Carolyn Fraser, age 12, of Portland, Ore., for her question:

WHERE DO WE GET VANILLA?

Vanilla is the name of a group of climbing orchids. The vanilla extract which is used to flavor ice cream, candy and pastry comes from these plants. The vanilla vine has been cultivated in Mexico for hundreds of years.

This type of vanilla has been introduced into a number of other tropical areas. Madagascar, together with Reunion and the Comoro Islands, now produces over three fourths of the world’s vanilla supply.

Another variety grows on the island of Tahiti in the South Pacific Ocean.

The vanilla vine has little rootlets by which the plants attaches itself to trees. The cultivated plant lives about 10 years. It produces its first crop after three years.

The plant produces a fruit in the shape of a cylindrical bean from five to 10 inches long. The fruit has an oily black pulp that contains many tiny black seeds. The pods are gathered when they are yellow green in color. Then the curing or drying process takes place. This process shrinks the bean, turns it a rich chocolate brown color and gives it the flavor and aroma of vanilla as we know it.

Vanilla extract is prepared in a complicated and expensive process from the beans.