Vanilla
The cured seed pod of an orchid, second most expensive spice, native to Mexico.
Also: vanilla bean, vanilla pod, bourbon vanilla, tahitian vanilla
Vanilla is the fruit of Vanilla planifolia, an orchid vine native to Mexico. In its homeland it was hand-pollinated by a bee species that no one could carry abroad, until 1841, when Edmond Albius, an enslaved twelve-year-old on Réunion, found a quick method of pollination by hand. Green pods are cured by sweating and drying for weeks to develop vanillin and the dark, supple, oily look. Madagascar now grows most of the world's crop. Vanilla is used in sweets, ice cream and perfumery. The cost of labour makes real vanilla expensive, so most products use synthetic vanillin.