Vanilla

It is my mission to rehabilitate vanilla’s reputation. Vanilla ice cream is seen as the neutral choice, vanilla decor is uninspired and vanilla sex bland. Paint tins would have us believe it denotes a safe buttery cream, the colour of the vine’s flowers perhaps, but we know really it is the dark pods and their shining black seeds that hold the power and the flavour.

In fact, no other food can top the complexity, with up to 500 flavour components that make its aroma hard to describe. Notes of tobacco and wood are backlit by sweet, floral richness. What’s more, it boosts adrenalin and is mildly addictive.