Above: organic, fair trade-certified vanilla beans from Uganda's Ndali Estate.
When it comes to making vanilla ice cream you have a few choices: use artificial vanilla flavoring, use vanilla grown in Madagascar (which produces most of the world's vanilla), or use something extraordinary.
In Uganda Ndali Estate cultivates what we consider the finest organic vanilla on the planet. Since 2007 we've used Ndali Estate vanilla to make Ugandan Vanilla Bean ice cream, and now we use Ndali Estate vanilla in any ice cream that calls for vanilla.
Why? Flavor and aroma. The real thing, the labor-intensive thing that requires pollination by hand and nine months on the vine to ripen, packs a knockout punch.
BBC Radio 4 recently traveled to Uganda to report from the fields of Ndali Estate (the first-ever fair trade-certified vanilla farm in the world) to shine light on the growing market for extraordinary vanilla. It's a fascinating story of the crop and a peek into the lives of the men and women who cultivate, harvest, and process one of our key ingredients.
Another choice is the Hawaiian Vanilla company! Only commercial vanilla bean farm in the US. Family owned & operated & made in the USA! ;)
http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/about/
Posted by: Walker Evans | September 08, 2012 at 10:16 AM