Putchuck

2 minutes • 342 words

Table of contents

26. CARDAMOMS
- Note
27. PEPPER

Mu-hiang comes from the country of Ma-lo-mo of the Arabs/ It is also found in Shi-ho and Nu-fa.

The plant resembles the Chinese ssi-kua (Luffa cylindrica, Koem.).

The root is gathered during the winter months. These are chopped into pieces of 1-2 inches in length and sun-dried.

Pieces like a chicken bone are of the best quality.

26. CARDAMOMS

Pai-tou-kou come from Cambodia, Java, and other foreign countries.

Cambodia produces them in the largest quantity.

The plant resembles the ssi-kua and the seed of a grape. It is a creeping plant fond of deep valleys. It blossoms in the spring and ripens in the summer. The people are allowed to gather it freely.

Note

Amomum cardamomum, is a native plant of Cambodia, Thailand, and Java.

The Javanese call it kapulaga.

The earliest mention of the cardamom in China is in the 8th century.

Already in the 11th century, the cardamom was grown in Kuang-tung and Kuang-si, but it was inferior in quality to that brought from abroad.

There it is said to:

stop flatulency
dispel phlegm,
increase the strength of wine.

In 281 AD, a basket of these flowers was brought from North Vietnam to the Chinese Emperor .

27. PEPPER

Hu-tsiau comes from the following places in Java:

Sukitan
Ta-pan
Pai-hua-yiian
Ma-tung
Jung-ya-lu

But the pepper coming from Sunda Indonesia is the best. The Ta-pan variety takes the second place.

Pepper grows in the uncultivated wilds, and the villages in the countryside.

The natives grow it on frames made of bamboo. The flower opens, and in the fourth moon the fruit forms.

The flower resembles a fong-wei or a phoemx-tail and is blue and red in colour.

The grains are gathered in the fifth moon, dried in the sun, and stored in godowns, whence they are withdrawn in the following year, carts drawn by oxen being used to transport them to the market.

The grain cannot stand the sun, but stands rain. Therefore, crops are but poor after dry weather, whereas heavy rainfalls may double the ordinary yield of the harvest.