Last Tuesday was the start of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting when Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. The Times of India reported that Muslims in the union territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of both Punjab and Haryana, will start each day with a breakfast of dates or salted ginger. I can understand someone eating ginger for breakfast but I'm puzzled by the addition of salt. Maybe it's just a difference in taste but I could never contemplate my Western palate having bacon for breakfast and not being able to drink until sunset.
Still in India, the Hindustan Times had an article on the best food to eat during the monsoon season. It recommends steamed and hot dishes as the best way to overcome the health risks caused by low sunlight levels and excessive dampness and moisture in the air (sounds a bit like the UK for most of the year). The article also recommends the inclusion of a number of herbs, including ginger, for their anti-microbial qualities.
Last week The Miami Herald reported on one of the speakers at the Jamaica USA Chamber of Commerce’s annual Movers and Shakers breakfast at Jungle Island. Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s new minister of industry, investment and commerce, said that Jamaican farmers need to convert their crops into value-added products. As an example, he said that raw ginger needs to be processed into higher value ginger oil and ginger tea. He then went on to say that these value-added products should be marketed at the millions of visitors who come to Jamaica each year. Sounds like an excellent business idea.
An increasingly popular and profitable crop in India is rubber. Unfortunately it can take a minimum of seven years before a newly planted rubber plantation can start providing a return. To provide a valuable income during a plantation's immature years, a farmer will intercrop with turmeric and ginger. However, intercropping is only viable for three to four years before the newly emerging rubber tree foliage becomes to dense. But still well worth doing.
It is not difficult to stumble across something different and unusual on the Web. The other day I found a website for can collectors. The Can Museum is an "international collaboration of beverage cans for the enjoyment of everyone around the world". When I searched for "ginger" I was presented with 360 cans ranging from well-known brands such as Schweppes and Canada Dry to brands I've never heard of such as Hyde Park and Cott. Have a look and take a trip down memory lane.
Scientific American posted an article on its blog about how Kenyans are eating White's ginger out of existence. The herb (Mondia whitei) is not a member of the ginger family but has roots similar in appearance to ginger rhizomes. It is popular in Africa because it is believed to have virility enhancing properties. It is so popular, in fact, that it is now very difficult to find in Kenya. The Kenya Wildlife Service believes that companies in Florida and China are producing the herb to satisfy the growing demand. These companies may not have the market to themselves though. To protect its dwindling rain forests, the Kenyan government has started the Kakamega Environmental Education Programme. Part of this project involves the planting of the Prunus africanus tree intercropped with White's ginger. Each tree will provide support for the slow growing vines produced by the herbs. White's ginger used to be abundant in the Kakamega Forest so its re-introduction is welcome but one feels that the project needs to be protected to prevent theft. So this story could have a happy ending. A bio-friendly and commercially beneficial project. Perfect!
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