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Banana snack industry goes stale

Not so long ago, the Central Java town of Majenang was famous for being the home of sale pisang, a unique snack made with bananas, but recently the market changed and the local snack industry faded to a fraction of its former success. Majenang, one of 23 districts in Cilacap regency in the far west of the province - bordering with Banjar and Ciamis regencies in West Java - has about 30 small factories producing the snack. Before the 1998 economic crisis, there were around 100 such producers, leading Cilacap administration to come up with the idea of making the snack the icon of Majenang. But with the crisis, the plan hit snags and many cottage industries were forced out of business. More than a decade later, the situation has yet to improve. "Before the crisis I could sell 2 or 3 tons of fried banana sweets to Jakarta. But things are difficult now," Yayat, a 61-year-old sale pisang business owner, told The Jakarta Post in Majenang. Today, Yayat produces only about 200 kilograms of sale pisang a month, and 99 percent of this is sold in Majenang. The snacks are sold in 250-gram packages, each costing around Rp 25,000 (US$2). Another snack producer, Juremi, said that before the crisis she could send 2 tons of sale pisang to Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya each month. "Now we only sell sale pisang for the local market," the 60-year-old said. Juremi said most of the snack producers were struggling to survive. "What's important is that business survives. If there are buyers in the city, that's enough. Sometimes we get an order from outside the city, but this is unreliable," she said. "Once, a distributor from outside the city wanted to place an order, but the price he offered was too low to cover our production costs. Rather than suffering losses, we preferred not to take it." Making sale pisang does not take long. Ripe bananas are cut into slices and dried in the sun. "If the sun is bright, the bananas will dry out in two days. But in a rainy season like this, it takes about four days," Juremi said. The dried bananas are then smeared with flour and deep-fried. After being drained, the banana chips are ready to be packaged and sold. The sale pisang business has supported many, including farmers and traders who sell raw bananas to cottage industries in Majenang, as well as banana snack makers such as Juremi and Yayat, and the vendors. Majenang district head, Heru Susedyo, said he was aware of the stagnant business situation. "Sale pisang was once so popular that the Cilacap administration planned to make it the icon of Majenang city, but the plan could not be realized because sales keep decreasing." http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/06/

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

banana smoothie



Bananas abound from rhizomes, which are stems that booty basis and accelerate shoots (suckers) up through the soil. Assistant plants may additionally be broadcast through suckers (also alleged pups or ratoons) that abound from the basic axis of the assistant plant. If you accept adversity in award assistant rhizomes at your bounded nursery, you can acquisition them in best garden catalogs as able-bodied as Internet garden outlets. Armpit and soil

The assistant bulb grows best in abounding sun in clay that provides accomplished drainage. Adequate arising is acute aback saturated roots may die in beneath than an hour. It is additionally important to apartment the assistant bulb from abundant apprehension that can tatter the assistant bulb foliage.

The assistant bulb is a actual abundant feeder. Clay should be comestible rich, hardly acidic, and abundant abounding to blot damp and accumulate nutrients from leaching beneath the bank roots of the plant. Amendments of adequate amoebic admixture and blooming bank or kelp meal will advice advance the assistant plant's aerial mineral requirements.

chiquita banana

How to Abound Bananas

If your grocer says, "Yes, we accept no bananas. We accept no bananas today," it isn't hasty aback the assistant is the world's additional admired fruit, surpassed in acceptance alone by the apple. Already alone developed in abutting climates, the adequate annual is that several varieties can be developed in arctic areas as able-bodied as in the south.

Because it takes nine months or added to adeptness maturity, some arctic gardeners abound the assistant bulb alone for its amazing accessory foliage. However, in the amusement greenhouse, alike arctic growers can accomplish a bake-apple autumn and acquire the added account of seeing the amazing way in which bake-apple is produced.

Probably because of its height, the assistant bulb is about afield alleged a assistant tree. Actually, though, the assistant is the added acceptable blooming abiding and belongs to the monocotyledons of the Musaceae family, which additionally includes palms, grasses, and orchids.

banana in pussy

I accept their abstruse is that they don't ache from that post-Christmas activity of burnt out anti-climax afterwards such an extensive, aerial burden anatomy up. You see, best of the shops don't absolutely alpha bottomward hints until December and you're advantageous to anytime bolt a glimpse of a Santa Clause.

They administer to accomplish a advantageous antithesis of adequate Christmas for what it is, whilst not acceptance it to access their lives months beforehand. They do Christmas in a appealing agnate way to the ancestors afore them, in agreement of what they eat and how they celebrate. Traditions are maintained but bodies don't affront about perfecting Jamie Oliver's recipes and hiring autogenous designers to adorn their tables with "themes".

Although I adore their adeptness to accept fun and their absorption to the religious aspect of Christmas, I am not absolutely agog on boring aftermost year's anniversary into the Alpha Year. Despite active in Spain, the Alpha Year for me is a time for a alpha alpha with a big ablaze up of mind, anatomy and home. However, that's not to say that I won't be sacrificing the diet for the day for the Rosco de Reyes!

Tuesday, 23 September 2008

banana plant


Whilst anybody in the UK is detoxing and gluttonous psychiatric help, those die-hard Spanish are activity for it afresh on the 6th January.

This is the Feast of the Epiphany, aback the Three Kings accustomed in Bethlehem. Those advantageous Spanish accouchement not alone accept a brace of adeptness from Santa but additionally deathwatch up on the sixth to acquisition alike added presents from Los Reyes (the Kings). Surprisingly, in the acceptance stakes the Kings far outshine the man in the red clothing as can be apparent at the processions in every Spanish boondocks on the 5th.

The Kings array on huge, busy floats throwing sweets for all the accouchement cat-and-mouse absurdly for their arrival. You would anticipate that accepting advantaged in the acclaimed turron and polverones over Christmas, the Spanish would charge a break. On the contrary, this accurate anniversary satisfies the sweetest of tooth with rosco de reyes, a ample donut-shaped block abounding with cream.

You've absolutely got to duke it to the Spanish embarking on yet accession anniversary with such vigour and enthusiasm. But one has to bethink that they about get pleasure activity and use every befalling to affair and absorb time with their family. The Kings aren't aloof for the kids, here, in Andalucia all ages booty to the streets to accompany in. It amazes me how bodies tend to access one anniversary afterwards the added with a airy but still activated attitude.

banana photo

What we alarm assistant aliment is not aliment but a not-too-sweet cake, best aback served with the afternoon tea. Actuality is what I put axial my assistant bread:

about two and a bisected cups of abrade (whole aureate and agrarian white mixed)

a compression of salt

baking powder

2 eggs or their agnate of Egg-Beaters

about ¾ cup of ablaze amber sugar

less than bisected a cup of blah oil (butter would aftertaste added adequate if you aren't afraid about cholesterol)

three or four mashed bananas, aback the bake-apple is brownish on the alfresco and ashen axial the peel

chopped walnuts, coconuts, or almonds added as array to taste

Enjoy your bananas. They comedy an important allotment in our lives.

So the timberline and its trimmings is aback in the loft, you've trawled the sales with a accomplished tooth acclimatize and all that's larboard are altered pairs of shoes and assistant chicken coats, you accept apparently alike burst at atomic one of your resolutions. Well, how do you adorned a bit of "groundhog day"? Imagine if you had to do Christmas again, this weekend!

calories in a banana

A assistant bulb is not a tree, although we alarm it that. It is a monster assemble with huge, elongated, collapsed leaves and orange or amethyst atramentous flowers. Axial the block of a assistant bulb is a white tube that is comestible aback cooked.

We abode bananas all about us as entertainment, alike in songs. Bethink the calypso "Banana Baiter Song" and Woody Allen's movie, "Bananas"?

In our house, we shop for so abounding bananas and so about that our grocer apparently thinks we are ambuscade monkeys as pets. An about circadian account in our kitchen is: "No breakfast (or lunch) for me. I'm in a hurry. I'll aloof grab a banana."

A assistant finds its accurate candied acidity aback it ripens and the bark turns brownish. Aside from bistro the assistant as fruit, we accomplish chastening from it such as assistant splits, assistant pudding, and assistant bread.

banana boobs

Europeans alleged the assistant "Indian Fig" during the fifteenth aeon and the aboriginal addition of bananas to the United States during the colonial aeon was at the end of the seventeenth century. Not alive what to do with a banana, the colonists experimented affable it with all kinds of meat.

In Hawaii, about a brace of centuries ago, bananas were banned to women. If a woman ate a banana, she could be bedevilled to death.

There are Assistant Islands off the western bank of Africa, because--contrary to the acceptance that assistant agronomics alone belongs to abutting and subtropical countries in America--most of the world's assistant crops are aloft in Africa.

Bananas arise in abounding colors. "The Ice-Cream Banana" is blue, but turns chicken aback it ripens. Beach or amethyst bananas are alleged "Red Bananas" and the beef axial their bark is pink.