Vanilla Beans, True Cinnamon & Cacao Pods: Exploring a Costa Rican Spice Farm

I have quite an affinity with spice. Ginger, turmeric, chilli, pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, I love them all. When it comes to food, people often say that I over spice, but I just can’t get enough of the distinct flavours and the delicious heat.

As you can imagine, touring a spice farm here in Costa Rica was right up my street. Villa Vanilla is a sustainable spice farm located in Quepos, Costa Rica. The farm’s main product is vanilla, though they do produce a variety of other herbs and spices, as well as cocoa.

Vanilla pods taste better with age

I’ve loved the smell of vanilla since I was really young, and anyone who went to school with me will know that when I wear perfume, it’s always vanilla oil.  Despite years of wearing the scent and many more years of eating vanilla ice cream, I was surprised to find out I didn’t know that much about the spice.

When learning about the vanilla pods on the tour, we found out that in fact only 2% of the vanilla flavour industry uses truly natural vanilla beans, which means that many of the ‘vanilla flavoured’ products you’re eating don’t actually have real vanilla in them.

 

Your cinnamon probably isn’t true cinnamon

Cinnamon is my favourite spice in winter because of the warming, woody aroma. Hot, sticky cinnamon buns from one of my local cafés at home are my favourite treat after a winter walk, along with mulled wine spiced with cinnamon at Christmas. After years of eating and cooking with cinnamon, I never knew that the cinnamon I had wasn’t true cinnamon.

There are two types of cinnamon: true cinnamon (ceylon) and the one we buy in the store (cassia). Cassia cinnamon originates from Myanmar and is a dark, reddish brown colour, compared with ceylon cinnamon which has a lighter tan colour and is much softer. So what’s the real difference? Well, ceylon cinnamon, as well as being much harder to get hold of, is more closely linked with the health benefits attributed to cinnamon and contains much lower levels coumarin (a plant component that can be toxic in large amounts).

 

Many Costa Rican cacao plantations were abandoned…

If we were in Costa Rica 40 years ago, cacao would be a very different story. Cacao plantations were growing all over the country, rich chocolate made from the harvested bean was being sold commercially and there was profit to be gained. Fast forward to today and there are very few cacao plantations to be found. Many Costa Rican cacao plantations were abandoned in the late 1980s due to falling international markets that meant chocolate exportation was no longer profitable. Though the cacao still grows in the wild, it’s now mostly left to the monkeys.

However, Villa Vanilla are still growing and harvesting their cacao pods. The fleshy, white innards of the hard shell have a sweet taste, but the flavour is nothing like the final chocolate product. The white fruit is then dried out in the sun, turning it to a dark red colour. The beans are roasted and ground to produce raw cacao nibs, which have a strong, bitter taste. From here, the nibs can be processed to make cocoa and chocolate as we know it.

Tasting the spices

After walking around the plantation, learning the origins and traditional uses of the spices, how they are grown, and smelling the delicious spicy aromas, it was time to taste them. Villa Vanilla use the organically grown spices from their own farm to create the sweet treats. From fresh cinnamon tea to luscious vanilla bean cheesecake, I thought everything tasted amazing even despite not having a sweet tooth.

 

 We are trying to reconnect people with the source

Villa Vanilla prides itself on being an organic, sustainable spice plantation – and so it should. When I spoke to the owner, Henry, he said something that really resonates with me:

We are trying to reconnect people with the source… and the source manifests through nature. We want to reconnect people with eating food grown naturally without all the chemicals and additives. Organically grown, healthy food is the medicine we all need.

After walking through the lush grounds of Villa Vanilla, seeing and smelling the diverse array of plants, spices, fruits and flowers growing there, and listening to our very knowledgeable guide, the ethos of the farm and its workers was easy to see. Eating healthily, choosing natural food that is sourced locally, and understanding how food grows, where it comes from, and how it affects our bodies is essential to living well.

Have you ever visited a spice farm? Would you like to?