Robert Goodman, age 15, of Wichita, Kansas, for his question:

Where does vanilla come from?

The Spaniards were the first Old Worlders to taste vanilla. They got it, from the Aztecs in the 16th century. The Aztecs prepared the wonderful flavor from the bean of a local plant. This plant is a type of orchid. Its oblong leaves are large and glossy green. Its yellow flowers grow in big clusters. The pods are six to ten inches long, full of tiny seeds. The seeds are flavorsome only after drying and steaming.

Naturally, other countries wanted to produce the delicious vanilla bean The vanilla plant is now grown successfully in Madagascar, Indonesia and the West Indies, as well as Central America. Madagascar nowadays produces most of the worlds vanilla, Mexico is second and Indonesia third.

Meantime the chemists produced an artificial vanilla flavor for less money. Synthetic vanilla may be made from oil of cloves, coal tar or wood pulp. The taste is just as good as the true vanilla essence ‑ or so close you can hardly tell the difference.