I do enjoy a touch of lateral browsing, if that is the correct term for going off on a tangent. I came across the Chinese proverb "The older the ginger the hotter the spice" and I was only checking for the latest football scores. Now, I know that the older ginger is, the more potent it becomes. But the proverb, apparently, means that the older you are, the wiser you become. Well, I had a feeling that was the case.
And here's another old Chinese saying - "Eating radish in winter and ginger in summer keeps the doctor away". I've no idea what it means beyond its literal interpretation.
Here's something you don't see very often on a brewery website - the perfect drink for the designated driver. This is what Waiheke Island Brewery from New Zealand says about its Hauraki Gulf Ginger Beer. This unpasteurised drink is made from juiced ginger, a lot of lemons, raw sugar, honey and plenty of fizz.
Still in New Zealand and news in the Nelson Mail that Moa Brewing will be launching a dry ginger lager sometime this year. Moa Brewing is known for producing bottle conditioned beers in its Marlborough brewery.
Good news last week for Bangladeshi housewives out shopping for ginger in the kitchen markets of Dhaka. Since late last year the retail price of ginger has gone up from Tk40 per kg to Tk90 per kg with the rise being blamed on poor supply. But last week the price dropped dramatically to Tk60-Tk65 per kg. This could have something to do with the fact that the Bangladeshi ginger harvest has now started.
The start of the Bangladeshi ginger harvest was reported by The Financial Express which also mentioned that the bulk of the country's ginger comes from the Nilphamari district in Northern Bangladesh. I've yet to see any reports on the quality and quantity of the new harvest but last September the ginger fields of Nilphamari were hit by a severe virus. Whether this has affected the new crop remains to be seen. As recently as 2008 it was predicted that ginger cultivation in the district could actually cease as disease and virus infection became widespread. The district, which in the past produced enough ginger for the entire country, is still waiting for a consistent supply of virus-free and high yielding ginger seed.
Here is an idea for the UK government. British aid is given to India which has stated that it doesn't want it. So why not buy some virus-free and high yielding ginger 'seed' and give it to the farmers of Nilphamari. You never know, the district could end up supplying the entire country again. And Bangladesh would not have to import from China and India.
The Times of India reported that five people have died in India after drinking a ginger-based ayurvedic medicine containing more than 60% alcohol and sold as an illicit liquor. One of the victims was the retailer of the drink who had been selling it for more than five years.
Cumbria, in North West England, is one of the most sparsely populated counties in the UK. I've often wondered how it managed to produce such a wide range of spiced (including ginger) products, the most famous, I think, being Grasmere Gingerbread. I've now discovered that the small Cumbrian port of Whitehaven was, in the 18th Century, the third largest port in the UK specialising in trade between the Americas and Africa. This trade involved the importation of a range of exotic spices including ginger. It is quite likely that the ginger came from Jamaica which had been exporting since the mid-16th Century.
The Jamaica Information Service announced that the Jamaican government will oversee the expansion of country's ginger and turmeric industries to meet the growing export markets (Whitehaven again perhaps?). The expansion will take the form of 500 extra acres of farmland, more value-added production facilities and extra officials in the agriculture ministry's Export Division. It is interesting to see that after years of inactivity, the Jamaican government has adopted a volte-face and is know actively seeking to rebuild a once internationally famous spice industry. Incidentally, turmeric is a member of the ginger family.
Flavoured tea is becoming popular with tea drinkers in Calcutta, according to The Times of India. Both the young and old have discovered the delights of teas such as fennel & ginger, and ginger, mint & lemon. This is an area in which the West has a lead as flavoured teas have been popular in Europe and the US for a number of years now.
I was speaking to an Indian colleague recently about the mandi markets in India. These are markets where you buy your fruit and vegetables. I had always pronounced it as MAN-DEE but I was wrong. It is actually pronounced MUN-DEE.
Fresh root ginger has become an essential product on the shelves of UK supermarkets. In 2009, Tesco generated sales in excess of £3m on fresh root ginger alone.
Business Standard reported on the difficulties facing Indian spice traders and producers as they grapple with a mass of standards and regulations covering food safety, sustainability and traceability. Countries like Germany, the UK, France, Japan and Australia all insist that Indian exports must adhere to their own standards. But India cannot afford not to meet these standards and regulations as failure could affect the country's position as the largest producer and exporter of spices in the world.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the phasing out of methyl bromide in Chinese ginger production. Methyl bromide (also known as bromomethane) is a soil fumigant used as an effective control against nematodes, fungi, insects and weeds. First used in France in the 1930s, methyl bromide is used to control root knot nematodes, pythium soft rot and ginger wilt when applied to ginger cultivation. The use of methyl bromide is being phased out as it is believed that its use damages the ozone layer. Many countries have already phased out use of the pesticide with Japan committing to phase out by 2013.
The Kathmandu Post reported that the Nepalese government is set to take unspecified measures to reduce agricultural imports to ensure better prices for Nepalese farmers. Nepal imported ginger worth Rs176.67 million last year with China accounting for Rs99 million and India Rs72 million. A recent post on the Nepal Spot Exchange blog said that production of ginger in India, the destination of much of Nepal's ginger, has increased in response to Indian government agricultural subsidies. This has forced down the price of Nepalese ginger. The blogger was also critical of the poor state of Nepal's processing and warehousing facilities. So I'm feeling rather confused as to what the Nepalese government is hoping to achieve. Nepal exports a lot of what it produces but its export markets are not as profitable as they once were. But the country cannot retain more of what it produces to replace the imports as it doesn't have adequate storage facilities.
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