My brother told me that he found some vanilla beans in Gourdo’s, a favorite retail store of ours. As vanilla beans are hard to come by in Manila, I was quite happy to learn he could source some. Bottles and bottles of imitation essence can be found on supermarket shelves there but the aroma of this locally-produced flavoring easily fades once incorporated in batters or drinks. That’s when the idea of making our own extract hit me.
Consulting trusty Mr. Google, I typed in ‘vanilla extract recipe’ on the search bar. Wow. 20 million entries. I settled with one. It called for vodka. Another idea hit me. Vanilla-scented poison. Haha! Just brilliant!
So off to Deira Spice Souk I went, got my precious pods, then to the bottle shop for a liter (oh, make that two) of vodi. It will be a long, two-month wait before I get to do my version of grown-up Vanilla Coke. And another month more to perfume my next batch of ice cream. But hey, patience they say is a virtue. In the meantime, I will pass this recipe on to my brother, dream of pouring this sweet, velvety elixir over a couple of cubes of ice and offering a toast to Bacchus. Dude, you may be the god of wine but we mortals take credit for creating this gorgeous ambrosia.
xxx
Karima
