Gianni's Madagascan Vanilla

What is it?

Madagascar grows the majority of the world's vanilla, and its beans are what most people mean by vanilla without qualifying it: sweet and rounded rather than the sharper Tahitian or the smokier Mexican. Naming the origin on a supermarket tub is a signal about the extract rather than the recipe. Vanilla is the second most expensive spice by weight after saffron, so an own-label ice cream specifying Madagascan is pointing at where the cost went. Gianni's is Aldi's main ice cream label, and with nothing folded through this tub the base has nowhere to hide. Aldi also sells a Madagascan vanilla under its Specially Selected range, so the two sit in the same freezer at different points.