In Reply to: vanilla pods posted by sunshinecoasts on Saturday, 29. April 2006 at 10:40 Bali Time:
You can use both but the main flavour comes from the seeds. These may be used by infusing milk with them for about 15 minutes then using in recipes such as creme brulee.
The casings can be put in sugar to make vanilla sugar or the best idea is to put them in a bottle of arak to make vanilla arak.