The French Vanilla

This is already posted to the Adventurous Appetite site. It is the beginnings of an article that will touch on the history oof vanilla, the origin of french vanilla and the evil uses I have put french vanilla ice cream to as a breakfast ingredient. Recipes for oatmeal, french toast, omelette and muffins to follow

So for a short while, breakfast turned into a one trick pony. Melted French Vanilla ice cream began to find it’s way into anything that had previously required sugar, vanilla, and milk. And even into things that previously had not required any of these ingredients. It began to beg the question of what is French Vanilla anyway?

Let me state right now and on the record, French toast prospers when egg is mixed with melted french vanilla ice cream and a little (or a whole lot) of cinnimon. An omlette of divine sweetness and a bit of angelic fluffiness can be achieved with this ingredient list. The same can be said for oatmeal. As well as other cereals such as grapenuts and all bran and muselex.

The origin of vanilla is Mexico and Central America . The Aztecs and Mayas revered the plant and believed that it was an aphrodisiac, reserving it for royalty. . Many, many years ago, some Frenchmen took some cuttings of Mexican vanilla plants to the islands of Madagascar and Reunion off the coast of Africa to see if they would grow there. They did grow and flourished, and the French, instead of importing vanilla from Mexico, grew vanilla on those islands. The vanilla grown there, particularly on Madagascar, therefore became known as “French Vanilla”.