Dear listeners,
What a month! As I mentioned on this month’s episode, I’ve been busy getting settled into my new apartment. I’m slowly turning this place into a home, but one of the stickier tasks is setting up a new podcast studio. Here’s a picture of the old setup:
My eensy studio’s closet was perfect for recording: tiny (no echoes), full of clothing (to muffle sounds), no windows. My new apartment is too big! What a problem to have. I think July will be another funky recording situation, but hopefully I’ll have my setup sorted by August. Bear with me if you hear more car horns and background ambulances than you’re used to. 🙏
Ask Me Anything
Next month is the show’s fifth anniversary!!!! I’m celebrating with a listener Q&A episode, so I want to hear from YOU. Ask me anything at all, including:
questions about French history, especially previous episode subjects
questions about the podcast itself and its production
questions about me
You can simply reply to this email to shoot me a question - I’d love to hear from you!
Vanilla dreams
This month’s episode about vanilla kicked off a massive baking kick over here. If you missed my newsletter from a year ago, I shared my all-time favorite recipe for vanilla bean madeleines. I’ve been baking them every few days ever since, to the delight of my neighbors. Don’t take my word for it, I’m eating some even as I write this newsletter:
SF is the only place in the country that isn’t sweltering hot, I know, but if you somehow find yourself with an urge to turn on your oven, give these a try! (Prefer savory foods? Vanilla works beautifully in savory dishes, like roast chicken or seafood. The tiny vanilla-producing islands of The Comoros famously pairs vanilla with lobster.)
It’s one thing to discuss the cute little orchid bees which keep native vanilla growing in Mexico, it’s another thing to see their wiggly little butts:
We’re learning a lot more about the orchid bees - and the news isn’t necessarily good for vanilla-lovers. Orchids need bees, but bees don’t need orchids. Here’s a super interesting explainer from ScienceLine about the fight to save wild vanilla. As this month’s episode discussed, almost all of the world’s cultivated vanilla derives from the clone in the British gentleman’s greenhouse. That one lucky vine yielded the vine cuttings which were transplanted to Madagascar, Réunion and other French colonial territories. With this one single origin, the world’s vanilla isn’t very genetically diverse, which means it’s very vulnerable. Genetic diversity through the growth of wild vanilla will mean vanilla is less susceptible to pests and disease - but we need the bees to help!
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With vanilla prices as temporarily high as they are right now, conditions in Madagascar are getting…antsy. This is a boom time for growers - but it’s worth remembering that even this income is only a tiny fraction of the overall money being made in the vanilla industry.
Street trader Randria Albert Francois with colleagues at his stall in Antalaha, Madagascar. (Tommy Trenchard)
I loved this collection of recent photos from Madagascar. The vanilla boom is opening up new opportunities for farmers, while introducing new threats - and the window may close again after COVID restrictions relax and the market floods.
It’s really worth making the effort to seek out vanilla cooperatives, so growers and curers see a higher percentage of the profits. Madagascar’s vanilla crop sells for approximately half a billion dollars, but most residents live on $50 a month. As a baker, I go through a lot of vanilla, so I may end up ordering in bulk here next time I need to restock, or through here.
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Finally, I’ll leave with a little soundtrack. If you’re on Spotify, check out the French Indie playlist:
This is one of my most-loved playlists; it’s perfect for background music when I’m working, but it’s also perfect for lounging by the pool on a hot day. There’s one song I love in particular, and what better time to share it?
Don’t forget to reply to this email with your questions!
Bisous,
Diana