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Black Gold, French Polynesian StyleBy Karoline Cullen
I’m visiting the tiny island of
Taha’a in the Society Islands while on an excursion from Radisson Seven Seas
Cruises’ m/s Paul Gauguin.
Vanilla orchid vines from the
Philippines, Mexico and the Botanical Garden of Paris were introduced in the
late 1800’s. Vines are now propagated on many small family-run farms and are
planted next to support posts in open shade. When the orchid blooms, it must
be hand-pollinated before the heat of the day gets too extreme.
Surprisingly, the flower itself has no perfume. Each bloom produces a single
green bean, about 4 inches long. The beans are picked when they are just
about to turn yellow and have to be slowly dried in order to preserve the
essential oils.
Cultivation of pearls was started in
the 1960’s, when it became clear that naturally occurring pearls were in
decline from over-harvesting.
FYI: Air Tahiti Nui flies between Los Angeles and Papeete, Tahiti. The flight is about 8 ½ hours. www.airtahitinui-usa.com Photos by Karoline Cullen |
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TM
There’s a rich scent in the air. I
close my eyes and breathe it in – the heady sweet fragrance brings Grandma’s
baking to mind. I look down at the pile of wrinkly brown beans and bend
closer to them, finding it difficult to believe they are indeed the source
of the delicious smell. The owner propped in his chair overseeing the drying
beans, grins at me as I sniff them once again. Vanilla -- it’s the
intoxicating perfume of this tropical paradise.
This casually elegant cruise ship plies the
aquamarine waters of French Polynesia and Taha’a is one of its first stops
after sailing from Tahiti. The islands of Taha'a and Raiatea are located
within the same reef, but Taha’a is the smaller and quieter of the two.
Historically, it has always been in the shadow of powerful Raiatea, the
cultural and religious centre of the archipelago where ancient Polynesians
settled over a thousand years ago. Often Taha’a was a pawn in the fierce
struggles between Raiatea and Bora Bora. Today Taha’a is known as the
Vanilla Island and on my tour, I learn about family industries that bolster
its economy -- vanilla farming, copra drying, and black pearl cultivation.
The majority of French Polynesian vanilla is produced on this island and I’m
finding out why it’s so expensive at home.
Each bean is massaged by hand and left in the sun for about
two to three hours. Then the beans are wrapped in blankets and brought
inside to ferment. The process of massaging, drying, and fermenting is
repeated daily for three to four weeks, after which the beans are hung to
dry until the familiar dark brown lustre appears. It takes up to three
months to completely prepare the beans for shipping. Fortunately, the farm
I’m visiting has some dried ones ready and I can’t resist buying some before
the tour departs. 
The
drive from the vanilla plantation passes through thick jungle. Its lush
growth gently filters the sun and flowers bloom profusely in a kaleidoscope
of colours – bright red hibiscus, fiery torch ginger and fragrant white gardenia. There
is an abundance of fruit trees, laden with ripe breadfruit, banana, starfruit, guava, and grapefruit.
In a moment, the guide picks a handful of
golden starfruit for me to take back to the ship. We pass a lone tethered
cow grazing by a plantation of palms. The versatile coconut palm has been a
provider of food, drink, wood, fibre, and shade since the times of the
ancient Polynesians. Palms bear about forty coconuts a year, starting when
they are about six years old. Workers are preparing some coconuts for drying
– wielding a big machete to split the strong outer husks looks like hard
work. The halved coconuts are laid out over volcanic rock or on
large wooden platforms for seven to ten days.
Copra,
the dried nutmeat, is the source for coconut oil that is widely used in
cosmetics and soaps. From the plantations, it’s a short drive to the coast where a
still, murky green lagoon fringed with palms is the site of a pearl farm.
Tahitian black pearls are so named because
they are grown in black-lipped oysters and actually range in colour from
champagne white to pink, green, purple, and to misty black. A pearl’s colour
is determined by the shade of the tiny piece of mantle or shell lining that
is inserted into the oyster when it is cultivated. At the same time a
spherical nucleus, which is a bead of freshwater oyster shell from
Mississippi, is implanted.
This is what the pearl will grow
around. A pearl grafter performs this delicate process when the young seed
oysters have matured for about one and a half years. Several years after
implantation, it’s time for the harvest. Only about forty per cent of
oysters produce pearls; those that do will be re-seeded and the
non-producers will be used for their mantle. Pearls have a wide range of
smoothness, sizes, colours, and shapes; a perfectly round pearl is found
only about two per cent of the time. Gems of rich lustre that are prized
around the world are the farmer’s reward for the long growing process. 
Bidding adieu to tiny Taha’a, I
return to the m/s Paul Gauguin. In our stateroom, I place my vanilla beans
by the Tikki god guarding the entrance. Even though they are wrapped in
plastic, their scent cannot be contained. The entire room is suffused with
the delectable perfume of vanilla, the aroma of French Polynesia’s black
gold.