Article: 3 KINDS OF VANILLA BEANS.(Living)

Q: What is the difference between vanilla and French vanilla?

If they are indeed different, can regular vanilla be substituted for the other? -- Kathy Snyder, Long Beach, Calif.

A: There's actually no such plant as "French vanilla."

The term seems to have been coined by the English for what the French actually call "creme anglaise" (English cream). Go figure.

And that is, whatever you call it, a light, usually vanilla-bean-infused custard that's the most common base for ice cream.

At some point, marketers seized upon the term and used the classy-sounding "French vanilla" to describe vanilla used in perfume and in food.

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