The Vanilla Chef
In her introduction Patricia Rain discusses her initial fascination with vanilla. She visited Veracruz, hub of the Mexican vanilla growing industry to gain first-hand experience. She also wrote a book at that time, The Vanilla Cookbook, which is now out of print. She has written a chapter on The Legend of Vanilla & one on a Brief History of Vanilla. She is incredibly knowledgeable as evidenced in her next chapter, Everything About Vanilla which includes a multitude of intriguing facts about vanilla, including Mexican, Bourbon, & Tahitian vanilla. There are also a number of Frequently Asked Questions included which certainly held my interest. There are recipes for making your own Homeade Vanilla Extract as well as Vanilla Sugar, Flavored Honey, Syrups, & Vanilla Simple Syrup. The remainder of the book contains many varied & amazing recipes that look absolutely superb.