Tag Archives: Forage

Stories of Sorghum.

November 29, 2016 Gnome

munchking-burger-side-smile

Hello!! If you follow the adventures of Munchkin and Gnome, you will know that we are keen foragers and planters. We also like to cook food in unusual and interesting ways…Munchkin Magic or Cookery Sans Fontiers. Firstly, let’s tell you how we found our sorghum seeds. We were driving on the Highway out of Belize City and Gnome all of a sudden screeched to a halt. Luckily, there were no cars about. He quickly ran out of the car and jumped up and down with glee when he found this growing by the side of the road:

We took the seeds and planted them:

Sorghum is generally considered an animal feed in Belize and in most other countries. It is however seen as a human staple in some parts of Africa and India. It has a protein content of 11% (corn has 9%) with B Vitamins, Niacin, B6 and manganese.

Anyway, Gnome charged me with the cooking of these grains. He basically said:

“Do something tasty with this, my dear…”

Food.Gnome

So I did. And WE LOVE SORGHUM!! It’s tasty, yummy, versatile, has a nutty flavour and can be eaten in lots of different ways. It tastes a bit like risotto but with more bite to it. Here is a picture gallery of some of our sorghum meals; recipes will come later. Ooooh….we are so pleased with this great foraging find which has allowed us to experience such a delicious food. Ahhhh….we feel blessed with our farm.

Yes, we are eating sorghum everyday and not getting bored with it!

Amusing, Belize, Food

It's Mushroom Time…

July 20, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Back.View

With the heavy rains in July, we have had lots of wild mushrooms popping up on the farm. The Stinkhorn otherwise known as bamboo pith or bamboo fungus (Phallus indusiatus) has been a common one for us. These are edible and we are perfectly happy to eat them. I say this because I have seen strange looks from Non-Asian people who look too frightened to try this epicurean delight.

These mushrooms start off as an egg-shaped structure, commonly known as “Witches’ Eggs.”

You can pick them at this stage to eat; once cooked, they have a gooey texture. They are alright (not great) if you are feeling adventurous…best pan-fried with onions and garlic.

Asian people eat the mushrooms at this stage when they become erect and rather phallic looking. In the Asian Market, they are cultivated and sold dehydrated.

You can stir-fry them and put them in stews and soups. Go on then…do something different today and find some of these lovely specimens in Toledo and cook them up for dinner!! They are supposed to be an aphrodisiac!

Belize, Food, Plants

Let’s Do Some Foraging!

April 24, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Bossie

Do you know that you can forage for greens in Belize? This is purslane…it’s a perfectly good vegetable to eat!

If you are really looking for “organic” one of the answers is foraging. There is plenty of this around…just get your shade hat on and start walking about…

It’s got all the usual good stuff that you would expect from a green vegetable: It is rich in vitamin A and C and has a high percentage of omega 3 which is usually only found in fish oils and flax seed. You can eat it raw in salads or you can cook it anyway which you want. Taste wise, it is mildly acidic with a crunchy texture; the flowers and stems are edible.

C’mon then…get out there and start picking your greens…I’m doing it!

For more information click on Purslane.

I also have some recipes:

Coconut Purslane Salad

Purslane Chicken Chow Mein

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Gnome Foraging on The Highway.

August 7, 2015 Munchkin

A few weeks back when we were travelling on the highway from Belize City to Belmopan, this is what happened:

Gnome: Oooooh look…broom corn!

This picture makes it look deceptively big but when you are travelling in a vehicle at 110kph, everything looks green and blurry. Gnome managed to spot a wild edible with his sharp eyes! This is also funny because he has recently complained of eyesight problems and thinks that he requires a new prescription for his spectacles. Anyway, he screeched to a halt and then did a U-turn to bring us back round to the corn. I didn’t get a chance to say anything, because it all happened so quickly.

He jumped out of the car to grab a specimen for seeds.

In the usual Gnome style, he attemped to procure a plant to take back to the farm. You can just imagine what all the drivers were thinking as they zoomed by on the highway, catching a glimpse of Gnome on his hands and knees, digging a plant out from the ground!

Broom corn is Sorghum bicolor and is also commonly known as sorghum. It is a grass species which is cultivated for its grain. The grain can be used to make breads and can be popped like “pop-corn.” In large scale cultivation, it can be a source of ethanol fuel and sorghum syrup. Also, you can make brooms out of them hence the popular name. It can be used to feed animals and guinea pigs are rather fond of this type of grass.

Well, in our usual Munchkin and Gnome Style, we were both rather chuffed with ourselves for finding such a useful plant on the highway in Belize. It just goes to show that you need to be on the look out all the time if you are a serious forager!! Just drive safely while you do it!

Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Leftover Greens, Jackfruit, Mushrooms and Guinea Pigs.

July 15, 2015 Munchkin

I have a plethora of photographs, taken at opportune moments which are used for the purposes of writing posts for this Blog. I try to use up most of the photos but sometimes some are “left-over.” So, here are some pictures that can hopefully tie up some loose ends.

I still have not had the chance to add on to the Belcampo Foraging Tour (eco-lodge in Toledo, Belize) which was conducted a couple of months ago. There will be more of this coming soon. Anyway, this is a picture of hierba mora found growing wild on Belcampo grounds. This is a tasty green leafy spinach-like vegetable which is similar in taste and texture to the local callaloo.

You can also buy a bunch of the cultivated variety of hierba mora at the market in Punta Gorda. The vendors use the name “callaloo” interchangeably between this and the Amaranth sp.(true callaloo).

This is another jackfruit off-shoot. I had mentioned in my main article on this fruit that the seeds were also edible. The seeds just need to be boiled for about 20 to 30 minutes until they are tender. In this instance, I boiled the seeds and then stir fried the seeds with sliced garlic and garnished the dish with spring onion (I threw in some left over cassava). Needless to say, the meal was tasty!

And, of course, I can write ceaselessly about mushrooms! We can’t get enough of fungus and we love eating them! Last week, we had spotted a whole load of lovely oyster mushrooms in somebody’s yard in Punta Gorda. We sliced and slow cooked them in butter. We have found that this is the best way to enjoy the delicate tastes of a wild mushroom.

Oyseter.Mushrooms.Beaty — Wild Oyster Mushrooms.

A couple of weeks ago, we stumbled across these mushrooms in our coconut plantation. We identified them as of the Russula sp.; many of the mushrooms of this family can cause gastric upset but none are known to be lethal. We decided to eat a test batch of these wild mushrooms…they turned out to be very good…and no stomach upset!

One more mushroom picture! I raved on about the bamboo pith (stinkhorn) a while back because it was a revelation to me that the Chinese cultivated this particular fungus to eat. Here are some fresh specimens ready for chopping in our soup:

Cooked bamboo pith has the texture of bubbly honeycomb with the firmness of agar. There is no distinct taste. We like them!

And last but not least. Matilda’s little piggies are doing fine. They are still in the maternity ward and they have started eating grass already. Everything on Paradise Pastures seems to be pretty hunky-dory at the moment. More on the Mayor Elections over the next few weeks!

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms

Wild Chinese Mushrooms in Belize.

July 3, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone! More wild mushrooms in Belize and we haven’t even stepped outside our farm! I have called these mushrooms “Chinese” because they are eaten mostly in Asian cuisine and they are commercially cultivated for this reason. The wonderful thing is that I can harvest them fresh in my own backyard rather than buying the dehydrated form from China via container transportation to the little known country of Belize.
This one is known as “snow ear” or “silver ear” fungus in Chinese. Yes, even I know this one because it is so popular in Asian cookery. If you ever find yourself in a Chinese household, you will be sure to find a packet of this dehydrated fungus secreted in their food cupboard. It is usually used in soups (pork soup in my household). Wiki states that it is cooked in sweet dishes…I have never heard of it being cooked in this way.
Tremella fuciformis growing on a dead branch on our farm; it is slowly getting bigger day by day:

You can buy this mushroom in the dehydrated form in Asian supermarkets. It looks like this:

The next one is another very popular Chinese fungus called “wood ear.” This is another “must have” in the Asian kitchen cupboard. Again, this one is used in soups and stews. Both the snow ear and the wood ear fungi have the texture and bite of soft and succulent ligamentous tissue…again, you have to be Asian to appreciate this. This is why we like eating them (Gnome likes them too…that’s because he is a wannabee Chinese). Auricularia auricula fungus growing wild on our farm:

Shop-bought dehydrated form of wood ear mushroom:

There is a spelling error on this packet: “Dride Black Fungus.” Gnome figured that it was a Scottish-Chinese who made the spelling mistake. Ha-Ha!!

And, of course, there is the paddy straw mushroom, which I have mentioned in previous posts, which preferentially grows on cacao trash (which we get from the Chocolate Factory in Toledo for manure). These are the egg-shaped mushrooms that you get in Chinese food and stir frys.
Volvariella volvacea on our farm:

You can buy these mushrooms canned in Asian Supermarkets. But guess what…we have fresh ones to eat…yeah!

What an auspicious three-some to find on our farm. Such delectable wild treats…who needs a restaurant when we have the best food right here at home. Whenever I mention going out to eat, Gnome laments and says: Wah!! Our Food is fresh fresh fresh…what more do you want? Why waste money eating bad food outside?

Sometimes he sounds just like my mum! And so we feast a plenty at home…

Belize, Mushrooms

Mushroom Medicine.

June 25, 2015 Munchkin

I guess I shouldn’t complain about the rains when lots of very interesting mushrooms are coming up on our farm. It is amazing that we have found such a wide variety, each within a few yards of each other.

The Lingzhi mushroom is worth its own post because it is a fungus which has been recognised for its medicinal properties by the Chinese for 2000 years. In addition to this, medical scientific research has shown that it boosts immune function and it has been explored as a possible adjunctive therapy with patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The lingzhi mushroom (Ganoderma sp.), in Traditional Chinese Medicine, is used to strengthen the heart and improve the memory and is viewed as a medicine for longevity. It is seen as a divine, sacred and en-lightening mushroom by the Chinese.

These polypore mushrooms are very easy to spot because they have a shiny surface and when fresh, have a soft cork-like consistency.

The mushroom can be prepared by thinly slicing, or pulverising (when dry) and then boiling it in water for a couple of hours to make a tea.

About a couple of years ago, I noticed that there was a sudden surge in interest in this mushroom as an anti-cancer tea in Belize. It appeared that someone was actively bringing in sachets of this “mushroom tea” made by a natural herbal company in the States. I saw them everywhere…in the pharmacy in Punta Gorda and in the main supermarkets in Belize City. And, they weren’t cheap too…something like a $100 for a pack. I could not believe that this stuff was getting imported at such an exorbitant price and it was growing in our own back-yards!

This one is definitely a fungus to go hunting for. When we conducted our foraging tour at Belcampo Lodge, we also spotted it growing in the bush:

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms

Paprika Stinkhorn Egg with Nori Flakes.

June 19, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone, you are getting two posts almost back to back because our Internet was down for most of the day. The day started off with a thunderstorm and stayed stormy for most of the day; there was also a power-cut for most of the morning.

As promised, I have posted up my recipe with the Witches’ Eggs which I foraged yesterday. I seasoned the sliced immature stinkhorn mushrooms with paprika and white pepper.

The dish actually turned out nicely and Gnome commended me for my efforts. Prior to eating, he had been giving me a sideway neophobic ducky look in preparation for the slimy quality of the mushroom. However, when he did eat it, he looked surprised and likened it to oysters; he said that they should be called “vegetarian oysters” or “faux oysters.”

The toasted nori flakes complimented the “seafood” taste of the mushroom very well. For the full recipe, check out Paprika Stinkhorn Egg with Nori Flakes in Belize Wild Recipes.

At this point, I would like to thank our Chinese friend (real Chinese, not like me!) for emailing us to give us some more information on this fungus.

This is what she said (more or less):

This mushroom is called Zhu Sun in Chinese. The Zhu means bamboo (because it grows on bamboo litter) and it also has the same sound as congratulations. The Sun means smooth and successful. Zhu Sun also means longevity. This mushroom is usually eaten during Chinese New Year but can also be eaten all year round. The Chinese eat the mature mushroom and the recipes are usually found under “bamboo pith” on the Internet.

This information was a great help and we will be collecting some fresh mature specimens to eat. I can’t wait!

Yes, she is right, they do grow on bamboo litter as you can see:

May we all have the pleasure of eating such an auspicious mushroom!

Belize, Food, Plants

Whirlwind Belcampo Foraging Tour.

June 12, 2015 Munchkin

A couple of weeks ago we were asked by Belcampo Lodge (an eco-lodge in Toledo) to assess their foraging tour. We were accompanied by their guide, Jose Vellos and we went on a two hour trek around Belcampo grounds. We would like to share with you some of the plants and trees that we came across…we probably saw up to about sixty plants mostly noted for their edibility, medicinal or useful purposes. All in all, the tour reinforced the diversity of plants in the rainforest and it was very educational for everyone involved. I will probably write about this tour in wee instalments since I have so many pictures to show you.

This is a picture of a Strangler Fig of the Ficus sp.; the seeds end up dropping in crevices of other trees and as they grow, they form roots which bind around the host tree, eventually killing it.

This one is the Central American Rubber Tree, also known as Castilla elastica and Panama Rubber Tree. Here is a picture; if you look carefully, you can see some latex dripping out from the multiple scores on the bark. During the heyday of the rubber industry in Central America, these trees were tapped for their valuable latex. As an historical aside, the rubber from this tree was used to make the ball used for the famous Mesoamerican ballgame Ollamaliztli.

Close-up picture of the foliage:

These are the fruit of the rubber tree; Gnome took some home to start a rubber plantation…he wants to make his own thigh high rubber boots one day (for walking about the farm in the wet season). NOT a cosplay fetish!

This one has many names…we have heard of the following: Bull’s Eye, Deer’s Eye and Horse’s Eye. Gnome suggested re-naming it ” Some Sort of Ruminant’s Eye” as a catch-all term. I don’t know…mmmm…not a very catchy name?!

Picture of the seed with the dried pod:

Deer's Eye/ Bull's Eye/ Horse's Eye. — Deer’s Eye/ Bull’s Eye/ Horse’s Eye.

The locals tell us that this seed is used in childrens’ games where it is rubbed very quickly against the pod and then transferred onto somebody else’s skin to cause a scalding effect. This is done for fun and laughs in the bush! It happens less now that everyone has Galaxy phones 😉

Belize, Farming, Food, Our Products, Plants

Mayan Passion Fruit Juice.

May 28, 2015 Munchkin

The Mayan Passion Fruit (Ketchi name is Kun Batz) is still in season. It is a vine which voluntarily grows around cultivated trees and it can also exist in the rainforest of Belize.

They have beautiful flowers so can they also be grown as an ornamental:

The fruit can be eaten green like a vegetable (like cho-cho or zucchini).

If you let it ripen, you can eat the fruit pulp like a passion fruit.

The seeds and the pulp are edible and can be eaten alone or mixed with yoghurt or ice-cream. Today, I sifted out the seeds to get the pulp and the juice:

I used a total of eight fruit and towards the end, added a cup of water to the remaining seeds to try to extract the last of the pulp. I was able to make a quart of juice from this method. When I tasted it I felt that it was sweet enough that no sugar was required. Compare this with normal passion fruit which is quite acidic which requires sweetening in order to enhance the taste. This is Kun Batz juice with a sprig of mint:

The Kun Batz juice is divine!! The taste of the juice is a combination of pineapple, banana and canteloupe melon with mild exotic hints of passion fruit. It is unique in that it has a mildly sour taste but it is sweet enough that no sugar is needed.

I have a whole lot of fresh seeds to sell so check out The Apothecary. To my knowledge, nobody is cultivating this bush fruit so if you are into rare and exotic plants, then this a definitely one to add to the list!

Planting Instructions:

Passiflora seeds have a hard shell so pr-treat the seeds before planting; Soak the seeds for 24-48 hours in warm to the touch water, just prior to planting. Once pretreated, plant seeds 1/2-1″ deep in moist, sterile soil. Keep soil temperature consistent at about 70-85F. Cool soils will significantly delay seed germination time.

Estimated germination time under optimal conditions: 6 weeks to 6 months.

Plant spacing for this vine is 10 feet (3 metres) apart and can grow to about 20 feet tall. Will start fruiting in about 12 months.

Casa Mascia Apothecary