Ron, my dad in law recently vacationed on the island of Reunion, where vanilla is grown and produced. He bought 2 packages for me and sent them over.

I’ve tested the lovely, moist pod first in a panna cotta, fantastic flavour and then this evening in a custard, that accompanied apple and plum crumble. We had a lovely lunch in Brasserie Blanc earlier on, so we didn’t feel like dinner, but my crumble suggestion was received enthusiastically.

I haven’t really measured ingredients for a custard in a long time, I just take 2 egg yolks and whip them with sugar, maybe 3-4 tbsps, but I do add a tsp of corn starch to be sure the consistency is good. Milk gets heated up with that scraped out vanilla pod, then slowly added to the eggs, whisking all the time, returned to the heat and gently stirred till thickened. Very good custard. Very good crumble. Creme brulee next.