Unlocking the Secret of Vanilla

From ice cream to perfume, from cookies to candles, from hair spray and breath mints, vanilla is the basis for thousands of scents and flavors we encounter every day. But the story of the most popular spice in the world has been shrouded in mystery. For centuries the vanilla trade has been rife with criminals and corruption. A complex spice, vanilla has tantalized the greedy and been worshiped by the devout. But perhaps the most confounding story of all was the little secret locked inside a pretty cream-white flower.