Kinda vanilla
Hey, don't knock the flavor of
vanilla, especially when it comes to the real thing.
One of the advantages of Panama is that you can grow vanilla, the pods
of a vining orchid, here. For a long time, between here and Mexico was
the only part of the world where you could grow it, as the Melipona bee
that's the plant's only natural pollinator has this limited range.
Eventually artificial methods were developed --- the French just love
vanilla in their coffee, and didn't have any colonies in the right
place --- and vanilla is now grown in many tropical lands.
Despite the artificial pollinating techniques, vanilla pods are still
one of the world's most expensive spices, pound for pound trailing only
saffron. But you can grow your own here.
Photo by Eric
Jackson
