, where the vanilla traveled to the port of Vera Cruz. The majority of the vanilla headed to the United States, but until the early years of the twentieth century, it also went to Europe.

A successful harvest and sale were always celebrated, usually with local fiestas. The successful transport of money back home was important as the sale. Robbery, assault, and homicide have always been a problem integrally tied in with producing vanilla, just as being “tied to the company store” has been a problem for small farmers everywhere. Many of the beneficiadores had stores and essentially kept the Totonacs in servitude. They would not tell the Totonacs the selling price for their vanilla, but instead would issue credits, which rarely covered the cost of supplies. These two problems were always in the forefront of the minds of the growers. However, as Spanish was not spoken fluently by most Totonacs, and even those who spoke Spanish were usually illiterate, they had no access to the current prices for vanilla, and so were forced to accept the pay or not sell at all. As vanilla often went through several hands until it reached the beneficiadores in Papantla, the price difference between what the farmer got and what the vanilla ultimately was sold for, would be significantly different.

The families who either dried their own vanilla or who worked in the casas de beneficio used the vanilla oil that ran off during the first stages of curing and drying to rub on their skin or to shine their hair. Vanilla was also used as an air freshener and as a perfume for clothing. Dried beans were tucked into hatbands along with flowers and feathers. A vanilla-flavored aguardiente was always prepared for baptisms, weddings, and other significant family events, a tradition that has been carried forward and followed today even as the other rituals have slipped away.

Acknowledgment

The coauthors wish to acknowledge the important contribution of Rocio Aguilera Madero for the preparation of this chapter through personal communications notably on Totonac vanilla farming, and through the information published in the newsletter La Voz del Vainillero, Union Agricola Regional de Productores de Vainilla, Papantla, Mexico.

References

Bruman, H. 1948. The culture history of Mexican vanilla. The Hispanic American Historical Review 28:360–376.

Chenaut, V. 1995. Aquellos Que Vuelan: Historia de los Pueblos Indigenas de Mexico, los Totonacos en el Siglo XIX. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social, Mexico City.

Chenaut, V., ed. 1996. Procesos Rurales e Historia Regional (Sierra y Costa Totonacas de Vereacruz). Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social, Mexico City.

Harvey, H.R. and Kelly, I. 1969. The Totonac (Handbook of Middle American Studies), University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.

Kelly, I. and Palerm, A. 1950. The Tajin Totonac, Part 1. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Ossenbach, C. 2005. History of orchids in Central America. Part I: from Prehispanic times to the independence of the new republics. Harvard Papers in Botany 10:183–226.

Appendix: The Legend of Vanilla

This is a Totonac legend about the origin of vanilla in Mesoamerica. The time period of when this legend emerged is uncertain.

In early times, the Land of the Good and Resplendent Moon, was the kingdom of Totonacapan, ruled by the Totonacas. The palm-studded sands, verdant valleys, and shimmering hills and sierra in what is now known as Vera Cruz, were overseen from several locations. One was Papantla, place of the papan birds. Another was El Tajin, the thunderbolt, an ancient city built in honor of the deity, Hurakan/Tlaloc, god of the storms. It was here in this dense, tropical rainforest that vanilla was first cultivated and cured. It was here that the fragrance from the vanilla was so exquisite, that Papantla later became known as, The City That Perfumed the World.

There was a time, however, before the reign of Tenitzli III, when there was no vanilla. In this city, famous for its artists and sculptors, Tenitzli and his wife were blessed with a daughter so incredibly beautiful that they could not bear the thought of giving her away in marriage to a mere mortal. They dedicated her life as a pious offering to the cult of Tonoacayohua, the goddess of crops and subsistence, a powerful goddess who affected their very life and survival. Their daughter, Princess Tzacopontziza (Morning Star), devoted her time at the temple, bringing offerings of foods and flowers to the goddess.

It was during her trips from the forest, carrying flowers for the temple that the young prince Zkatan-Oxga (Young Deer) first caught sight of Morning Star and immediately fell under her spell. He knew that even allowing his eyes to remain upon her for a moment, gazing at her innocent beauty, could bring him death by beheading, but he was obsessed to have her as his wife and companion. The love in his heart for Morning Star outweighed the dangers of being captured and killed. Each morning, before Morning Star went into the forest in search of flowers and doves as offerings for the goddess, Young Deer would hide in the undergrowth and await the arrival of the beautiful princess.

One morning, when the low, dense clouds clung to the hills following the rain, Young Deer was so overcome with desire that he decided to capture Morning Star and flee with her to the sierra. As she passed close by, he leapt from the bushes, then taking her by the arm, ran with her, deep into the forest. Although Morning Star was startled by Young Deer’s abrupt arrival and ardent passion, she too came under the spell of their star-crossed destiny and willingly followed.

Just as they reached the first mountains, a terrifying monster emerged from a cave, spewing fire, and forced the young lovers to retreat to the road. As they did, the priests of Tonacayohua appeared and blocked their path. Before Young Deer could utter a word, the priests struck him down and beheaded him. Swiftly, Morning Star met with the same terrible fate. Their hearts were cut from their bodies, still beating, taken to the temple and were placed on the stone altar as an offering to the goddess. Their bodies were then thrown into a deep ravine.

Not long after, on the exact site of their murders, the grasses where their blood had spilled began to dry and shrivel away as if their death was an omen of change. A few months later a bush sprang forth so quickly and prodigiously, that within a few days it had grown several feet and was covered with thick foliage. Shortly after, an emerald-green vine sprouted from the earth, its tendrils intertwining with the trunk and branches of the bush in a manner at once delicate and strong, much like an embrace. The tendrils were fragile and elegant, the leaves full and sensual. Everyone watched in amazement as, one morning, delicate yellow-green orchids appeared all over the vine like a young woman in love in repose, dreaming of her lover. As the orchids died, slender green pods developed, and over a period of time they released a perfume more splendid than the finest incense offered to the goddess.

It was then that priests and devotees of Tonacayohua realized that the blood of Young Deer and Morning Star was transformed into the strong bush and delicate orchid. The orchid and vine were designated as a sacred gift to the goddess and from that time on has been a divine offering from the Totonacas to their deity and to the world.