Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla: How Vanilla Caviar Is MadeThe Jewel of Madagascar

VANILLE BIO
Oct 11
2 min read

Queen of Spices

Known as the Queen of Spices, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla is celebrated around the world for its rich aroma and deep, complex flavour. But beyond the pods themselves lies a hidden treasure the vanilla caviar, a pure extract of the bean’s aromatic soul.

What Is Vanilla Caviar?

Vanilla caviar is the pure pulp inside the vanilla pods, containing thousands of fragrant seeds that give vanilla its distinctive speckled look and powerful aroma.It’s the most concentrated and luxurious part of the pod naturally creamy, intensely aromatic, and 100% pure.

Chefs and pastry artisans use it to elevate desserts, sauces, and even savoury creations. Its texture blends perfectly into creams, chocolate, or champagne infusions, offering both flavour and beauty.

From Pod to Caviar: A Handcrafted Process

Producing vanilla caviar is a meticulous and entirely manual process, carried out by skilled hands mostly women in Madagascar’s traditional vanilla regions.

Step 1 - Selecting the Finest Pods

Only black gourmet vanilla beans, fully matured and rich in moisture, are chosen.

They must be soft, oily, and supple, filled with dense, fragrant pulp.

Step 2 – Splitting and Scraping

Each bean is carefully opened lengthwise with a small knife.The expert hands of our women artisans delicately scrape the pulp and seeds, making sure not to waste a single drop of the precious caviar inside.

Step 3 – Pure Caviar Extraction

The pulp is collected, homogenised, and sometimes lightly filtered to remove any fibre residue.The result is a dense, aromatic black paste the true essence of vanilla.

How Much Vanilla for 1 kg of Caviar?

Creating vanilla caviar is an act of patience and precision.It takes approximately 5 kilograms of fresh, plump vanilla pods to produce just 1 kilogram of pure vanilla caviar.

Each bean is opened and scraped by hand a process that can take several hours per kilo.This is what makes vanilla caviar one of the most rare and valuable ingredients in gastronomy.

A Tribute to Malagasy Craftsmanship

At Comptoir Des Épices Madagascar, we produce our own Bourbon Vanilla Caviar directly from our cooperative in the SAVA region the heartland of the world’s best vanilla.

Our teams are composed of 70% women, who carry forward generations of artisanal know-how.Each jar of caviar reflects not only the flavour of Madagascar, but also the human touch behind every step.