Oryza Sativa, red rice, jaranga, jarwa, overhead... almost everywhere I go in this tiny rice farming country there is a different name for this plant; a terrible weed.
A number of years ago I had the chance to fulfill one of my lifelong travel wishes - to visit Bali. I'd long desired to discover this island kingdom. For nearly 2000 years Hinduism has existed in Indonesia and Bali, with over 20,000 temples, is one of the last bastions of this philosophical tradition. Synthesized ancient Hindu and Indonesian archipelago local traditions fascinated me.
Little did I consider what the local food would be. Dishes like nasi rames (rice with veg) and abundant choice of lush fruits made this pleasant dining for a vegetarian. The Balinese are produce copious amounts and varieties of rice and sometimes do unexpected things. Black sticky rice pudding enticed me but did not whet my appetite. Colourful, massive sculptures honour gods on holy occasions. There is even a special rice that's used to make tea! Leafing through photos of this escapade, I recognized something I had forgotten - a packet of red rice.
I remember when I first bought it in a little village market somewhere between Ubud & Denasar what a trill it was to see such a rainbow plethora of rice goodness. And now, when examining that packet closely (by zooming in the photo and hunting down the packet from a dusty rubbermaid bin) I realize it is the same grain that has so many different names in Guyana! What delight to see this but then surprise when I realized now I have such a different perspective on the meaning of this grain that is no longer a nifty alternative to brown, but the most dreadful weed that can invade a Guyanese rice field.
2011's second crop was struck particularly hard by jaranga and at first when I started seeing semi-mature fields I wasn't sure what I was looking at when I saw those infested fields - was it rice or a field left fallow?!
A number of years ago I had the chance to fulfill one of my lifelong travel wishes - to visit Bali. I'd long desired to discover this island kingdom. For nearly 2000 years Hinduism has existed in Indonesia and Bali, with over 20,000 temples, is one of the last bastions of this philosophical tradition. Synthesized ancient Hindu and Indonesian archipelago local traditions fascinated me.
Little did I consider what the local food would be. Dishes like nasi rames (rice with veg) and abundant choice of lush fruits made this pleasant dining for a vegetarian. The Balinese are produce copious amounts and varieties of rice and sometimes do unexpected things. Black sticky rice pudding enticed me but did not whet my appetite. Colourful, massive sculptures honour gods on holy occasions. There is even a special rice that's used to make tea! Leafing through photos of this escapade, I recognized something I had forgotten - a packet of red rice.
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| red rice in a field |
2011's second crop was struck particularly hard by jaranga and at first when I started seeing semi-mature fields I wasn't sure what I was looking at when I saw those infested fields - was it rice or a field left fallow?!
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| Balinese tea rice & red rice |
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