Mexican Vanilla Beans (each)
Unless you're a vanilla connoisseur, you may not even realize that there is more than one type of vanilla bean. Three dominate the food world- the Madagascar vanilla bean, the Tahitian vanilla beans, and the Mexican Vanilla bean. The scientific name for the Mexican vanilla bean is Vanilla planifolia. This type of vanilla is thought in some circles to be the best vanilla, since it is the place of origin for the plant and thus has the most genetic diversity.
The word vanilla comes from a Spanish word "vaina" that translates to "little pod." This plant, from the orchid family, was first cultivated by the Mesoamerican people in the region that is now Mexico.