Patricia Rain — Biographical Sketch

Patricia Rain is an author, educator and culinary historian, with a special focus on vanilla. The Vanilla Cookbook (Celestial Arts, 1986) established her as an authority on this exotic rainforest product. She has continued to do research on the uses of vanilla in a diverse variety of applications: as a flavor in both sweet and savory foods; in the daily lives of the Totonacs, the indigenous people who defined the processing and use of vanilla in ancient Mexico; as a medicinal; as a fragrance; and in aromatherapy. Additionally, she is studying the cultural and economic relationship of vanilla with the native growers who cultivate vanilla in tropical regions worldwide.

MAJOR FOOD INDUSTRY PRESENTATIONS

Panel Moderator, The Politics of Our Passions: Coffee, Coffee, Chocolate, and Vanilla. International Association of Culinary Professionals conference. April 10, 2003, with Bob Stiller, CEO of Green Mtn. Coffee Roasters, and Robert Steinberg. Co-founder of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. An over view of Fair Trade, organics, sustainability, and industry issues with regard to these three important tropical products.

Smithsonian Institution, "Nature's Jewels: Orchids and Butterflies." February 22, 2003. A slide presentation on vanilla production worldwide and the farmers who grow it. Interactive exhibit, and book signing at day-long program.

Participant, Regional Flavors of Mexico, Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena November, 1999. Produced an interactive informational display on vanilla and the Mexican vanilla industry, and sampling of products from Veracruz, Mexico.

Simposios al Rescate de la Vainilla en Veracruz, 1998. Key-note speaker for a series of events and presentations hosted by Gutierrez Zamora and Papantla, Vera Cruz, the two major towns in the vanilla-growing region of Mexico. Additional program hosted by Culturas Populares, the government-funded indigenous peoples agency, Papantla, Vera Cruz.

A Celebration of Vanilla, 1997. Slide show, interactive discussion, and culinary celebration with four-course meal based around vanilla and additional samplings of vanilla-perfumed foods. Sponsored by San Francisco Professional Food Society.

Orchids Are Blooming at The Streets of Mayfair, 1997. A cultural and culinary presentation of the only edible fruit of the orchid family, produced by the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce to promote the South Florida Orchid Society's International Orchid Show.

The Vanilla Summit: Taking Everyone's Favorite Tropical Rainforest Flavor To New Heights, 1995. A comprehensive overview of both the romantic history and ever-expanding cooking applications of vanilla given at the American Culinary Federation conference, New York City.

Chocolate and Vanilla: Quintessential Flavors of the Americas, 1995. A standing-room-only joint seminar and workshop given at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference, San Antonio, Texas.

El Encuentro de las Dos Comidas 1492 - 1992 (The Encounter of Two Food Traditions, 1492 - 1992) The quincentennial celebration of the crossover of the Old and New World foods, sponsored by the University of Mexico. A book of the same name and containing the essays of the food historians, anthropologists, economists, and ethnobotanists who presented at this conference was published by the University of Mexico in 1996.

Chilies to Chocolate: Foods the Americas Gave the World, 1988. An enormously successful program produced by the California Academy of Sciences to showcase native New World foods that have become global staples. Ms. Rain was one of the few original presenters chosen to contribute to the subsequently published book of the same title (University of Arizona Press, 1992), containing essays by renowned food anthropologists.

ARTICLES, BOOKS AND INTERVIEWS

Ms. Rain does photographic and culinary presentations for food professionals, cooking schools, trade shows, food fairs, and private groups, as well as feature segments for radio and TV. She has written articles for mainstream and trade publications, chapters for academic books, and has been the primary interview source for both mainstream and academic articles.

"The Vanilla Chef ", published by Vanilla Queen Press, was released in 2002. Additional food-related books by Patricia Rain include The Artichoke Cookbook and Pea Soup Andersen's Scandinavian-American Cookbook, also published by Celestial Arts. She is currently working on writing the cultural history of of vanilla and assembling a vanilla beverage book as a companion to "The Vanilla Chef".

CONSULTING

Ms. Rain has assisted a diverse group of clients, including The Secretary of Agriculture and Fisheries, Vera Cruz, Mexico; El Consejo Veracruzano de la Vainilla, Vera Cruz, Mexico; Union Agricola Regional de Productores de Vainilla, Papantla, Vera Cruz; Turin Chocolates, Mexico City; PULSAR, Mexico City; The National Wildlife Federation children's magazine, Ranger Rick; Madagascar's Lemur Tours and Lemur 2000; El Rey Chocolates, Venezuela; Tahitian Import/Export, Inc.; and Draeger's Markets.

Ms. Rain has developed The Vanilla.Company as an interactive e-commerce business dedicated to vanilla information and education as well as the sale of vanilla and vanilla value-add products. The Vanilla Information Hotline, by phone, fax, or e-mail, is available for anyone seeking additional information about vanilla. In addition to offering products for the retail market, Ms.Rain is also a vanilla broker and assists in connecting manufacturers with suppliers of vanilla beans and other vanilla products.

Ms. Rain lives in the Monterey Bay Area and is available as a consultant and for speaking engagements and events by appointment.