Running Spice

 Seriously, WHAT is the "spice" all about in Star Wars?!

Well, this was a spice farm that grows some of the most expensive spices we have on this planet. And I got to take a tour and learn WHY they're so expensive. Seriously, I will not look at Vanilla the same way ever again!

So, where does a spice tour at a farm called Villa Vanilla begin?

Claro que si, with chocolate!

First, our guide opened a cacao fruit and gave us each a bit of the brain like material inside. The "fruit" of the cacao is actually very yummy, it's a lot like Mamon. Very yummy.

Our tour was about all the senses, when we got the go-ahead, we pit into the seed to discover the taste of the bean un altered in any way.

SOOO Yummy!

Of course, not everyone says "yummy" to raw cacao, so they put the beans through a drying...

... and then a cracking process. At this farm, they actually altered a sugar cane processor to help crack the outer shell of the bean. BUT all the actual removal is done by human beings.

And then of course, came the tasting of the nibs. Seriously, I LOVE this stuff!
So SO good and nutty and yummy

And then we took a tour of the Chocolate Trees.

Just kidding, the rest of the tour was of a specifically lined path for us to see trees and plants that are on the farm in one location. It was AMAZING. Sure it was raining so hard I could barely hear myself speak, but everyone on the tour had a very pura vida attitude about it, our guide worked hard to make sure everyone was includes, and when someone missed something, EVERYONE else helped out. I really lucked out with my tour mates for every tour and activity on this trip.

First up, Vanilla. I knew one flower produced one bean, and I vaguely remember knowing that the bee that polinated vanilla went extinct long ago, but I did NOT know that there is only a 7 hour window to polinate a flower and I DEFINITLY did not know that the beans stay on the vine maturing or 9 Months, and then it takes another set of months of alternating sun and sweating for the vanilla bean to be ready to use.

But wow when our guide opened up a bean and showed us what the seeds
and the oil of vanilla is like it was WAY cool.

Next up on the "wait, THAT's how it's grown?!" tour was this gem. See that pretty flower? The bean looking things under it are the spice.

But wait what are those HUGE stalks behind around the plant with the spice? Why woulf they plant something the flower needs to compete with for sunlight? Nope, those stalks are the same plant, and the tiny beans on the spindly vine like thing at the bottom, THOSE are the spice.

So THAT's why cardamom is SO expensive (actually there are a BUNCH of reasons)

Next up was pepper. Now, I am generally not a big fan of pepper, BUT I also don't HATE it, so when offered the chance to pluck a peppercorn and eat it, well, I would totally try that out. I made a video to record my reaction to eating straight peppercorn. And I was fine. About 10 seconds later, I needed to record a second video- MY MOUTH WAS ON FIRE!

Next up, we said hello to a "true cinnamon" tree. The guide had a pre-prepped stick to show us how they remove the first laver of bark to get to the middle layer, the cinnamon slice. Personally, I was blown away by the leaves. One snap of the leaf and I was smelling cinnamon from across the field.

Finally the rain cleared up and we went up to a look out point. I was in SUCH a happy place up there. and then, I FINALLY noticed a card on the tables. IT WAS A MENU! Tasting menu?! Oh, I was ACTUALLY in heaven!

The one with the spoon has cayenne the one without does not. Again, I am not generally a fan of spicy, but I wanted to try it the way it was prepared as the "drink of the gods." I did like the spicy better, but I drank it first so that I could cool my mouth with the SIN cayenne version.

This was my last tour activity of Costa Rica, and it was perfect. From the danish couple who knew EXACTLY what each spice was, but couldn't remember the name to the couple from Oklahoma where the wife was a retired school principal and is now on the board of Americorps for Oklahoma. We had a GREAT time together. And the last group on that tour was a family. Mom, Dad, a 3 year old and a baby The guide explains in English to the rest of us, and in Spanish to the family. When we got to the tasting, I sat at the table with the family, and found out they live in California but Spanish is mom's native language and they are raising the kids bilingually. I mentioned that my folks did the same in Yiddish, and it turns out that Dad is Ashkenazi Jewish. He asks the 3 year old what "this" *points to his nose* and the kid says "shnoz" without missing a beat. He can communicate fully in both English and Spanish, and has some Yinglish slang mixed in. I had a lot of fun eating with this family!

But all things come to an end. One last "am I at the right bus stop, seriously, the bus is supposed to be HOT PINK, how could I miss it, it was supposed to leave at 1, but it's now 1:25, did I miss my bus" panic (no, I didn't miss it, it was just on Tico time) and I was headed back to Santo Domingo for my last set of "lasts" with my host family and time in Costa Rica. How did it do by this quickly?!