Vanilla is one of the kings of spices, along with saffron and cardamon, second in price only to saffron. Confronted with a vanilla pod for the first time, you could be a bit daunted, but you have a treat in store. Take a sharp knife, hold the pod flat on a surface and run the knife along the vanilla pod, slicing it into two, as you might a chile. Inside there are tiny black seeds. Take the knife and run the back of it along the two exposed inner sides of the pod. Thousands of tiny seeds will roll up the blade as you do so. Scrape these carefully into the mix you are making. The next wonderful thing is that you can pop the pod in with the mix as well, remove it after use, dry it and add it to a pot of sugar for divine sweetener for strawberries or sour fruits.
Vanilla extract is highly regarded, with deep vanilla flavours. It is made from vanilla pods, while vanilla essence is commercially manufactured using additives and chemicals. Extract is definitely your preferred option though essence has its uses.
Vanilla ice cream is a divine concoction of eggs, sugar and cream with a split vanilla pod added. The custard is cooled and then frozen and churned. A home-made vanilla ice cream,
Vanilla sugar is simply sugar flavoured with a vanilla pod. After you have used a vanilla pod for making an ice cream or custard, rather than discard the pod, dry it and then pop it into a jar of sugar.
Velvet bolete. An edible mushroom, smooth and dark yellow, found in late summer.
The variegated scallop is the middle sized, variegated scallop with 30 ribs. The main difference between this and the pilgrim scallop, aside from being smaller, is that it has two cupped shells rather than one flat and one cupped.
A hare which is found in the Alps, Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia. It has a smaller body, shorter ears, a larger head and longer legs than common hares and its fur turns white in winter.
