Vanilla is a
flavor derived from
orchids of the genus
Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species,
flat-leaved vanilla (
V. planifolia). The word
vanilla, derived from the
diminutive of the Spanish word (
vaina itself meaning sheath or pod), translates simply as "little pod".
Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people cultivated the vine of the vanilla orchid, called
tlilxochitl by the Aztecs. Spanish conquistador
Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both vanilla and
chocolate to Europe in the 1520s.