The royals may have been surprised to realize that the seductively aromatic bean came from an orchid. The vanilla planifolia plant is the only one out of more than 20,000 varieties of orchids to bear anything edible. The numerous flowers on the plant open for only one day each season, and they can be pollinated naturally only by a certain Mexican bee. Since there aren't enough bees to meet the world's vanilla demand, the flowers have to be hand-pollinated with a wooden needle when they open. This incredibly labor-intensive process is the reason why pure vanilla is still relatively pricey.
Pollination is only the beginning of the saga.
It takes 9 months for vanilla beans to reach their full size of 6 to 10 inches long. Then each bean must go through several months of curing, sweating, drying, and fermenting, during which it shrinks to a quarter of its original size and turns its characteristic dark brown shade. Vanilla orchids are grown in tropical climates, mainly in Madagascar, Mexico and Tahiti. Smooth-flavored Mexican beans are increasingly scarce as the orchids get pushed out to make room for oil fields and orange groves. Tahitian vanilla beans, thick and very dark, are intensely aromatic but not as flavorful as Mexican and Madagascar beans.