A visit to the kingdom of spices in Kumily

This article is about our visit to the spice plantation in Kumily, and the vegetation we saw there.

Spices in Kumily Market

While strolling in the market of Kumily, scent of freshly cut spices, sold in every nook and corner of this small town seeds a desire to visit one of the many spice plantations on the outskirts. We contact Sunil, a guide, who promises us a never before experience.

As we enter the spice plantation, the sight of lush green vegetation and the smell of aromatic air sets the expectation of the things to follow.

Rubber plantation in the Spice garden of Kumily

‘A royal white-carpet welcome to the Kingdom of Spices’.
‘White carpet welcome! We don’t see a carpet, neither we expect one here’.
‘Well, we are a little early. The white carpet is in the process of making’, the guide humbly replies and brings us in front of a rubber tree.

Latex Collection

A coconut shell is hanging on a short sharp stick. The dripping latex from the tree is collecting in the shell. The latex usually fills up to a level of half to three-quarters of the shell in a day. The latex from multiple trees is then poured into flat pans, and mixed with Formic acid.

Manufacturing of Rubber sheets

‘The Formic acid serves as a coagulant creating rubber crumbs. These rubber crumbs are then pressed and the wet sheets of rubber are wrung out. These sheets are then sent out into factories for vulcanization and further processing’, explains the guide and then urges us to close the eyes and imagine the rousing white-carpet welcome we are receiving.

Spices in Kumily – Betel Nut

At the start, we are offered betel nuts to grace the visit.

Spices in Kumily – Vanilla

The guide suggests to start the tour, meeting the ‘Prince of Spices’ – Vanilla.

Vanilla is second most expensive spice after saffron. It is a climbing orchid and needs a supporting tree for its cultivation. It is cultivated as an inter-crop in coconut and pepper farms.

Ideal time for planting Vanilla is when the weather is neither too rainy nor too dry. It requires shade for its growth. Flowering normally occurs every spring and each flower needs to be hand pollinated within twelve hours. After pollination the bean takes around nine to eleven months for maturity.

I am enjoying the company of the Prince Charming with pleasant manners and flavours. After learning so many things about him from the guide, I admiringly add, “My favourite desserts ice-creams and custards are naturally elegant in his company. At times, when I am in no mood of experimentations safest and surest bet is always Vanilla flavour”.

Spices in Kumily – Pepper

After meeting the prince we are invited to the audience of “The King of the Spices” – His Highness, Sir Pepper. I remember how I used to avoid him as a kid. I have realized with age, that the king is magnanimously medicinal, he may taste harsh in the beginning, but has medicinal effects on a sore throat afterwards.

It is believed that Vasco Da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, reached India in search of Pepper.

The guide explains, “The King-Spice is a climber and for its success and its kingdom to flourish, it needs strong bishop like Coral tree to support it. It is a long term crop that yields continuously for twenty five to thirty years”.

Types of Pepper – Black, Red and Green

It is spiky and its berries are separated from the spikes by thrashing. There are three kinds of Pepper, the black, red and green. All of them are gifted by the same climber crop, the different colors and aroma is the result of different processing applied to its berry.

When these berries are dried in sun for three days, they turn black and are called Black Pepper. The White Pepper is produced, plucking the ripe red berries. These berries are then soaked in running water for around eight to twelve days. Thereafter the outer skin is removed and the berry is dried in the sun. After a few hours, it turns white and we have the white pepper.

For the Green-Pepper, the green-berries are collected before they are ripe. These berries are then dehydrated in the factories. This process helps them to retain their color and the fragrance.

Spices in Kumily – Cardamom

From here we are invited to the Private chambers of the “Queen of the Spices” – Cardamom. The presence of queen adds grace to everything, be it a cup of chai, kheer (rice pudding) and for that matter any sweet dish.

The guide starts telling us about the queen, “It is a perennial bush, belonging to ginger family that grows from six to sixteen feet. The Yield of queen Cardamom starts three years after its plantation and continues up to ten to twelve years.

The flowers bloom at the bottom of the plant and need cool and humid weather for forming the fruits. The maturity of the fruit takes around ninety to one-hundred and twenty days. The picking season lasts from September to March.

After picking, drying is done in specially designed curing chambers called Cardamom Store. Here cardamoms are dried at a temperature of fifty-to-sixty degree centigrade for around twenty-four to thirty-six hours. Drying is followed by polishing. Polishing is done by rubbing cardamom against hard surfaces”.

Spices in Kumily – Clove

As the meeting was about to be over, excited guide tells us that we are lucky and can have a glimpse of the “New born Princess” – the Clove.

Clove is the dried unopened flower buds of the clove tree. On maturity, the unopened flower buds are carefully collected by hand and dried in sun for around three to five days till they become crisp and dark brown in color.

Looking adoring at the beautiful princess, I turn to guide and tells him, “I don’t know whether the princess cried or not at the time of her birth, but one day when I was crying with an acute toothache, a single piece of clove in my mouth had the effect of most effective pain-killer”.

Spices in Kumily – The Coffee Beans

The waxing and waning sound (usually heard at night) of a guard at duty – “Jaagte rahoo, jaagte rahoo” diverted our attention from the loving princess. The guide smiles and replies, “Sir, its Coffee”, alleviating the curious wrinkles trying to identify a familiar voice.

Coffee variety grown in Periyar Region

Robusta and Arabica are the two main varieties of commercially cultivated coffee in the Periyar region. The ripe fruits are hand plucked and dried in open for seven to twelve days till the seed rattle within the husk. It is then taken to a coffee mill to remove the husk. The roasting that follows changes its color to brown and the distinct aroma is produced.

Spice Garden Plantation in Kumily – Heliconia

Suddenly the guide speaks up in a soft admiring voice, “We are facing the beauty queen, gracious Ms Heliconia Flower”. Wow! We keep on staring at her for several minutes, it was difficult to take our eyes away from her.

The guide shakes us and tells, “I know you are captivated and hypnotized, but let me take you to the real hypnotizer of the spice-world”.

Spices in Kumily – Cocoa

With these words, he brings us in front of a tree with a Papaya like fruit hanging from it. It is Cocoa. In reality Cocoa is not like Papaya.

It has a shell like Pomegranate. The seeds with the pulp are removed and kept for one or two days for fermentation. Then seeds are removed, cleaned and dried before selling it. It can be processed by big processing units only. Without fermentation the seeds are useless. Cocoa is grown in hot weather with abundant rains.

The guide warns us not to get too close to it. “This magician is well-known to keep people under his spell. In-fact from its dried and fermented seeds the sinfully delicious chocolates are made”.

Spice Garden Plantation – Pineapple

A person with rough looks and mannerisms scares me. I try to avoid it. The guide holds my hand and brings me closer. Don’t get scared. If you probe him hard, its external roughness gives way to inner sweetness. Its Pineapple.

I was expecting pineapples/Ananas to grow on a palm or coconut like tree, and so the medium size herbaceous perennial plant surprises me.

Spice Garden Plantation in Kumily – Cabbage

The guide then introduces us to a family that starts life with the mantra of openness but the realities of life, converts them into closed types – The Cabbage.

Spice Garden Plantation – Miniature leaves

‘Do you want to see the God as an expert miniature artist?’
Our heads nod with an affirmative curiosity.
Look at this beautiful leaf. It is evident that the Supreme artist has taken an extreme care to create and decorate it.

Spice Garden Plantation – The red chillies

In the wonderland of Spices we see ladyfingers growing on trees and not on the herbaceous plants and also spot little ‘Dennis the Menace‘ – the red chillies. The guide warns us, “Do not get baffled by its innocently cute looks. One bite and its color will be visible on your face.”

The Spice Garden Plantation – The Jack Fruit

No story is complete without villainous character/s. We are introduced to a treacherous character planning a murder. The guide speaks in hushed voice, “It is waiting for years now for Newton to sit under it, to observe and propose the gravitational force.

Cruel Reality of Spice Plantation

We thank the guide for the beautiful trip of the spice land. And then he speaks up with grave reality,

“With agricultural land shrinking, traditional way of paddy cultivation is no longer viable. Many of these farmers have moved to massive cultivation of pepper, cardamom, coffee, tea and vanilla.

Previously these spices were always inter-cropped, but the lure of higher income made farmers to go for it in big ways.

Spice plantation involves huge funds and any reduction in prices or farm failure due to diseases leaves farmers in penury. In recent years there are some incidents of farmers committing suicides in this part and that is the cruel and saddest part of the Spice plantation”

I suddenly wake-up from a dream like visit to the ‘Kingdom of Spices’ to the sad and cruel reality of farming in general and spice plantation in particular.

Trivia

• Clove originated in Ancient China. The ancient Chinese Han Dynasty lasting from 207 BC to 220 AD gave us the first traces of association of spice clove with human society. According to historians, the court visitors in the ancient Han Dynasty were made to hold clove in their mouths while addressing the ruler.
• The word clove comes from the Latin word Clavus meaning nail.
• According to folklore, sucking on two whole cloves without chewing on them or swallowing prevents the urge to consume alcohol.”
• The Coffee beans is supposed to have come in to India through a Muslim saint, Baba Budan, who when returning from his pilgrimage to Mecca smuggled seven beans in his beard and eventually planted them in Mysore. Today, there is a shrine for him on a hill named after him. Systematic cultivation ensured that the crop soon spread all across south India and the British began exporting this product all over the world. The original species called Arabica, referring to its origin, was getting easily infested by a fungus. Another species, which withstood this, was appropriately named ‘Robusta’.
• It was in Kafa highlands of southeastern Ethiopia that the wild coffee plant have yielded its secret and the knowledge of Ethiopians about the properties of the country’s extensive flora initiated the process of Coffee popularity, leading to its cultivation.
• According to a folktale, centuries ago a shepherd noticed a unique smell on the breath of his goats. Following the goats, he traced the plant leaves they had been consuming, and took them home to be boiled. This leaf infusion is still popular in parts of Ethiopia, and is said to be high in antioxidants.
• In time, people noticed that birds ate the coffee bean — and they began to roast it to eat. As for the eventual progression to grinding the beans and preparing a cup of coffee, little is documented, but even today the Ethiopians have a stylized coffee ceremony and this ceremony may hold the clues to this discovery.
• Ethiopia possesses 99.8 per cent of the world’s genetic diversity of Arabica. And it is believed that for the coffee plantation industry across the continents with very little genomic variety, probably the protection from leaf rust fungus that has hit the Latin American crop of Arabica Coffee lies in studying these genomic varieties.

References

“Where the Wild Coffee Grows – The Untold Story of Coffee from the Cloud Forests of Ethiopia to Your Cup review: Behind the brew” – Book by Jeff Koehler

Author Suranjana Nandi’s article in Spice Route – In flight magazine of spice jet.

Click here to read about the Amla Plantation in Rajsamand

Click here to read about the top 10 places to visit in Kerala

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