Vanilla from Mexico
When I think of Vanilla, well, the first thing I think of is having it as a flavoring in a coke. Vanilla coke, what ever happened to that drink?
But the next thing that comes to mind is Mexico.
When I was in my late teens, being foot loose, fancy free and perpetually short on pesos a friend and I decided to go to Mexico and see the world in a 1966 AMC Rambler.
We both worked and saved our money for the trip. Being young and naive we even went to a local bank to exchange our American cash for Mexican currency. Later we would find that US currency was desired most by the Mexican people and we wound up exchanging it back into regular currency at a better rate . We had planned on going deep into Mexico.
So the day arrived when we set off for the world via interstate 35 south .That old rambler got 35 mpg all the way, a feat these new cars can't seem to accomplish although that rambler had a couple more cylinders than today's toy cars. Three on the Tree, for those old and savvy enough to know.
Then we arrived at the Rio Grande! The Great River that borders the United States and Mexico . After seeing the river I am curious to know why they call it Grande. Perhaps Rio Creek would've sufficed. I guess as a wide eyed, inexperienced teenager I was expecting the Amazon with the Chichen Itza Pyramid parked on the other side.
After inquiring at the border about what all it takes to drive around in Mexico, we decided to park the car on the American side and walk into Mexico .We had an amazing time visiting the markets , which oddly seemed to proliferate just on the American side.
They had fancy red sombreros for 5 dollars, 6 point tecates, pottery, all sorts of crafts made from all sorts of metals. They had necklaces, and really beautiful blankets and rugs and 6 point tecates .They had children that followed us everywhere hoping we would buy a small candy from them for a quarter and they also had many 6 point tecates.
They had vanilla.
I bought two or three very small bottles of it, that and a sombrero.
I used it for homemade ice cream. There was nothing like it. I remember I would put it in coke. It put the store bought vanilla coke to shame.
Ordinarily a bottle of vanilla extract lasts for ever in spice cabinet but this Mexico Vanilla was gone before I knew it. It was definitely a surprise for a teenager that a item like vanilla made such an impression. Twenty-five years later that's what I remember most.
If you ever get a chance to visit Mexico, buy as some of this wonderful extract. Make sure the label says that its courmarin free which is a flavoring similar to vanilla but isn't good for you. Make sure it says "made from vanilla beans" and not tonka which is the bad stuff.There's nothing like it and it makes wonderful souvenirs for all your friends and family when you return. The bottles will literally disappear!
