Drawing of the Vanilla plant from the Florentine Codex (c. 1580) and description of its use and properties written in the Nahuatl language
According to popular belief, the Totonac people, who live on the east coast of Mexico in the present-day state of Veracruz, were among the first people to cultivate vanilla, during the era of the Aztec Empire (around the 15th century).[1] Aztecs invading from the central highlands of Mexico conquered the Totonacs, and developed a taste for the vanilla pods. They named the fruit tlilxochitl, or “black flower”, after the matured fruit, which shrivels and turns black shortly after being picked. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both vanilla and chocolate to Europe in the 1520s