As morning mists rise from the folds of the valleys at the foot of Mt Bartle Frere and its offshoot peak, Broken Nose in tropical North Queensland, Matt Allen and Fiona George set off on the day’s pollination rounds. The dainty, creamy-green vanilla orchid flowers open in response to the morning’s warmth, but will offer themselves only for a few hours before dying. 

Every small flower - more than a thousand a day - on this family-run plantation is hand pollinated through the dry, cooler winter months. The long, green, bean-like vanilla pods form in a matter of weeks, and hang in bunches for nine months to mature.

The “babies” are harvested by hand as they start to turn from green to yellow in June-August.  Then begins the daily process of  alternately heating in the sun for a few hours and sweating in airtight boxes overnight to develop the heady familiar aroma of vanilla. Over a period of months, the green beans lose one sixth of their weight and are transformed into wizened, brown but flavourful and supple vanilla pods, ready for use or further processing into pure vanilla extract and vanilla paste and adding to other locally sourced ingredients.

Cured vanilla beans and products are sold either directly to discerning restaurants and gourmet delis, packaged for retail sale, or available directly from the farm.

Vanilla grown in the pure rainforest mulch on the Broken Nose plantation has unique fruity, citrus flavour tones and strong aroma, untainted by fertilisers or pesticides. Broken Nose vanilla combines particularly well with dairy foods to give a special touch to outstanding cheesecakes, ice cream and pannacotta, and lends itself to lime-based sauce with fish, for example, or for adding to lamb dishes. Organic certification is in progress through Biological Farmers Australia.