We Have Found White Turmeric!

Together.Smiling

A big Thank-you to Dr. Anna Arzu for providing us with white turmeric!  A while back, Dr. Arzu had written an article in The Toledo Howler (a Belize Tourism newspaper based in this district) on this particular aromatic root.  After reading it, we had been anxious to procure a specimen to grow on our farm.  Last week, we fortuitously bumped into the author of this article and she was happy to provide us with the rhizome.  Her gardener, on that very day was cleaning up a bunch of these plants and she said that she had plenty to spare.  We raced on down to her house in record time and managed to get our specimen.

White Turmeric Plant.
White Turmeric Plant.

The Latin name for this plant is Curcuma zedoaria; it is also known as white turmeric, zedoary root, arura and angostura. The last name made us very curious about whether this plant had any connection with Angostura Bitters and so we did some Internet research.  Angostura bitters is so-called because it first originated from the town of Angostura in Venezuela and apparently does not contain any flavourings from Angostura trifoliata, a medicinal plant  from South America.  Our research did not yield any possible connections between this plant and the famous bitters and there is no way of knowing whether this root is an actual ingredient as this is a very closely guarded secret.

Zedoary Root.
Zedoary Root.

We tasted some of the raw root which had camphor-like flavouring with a mild and pleasant bitterness.  We have been making tea infusions and I even flavoured a meal with it today.  We love this stuff!  We have already got it in the ground.

Dak Now In Ring-Pull!

Jumping.MunchkinGone are the days of that little key thing that you use to open up a rectangular tin of flayed meat.  Dak has come into the 21st Century with a new-look, convenient ring-pull!  How do you eat your Dak??

New Look Dak.
New Look Dak.

We eat Dak.  In fact Chinese people eat this type of preserved food…just check out Asian cuisine Blogs…there are usually quite a few recipes devoted to this ingredient.

As a quick meal, I like to steam the Dak on a bed of white rice:

Steaming Dak on Rice.
Steaming Dak on Rice.

We eat this with a large side of steamed green vegetables; right now it is pumpkin!

Steaming.Young.PumpkinI still think that this is better for you than buying junk food.

Paradise Piggies: New Style Cafeteria.

Munchkin.in.the.WindThis is MGNews bringing the most sought after top news on the Paradise Piggies residing in the gated community known as Paradise Pastures.  Last week, we had been informed of Mayor Gnome’s new dietary plan for the residents which was met with positive gurgling and munching noises.  Well, there was only one small unforeseen problem…the coconut squares did not fit into the feeders.

Coconut Squares: New Yum Yums For Piggies.
Coconut Squares: New Yum Yums For Piggies.

Of course, our Mayor Gnome has come up with a great solution.  He has scrapped all the piggie feeders and made the dining area into a cafeteria-style complex.  Now, that’s what we call a classy resort for Piggies!

Classy Cafeteria.
Classy Cafeteria.

The piggies are thrilled with this new up-beat modern way of dining.

Paradise Pastures. Jungle Style Resort.
Paradise Pastures. Jungle Style Resort.

Comments From Piggies:

Guinea Pigs at Paradise Pastures.
Guinea Pigs at Paradise Pastures.

Matilda-Piggie:  Weee Weee love the new dining room!

Gorgeous George-Piggie:  There ain’t enough of them.  We should all get our own coconut square…we still have to scrabble about in the cafeteria.  Who does Mayor Gnome think he is kidding?  This is still not silver service!

White Ratty-Piggie: Well apart from the toddlers piling on top of all of us, it is rather marvellous!

Well, Mayor Gnome is certainly developing Paradise Pastures into the most desirable Piggie Resort in Belize.  His superior intellect and foresight shines through everytime!

Mayor Gnome: What A Guy!
Mayor Gnome: What A Guy!

Funny Looking Potato.

Munchkin.Another.Eating.ShotWe always have something new on our farm to eat.  This week it is the “flying potato.”

Flying Yam.
Flying Potato.

The latin name for this type of yam is Dioscorea bulbifera.  This grows as a large vine and produces a generous crop within four to five months of planting.  The yam can be picked and stored in a cool, dry place for a good couple of months without spoiling.  And the best thing about them is that you don’t need to go digging about in the dirt for them…you just pluck them off the vine…providing that you are tall enough to do so!  This is definitely a great food source for the Tropics.

Three Air Potatoes.
Three Air Potatoes.
Sliced Air Potato.
Sliced Air Potato.

To eat, simply peel and wash.  Then cook it like a potato: boiled, mashed, baked. roasted or what-ever takes your fancy.

Making "Instant Cuppa Cassava" Meal Takes Three Days.

Together.Eating.Fire.PotWe spent the day processing cassava since we had received a big burlap sack of this “ground food” as a gift.  We also added our own cassava to this…our type is the esteemed yellow variety which has the hearty taste of wholesome potatoes.  Altogether we probably had about 10kgs (22lbs) of fresh vegetable.

Cassava Roots.
Cassava Roots.

As soon as you harvest cassava, it should really be eaten or processed within 24 hours.  Otherwise, they start going bad quickly and become discoloured.  When freshly dug up from the ground, the outer part peels off easily.

Peeled Cassava.
Peeled Cassava.

After peeling and washing, we cut the root into inch size pieces and steamed them in bamboo steamers placed in our mega-sized pressure cooker.

Steaming Cassava.
Steaming Cassava.

Next, we put these cooked cassava pieces through the meat grinder to get them into a soft pellet-like consistency.  We put this out to sun-dry this afternoon and will probably continue this for about three days until they get bone dry.  We will end up with about 1kg (2lbs) of dried material.  After that, we are going to experiment with the dried ingredient.  We are hoping that the dried cassava can be  re-hydrated instantly with hot water to give an instant “cuppa cassava” meal (like instant ramen noodles)!  Great for packed lunches and On-The-Go!!  Wow…it takes three days to make an instant meal…too funny!!

Goodies From Singapore.

Together.EatingWe have just received a  gift package from Singapore crammed with wonderful goodies.  Gnome and I don’t miss much of our old life but we do miss real Chinese food and snacks.  So this is really special and in actual fact, Gnome was one who introduced me to Straits Chinese food (He is after all a Straits Chinese Gnome and I am a Scottish  Munchkin).

Confusing or What?

Scottish Munchkin.
Scottish Munchkin.
Chinese Gnome.
Chinese Gnome.

This Asian region extends from Penang through the Straits of Malacca to Java and Singapore is located in the middle of this area.  Because of the diversity of culture, there are influences from Chinese, Malay and Thai cuisine which makes the food very interesting, spicy and delicious.

Here are some pictures of our yummies:

When you bite into one of these wasabi green peas, there is a wasabi explosion inside your nose which is kinda exhilirating.

Freshly Roasted Wasabi Green Peas.
Freshly Roasted Wasabi Green Peas.
Green Pea Cookies.
Green Pea Cookies.

The Belizean Post Office guy opened this box up for inspection thinking that it would have something very expensive in it.  He was rather shocked to see that this plush looking box had cakes in it!

Singapore Mooncakes.
Singapore Mooncakes.
Fried Spicy Fava Beans.
Fried Spicy Fava Beans.

This one is actually called Yamaguchi Peanut Snack…the caption below is just our own generic term.

Puffy Peanut Yum Yums.
Puffy Peanut Yum Yums.

This is creamy, foamy tea which is famous in Singapore.  This one is our all time favourite tea:

Teh Tarik.
Teh Tarik.

And last but not least.  5kgs (10lbs) of lotus seed paste to make our own mooncakes for the rest of the year.  We love big catering packs!!

Lotus Seed Paste.
Lotus Seed Paste.

A Big Thankyou to our Singapore connection!!  We are really delighted with the generous gift of yummies!!

Pictures From The SHI Fair.

Straight after the SHI Fair, we had to run up to Independence and did not get home until late.  I was hoping to get these pictures up earlier but such is life!

Our table: pretty messy after rummaging through bargain boxes!  Copal Medicinal Soaps in the middle and bargain tooth-powder to the left.

SHI.Fair.5Vendor selling Plantains, Cho Cho and the roots, in the middle are Cocoyam.

SHI.Fair.4Jars of yellow ginger (tumeric):

SHI.Fair.2Toledo based business marketing and promoting a new BBQ sauce.  Good Luck to them:

SHI.Fair.Tom.SauceOverall, there was a moderate turn out and we received a lot of good responses to our products.  This year, there were not so many visitors from other districts of Belize.