Vanilla of Papantla

Vanilla is a Mexican orchid, and this is its homeland. The Totonac people of northern Veracruz cultivated Vanilla planifolia long before the conquest, traded the cured pods, and passed the plant to the Aztecs and then to Europe - where, for three centuries, it refused to fruit because its pollinator, a bee native to these forests, was absent, until a technique of hand-pollination was developed in the nineteenth century and cultivation spread worldwide. Papantla, "the city that perfumes the world," still centres the Mexican trade. Vines climb host trees in shaded plots; each flower opens for a single morning and must be pollinated by hand with a splinter; the green pods are harvested months later and cured over weeks by sweating, sun-drying and conditioning until they turn dark, oily and fragrant. Shops in town sell pods, extracts and the famous figures - vanilla pods braided and woven into flowers, crosses and animals. Prices are high everywhere because the work is enormous, and synthetic vanillin has haunted the market for a century.

What you actually see

• The vines - orchids climbing shade trees in Totonac plots.
• Hand pollination - the morning's flowers fertilized one by one.
• The curing - pods sweated and sun-dried over weeks.
• The woven figures - braided pods sold in Papantla shops.

When to go

December to February for harvest and curing; the crop and the town's vanilla fair are seasonal, while shops sell year-round.

Honest expectations

Real vanilla is expensive - cheap "extract" sold to visitors is often synthetic and sometimes contains coumarin from tonka substitutes; buy pods or extract from reputable Papantla houses. Plantation visits need arranging ahead.

Nearby

El Tajin's ruins and the voladores' pole are minutes away; the Gulf coast beaches lie east.