What is vanillin?

Vanillin was isolated from vanilla beans in 1858 by a French chemist (who also discovered lecithin in egg yolks!). A few years later, in 1874, two chemists found a way to synthesize the fragrant molecule, thus offering a very inexpensive alternative to vanilla.

Vanillin then flooded the market and became popular as a food flavouring, especially in ice cream and chocolate. It is also often found in perfumery, even if the scent of natural vanilla extracts is much more complex.