Curio directly sources these high grade, sustainably grown vanilla beans from their partner in Madagascar. A type of orchid originally native to the Yucatán Peninsula, vanilla lives up to the reputation of its more ornamental cousins; finicky and high maintenance, they prefer a tropical environment, and must be carefully hand-pollinated. Contrary to the “plain vanilla” stereotype, natural vanilla is a deeply complex spice, with over 200 distinct flavor components.
These gourmet pods from Madagascar have creamy notes of fig, date, chocolate, and oak, perfect for your next baking project or batch of marmalade!
Materials: whole vanilla pods
Made by:Curio Spice Co.
Made in: Massachusetts, USA
Specifications: 2 pods per jar
Use: One vanilla pod is equal to about 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Slit the bean open and scrape out the seeds. Don’t discard the husk, it can still be used to infuse into foods, or to scent sugar
Further Reading:
Malagasy Spiced Marmalade
Recipe courtesy of Curio Spice Co.
Madagascar vanilla and its famous wild pepper, voatsiperifery, add balance and depth to this grapefruit marmalade. Use it to fill thumbprint cookies, serve it with roast chicken, or dollop it on buttered toast.
2 pink grapefruits2 cups sugar
Peel both grapefruits. Save the peel of one grapefruit and scrape away its pith. (Discard the peel from the other fruit). Slice the scraped peel into thin strips. Cut the grapefruits’ flesh cross-wise into 1/2-inch thick rounds and pick out the seeds. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, cut the bean’s husk in half.
Put the grapefruit flesh and peel strips, along with the vanilla seeds and husk into a large, heavy saucepan. Add the voatsiperifery and 4 cups of water. Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring the contents to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the mixture is reduced to about half or three-quarters of its original volume.
Stir in the sugar and let the marmalade simmer until it’s thickened and syrupy, about another 1 1/2 hours. Pour the marmalade into scalded jars and screw on the jar lids. Leave the jars on the counter until they’re completely cooled, then stow them in the fridge, where they’ll keep happily for a least a couple of months.
