The mountainous coasts of Eastern Mexico blended into the warm, damp veil of late summer.In Veracruz, the daughter of King Tenitzi III, a devastating beauty nicknamed Estrella de la Mañana, was running through the plains. She met the gaze of a young boy with antlers - the Deer Prince. They exchanged only a few words but the magic of love was set in motion.

When King Tentizi III learned of this romance, he became blind with rage. He sent his priests after them. The sky darkened. He decided that the souls of Morning Star and the Deer Prince would be sacrificed to calm the wrath of the Gods.

Tears of their blood gave birth to a small shrub. The branches intertwined like lovers in their last embrace. Star-shaped flowers covered the entire tree. A few days later, many shoots rose out of the ground and the first strands of black vanilla swayed in the wind, whispering the fragrance of the missing lovers.

‘Estrella de la Mañana’ is a black vanilla pod, its heart cut and consumed in the burning hearth of a fireplace. The smoke of charred wood and black cocoa powder is married with the roundness of vanilla.