Vanilla beans

[Tangakid]

I am on the P.G. sailing on Sept 6. :D I would like to bring back some vanilla beans for the chefs in our family. How much should I expect to pay? Any problem with the Dept. of Agriculture bringing them back into California?

[drpad]

about $10-12 for a dozen good sized ones.

[goblue57]

We were on the PG 7-5-08 and at the vanilla processing outlet store on Morea they were asking $10 for THREE vanilla beans. We passed. Nothing cheap about those islands.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

No problem getting them through LAX--the first couple of times I declared them as agricultural products and just kind of looked at me funny, didn't care at all.

$10 or so for 6-8 beans as I remember, in the Marche, in the market on Bora Bora, on the motu...

[xrvlcruiser]

or in the market in papeete . . I like the vanilla shampoo too

[parislady40]

Tangakid, when we were on the PG December gone, we were told that the very best vanilla beans were from Tahaa. When we were on Motu Mahana, Tahaa, the day of the cruise barbeque, there were a few vendors there. I was able to actually get the vanilla beans in a bamboo carrier that is perfect for traveling. Just tossed them in the suitcase. The price was about $12 and the bit of tahitian handicraft is still a great reminder and a neat storage container. Wait for Motu Mahana. The other place was a vanilla farm in Huahine which we stopped at while out on an excursion. The prices were great for a considerable amount of beans. I just wanted to hold out until Tahaa for the best.

[gdlamberth]

We were given same advice as Parislady40; Taha'a is the "vanilla isle." Her comment about Huahine does reinforce our experience: The best vanilla bean buy is on a Vanilla Farm excursion. My wife bakes a lot as do a lot of our friends. We took the Vanilla Farm excursion the morning on Taha'a (we did miss about an hour and a half of Motu Mahana; but, we were doing a B2B so it didn't matter much to us). Vanilla was sold, as Parislady40described on Huahine, in "sandwich size zip lock bags" of 15 beans for (as I recall) about $10 (but that was several years ago, see my signature for dates; but I'm guessing a vanilla farm is still the cheapest for anything more than a few beans). We bought 10 bags. A nice gift from the islands is to take your vanilla beans home and make homemade vanilla "extract" for your friends that bake. It's easy. Buy a pint of voldka or rum (I prefer the dark rum) in a GLASS container (the glass part is important); open it up and put three split vanilla beans inside; and, shut it back up. Over the next 3-6 months shake occassionally and its ready for prime time. It will be the best vanilla you've ever used and because you've used split beans, anything light colored you flavor (yogurt, custard, pound cake, etc,) will have vanilla seed bits in it.

Greg

[rocmoss]

Vanilla beans definately cheaper on Moorea and in the market in Tahti.
Good luck.

[didiaust]

I buy vanilla beans every trip to Bali (not game to tell you how cheap there) like 10 to 12 for $2AUD.

My reason for posting was to advise people to buy soft fresh beans not the older dried out ones.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Oh yes, definitely plump soft beans. I don't bake much, so I soak my beans in rum or brandy and make vanilla extract out of them--they seem to last forever that way.

[BILLP1]

Not as romantic as buying at the local island market but there are quite a few internet sites selling quality pods.

[Tangakid]

Thanks to all who posted regarding the vanilla beans.
I will certainly be trying the rum and vanilla pairing. Holiday baking will be so much better!
We have the suitcases out and are counting the hours until our flight on Friday afternoon.