<P> Vanilla is frequently used to flavor ice cream, especially in North America and Europe . Vanilla ice cream, like other flavors of ice cream, was originally created by cooling a mixture made of cream, sugar, and vanilla above a container of ice and salt . The type of vanilla used to flavor ice cream varies by location . In North America, consumers are interested in a more prominent, smoky flavor, while in France, they want a more anise - like flavor . To create the smooth consistency of ice cream, the mixture has to be stirred occasionally and then returned to the container of ice and salt to continue the solidification process . According to Iced: 180 Very Cool Concoctions, many people often consider vanilla to be the "default" or "plain" flavor of ice cream (see "Plain vanilla"). </P> <P> Vanilla was first used among the Mexica people . By the 1500s, Spanish conquistadors, exploring present - day Mexico, had come across Mesoamerican people who consumed vanilla in their drinks and foods . The vanilla bean was brought back to Spain with the conquistadors . In Spain, "vanilla was used to flavor a chocolate drink that combined cacao beans, vanilla, corn, water, and honey". The drink eventually spread to France, England, and then all of Europe by the early 1600s . In 1602, Hugh Morgan, the apothecary of Queen Elizabeth I, recommended that vanilla should be used separately from cocoa . </P>

What do they put in vanilla ice cream