All the details, with extra step by step pictures are in the specific page but I will attempt to tantilise you with some highlights in this post!
This part is Gnome’s job.
Basically, you have to use a machete to cut into the culm and then you bang the machete with a sturdy stick to cut into it.
Harvesting Bamboo Shoot.
Once you have the bamboo shoot, you carry it off to a Munchkin to prepare:
Preparation of Bamboo Shoot.
The shoot is chopped into sections, peeled and then cut into chunk sizes.
Cut into Sections.Bamboo Shoot Layers.Bamboo Shoot Chunks.
Next, the chunks are boiled to remove the bitter components.
Once cooked, they are soaked in cold water for a few hours and then they are ready for eating or preservation. This time round, I layered slices of bamboo shoots with salt to dry brine.
Jar of Bamboo Shoots.
What fun!! I hope I have inspired some of you to go bamboo shoot hunting this season!!
And of course, we are eating fresh bamboo shoots everyday. Once you have tasted the fresh stuff, you will never want to go back to the canned shoots. Fresh shoots are velvety in texture with very little fibre. They are sweet and totally delicious. Here is a snapshot of what we had for lunch today: Sausage with exotic fruits and fresh bamboo shoots. What a treat…will post the recipe up tomorrow.
Sausage with Exotic Fruits and Fresh Bamboo Shoots.
This is MGNews PrimeTime Sunday bringing you the latest in the Mayoral Elections 2015, Paradise Pastures. Last week, we brought you the inside story on Mayor Gnome’s dark and secretive past.
El Diablo Blanco.
Tonight, we bring in the panel of experts to discuss and analyse Mayor Gnome’s inner struggle with good and evil.
Dr. Timothy Beedley MD, Psychiatrist.
Dr. Timothy Beedley MD.
In my medical opinion, I believe Mayor Gnome is suffering from the eponymous syndrome first described by Neilson and Freedman in 1962; The Neilson-Freedman Syndrome has been popularly coined the “Bad Boy Syndrome” by popular media. To put it in Layman’s terms, a “good boy” from a stable, loving family background of medium to upper socio-economic status suddenly loses self-confidence and enters into a deep depression plus/minus delusions or hallucinations. He then joins a social group of young men with “challenged upbringing,” usually of low social economic status. In order to form a bond with this group, he must perform deeds of initiation. These “rites of passage” may involve breaking the law. Mayor Gnome may possibly have suffered from this syndrome when he was oversesas in Australia. The Gnome reference is most likely delusional associated with depression. The recent mood instability of Mayor Gnome has probably been triggered by stress over the up coming Mayoral Elections. I surmise that he is suffering from a delayed Post Traumatic Syndrome related to specific traumatic events in his past.
Mayor Gnome is as much a Gnome as I am an Elf. There is no such thing as a Gnome…or an Elf, for that matter.
Dr. Gerald Walker, Anthropologist and Expert on Gnomes.
Author of the “The Anthropology of the Gnomus Species” and the best-selling popular series “It’s A Gnome’s World.”
Gnomes do exist; maybe not in our human physical plane but they do exist on a different level. I have amassed enough cultural information and richly woven stories to form an intricate understanding of Gnomes. Most of the stories come from human culture, passed from generation to generation through many thousands of years. Details may change, but the constant thread is the existence of these creatures and their character traits remain faithful to them despite the scourges of time and differences in location and story-teller. The stories of the Aboriginal Gnomes of Australia date back tens of thousands of years. They are the oldest surviving race of Gnomes and their stories are ones of stupendous feats over space and time where they commune with Dreamtime spirits of the Outback. It is popular fiction that these Gnomes are aggressive, abusive simpletons. The truth is that that they have superior intellect and knowledge. If Mayor Gnome was actually fortunate enough to have been accepted by these Gnomes, then I take my hat off to him. It is my concern that during that time, he may have communed with a “difficult spirit” which is now the cause of his inner struggle.
The Dichotomy of Good and Evil.
Phew…that’s all very, heavy stodgy stuff!! A bit too hard to digest for MGNews especially when it’s PrimeTime Sunday Family Fun and not The Science Channel! Let’s bring in the piggies and ask them about Mayor Gnome’s troubles.
Good Old Grandma Stumpy:
Grandma Stumpy on the right.
I think that everything is getting a bit out of hand. Mayor Gnome is a Gnome…end of story. Why do you have go digging into his past? We piggies don’t care about the dichotomy whatsits…we care about Mayor Gnome. Stop stirring the wooden spoon, son!
Matilda Piggie:
Mayor Gnome will come good. I can feel it…he makes me gurgle!
Dishawn Piggie:
MGNews is the source of all the malcontent amongst our community; they continue to feed us with mis-information and mis-direction in order to trash our minds and intellect. Enough is enough…I am going underground with Mad T Mouse.
Oscar Piggie:
Boy, what a mad bunch of candidates…with a magical mouse, a gun-wielding maniac and a gnome-gone-crazy . Mad T Mouse is the best of the bad bunch and we haven’t got many screws to work with.
Gorgeous George Piggie:
Paradise Pastures.
My money’s on the meat pies.
Juanita Piggie:
No comment. Makes the sign of the Cross (Catholic Piggie).
Mayor Gnome has made himself unavailable for comment. He did however say to MGNews,”Bugger off, Leave me alone!”
Bugger Off!!
What a cheek! Anyway, tonight’s special was brought to you by MGNews PrimeTime Sunday. 6Pm Central/ Mountain Piggie Time.
Next week, more campaign blitzing from all candidates. The heat is on…only on MGNews PrimeTime Sunday.
It has been about a week since I started taking photographs with my new android phone. Admittedly, it was not the most expensive top of the range phone but at that time, I just wanted a camera to take pictures for the Blog. I should have known that taking high definition pictures would be next to impossible! There is a zoom which just makes things even more blurry (maybe I haven’t got the hang of it yet) and in poor lighting, they look rather dire. In short, although I am pleased that I can achieve my main goal of providing pictures, I feel that the they really fall short of the real thing. I am hoping that the photos will get better as I get used to the new camera…it may be a question of practice and technique!
Meanwhile, here are a few baaaad pictures!! Better to laugh about it..than cry!!
This was a breadfruit hotpot…it is so disappointingly blurry!! I feel too embarrassed to post up the recipe because the picture is so crap! It did taste good though…
Breadfruit Hotpot.
Out of focus akee fruit:
Bad lighting…aaarghhh!
Making Peach Palm Miso.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the poor picture quality!! Since starting this Blog, I have realised that I really enjoy taking photographs; I usually take about 10 to 20 pictures in one day and each picture is a potential story. My plan is to save my pennies up to buy a high quality camera so that I can continue my hobby of taking pictures. Meanwhile, let’s all have some fun with my blurry pictures!!
Hello Everyone!! It is Friday again so you must be all out having fun! Here are some pictures from the farm:
Today we harvested our gourds which Gnome will be using to make me a dinner set (GnomeWare TM). It will be a six month wait for them to completely dry out before he can even start doing anything with them.
Bunch of Gourds.
It has been frightfully hot lately so I have been drying breadfruit out in the sun. I had cut the breadfruit into fair-sized chunks of about 1cm (1/2 inch) and it took about three days for them to get to a very hard dehydrated state.
Green Breadfruit.
Dried Breadfruit Pieces:
Dried Breadfruit.
We have these really tasty fruits in season which are crunchy like apples. This is Ziziphus mauritania, otherwise known as Chinese apple, Indian jujube or Indian plum.
Chinese Apple.
We are just eating them green right now. They are also edible dried and actually dry into Chinese red dates which are used in Asian cuisine.
I originally made this meal at the beginning of the week and was all ready to post up the recipe until I discovered that Gnome had unwittingly erased my photograph.
Double Miso Pan-Fried Chicken. Second Picture.
When I told him that I would have to re-create this dish today, to get a picture, he said rather half heartedly, “Oh dear. That is a shame.”
That is a Shame!
This recipe is so-called because the chicken is marinated in miso before being pan-fried and it is served with miso ketchup. If you follow our blog, you will know that we make buckets and buckets of home-made miso. Because I have so much of it, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experiment with this wonderful live food in more creative and innovative ways. In fact, I use miso in all our cooking now instead of salt and soya sauce. The miso adds a distictive umami flavour which adds a whole new dimension to a meal. In this recipe, I used our shiro miso which is made mostly of white rice which has a sweet and mild taste. No flour is used in making our miso so it is also gluten-free.
Last week, I wrote about making coconut milk cheese – feta style…this is the update. After the three days of dry brining, I took out the cheese and cut it into pieces like so:
Coconut Feta Cheese.
The cheese had dried to a firm consistency and so it was easy enough to cut without too much crumbling. I then placed them in 7% brine; one jar with bay leaves and the second flavoured with whole black peppers.
Flavoured Coconut Feta in Brine.
I am going to leave the jars out at room temperature so that they can ferment further for two weeks. After that, I will I will let them continue to ferment for several months in a cooler area (probably the refrigerator). Hope they taste good after all the waiting!!
Gnome Update:
Gnome has started on a project where he is digging out a small pond next to the house:
Pond Digging.
He has also started up some lotus seeds in a basin which have germinated and come up nicely:
Growing Lotus in Basin.
The plan is to have a lotus pond next to the house. Apart from the beautiful flowers, we also want to grow them for food. We would eventually like to make our own lotus paste to make Chinese sweets:
Lotus Paste.
This was sent to us as a gift all the way from Singapore; I am saving it to make moon cake this year. Also, lotus seeds are really tasty in Chinese soups…yes, you can actually buy these in Belize!
Dried Lotus Seeds.
Lotus root is also quite a treat and I would love to grow some of our own because I haven’t eaten it for over a decade since I came to Belize. It will probably take over a year before we can harvest any to eat.
About a month ago, we received a wonderful package of treats from Singapore. There was a plethora of exotic foods and since the gifts are so special to us, we usually make an occasion out of each item. Today, Gnome really felt like eating some kaya, which is a sweet spread made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar with the addition of pandan leaf as flavouring.
Kaya Spread From Sinapore.
Previously, I used to know very little about Straits Chinese food but slowly Gnome has introduced me into this colourful culinary world. Anyway, the kaya is traditionally eaten on white bread and we did not have any in the house. And so we decided to mix things up a bit, since we are in Central America, and have them with corn tortillas.
Stack of Corn Tortillas.Tortillas and Kaya.
Kaya has a very wholesome and well-rounded taste; the coconut and the eggs give richness to the spread. We had a veritable feast with the tortillas and coconut spread…to put it in Gnome’s words, ” It hits the spot!”
Apparently the traditional way of eating this coconut spread in Singapore and Malaysia is to spread it on toast with butter. Also, you can dip this in soft boiled egg with some soya sauce. Sounds lovely!
Also, I was thinking that since we have so many coconuts on the farm, I should experiment with making our own Belizean Kaya.
Our Coconuts.
Obviously since I can not flavour it with pandan leaf, which gives it a distinct aromatic aroma, I could try using something indigenous to this country like all-spice or even spice it up with black pepper! Watch this space for more Munchkin experimentation!
Good Evening, this is MGNews PrimeTime Sunday bringing you the news on The Mayoral Elections 2015 of Paradise Pastures, hot off the press. Only 4 more weeks to go and we are all biting our nails with anticipation! Tonight, we give you the amazing inside story on Mayor Gnome.
The Mysterious Past of Mayor Gnome.
Natasha Hayes, our MGNews International Correspondent brings this special report from The Outback of Australia:
As we all have come to understand, Mayor Gnome has travelled far and wide, across the continents. The background is hazy but it seems that he spent a significant amount of time in continent of Australia. Reliable sources tell me that Aboriginal Gnomes may exist in the Northern Territory and so that’s where I went on this fact finding information. I spoke to some Aboriginal people who corroborated the information that Gnomes do exist in this rainforest terrain. They are described as hostile and aggressive creatures but on rare occasions, they do initiate non-aboriginal Gnomes into their community. We do know that Mayor Gnome spent some 2 to 3 years in that area. We can only speculate that he was in collusion with Aboriginal Gnomes. This is what an elderly aboriginal man from the Long grass told MGNews. To protect his identity, we will come him Scott:
“…Aboriginal Gnomes…they fast and aggressive. They hide in the shadows and when the sun glints in your eye, the come out like a burst of wind. They take your mind and your heart. Oh, I seen men go crazy, crazy for days with sorrow and woe from these Gnomes. They bad, terrible creatures. I heard a story, many years ago, there was one white gnome among them, as fierce as the rest. His name…The White Devil… I can’t tell you anymore. I fear I have said too much already…”
This is ground breaking news brought to you by MGNews. The facts all add up: A White Gnome in Australia called “The White Devil” and now, Mayor Gnome of Paradise Pastures has been dubbed “El Diablo Blanco.” Is this a coincidence? Is Mayor Gnome’s past catching up with him? One shudders to imagine the hideous, macabre deeds that he may have got up to with these Aboriginal Gnomes.
El Diablo Blanco.
Thank-you Ms. Natasha Hayes for such an insightful report. Well, we are all flabbergasted and at a loss for words. What a shocking inside story!!
What does the community of Paradise Pastures think of Mayor Gnome’s mysterious past? There were no piggies available for comment today because they were all too busy eating…
Guinea Pigs at Paradise Pastures.
Next week on MGNews PrimeTime Sunday, we speak to the panel of experts about this amazing revelation. 6Pm Central/ Mountain Piggie Time. You just can ‘t afford to miss MGNews next Sunday!!
Breadfruit (Artocarpus sp.) has an interesting history in the Caribbean as it was introduced into the area during the 18th century as a staple for the slaves in the British colonies. The breadfruit was originally from Tahiti. Nowadays, this past is long forgotten and breadfruit is enjoyed for what it is. A very yummy carbohydrate which when boiled, tastes just like potato. Interestingly enough, I have never seen this carbohydrate served in restaurants here as it is still seen as a “poor man’s food.”
Green Breadfruit.
Breadfruit trees bear prolifically and a single seasonal harvest can give hundreds of fruit.
We have young trees on the farm right now and they will soon start to bear in the coming years.
These fruit contain approximately 25% carbohydrate and 70% water. They are extremely versatile because they can be eaten green or ripe. The most popular way of eating them green, at least here in Belize, is deep-frying them oil. Other ways are boiling, pan-frying, baking and steaming. When the fruits mature, they turn soft and sweet. At this point, they can be made into various types of puddings. I have a friend (Filipino) who flattens the ripe fruit into a pizza shape and bakes it in the oven to make a sweet flat bread.
With this fruit, the need for preservation is very important since there is simply so much of it. I recently acquired four of these fruits and even with this quantity, I found it hard to think of ways to prepare and store. Once picked, they will mature in about 4 to 7 days.
Method 1 Preservation method: blanching and freezing.
Blanched Breadfruit.
This is a reasonable method but there is only so much space in the freezer!! You can imagine how stuffed my freezer is with so many other things.
Method 2 Preservation method: Sun Drying.
This is a better alternative especially when the breadfruit is 70% water and so you can cut the pieces to dry in relatively large chunks. They can then be stored in air-tight containers therefore taking up less space. Still, I will need to procure a 55 gallon container to store all of the dried product should my trees start bearing by the hundreds. That is what I call food security!! I will be experimenting with this method over the next few days; it is really, really hot and dry right now so they should dry really well. I will keep you updated on my Munchkin experimentation!!
There is also another method of preservation which involves digging a hole in the ground and storing the ripe breadfruits under-ground thereby allowing natural fermentation. I am not sure if that would work here because the water table is so high in Belize.
Breadfruit tastes very much like potato, more so than other tropical carbohydrates like cassava or taro. Because of this, it can be used as an alternative for any traditional recipes calling for potato. Watch this space for my breadfruit recipes!!
Hello Every-one!! My Friday night posts have proven to be statistically unpopular probably because most of my readers are rather sociable people with a night-life at the end of the week. This is why I have chosen to write about a particularly nasty bug because it would never be a popular subject anyway. But nevertheless, it is worth talking about. This is a Friday Night Stuck At Home Post!!
Chagas Disease is also known as American trypanosomiasis and is a disease of the Tropics caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi which is spread by insects known as triatominae, or more commonly kissing bugs.
This was actually one that we found in our house…aarrghh!!! They send shivers down my spine!! This is the variety that tends to pop up in our area.
Kissing Bug.
At the risk of sounding petty, they do look rather nasty and evil, don’t they? We actually call them “The Bad Bugs” because they look so mean and intimidating.
Another Bad Bug.
During the day, triatomines hide in crevices in the walls and roofs. They are especially prevalent in thatched roof houses. These bugs come out at night and tend to bite people’s faces, ingest blood and also defaecate at the site of the bite. It is the faeces that are the problem and cause transmission of parasites at the site of the wound especially when the wound is scratched. The parasites then replicate within the blood stream.
(Yes indeed…this is turning into a Friday Night Horror).
There are other modes of transmission including blood transfusions, organ transplantation, breast milk and very rarely, contaminated food.
In terms of signs and symptoms, this disease is separated into acute stage and chronic stage. The acute stage is at the time of the insect bite and may include non-specific symptoms of fever, malaise, muscle aches, headaches, diarrhoea, vomiting and rash. Romana’s sign is a well recognised sign of Chagas Disease in which the patient presents with a swollen eyelid on the side of the face with the bite.
Whilst working in Punta Gorda NHI Clinic, I actually saw quite a few of these cases with the characteristic signs.
The majority of patients get better within about two months with no dangerous sequelae. There are a very small percentage that end up with symptoms of the chronic stage which may include problems with the heart (cardiomyopathy), dilatation of the digestive system and nervous system problems.
Phew…that was pretty heavy going…
There is medication (benznidazole or nifurtimox) to treat the disease if diagnosed in the acute stage. However, the medication still has limited efficacy in eliminating the parasites to give an effective cure. Diagnosis can be made by microscopic examination of fresh blood which will reveal the parasites.
What do you need to do to prevent Chagas Disease? Regular cleaning and sanitising of the sleeping areas are essential especially if the roof is thatched or the house unsealed. Mosquito nets are a cheap and effective preventative measure. Camping out in the bush can be especially dangerous and it is not recommended.
Having said that, most people do not need to worry about them (like all you guys out there). It is only a risk to those mad people (like us) who decide to live in the middle of nowhere next to the rainforest!!
August and September are the months to start harvesting and preparation of bamboo shoots in Belize. I have put this day project as a Bored-in-Belize article.
Basically, you have to use a machete to cut into the culm and then you bang the machete with a sturdy stick to cut into it.
