Even though Hawaii is in a tropical growing region, I never really thought of it as a producer of vanilla beans. That perception was corrected as I read about Hawaiian vanilla on VanillaReview.com.
Apparently there are only a couple of farms that produce vanilla beans in Hawaii, which is probably why I've never heard of it. However, the vanilla being reviewed sounded so amazing. I was drooling over the images of the vanilla pods (the pods are the long brown outsides, while the beans are the small, gooey specks on the inside) from Hua Hua Frams, on the big island of Hawaii.
As a pastry cook, I've scraped pounds (that's actually a lot) of vanilla beans out of the pods over the years. I pretty much only see the large, vacuum-packed bags of Madagascar or Tahitian beans meant for production kitchens. However, these Hawaiian beans are enough to make me want to bake at home or make my own vanilla extract or just find some way to use them. If you're interested in the Hua Hua Farms beans, you need to act soon, as they go fast. You can find out more about that from VanillaReview.com.
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