We won't add to our global woes by giving you the xth annual review of our company! Thankfully! The purpose of this communication is to present you our favorite of the year 2020: Mounirah Philibert and Jean-Claude Mena.
Simply so that you know from whom you are buying this famous and magnificent vanilla from Madagascar.
Those who have followed my communiqués last year (from my old website), know a bit of the story of Jean-Claude, who came back to the family plantation of Ampanefera, in the region of Vohemar, in the North of the big Island. It is there that, supported by the courageous Mounirah, initiated by her husband to this difficult job, they bought together a piece of this paradise.
And if Mounirah and Jean-Claude are far from being insensitive to the wild beauty of the beach, for them, the true paradise is beyond the path that enters the heart of the bush. Click on the link below to follow in their footsteps.
Of course they don't have a house built on their estate yet, but until they do, they live with Bemamy Elisabethe, Jean-Claude's mother, who owns the adjoining land.
Although the years have been hard after the death of her husband, Bemamy has finally been able to take some well-deserved holidays since her son came home. Finally, this autumn, she took some time to visit her family and rest: she knew she could count on her son and daughter-in-law to make sure that the plantation was well looked after and that the preparation was done with art and patience.
And how right she was: as soon as the 2020-21 vanilla campaign began in October, Jean-Claude would find frosted vanilla in his refining chests. Indeed, when vanilla is picked at the peak of its ripeness and when it is carefully prepared, the vanillin molecule can be so abundant that it forms pure and immaculate crystals. These are the jewels of the vanilla artisan par excellence. A seal that very few vanilla growers manage to display, and when they do, it is often when the vanilla is drying, and therefore the vanillin is more concentrated. But for Jean-Claude, it's a real tour de force: the vanilla frosts despite a 30% humidity level.
Here is a picture of the vanilla Jean-Claude sent me in October 2020. As you can see, this is the split vanilla, so it was so ripe that it burst to drop its seed (a seed that Jean-Claude caught in time to prepare it). Even if the vanilla is wet, it is more common to find frost on split vanilla. But here is the one I found last night while preparing my orders, on a whole vanilla in unsplit, at 30% moisture:
In the Fall of 2020, many of my usual suppliers were having insurmountable difficulties, so this year, all the vanilla we're selling you is from one producer. A producer with whom I will be happy to sign a long term contract, as soon as the visas to Madagascar become available again.
Here is Mounirah and her people (at a social distance of two meters), preparing the vanilla you buy at Colibri Vanille. A story to follow...
On behalf of Colibri and all its collaborators, we wish you that the lessons of 2020 will be profitable, that the year 2021 will bring wisdom and measure, that it will invite to welcome each day as a gift, a gift that each one deserves, wherever he or she is on this small planet.
Melanie
Bonjour,
Avez-vous de la vanille pur? Sans mélange d’autres ingrédients. Je crois que vanille bourbon se rapproche de ce que je cherche. C’est tout simplement pour faire de la pâtisserie. Je suis habitué de cuisiner avec une vanille qui vient du Mexique. Mais à cause du Covid je ne voyage plus alors j’ai épuisé mon inventaire! Je suis donc à la recherche d’un produit québécois de qualité qui pourra remplacer ma vanille préférée!