UPDATE
1-Bangladesh signs deal to export 50,000 T rice to Sri Lanka at $450/T
Wed Dec 3, 2014 6:16am EST
(Add pact signed,
details)
By Ruma Paul
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Bangladesh signed a pact on Wednesday to export
50,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka at $450 a tonne in a first
government-to-government deal, a senior food ministry official said.
Strong output and good reserves have prompted the Bangladesh
government to initiate the plan to export rice. Bangladesh exports a small
quantity of aromatic rice, but this deal would be its first export of
non-fragrant coarse rice.The price of rice has shot up in Sri Lanka after
production dropped due to an 11-month drought, which experts consider to be the
worst in its recent history.Mohammad Sarwar Khan, director general of the
Bangladesh food department, and Nalin Fernando, chairman of the Lanka Sathosa
Ltd, signed the deal.
The price included freight and insurance and the shipment of the
parboiled rice would be within 60 days, the ministry official said.Bangladesh
aims to produce more than 34 million tonnes of rice this year, up from nearly
33.5 million in the previous year. Its reserves have risen to more than 1.2
million tonnes from nearly 1 million tonnes a year earlier.The world's
fourth-biggest rice producer, Bangladesh consumes almost all its production to
feed its population of 160 million. It often needs to import rice to cope with
shortages caused by natural calamities such as floods or droughts.
Although it did not import rice during the last two years, Bangladesh
was ranked as the fourth-largest importer of the grain by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture in 2011, with a volume of 1.48 million tonnes.In late 2012, the
government considered lifting a four-year-old ban on rice exports to support
farmers as record crops and bulging domestic reserves pushed prices below
production costs.But prices soared in January 2013, and the government backed
away from scrapping the export ban.Sri Lanka's
Finance Ministry reduced taxes on rice imports in April and on pulses in
July to help mitigate the effects of this year's drought on the market.
($1 = 77.75 Bangladesh Taka = 131.05 Sri Lankan rupee) (Reporting
by Ruma Paul; editing by
David Clarke)
PAU don gets national recognition
First Published: 18:09 IST(3/12/2014) | Last Updated: 18:12
IST(3/12/2014)
Professor of Soil Conservation at the Punjab Agricultural
University (PAU), Surinder Singh Kukal has been selected as fellow of National
Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi, for his vital contribution
towards developing irrigation water management strategies for rice-wheat
system. This is the most prestigious award bestowed upon scientists.PAU
vice-chancellor BS Dhillon congratulated Dr Kukal for this achievement. He
said, "This is indeed a great honour for the university."
He hoped that Dr Kukal
would continue serving the farming community with dedication and devotion in
future as well.Kukal has developed need-based irrigation water management in
rice and wheat crops. He has been the principal investigator of
inter-disciplinary international research projects on water management in rice,
wheat and maize crops funded by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),
Philipinnes; International Potash Institute, Israel; and Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research (Australia).Besides, he has handled
research projects on gully erosion management in the Shiwalik region of Punjab
funded by department of science and technology, Government of India.Kukal has
been visiting scientist to CSIRO, Griffith, Australia where he worked on water
management in rice and wheat grown on permanent raised beds.
He was invited thrice to
present lead papers at the International Conference on Land Degradation in
Serbia, China and Thailand.Recently, he had been special invitee to the plenary
meeting of Sustainable Rice Platform of United Nations Environment Programme,
and was nominated as member of advisory committee of SRP for the period
2013-15.Kukal was also the recipient of the 12th International Soil Science
Congress Commemoration Award (2012) of Indian Society of Soil Science; Dr G S
Khush Distinguished Professor Award (2013) and PAU merit certificate for
outstanding contributions to research, teaching and extension (2011-12).
Besides, he has won best research paper award at the national level
Source with thanks:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/ludhiana/pau-don-gets-national-recognition/article1-1292826.aspx#sthash.c4Gd7MvI.dpuf
RGA
scholarships open
04 Dec, 2014 02:25 PM
APPLICATIONS for the Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia’s
(RGA) Tertiary Scholarships are now open.
RGA president Les Gordon said the RGA awards two scholarships to
the children or grandchildren of RGA members to assist with their tertiary
education costs as part of their commitment to the industry’s long term future.The
scholarships are named after two past leaders of the rice industry, Greg Graham
and Peter Connor. Greg Graham was president of the RGA when he died suddenly on
New Year’s Day in 1983. He was actively involved in the irrigation and rice
industry, as well as his local community of Deniliquin.
Peter Connor was a leading rice grower in the Coleambally area,
and was vice president of the RGA as well as a board member of the Ricegrowers’
Co-operative Limited.The Greg Graham Memorial Scholarship provides $4000 to
assist a student with the costs of tertiary education. This award is sponsored
by Rice Research Australia Pty Ltd. The Peter Connor Book Award, awarded to the
runner-up of the Greg Graham Memorial Scholarship winner, consists of $1300 to
put towards the cost of books and course materials.
Last year’s winner of the Greg Graham Memorial Scholarship was
Luke O’Connor, Deniliquin, who is studying a Bachelor of Agricultural Business
Management.Luke said the scholarship significantly helped fund his university
studies and allowed him to comfortably afford the costs of living away from
home and achieve good results in all his subjects.“We are grateful for the
generous support of Rice Research Australia and very pleased to be able to
offer the scholarship in 2015. I would encourage university students who are
studying agriculture related courses to apply for the scholarship,” Mr Gordon
said.Applications close Friday January 16, 2015. Download forms from the RGA website or call (02) 6953 0433.
Weeds, Pests & Pathogens Beware: The Air's CO2 Content is
Rising
Paper Reviewed
Goufo, P.,
Pereira, J., Moutinho-Pereira, J., Correia, C.M., Figueiredo, N., Carranca,
C.,Rosa, E.A.S. and Trindade, H. 2014. Rice (Oryza sativa L.)
phenolic compounds under elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. Environmental
and Experimental Botany 99: 28-37.In introducing their study of
the subject, Goufo et al. note that crop plants need phenolic
compounds "for structural support, constitutive and induced
protection and defense against weeds, pathogens and insects," citing Jones
and Hartley (1999). And they note, in this regard, that carbon dioxide is one
of the four major raw materials that plants need in order to produce phenolic
compounds, the other three being water, nutrients and light, additionally citing
Bryantet al. (1983), Coley et al. (1985) and Herms and
Mattson (1992).
With the objective
to learn how the ongoing rise in the atmosphere's CO2 concentration might
influence the production of phenolics in rice - one of the world's most
important food crops - the eight Portuguese scientists conducted a two-year
field study of a japonica rice variety (Oryza sativa L. cv. Ariete)
that employed open-top chambers maintained at either 375 or 550 ppm CO2 over
two entire life cycles of the crop, during which time numerous plant samples
were collected at five different growth stages and assessed for occurrence and
amounts of many plant-produced substances, including phenolics.
This work
revealed, according to Goufo et al., that "during the early
stages of plant development, photosynthates were mainly used to synthesize
proteins and meet the growth demand of the plant," while the normal
occurrence of growth reduction typically experienced at maturity "made
more resources available for the synthesis of phenolic compounds." And
they further report, in this regard, that all plant organs had
higher levels of phenolic acids and flavonoids in response to
"CO2 enrichment during the maturity stages."
As for the
significance of these findings, the eight researchers write that "phenolic
compounds are emerging as important defense compounds in rice,"
particularly noting that the phenolic compound tricin "inhibits
the growth ofEchinochloa colonum, Echinochloa crusgalli, Cyperus
iris and Cyperus difformis," which they say "are
the most noxious weeds in rice fields," citing Kong et al.
(2004). And they add that several flavonoids "have also
been found to exhibit antibiotic activities against the soil-borne pathogenic
fungi Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum,"
which they say are "the causal agents of rice seedling rot disease,"
again citing Kong et al. (2004), as well as Olofsdotter et
al. (2002). And they thus suggest that the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 concentration
may well "increase plant resistance to specific weeds, pests and
pathogens," which should be great news for rice growers.
References
Bryant, J.P., Chapin III, F.S. and Klein, D.R. 1983. Carbon-nutrient balance of
boreal plants in relation to vertebrate herbivory. Oikos 40:
357-368.
Coley, P.D.,
Bryant, J.P. and Chapin III, F.S. 1985. Resource availability and plant
antiherbivore defense. Science 230: 895-899.
Jones, C.G. and
Hartley, S.E. 1999. A protein competition model of phenolic allocation. Oikos 86:
27-44.
Kong, C., Xu, X.,
Zhou, B., Hu, F., Zhang, C. and Zhang, M. 2004. Two compounds from allelopathic
rice accession and their inhibitory activity on weeds and fungal
pathogens. Phytochemistry 65: 1123-1128.
Olofsdatter,M.,
Jensen,L.B. and Courtois, B. 2002. Improving crop competitive ability using
allelopathy - an example from rice. Plant Breeding 121:
1-9.
Posted 3 December
2014
|
Little Rock Restaurant Promotion
|
ARLINGTON, VA -- Fifteen
restaurants that serve U.S.-grown rice will participate in the USA Rice
Federation restaurant promotion conducted in conjunction with the 2014 USA
Rice Outlook Conference in Little Rock. Restaurants included on the
list will welcome industry members by displaying the "Proudly Supporting
America's Rice Farmers" emblem and featuring rice dishes on their menus.
The participating Little Rock restaurants expressed enthusiasm
for the program and are looking forward to hosting Outlook attendees.
Many restaurants voiced their desire to leave the emblem up year-round as a
show of support for U.S. rice farmers.
"Foodservice is an important trend-setting growth segment
for the rice industry," said Katie Maher, USA Rice's manager of domestic
promotion. "It is so great to see restaurants serving local
ingredients and using U.S.-grown rice to develop creative dishes on their
menus. We hope that those in attendance at this year's conference will
show their support for these restaurants that proudly serve American-grown
rice."
This annual promotion helps increase awareness of U.S.-grown
rice among chefs in the host cities for the USA Rice Outlook Conference.
|
Japan Announces Results of 8th Ordinary
Import Tender in FY 2014
|
|
|
Country of Origin
|
Variety
|
Number of Importer
|
Quantity (MT)
|
Participated Bidders
|
Amount of Bids (MT)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
USA
|
Non-glutinous milled rice (medium grain)
|
2
|
25,000
|
17
|
211,000
|
|
Australia
|
Non-glutinous milled rice (medium grain)
|
1
|
12,000
|
|
|
|
Thailand
|
Non-glutinous milled rice
(long grain)
|
3
|
21,000
|
29
|
230,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grand Total
|
|
5
|
58,000
|
46
|
414,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Avg Price for Successful Bids
|
|
JPY 96,224/mt
JPY 103,922/mt
|
(tax excluded)
(tax included)
|
|
|
|
Weekly Rice Sales, Exports Reported
WASHINGTON, DC -- Net rice sales of 152,500 MT
for 2014/2015 were reported for Iraq
(120,000 MT), Japan (24,700 MT), Guatemala (5,400 MT, including 4,400 MT
switched from unknown destinations, 1,100 MT switched from El Salvador, and
decreases of 500 MT), Taiwan (4,000 MT), and Canada (1,300 MT), according to
today's Export Sales Highlights report.
Decreases were reported for unknown destinations (4,400 MT) and El
Salvador (1,600 MT).
Exports of 64,400 MT were down 6 percent from
the previous week 11 percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were Honduras
(14,600 MT), Mexico (13,800 MT), Guatemala (10,500 MT), El Salvador (9,400 MT),
and Costa Rica (3,100 MT).
This summary is based on reports from exporters
from the period November 21-27.
Weekly Rice Sales, Exports Reported
WASHINGTON,
DC -- Net rice sales of 152,500 MT for 2014/2015 were reported for Iraq (120,000 MT), Japan
(24,700 MT), Guatemala (5,400 MT, including 4,400 MT switched from unknown
destinations, 1,100 MT switched from El Salvador, and decreases of 500 MT),
Taiwan (4,000 MT), and Canada (1,300 MT), according to today's Export Sales
Highlights report. Decreases were
reported for unknown destinations (4,400 MT) and El Salvador (1,600 MT).
Exports
of 64,400 MT were down 6 percent from the previous week 11 percent from the
prior four-week average. The primary
destinations were Honduras (14,600 MT), Mexico (13,800 MT), Guatemala (10,500
MT), El Salvador (9,400 MT), and Costa Rica (3,100 MT).
This summary is based on reports from exporters
from the period November 21-27.
|
CME Group/Closing Rough Rice
Futures
|
CME Group (Prelim): Closing Rough Rice Futures for December 4
|
January 2015
|
$12.120
|
- $0.020
|
|
March 2015
|
$12.375
|
- $0.020
|
|
May 2015
|
$12.625
|
- $0.020
|
|
July 2015
|
$12.825
|
- $0.020
|
|
September 2015
|
$12.100
|
UNCH
|
|
November 2015
|
$12.000
|
UNCH
|
|
January 2016
|
$12.000
|
UNCH
|
|
K-12
Directors Win Free SNA Registration in Rice Federation Contest
Three grand prize winners also get a commercial size rice cooker
for their school and a consumer size rice cooker for their home kitchen, plus
50 lbs. of whole grain rice.
Dec 3, 2014
Students at Viewmont Elementary in Hickory, N.C., enjoy the
Chicken Burrito Bowl dish that won a runner-up award in the USA Rice Federation
Healthy Brown Rice on the Menu Contest.
Three school nutrition professionals won paid registrations to the 2015 School Nutrition Association
Annual Conference, as well as a commercial size rice cooker for their school
and a consumer size rice cooker for their home kitchens, in the USA Rice
Federation's Healthy Brown Rice on the Menu Contest, which focuses exclusively
on whole grain brown rice.
The winners in there three categories are...
Breakfast:
Roxanne Szalejko, food service director for Northwood Academy Charter School in
Philadelphia;
Lunch:
Kay Briles, head cook/manager at Greenfield Elementary School in Baldwin,
Wisc.;
Rice
Bowl: Angie Gaszak, nutrition coordinator for Saint Paul
(Minn.) Public Schools.
Szalejko's winning breakfast dish was a Coconut Cream Breakfast
Brown Rice that included brown rice, coconut, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and
raisins. “I am happy that Northwood has taken an active role in serving
healthier school meals," she says. "We take pride in engaging our
students to help increase healthy eating habits, which includes more brown
rice."
The lunch dish Briles won for was a Turkey Brown Rice Casserole
featuring brown rice, ground turkey, red onion, red peppers, frozen peas, cream
of chicken soup and slivered almonds. “They really enjoy the brown rice and ask
for extra,” Briles says.
The winning rice bowl served by Gaszak was a Chicken Sofrito
Rice Bowl combining brown rice, chicken stock, diced tomatoes, thyme, garlic
jalapeño peppers, onion and chili powder, finished with red pepper strips and
lime juice. “Brown rice is such a versatile whole grain menu item that we can
use it in a wide variety of dishes while appealing to our diverse district
palates, meeting our nutritional goals, and keeping the food costs in
line," Gaszak says. "Our students love our brown rice and it has been
one of the most widely accepted whole grain menu items.”
Two runners-up who will each receive one commercial size Aroma
rice cooker for their schools were Eileen Matt, manager for Excelsior and Oak
Ridge Middle Schools in Marion, Iowa, and Tina Pottorff, supervisor at Viewmont
Elementary in Hickory, N.C.
Matt won for her Fiesta Spanish Brown Rice, which uses brown
rice, onion, garlic, chicken stock, tomatoes and oregano. “We serve brown rice
in our Spanish rice recipe as it is low in fat and cholesterol and a good
source of protein for our students," she says. "It has been well
accepted and they ask when we will be serving it again!”
Pottorff was recognized for her Chicken Burrito Bowl, which
combines brown rice, corn, black beans, diced chicken and taco seasoning mix.
“Students love the burrito bowl, it reminds them of Chipotle, and it’s just as
delicious!," she says. "The teachers love that it looks home cooked
and is healthy for you.”
To participate in the contest, K-12 foodservice directors and
menu planners must use U.S.-grown brown rice as the central ingredient in one
or more recipes on their school menus. Each winner will receive a 50-lb.
donation of whole grain rice thanks to USA Rice members InHarvest, Producers
Rice Mill, Riceland Foods, Mahatma Rice, SunWest Foods, and Uncle Ben’s.
The Grand Prize winners of the 2014 “Healthy Brown Rice on the Menu Contest”
each receive Grand Prize recipients are:
Rice growers: Government to pay Rs 5,000
per acre subsidy
Thursday, December-04-2014
Federal Minister for Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat
Bosan has said that the government will pay Rs 5,000 per acre as subsidy to the
rice growers to compensate them.Talking to media persons here on Wednesday,
Bosan said that the country's food security was directly linked with the
financial condition of farmers. He said that the prices of food commodities
were decreasing apace in the international market and the federal government
was committed to ensuring that this phenomenon did not hurt Pakistani farmers.
The federal minister appreciated the role of small farmers in
strengthening the country's food security. He said that his ministry was
willing to join hands with the development sector non-governmental
organisations to deal with the issue of food security and challenges posed by
climate change. The minister said that the government was in the process of
formulating a policy envisaging measures to reduce the cost of production of
different crops. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had constituted a committee under
his chairmanship to suggest ways and means to save the crops from diseases and
to reduce the cost of per acre production, he added.He said that the policy
would be prepared in consultation with the Chief Ministers of the provinces to
facilitate the growers.
News Source News Collated by PAKISSAN.com
Cambodia's rice export up 1.1 pct in 11
months
04.12.2014
Cambodia exported 335,925 tons of
milled rice in the first 11 months of 2014, a 1.1 percent rise from 332,099
tons over the same period last year, an official data showed Wednesday.Around
77 companies have brokered the rice from 57 countries and regions around the
world, said the data compiled by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice
Export.Five main buyers are France, Poland, Malaysia, China, and the
Netherlands.During the first 11 months of this year, the country exported
61,970 tons to France, 53,150 tons to Poland, 39,220 tons to Malaysia, 30,646
tons to China, and 30,044 tons to the Netherlands.Kim Savuth, vice president of
the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters, said, "a slight increase in
rice exports is due to tough competitions with other countries such as Vietnam
and Thailand."He said his Khmer Food Company exported more than 50,000
tons of milled rice during the first 11 months of this year.
FAO Food Price Index Broadly Stable
04 December 2014
GLOBAL - Food and Agriculture Organisation's monthly food price
index was stable in November, as vegetable oil and grain prices inched up and
offset ongoing declines in dairy prices.The Food Price Index averaged 192.6
points, marking the third consecutive month of stability. The Index now stands
13 points, 6.4 per cent below its level in November 2013."The index
appears to have bottomed out with higher probabilities for a rise in its value
in coming months" said Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at FAO.After
some volatile movements in recent years, FAO's Food Price Index, a
trade-weighted index that tracks prices of five major food commodities on
international markets, is now around its level of August 2010. The Index
aggregates sub-indices for prices of cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable
oils, and sugar.
The FAO Dairy Price Index declined 3.4 per cent from October and
29 per cent from a year earlier to average 178.1 points in November, reflecting
increased export availability of dairy products along with slower imports to
large markets such as China and the Russian Federation.The Sugar Price Index
dropped 3.2 per cent from October to average 230 points in November, about
eight per cent below their level a year earlier. The recent decline came as
rain in Brazil's main sugar producing region alleviated concerns about a
prolonged drought in the world's largest sugar exporter.
Some Clouds Over the Northern Winter Wheat Crop
Cereal prices rose significantly
for the first time since March as growing conditions for the just-sown wheat
crop in the Northern hemisphere appear less than ideal. However, rice prices
weakened as newly-harvested supplies arrived to market. The Cereal Price Index
averaged 183 points in November, up 2.6 per cent from October, but down 5.8 per
cent from a year earlier.
The Vegetable Oil Price Index also rose, increasing 0.7 per cent
to 164.9 points - still almost 17 per cent below its level a year earlier - due
to lower-than-anticipated global production of sunflower oil and some slowdown
of palm oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia. However, soy oil prices were
weak, dampening the sub-index's rise.
Meat prices were stable in November, although beef and most
other types of meats are at historic highs. The Meat Price Index averaged 210.4
points, in line with its revised value for October while marking a 13.3 per
cent increase from November 2013. Mutton and lamb prices moved moderately
higher during the month.
TheCropSite News Desk
Commerce Ministry’s strategic plan to be
issued this month
BANGKOK, 4 December 2014 (NNT) – The Ministry of Commerce’s
strategic plan is expected to be completed within this month, while officials
are working towards an effective rice price control measure and the release of
currently stocked rice, said the Minister. The Minister of Commerce Gen
Chatchai Sarikalya has revealed that the Ministry is now drafting the strategic
plan for the year 2015 as a master plan for the Ministry of Commerce.This new strategic plan will include measures to aid in keeping
the cost of living down, increase export strategies, improve of the overall
work of the Ministry, and measures to maintain the price of the agricultural
produces such as rice, sugar cane, tapioca, and longan. The plan is expected to
be issued within December. The Commerce Minister has also mentioned about the
rice price maintaining measures that the Ministry has already set up a special
committee to work specifically on this issue.
He has said that the committee
will work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) and the Bank
for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to design a price control
policy for low price rice entering the market by March 2015. his price control
policy will depend on the market's situation. The committee must find a way to
fix the rice price in advance for three months with weekly progress reports
from the inspector, said the Commerce Minister. Regarding the release of
in-stock rice, the Commerce Minister has said that the authorities are working
to release the rice as quickly as possible to reduce the damage costs from
deterioration.
He has said that the new auction for the in-stock rice is
expected to take place this month (December). However, the amount of the rice
available for the auction will be further discussed to prevent the effect on
the rice price domestically and in international markets.
Source with thanks http://thainews.prd.go.th/CenterWeb/NewsEN/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5712040010004#sthash.P2ituiVz.dpuf
VIETNAM PRESS-Rice export contracts hit
6.9 mln T in 2014 - Vietnam Economic Times
PUBLISHED: 01:02 GMT, 4 December 2014 | UPDATED: 01:02 GMT, 4 December 2014
Vietnamese companies have signed
rice export deals totalling 6.9 million tonnes so far this year, up 1.54
percent from a year earlier, of which around 6 million tonnes have been loaded,
based on industry reports, the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper reported.The
total export volume this year could be between 6.3 million and 6.5 million
tonnes, excluding the grain sold across the land border to China, according to
the Vietnam Food Association, the report said.---
NOTE: Reuters has not verified this
story and does not vouch for its accuracy. (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing
by Anand Basu)
FAO Rice Market Monitor (RMM)
The FAO
Rice Market Monitor (RMM) provides an analysis of the most recent developments in
the global rice market, including a short-term outlook. Presently, the full
document is available only in English but highlights are available in Spanish
and French. Monthly updates of selected rice export prices are available on the
FAO Rice
Price Update.
FAO Rice Market
Monitor, October 2014, Volume
XVII - Issue No. 3
ROUND-UP
The 2014 paddy season is at an advanced stage of progress, as the
major producers in the Northern Hemisphere are now engaged in the harvesting of
their main 2014 crops, with some also preparing the land for their 2014
secondary crops. Since the release of the RMM in July, prospects for global paddy production have worsened substantially, mostly because of erratic weather
conditions, including late arrival of rains or lingering droughts, which were
often followed by heavy downpours and floods. These, together with a possible
manifestation of an El Niño weather anomaly in the coming months, even if a
weak intensity, have led to a lower forecast for global rice production in 2014
of 744.4 million tonnes (496.4 million tonnes, milled basis), about 6.5 million
tonnes less than predicted in July. Under current expectations, global paddy
production would be marginally (0.4 percent) lower than the 2013 estimate,
marking a third year of below trend growth.
The disappointing 2014 season results would mostly be linked to
the poor performance of crops in Asia, where production is now forecast to fall
by close to 5 million tonnes, or 0.7 percent. If confirmed, this would be the
first contraction (albeit modest) registered by the region since 2009. Much of
it would be associated with a 2.4 percent decline in India, following an
irregular pattern of the monsoon. Unfavourable weather conditions are also
expected to result in falling output in Indonesia, Cambodia, Nepal, Pakistan,
the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
In the case of Thailand, the decline would also be associated with
the February 2014 abolition of the rice pledging scheme, which had guaranteed
high prices to farmers since 2011. Although adverse climatic conditions also
affected crops in Bangladesh and China, prospects for output in those countries
still indicate an increase from last year. On the other hand, favourable
growing conditions are anticipated to underpin production in Viet Nam, despite
a small, price and policy-driven, reduction in plantings. In Africa,
expectations for the season also deteriorated over the past three months,
mainly on less optimistic prospects over crops in Madagascar, but also in Egypt
and in western African countries. Paddy production in the region is now
foreseen to reach 27.6 million tonnes, barely 1 percent more than in 2013,
mostly sustained by the recovery in Madagascar.
The outlook remains positive for crops in Eastern African
countries, but points to a stagnation of output in Western Africa, amid late
and poorly distributed rains, and to an area-led contraction in Egypt.
Prospects for crops in Latin America the Caribbean have, likewise, been scaled
back since the last issue of the report, mainly on account of Colombia, Ecuador
and Venezuela. The region’s aggregate paddy production is nonetheless set to
increase by a modest 0.6 percent to 28.3 million tonnes.
Gains in Brazil, Guyana and
Paraguay would largely support the expansion, more than making up for declines
in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela and in the central part of
the continent, where severe water deficits crippled crops. The 2014 season in
Europe is expected to progress by 2.8 percent to 4.1 million tonnes, supported
by a strong recovery in the Russian Federation and a small rise in the EU. In
North America, the United States’ downward revision of plantings curbed the
production forecast for the country 9.9 million tonnes, which would nonetheless
represent a 15 percent recovery from 2013. In Oceania, the 2014 crop harvested
by Australia in the first quarter of the year, although slightly upgraded, is
estimated to have fallen 28 percent short of the 2013 excellent outcome, as
insufficient water for irrigation constrained plantings.
Strong import demand, combined with ample supplies held by major
exporting countries, is expected to boostworld rice trade in 2014 by 7 percent to a 39.7 million tonne record. Imports are predicted
to increase in all major geographical regions, especially Asia, where important
buyers, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, face the
need to reconstitute reserves and to lower food inflation. Among exporters,
Thailand is expected to meet much of the trade expansion, largely at the
expense of India, which, nonetheless, may retain its position as the prime
exporter. The return of competitively priced Thai supplies is also envisaged to
negatively impact deliveries by Viet Nam. Australia, China (Mainland), Ecuador,
the United States, the Russian Federation and Uruguay are also forecast to
export less in 2014.
Despite the disappointing 2014 production outlooks, world rice trade in 2015 is currently forecast to be only 0.7 percent higher year-on-year,
at about 40 million tonnes. Indeed, while the relatively poor results of the
season would require several countries to step up imports in calendar 2015,
part of the production shortfalls is likely to be filled by drawing supplies
from national reserves. African countries, especially Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria
and Senegal, would contribute most to the increase in world imports.
Although purchases by Asian nations are anticipated to stay high,
amid output setbacks and lingering pressure on domestic prices, they may
retreat somewhat compared with 2014, on reduced demand by Indonesia, the
Philippines and Sri Lanka. In Latin America and the Caribbean, weather induced
losses are expected to keep demand firm, which would contrast with import cuts
in North America, namely the United States, and largely stable requirements in
Europe. Among exporters, Thailand is predicted to expand deliveries further in
2015, re-establishing its position as the world’s leading supplier of rice.
Shipments from Australia, Cambodia, China (Mainland), Myanmar, Pakistan, the
United States and Viet Nam are also anticipated to end above their 2014 levels.
On the other hand, the poor 2014 production performance and larger domestic
requirements may curb exports by India further over the course of 2015.
FAO has lowered its forecast of world rice utilization in 2014/15 by 2.0 million tonnes to 500.3 million tonnes (milled
basis). Nonetheless, the revised figure continues to suggest a 1.7 percent
expansion in global rice utilization, largely on account of a 5.2 million tonne
increase in world food use, which would support a small gain on a per caput
basis to 57.5 kg in 2014/15. Quantities destined to seed, non-industrial uses
and post-harvest losses are also set to rise.
FAO currently forecasts global rice carryovers in 2015 at 177.7 million tonnes (milled basis), which is some 2.0 million
tonnes less than reported in the July issue of the RMM. The revision mainly
mirrors expectations of sharper draw-downs in India, due to the deteriorated
production outlook for the country, and in Thailand, based on more buoyant
export prospects. At 177.7 million tonnes, world rice inventories in 2015 would
stand 2 percent below the historical highs recorded in 2014, marking the first
world carry-over contraction to occur in a decade. Taking into account
projected utilization levels, this would position the global stocks-to-use
ratio at 34.8 percent in 2014/15, down from an estimated 36.3 percent a year
earlier, but higher than a five-year average of 33.3 percent. Reflecting
expectations of sizeable draw downs in India and Thailand, the five major rice
exporters are expected to trim their inventories by 8 percent to 44.6 million
tonnes in 2015, resulting in the stock-to-disappearance ratio dipping from 27.7
percent in 2013/14 to 25.1 percent in 2014/15.
Following two months of steady gains, the FAO All Rice Price Index
(2002-2004=100) rose by 1 percent in August to an average of 242 points, underpinned
by seasonal tightness and strong import demand. This was particularly the case
in the Indica and Aromatica segments, which accounted for all of the month’s
strengthening, while the Japonica Index stabilized around a high value of 263
points. The price firmness was sustained until September, when newly harvested
crops tended to weigh on Indica quotations.
Looking ahead, international rice prices could come under increasing downward pressure from the progress of
main-crop harvests in northern hemisphere countries. Indeed, concerns that
lower production in India, Pakistan and Thailand, will be supportive of
international quotations are attenuated by prospects of still above-average
harvests in these countries, as well as abundant inventories amassed through
years of uninterrupted output gains. Against this backdrop, policies will
continue playing a particularly influential role, especially those concerning
the disposal of stocks in key global suppliers.
Wheat People vs.
Rice People
CORRECTED-S.Korea
buys 90 T of rice for January
Thu Dec 4, 2014 6:44am GMT
(Corrects spelling of Korea Agro in paragraph 1)
By Meeyoung Cho
Dec 4 (Reuters) - South Korea bought 90 tonnes of
non-glutinous rice of Thai origin for January arrival via a
tender closed on Nov. 24, the state-run Korea Agro-fisheries &
Food Trade said on its website (www.at.or.kr).
Details of the purchases are as follows:
TONNES GRAIN TYPE SUPPLIER PRICE($/T)
90 Milled Long Hanwha Corp $1,045.00
Arrival for the products is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2015 to
the port of Busan.
* Note: The agency sought U.S. No. 1 products.
(Reporting By Brian Kim; Editing by Sunil Nair)
© Thomson Reuters 2014 All rights reserved
Extreme weather hurts production of
Filipino rice farmers
December 3, 2014
Countries heavily reliant on agriculture are already feeling the
effects of extreme weather. According to a United Nations report the poor will
be hit the hardest. Filipino farmers are among the hardest hit. CCTV America’s Barnaby Lo reported this story.For more than four
decades now, 57-year old Guillermo Joson has been toiling in the vast plains of
the northern Philippine province of Nueva Ecija.
This region is often
referred to as the country’s rice granary. But Joson says the past few years
have been difficult.“In recent years, typhoons seem to come just when we are
about to harvest. When they do, they can destroy a huge portion of what we’ve
planted,” he said.And if it isn’t the deluge of water, it’s the lack of
it. El Niño- a weather pattern characterized by a dry spell may start
taking its toll on Filipino farmers soon. It’s extreme weather that is being
attributed, at least in part, to climate change.
Scientists say the earth’s temperature has increased by almost
one degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution. Two more degrees and it
could have devastating effects, especially on agriculture. In the Philippines,
this could mean an estimated 10-15 percent decrease in crop production for
every increase of one degree Celsius.“That is based on a threshold of 34, 35
degrees. And every degree above this threshold will increase sterility of rice
by 10-15 percent. Sterility means the grains will be produced but they are
empty,” Dr.Bjorn Ole Sander from the International Rice Research Institute
said.
And as the law of supply and demand dictates, a drop in food
production could drive up food prices, which in turn could mean less food on
the table for those who cannot afford and for farmers, a loss in income. “Rice
is our only source of income so if we are not able to harvest enough, we don’t
earn enough, and our families suffer,” Joson said.To help farmers cope with the
effects of climate change, the International Rice Research Institute has been
developing climate-adaptive varieties of rice as well as new irrigation
techniques.
Why Are Some Cultures More Individualistic Than
Others?
DEC. 3,
2014
CreditBratislav Milenkovic
AMERICANS and Europeans stand out from the rest of the world for
our sense of ourselves as individuals. We like to think of ourselves as unique,
autonomous, self-motivated, self-made. As the anthropologist Clifford Geertzobserved, this is a peculiar idea. People
in the rest of the world are more likely to understand themselves as interwoven
with other people — as interdependent, not independent. In such social worlds,
your goal is to fit in and adjust yourself to others, not to stand out. People
imagine themselves as part of a larger whole — threads in a web, not lone
horsemen on the frontier. In America, we say that the squeaky wheel gets the
grease. In Japan, people say that the nail that stands up gets hammered down.
These are broad brush strokes, but the research demonstrating
the differences is remarkably robust and it shows that they have far-reaching
consequences. The social psychologist Richard
E. Nisbett and his colleagues found that
these different orientations toward independence and interdependence affected
cognitive processing. For example, Americans are more likely to ignore the
context, and Asians to attend to it. Show an image of a large fish swimming
among other fish and seaweed fronds, and the Americans will remember the single
central fish first. That’s what sticks in their minds. Japanese viewers will
begin their recall with the background. They’ll also remember more about the
seaweed and other objects in the scene.
Another social psychologist, Hazel Rose Markus, asked people arriving at San
Francisco International Airport to fill out a survey and offered them a handful
of pens to use, for example four orange and one green; those of European
descent more often chose the one pen that stood out, while the Asians chose the
one more like the others.
Dr. Markus and her colleagues found that these differences could
affect health. Negative affect — feeling bad about yourself — has big,
persistent consequences for your body if you are a Westerner. Those effects are
less powerful if you are Japanese, possibly because the Japanese are more
likely to attribute the feelings to their larger situation and not to blame
themselves.There’s some truth to the modernization hypothesis — that as social
worlds become wealthier, they also become more individualistic — but it does
not explain the persistent interdependent style of Japan, South Korea and Hong
Kong.
In May, the journal Science published a study, led by a young University of Virginia
psychologist, Thomas Talhelm, that ascribed these different
orientations to the social worlds created by wheat farming and rice farming.
Rice is a finicky crop. Because rice paddies need standing water, they require
complex irrigation systems that have to be built and drained each year. One
farmer’s water use affects his neighbor’s yield. A community of rice farmers needs
to work together in tightly integrated ways.
Not wheat farmers. Wheat needs only rainfall, not irrigation. To
plant and harvest it takes half as much work as rice does, and substantially
less coordination and cooperation. And historically, Europeans have been wheat
farmers and Asians have grown rice.
Daniel12
Yesterday
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Yesterday
Their test case was China, where the Yangtze River divides
northern wheat growers from southern rice growers. The researchers gave Han
Chinese from these different regions a series of tasks. They asked, for
example, which two of these three belonged together: a bus, a train and train
tracks? More analytical, context-insensitive thinkers (the wheat growers)
paired the bus and train, because they belong to the same abstract category.
More holistic, context-sensitive thinkers (the rice growers) paired the train
and train tracks, because they work together.
Asked to draw their social networks, wheat-region subjects drew
themselves larger than they drew their friends; subjects from rice-growing
regions drew their friends larger than themselves. Asked to describe how they’d
behave if a friend caused them to lose money in a business, subjects from the
rice region punished their friends less than subjects from the wheat region
did. Those in the wheat provinces held more patents; those in the rice
provinces had a lower rate of divorce.
I write this from Silicon Valley, where there is little rice.
The local wisdom is that all you need is a garage, a good idea and energy, and
you can found a company that will change the world. The bold visions presented
by entrepreneurs are breathtaking in their optimism, but they hold little space
for elders, for longstanding institutions, and for the deep roots of community
and interconnection.
Nor is there much rice within the Tea Party. Senator Ted Cruz,
Republican of Texas, declared recently that all a man needed was a horse, a gun and the open land, and
he could conquer the world.Wheat doesn’t grow everywhere. Start-ups won’t solve
all our problems. A lone cowboy isn’t much good in the aftermath of a Hurricane
Katrina. As we enter a season in which the values of do-it-yourself
individualism are likely to dominate our Congress, it is worth remembering that
this way of thinking might just be the product of the way our forefathers grew
their food and not a fundamental truth about the way that all humans flourish.
T.M. Luhrmann is a professor of anthropology at Stanford and a contributing
opinion writer.
A version of this op-ed appears
in print on December 4, 2014, on page A31 of the New York edition with the headline: Wheat People
vs. Rice People. | |
Pennsylvania's Saffron
Belt
December 4, 2014 12:00 AM
Larry Roberts/Post-Gazette
Ruth Zimmerman Martin gets ready to add another three saffron stamens to the
drying plates of saffron in her Lititz home
Gretchen McKay / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
LITITZ, Lancaster County -- Squinty-eyed moles aren’t the only thing
Ruth Zimmerman Martin is mindful of when checking a swath of slender purple
blossoms in this quaint little town settled byPennsylvania Germans in the 1720s.
Saffron facts
Thanks to America’s changing demographics,
consumption ofspices in the U.S.
is way up in recent years. That includes saffron, which is used in Asianand Mediterranean cookingalong with Indian and European cuisine.
“There are a lot of educated chefs in
American kitchens” who appreciate its woody aroma, distinctive hay-like flavor
and superb coloring, says Aziz Osmani, co-owner of Kalustyan's, an
international food market in New York
City. It turns foods a luminous yellow-orange color.
Often added to rice dishes, saffron can also be used inbaked
goods, curries, meatdishes, soups and confections.
Spanish saffron may be the best known saffron, but
the highest-quality spice, according to Mr. Osmani, actually comes fromKashmir and Iran, where 90 percent of the world’s
saffron is produced. It’s more expensive, but it’s also a deeper red, since
every bit of the yellow styles is removed, which gives it a more intense
flavor.
“So it’s actually cheaper in the long run,
because you use much less,” he says. Lower-grade saffron has more of the
flavorless yellow style in it. When buying, look for evenly colored, vivid red
or deep orange threads. Names to look for are coupe, superior, La Mancha,
or Rio.
If you can taste the saffron in a dish,
you've added too much. A good rule of thumb is to use about three strands a
person. A small "pinch" is about 20 medium saffron threads; a
medium pinch has about 35, while a large pinch is about 50.
The spice should be dry and brittle to the
touch and never smell musty. Whatever the country of origin, a little saffron
usually goes a long way; most recipes only call for a pinch or less. Stored
properly in an airtight container away from heat, light and humidity, it will
last for years.
Expect to pay anywhere from around $4 for a
.4 grams of Badia Spanish saffron at Giant Eagle,
to $7.99 for a 1-gram packet of Krokas Kozanis Greek saffron at PennsylvaniaMacaroni Co., to $142 for a
1/4-ounce jar of Saffron Kashmir at Penzeys. You also sometimes can find it
pretty cheap at discount stores such as Marshall’s. Spice giant McCormick also
sells saffron in larger grocery stores.
You can buy saffron in powdered form, but
buyer beware: Not only does it lose its flavor more easily than threads, it can
easily be adulterated or misrepresented with lesser-quality spices such as
turmeric,paprika and marigold
leaves.
To heighten the color and flavor of saffron
filaments, steep crushed strands in a little hot water. Add strands and
water to recipe. You also can toast it in a small skillet over medium heat
for about a minute, then crumble it into the dish with your fingers.
All that separates the 73-year-old
Mennonite from traffic whipping past her roadside garden is a few feet of grass
and a couple of creosote-stained railroad ties. One false step and -- well, she
might not ever again see her 18 grandchildren.When you’re growing something as
exquisite -- and unexpected -- as she has for decades, though, the risk just
might be worth it.
Burrowed into the triangle-shaped bed are
743 Crocus sativuscorms (bulbs) that in the late October sun
have sprouted into thin, grass-like leaves interspersed with tiny lilac
flowers. Reaching down, Mrs. Martin picks one of the delicate blooms and
spreads open the petals. Inside are three bright-red stigma that, when gently
plucked and laid on a paper towel in her dining room, will dry into the
world’s most expensive spice: Saffron.
Famous for giving paella, bouillabaisse, biryani and risottotheir distinct flavor and
bright-yellow color, saffron grows best in Mediterranean-type climates with
cool, moist winters and dry, hot summers – think Spain, Greece, Italy, India and Iran. So the fact Mrs.
Martin will eventually harvest some 5,000 flowers here in Lancaster County, in
a handful of gardens and flowerbeds tucked alongside her modest dawdi
(retirement) house, could seem an anomaly.
But no, she’s got company. A few miles down
the road near Millbach, Lebanon
County, retired doctor Robert Kline and his daughter Kendra Heck are deep into
a saffron harvest, too.
For more than a week now, they’ve been
picking the dainty flowers from home gardens --backbreaking work that
involves gathering the blossoms early in the morning before the sun gets too
hot, and using their thumbs to painstakingly separate the red stigmas from the
pale-yellow styles to be dried. Each bloom lasts just a few days.
“My son, who picks for me, finally went on
strike one day because it’s so labor-intensive,” says Ms. Heck, who with her
father has harvested, dried and stored handfuls of the spice over the years --
no small feat considering there are 200 to 300 threads per gram, or roughly
80,000 flowers per pound of spice. “But it’s part of the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition.”
Every two to three years the corms have to
be unearthed so the smaller ones -- Mrs. Martin calls them “itsy-bitsys”
-- can be weeded out. Though in reality, “you can never have too many,”
says Dr. Kline, who started his saffron-growing career 40 years ago with 12
bulbs his mother, Myrl Mann, inherited from her grandmother and passed along before
she died. Each saffron corm usually produces between one and three flowers
in a season, and the plant quickly proliferates. This year, for
the first time in four decades, the Klines’ crop of more than 1,000 saffron
plants included a rare albino blossom.Native to southwest Asian and first
cultivated in Greece more than 3,000 years ago, saffron has a long and storied
history. It got a shout-out in the Old
Testament’s Song of Solomon, written in about 1000
B.C., and the pungent spice also decorated Minoan palace frescoes in 1500-1600 B.C.
Twenty-five centuries ago, it was used to color the saffron robes worn by Theravada monks and nuns. Around 900 A.D.,
saffron traveled with Moorish traders into Spain, which quickly became a center
for saffron production. By the Age of
Discovery, people grew it all over Western
Europe.
Safferich or safran, as it is
known among Pennsylvania Germans, was used by Swiss cooks long before before they made Penns
Woods their home more than 200 years ago. Not only did the thread-like
filaments infuse food with a deep-yellow color (giving the illusion of lots of
eggs) but it also gave those dishes a wonderfully distinct flavor. When they
boarded ships bound for their new life in America, they brought the little
bulbs with them.
The settlers who became known in the late
1600s as the Pennsylvania Dutch weren’t really Dutch, of course,
butGerman-speaking Europeans of German and Swiss heritage. Nor were they
strictly Amish; in addition to Lutherans, the Anabaptist-related “plain”
communities who immigrated here to avoid religious persecution included Mennonites and Brethern, a 300-year-old Christian denomination that stresses peace, justice and holy, simple living.
Despite varied backgrounds and an original
settlement that fanned out over 30 counties, “the culture quickly developed a
common language and common characteristics in its cookery,” writes food
historian William Woys Weaver in “Pennsylvania Dutch Country Cooking.” Dumplings and noodles were a
common denominator. But a few also hung on to distinctive regional foods and
foodways along with their dialects.
Among a small group of Pennsylvania Dutch
in Lebanon, Lancaster and York counties,
saffron was especially popular in flavoring poultry and stuffing dishes. It also ended up in soup,gravy, noodles, chicken potpie and
“filling,” a dressed-up version of mashed potatoes.The exotic spice also finds its
way into a rich, labor-intensivestreuselkuchen known as Schwenkfelder cake.Such was saffron’s popularity that in
May 1759, a Jewish peddler by the name of Benjamin Nathanran an ad in Sower’s German-language newspaper advertising the spice for sale
along with linens, glass and paint at his general store in Heidelberg, just north of Lancaster. Locals
also would have found saffron for sale at Samuel Rex’s store in nearby
Shaefferstown.Some cooks loved the tiny crocus so much as to be indiscriminate, notes
Diane Wenger, an associate professor of history at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, who has studied saffron use
among Pennsylvania Germans. Their tendency to throw saffron into all manner of
dishes earned them them a derisive nickname -- Geeldeitsch, or Yellow Dutch.
It was German Jews in Pennsylvania, in
fact, who took control of the Caribbean saffron trade from Spain and England in the 1790s, notes Dr. Kline, whose
expertise on Pennsylvania Dutch culture and heritage extends to
open-hearth cooking, baking and gardening. Pennsylvania wasn’t the most
hospitable climate for saffron-growing, but Pennsylvania Germans proved to have
something of a green thumb for coaxing the fast-spreading crocuses to life each
fall. So much so, that in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, the spice was a
commodity on the Philadelphia exchange, with prices equal to those of
gold. Even today, it can retail for as much as $10,000 a pound.By the 20th
century, though, saffron was no longer being grown on a large scale in
Pennsylvania, and was instead relegated to the kitchen gardens of those whose
parents and grandparents had loved it. Today, as in the rest of the
country, most of the spice sold in and around Lancaster is imported from Spain
or Iran.“My mother’s mother, who lived six miles up the road in Schaefferstown, used it all the time,” says
Dr. Kline. “But my father’s mother never used it, even though they came to the
U.S. at the same time.”
By growing and cooking with it -- corn soup and stuffing are his favorites --
and getting his children to do it also, he’s keeping that age-old
tradition within Pennsylvania’s narrow “saffron belt” alive.Mrs. Martin,
conversely, became a devoted grower quite by chance. Though she was
familiar enough with the spice -- it’s what gives Pennsylvania Dutch noodles
and chicken potpie their unique flavor and yellow color -- it never
crossed the mother of seven’s mind to grow it. Then 30 years ago, after
moving some furniture for a neighbor, her late husband, Lloyd, was gifted 20
saffron bulbs. On a whim, she planted them in front of their dairy barn.
The first year, the plants were beautiful.
The second, not so much. “Too squishy,” she recalls with a shake of the head.Turns
out, the retired nurse had planted the itsy-bitsys too shallow in the farm’s
soggy soil. A neighbor advised her to dig up the bulbs and start over. Mrs.
Martin had a better idea: Add depth with a thick bed of cow manure mixed with sawdust. “And that put me
on the map,” she says with a cheerful smile. “You never saw such growth! I
couldn’t believe it.”So much so, that some days during the late-fall harvest,
upwards of 1,000 flowers end up in the squat wicker basket she keeps just for
this purpose. It takes her about 25 minutes to pick them.
She’s also figured a way to deal with those
pesky moles who find the corms so delicious. She plants hot chili peppers on the edges of her gardens, along with
castor-bean plants and winter onions.
Bunnies, who love to chew the grassy crocus leaves to the nub, have to
constantly be shooed away.“If a rabbit finds it, he never forgets it,” she says,
sighing. She advises would-be growers to mulch with manure instead of bark and keep the
soil around the crocus corms loose and aerated. Also, don’t disturb the
bright-green winter growth. As far as cooking, Mrs. Martin makes a mean
saffron cookie in addition to the usual suspects. Following tradition, she also
likes to steep tea with the delicate red strands to help break up a cold or
ward off stomach upsets; long used for medicinal and aphrodisiac purposes (Cleopatra is said to have bathed
in it), saffron tea in the 19th century in Lancaster County was used to “bring
out” themeasles when someone showed early symptom of having
the disease, noted Professor H.H. M. Bowman in a 1953 edition of “The
Pennsylvania Dutchman.”
“It’s very good for the pancreas,” says Mrs. Martin, which is why
she often tucks tiny packets into greeting cards and gifts them to
shut-ins. She also sells some of the excess for $3 a packet at Forgotten
Seasons, her daughter Kathy’s bed-and-breakfast in Lititz.
“It’s a wonderful hobby,” she says.
■
Saffron Corn Soup
PG tested
A bit on the tangy side. You can find dried limes (which sort of look like walnuts)
at Pita Land in Brookline.
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 yellow onions, finely diced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
6 large ears corn, shucked
3 dried limes, soaked in hot water to cover
for 15 minutes
6 cups chicken stock or water
1/2 teaspoon saffron, ground and steeped in
1 tablespoon water
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons finely squeezed lemon
juice
Heat oil in stockpot over medium heat and cook
onions for about 10 minutes, until they start to brown. Add turmeric and corn.
Pierce the limes with knife or fork and add to the pot along with their soaking
water. Add stock and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, until
corn is just tender.
Squeeze the limes against the side of pot with a
long spoon to extract their concentrated flavor before removing them from the
soup. Blend half of the soup in a blender, then return to the pot. Add saffron
and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add lemon juice to taste, and
serve.
Serves 4 to 6.
-- “The New Persian Kitchen” by Louis
Shafia (Ten Speed, 2013, $24.99)
■
Spanish Chicken
PG tested
The contrast of sweet onions and briny
olives are actually quite harmonious in this simple, skillet chicken dish.
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cayenne
3- to 3½-pound fryer chicken, cut into 10
serving pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon saffron
8 cups julienned onions (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup Moroccan olives
1 cup chicken stock
1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
Seeds from 1 pomegranate, for serving (optional)
2 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)
In small bowl, mix together the salt and
cayenne and season chicken pieces with mixture. In large cast-iron skillet,
heat oil until smoking. Brown chicken pieces, cooking them for 6 to 8 minutes
on each side. Transfer chicken to a plate as it is cooked.
Add flour, saffron and onions to skillet. Add
any remaining salt and cayenne mixture. Cook, stirring continuously, to wilt
and brown the onions, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned
particles, about 10 minutes. Add chicken pieces and olives. Continue stirring,
again scraping the bottom of pot to loosen any browned particles, and cook for
about 15 minutes. Add chicken stock, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook,
stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is tender.
Place on a swanky platter and sprinkle with
chopped cilantro, pomegranate seeds and scallions, if using.
Serves 4.
-- “America -- Farm to Table” by Mario Batali (Grand Central, Oct. 2014, $35)
■
Oven-Baked Saffron Rice
PG tested
A beautiful and savory side dish. Perfect
with baked or grilled chicken.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, minced
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Small pinch saffron threads
2 cups Carolina Gold or Carolina
extra-long-grain white rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3½ cups chicken stock or broth
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large ovenproof
saucepan, melt butter. Add onion, bay leaf and a generous pinch of salt and
cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned,
5 to 7 minutes. Add lemon juice, coriander and saffron and cook until fragrant,
about 1 minute. Add rice and cook, stirring until translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add wine and simmer over moderately high heat until nearly absorbed, about 3
minutes. Stir in stock and a generous pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
Cover the saucepan and bake the rice for 20
minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Let stand for 15
minutes, fluff with fork and serve.
Serves 8.
-- Food & Wine, Oct. 2014
■
Noodle Paella
PG tested
Paella is traditionally made with rice.
This version combines spaghetti with chicken and seafood. My dad loved it.
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,
divided
1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, chopped
6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 8-ounce bottles clam juice
15-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
3 dried bay leaves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti, broken into
1-inch pieces
12 small clams, such as Manila, scrubbed
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
In 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add chicken and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
Cook until chicken is no longer pink on outside, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted
spoon, transfer chicken to medium bowl.
Add fennel, bell pepper, onion and garlic to
pan. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook until just
tender, about 5 minutes. Add clam juice, tomatoes with their juices, bay
leaves, paprika, saffron and cayenne pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer. Add
spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 9
minutes.
Return chicken to pan. Bring sauce to a simmer. Add remaining salt and pepper.
Add clams and shrimp. Cover and cook until clams open, the shrimp are pink and
cooked through and the chicken is cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Discard any
unopened clams along with bay leaves.
Mix in parsley and serve.
Serves 6.
-- “Giada’s Feel Good Food” by Giada De Laurentiis (Clarkson Potter, 2013, $32.50)
■
Chicken Potpie
PG tested
This hearty noodle stew is a Pennsylvania
Dutch classic. It more reminiscent of chicken and biscuits than the
pastry-topped pies made famous by Swanson. If you’re afraid to make homemade
noodles, don’t be -- they’re easy! But you also can substitute flat pot pie egg noodles.
For filling
4- to 5-pound stewing chicken
3 quarts water
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup cut celery
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut
4 small onions, quartered
1/4 cup chopped parsley
For noodles
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons lard (I used butter)
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup water
Cook chicken in 3 quarts water with salt, pepper,
saffron and celery for several hours, until it is tender. Remove chicken,
debone it and set aside to cool. Add potatoes and onions to broth, and cook for
15 minutes, until fork-tender.
While potatoes are cooking, make potpie
noodles. Combine dry ingredients. Cut the lard into the flour mixture
until the pieces are very fine. Lightly stir in the beaten egg and water. Roll
out very thin on a floured board. Cut into 2-inch squares with knife or pastry
wheel. Don’t aim for perfection!
Shred chicken, or cut into large chunks. Drop
potpie squares one by one into boiling broth with potatoes. Reduce heat, and
cook over a low boil for about 5 to 6 minutes.
Add chicken, and season to taste with salt and
pepper. Serve in individual bowls, spinkled with chopped parsley.
Serves 6.
-- Adapted from “The Art of Pennsylvania
Dutch Cooking” by Edna Eby Heller (Doubleday, 1968)
■
Lamb Biryani
PG tested
If you make individual servings of biryani
in smaller ovenproof dishes, slightly lessen the cooking time. Note: the more
chiles you use, the spicier the dish. Mine was red hot.
1/2 cup warmed milk
1 teaspoon saffron strands
2-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 to 4 fresh Thai, serrano or cayenne chiles, stems
removed
1 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 teaspoon red chile powder or cayenne
pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 cup plain yogurt
2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder or leg, cut
into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil,
divided
3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced into
rings
1/2 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt, divided
2 cups uncooked white or brown basmati
rice, washed
1/4 cup golden raisins
Water to cover
In small mixing bowl, combine warmed milk and
saffron strands and set aside to soak for at least 30 minutes while you prep
the remaining ingredients.
In bowl of food processor, grind ginger,
garlic, fresh chiles, cilantro and mint leaves into smooth paste. Transfer to
large mixing bowl. Add garam masala, red chile powder, turmeric and yogurt and
stir until well combined.
Slowly fold lamb into yogurt mixture and stir
gently until all pieces are evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or
overnight.
In heavy-bottomed, 4-quart saute pan over
medium-high heat, warm 1/4 cup of the oil. Add onions and 3 pinches salt. Cook,
stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until onions are browned. Using slotted
spoon, transfer onions to a plate and leave oil behind in saute pan. Raise heat
to medium-high and warm remaining 2 tablespoon of oil. Using tongs, carefully
add marinated lamb to saute pan, leaving marinade behind in bowl. Reserve it --
you’ll use it later. Cook for 2 minutes on each side.
Reduce heat to low and add reserved marinade and
all but 2 tablespoons onions to saute pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon
salt. Cook, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Remove
from heat and set aside.
Set oven rack at second-from-top position and
preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In separate medium stockpot over medium-high
heat, combine rice, raisins and water to cover rice by 2 inches and bring to
boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 7 minutes. If using brown
rice, cook for 12 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.
Transfer lamb mixture to a 2-quart ovenproof
casserole dish and layer rice over lamb. Tightly pack rice in dish and garnish
with reserved browned onions. Pour bowl of saffron and milk over the casserole.
Cover dish with its lid or tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes.
Remove from oven. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6.
-- “Indian for Everyone” by Anupy
Singla (Surry Books, 2014, $35)
■
Orange and Saffron Olive Oil Bread
PG tested
This vegan bread dough is soft and easy to
manipulate, ”so you can give it any shape you like,“ Aglaia Kremezi writes
in ”Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts.“ It was inspired by a traditional
wedding bread from Greece.
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole-wheat flour
1 envelope (2¼ teaspoons) instant
active-dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground mahlep or
cardamom
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, diluted in
1/4 cup boiling water and set aside for 15 minutes
1 tangerine, unpeeled, washed, dried and
quartered to remove any pips
Juice 1 orange
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons almond butter
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more as needed
For brushing the breads
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough
hook, combine flours, yeast, salt and mahlep; pulse to blend and aerate.
In blender, combine saffron water, tangerine,
orange juice, sugar, almond butter and olive oil. Pulse, periodically scraping
down the sides with a spatula, to get a smooth pulp.
With motor of mixer running, pour wet mixture
into dry ingredients and work mixture on low speed for a couple of minutes,
adding about 1 1/2 cups water or as needed to form a dough. work dough for
about 5 minutes on medium-low to make a soft dough that “cleans” the sides
of the bowl.
Oil a large bowl and piece of plastic warp.
Turn out dough onto your work surface and shape it into a ball. Transfer the
dough to the oiled bowl and cover with the oiled plastic wrap. Let rise until
doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
Turn out dough and halve it, using one piece to
make the stuffed bread. If you like, shape both pieces of dough to fit pans
lined with parchment paper. Cover loosely with plastic warp and let rise again
for 35 to 40 minutes, until almost doubled in size.
At least 20 minutes before baking, preheat
oven to 400 degrees,
If you like, dilute the sugar in the orange
juice and brush the tops of breads with the mixture just before putting them in
the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 375 degrees, and continue baking
for 20 minutes (or more, depending on size of pan), until golden brown in color
and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom. You may need to turn and change
the position of the loaves halfway through baking to make sure they color
evenly.
Let cool completely on wire rack before cutting
to serve.
Makes 2 loaves.
-- “Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts”
by Aglaia Kremezi (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; 2014; $25)
■
Poached Pears in Saffron Syrup
PG tested
An elegant, absolutely beautiful
dessert.
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
Heaping 3/4 cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
4 pears, peeled
Put vanilla bean, saffron threads, sugar, lemon
zest and 2 cups water in a large saucepan and mix together well. Stir over low
heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to
a gentle simmer. Add pears and cook, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until
tender when tested with a metal skewer. Turn pears over with a slotted spoon
halfway through cooking. Once cooked, remove from syrup with a slotted spoon
and set aside. Cover to keep warm.
Allow the saffron syrup to come to a boil and
cook uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes, or until syrup had reduced by half and
thickened slightly (mine took about 15 minutes). Serve pears with the sauce
spooned over and some whipped cream on the side, if desired.
Serves 4.
-- “The Spice Bible” by Jane Lawson
(Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $29.95)
■
Saffron Cookies
PG tasted
Perfect for dunking.
1/4 teaspoon powdered saffron
1 tablespoon water
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
In small saucer, steep saffron in water. Set
aside. Cream butter. Add sugar, beating well. Add egg, beat until thoroughly
blended. Sift dry ingredients. Stir into creamed mixture. Add saffron water.
Chill until firm enough to handle. Roll into balls, flatten with fork. Bake in
a preheated 400-degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes.
Yields 3 dozen cookies
-- Ruth Martin, Lititz
Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com,
412-263-1419 or on Twitter @gtmckay.
Source with thanks: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
New Tallest Poppy location offers expanded
menu, extended hours
If you loved The Tallest Poppy on Main Street, you'll probably
love this new and more ambitious incarnation. It's much roomier than the
original, but has the same casual, quirky charm, right down to the mismatched
tables and chairs. That extra space also offers more room for art -- two enormous
blue abstract paintings by Sharon Johnson hanging on opposite walls, two
smaller abstracts by Shawna Conner and -- tucked into a corner-- Jade Harper's
lovely small prints of poppies. Even the ceiling is a striking composition of
Mondrian-like squares.
Owner Talia Syrie has a new partner in this location --
mixologist Steve Ackerman -- and between them they have created an engaging
addition to the neighbourhood. But although the vibe may be Wolseley, the
appeal is city-wide -- the lineups by 10 a.m. for the weekend brunches can't
all be from the immediate area, any more than they were on Main Street. But
unlike those huge family-style breakfasts, these are all la carte (about which
more later).
The Tallest Poppy
§ 103 Sherbrook St. (Sherbrook Inn)
§ 204-219-8777
§ Licensed
§ Wheelchair access
§ Four stars out of five
Syrie has also done what her fans have always wanted her to do.
She has added dinners as well -- solid renditions of down-home comfort foods
prepared with care and integrity. Some have their roots in the American south,
or Harlem; others might have come from your baba's kitchen.I loved everything I
had here, but if forced to name a personal favourite it might be the terrific
buttermilk-marinated fried chicken-- boneless, but still juicy and flavourful
under a puffed up, crackling-crunchy flour coating. At dinner it comes with
mashed potatoes, collard greens dotted with bits of smoked pork, and a light
gravy; alternately, you can have it in a sandwich at lunch, or at breakfast
paired with wonderful waffles -- the real Belgian thing, prepared by Sebastian,
a real Belgian.
Tender, slow-cooked brisket also does triple duty -- as a dinner
entrée with basmati rice pilaf punctuated by grains of wild rice; in a luncheon
sandwich with tomatoes and horseradish aioli; and at breakfast, transformed
into chicken fried steak and served with eggs, hash browns and toast. The bison
meat loaf is available at dinner only, two savoury slabs with mashed potatoes,
gravy and creamed spinach. The slow-roasted, smoked country ham in a light
white wine sauce spiked by orange bitters is also a dinner-only entrée, paired
with molasses-flavoured 24-hour baked beans and a crunchy mayo-dressed
coleslaw.
Most entrées cost from $12.25 to $15.25, including such other
possibilities as sausage and bean stew with rice; tamale pie with vegetarian
chili baked under cornbread; and tofu biscuit stew. There are also two burgers
-- one of bison, beef and pork ($9.25), the other of black beans, chickpeas and
vegetables ($8.95), both with ripple chips and pickles -- as well as sides of
cauliflower in cheese sauce, fries, poutine and the excellent house-made
challah with poppy spread and melted Swiss cheese ($3.75 to $6.95).
The lunch menu is fairly short, consisting of a few sandwiches,
two burgers and two soups (but why not have the chicken with matzo balls on the
dinner menu, too?). Breakfasts, though, are wide-ranging and are served all
day, from 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday and from 9 a.m. Sunday (most $5.25 to
$12.95).
Along with the chicken with waffles and chicken fried steak,
there's the open-face, puffy Poppy Omelette topped by a mixture of meats or
veggies, or both, and the double-stuffed baked potato with bacon, cheese,
chives and a fried egg. Generally I just tolerate kale, but I really enjoyed it
in the Kale Breakfast sautéed with bacon, mushrooms, onions and mashed
potatoes, and topped by two poached eggs.
Of course there are eggs with meat and hash browns, or with
bacon and a salad, or tucked with bacon into a sandwich. Also challah French
toast, crispy corn tortillas baked in salsa with eggs and sheep's feta, and
such extras as bacon, house-made sausage, fluffy cornbread, guacamole and -- if
they don't run out of them -- blintzes.Two dishes I probably wouldn't have
ordered except in the line of duty, I'm now in love with. Who would have
thought mundane-sounding buttermilk biscuits with gravy could be so addictive?
Or that Red River Cereal -- which I've often found resistible -- could turn out
to be the buttery, creamy and soul-satisfying bowlful I wish I could have every
morning?
Unlike the former Poppy, this one serves alcohol. There are 12
beers, and a short but decent wine list, with most available by the glass --
among them, a delightful Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Cava ($6 to $8). Also, in
keeping with the trend, some intriguing cocktails (all $8) created by Ackerman,
who has several years of experience in New York bars behind him. His Two-Tone
Cesar (sic) is a fabulous variation of the classic caesar, with Worcestershire
and Texas Pete hot sauce, topped by a blend of tomatillos, mild poblano peppers
and cilantro.
Desserts are few and vary daily ($5.25 to $5.75). There's
usually a brownie and always two kinds of pie -- delicious buttermilk filling
in a fabulous short crust in our case. Service is great, and the enthusiastic
young staff are at least partly responsible for the Poppy's infectiously happy
buzz.
Food: A whole lot of taste in Montreal’s
whole-grain scene
Published on: December 4, 2014Last Updated: December 4, 2014 9:54 AM EST
A whole-grain option at Zyng on St-Denis St.
Photo courtesy of Zyng
I grew up in a household where you couldn’t find white bread if
you had a flashlight and an enriched wheat metal detector. Between whole
grain’s health benefits (its high fibre content may reduce the risk of heart disease,
to name one) and dense texture, I never felt like I was missing out. Finding it
at restaurants often posed a challenge, but my search ends here. These
establishments offer gluten’s lesser of two evils in a way that’s not just
edible, but surprisingly tasty.
Vegetarian soup, Zyng Asian
Grill
I consider pho the Asian rendition of chicken soup as the Jewish
penicillin. It’s labelled a vegetarian soup since the option of adding Japanese
soba, a heart-healthy fibrous and perfectly nutty buckwheat noodle, strays from
the traditional pho recipe of rice noodles, but it has the signature
subtle citrusy broth. If you opt for buckwheat, a naturally gluten-free grain
derived from a leaf as opposed to the grass family, you’ll get a host of nutritional
benefits along with a thicker, more satiating noodle. This soup is chock full
of veggies (broccoli, shitake mushrooms, corn and scallions) steamed enough but
not so much that they lose their nutrients; it’s MSG-free and instead uses
antioxidant-rich cilantro as the star flavour, and the tofu is steamed to
perfection.
Sweet potato burrito at Burritoville.
Photo courtesy of Burritoville
Sweet potato burrito,
Burritoville
A burrito’s allure lies not only in its ability to cradle heaps of
food, but in the versatile ways in which it can be wrapped. Authentic Mexican
cuisine uses either flour or corn tortillas, but in an effort to cater to our
collective health consciousness, Burritoville offers a whole-wheat option for
its burritos and quesadillas. Try the organic sweet potato burrito with black
beans, apple, sautéed onion, pico de gallo, cheese, and in case you needed more
convincing this dish is a fibre bomb – brown basmati rice, a more
nutrient-dense and aromatic version of its white counterpart.
Santa Clara pizza at Al Dente.
Photo courtesy of Al Dente
Santa Clara pizza, Al Dente
Whole-wheat pizza crust has a tendency to taste chalky, and not in
the intentional wood-oven charred way. This is far from the case at Al Dente,
where the whole-wheat pasta lives up to the restaurant’s name, and the basil,
oregano and black pepper-laden pizza crust is fluffy to a fault. Opt for a
piping hot whole-wheat Santa Clara that’s equal parts decadent and healthy.
It’s topped with broccoli, roasted red pepper, a blend of pesto and tomato
sauce, mozzarella, goat cheese and fresh tomatoes. Only available on the table
d’hôte menu.
Whole-wheat cheese bagel,
Nosherz
Versatility is at the foundation of the cheese bagel’s appeal.
Dipped in sour cream as a snack or enjoyed on its own for dessert, it’s a
pastry that’s been reinvented in a myriad of ways, but this version is a
health-nut crowd pleaser. Along with eight other varieties (chocolate, cherry,
blueberry, etc.), Nosherz offers a whole-wheat puff pastry version, with rock
sugar by special order, since most customers opting for whole wheat tend to
avoid sugar too. It’s filled with the standard baker’s cheese/sweetened ricotta
blend, but it also makes a completely sugar-free cheese bagel for those with
dietetic concerns using Splenda. They’re sold individually or in batches. “We
have regulars. Whatever we make [of whole-wheat cheese bagels], we sell,” says
owner Robert Vineberg. Why whole wheat? “Changing times. People have different
concerns. As trends change you try to move with them.”
