Module 15 and 16 Floral Industry n Local Fruits

L-030-3
Level 3
Module 15 &16

Floral industry and local fruits

1.
a) Seasonal fruits; - Malaysia is a country which is rich of tropical fruits and there are fruits’ season. Among the seasonal fruits are durian, mangosteen, rambutan, chempedak and jack-fruit or commonly known locally as nangka. Malaysian is fond of durian and regarded as a favorite. It is also known as king of the fruits. Durian discharges a strong aroma which may in somehow prove to be unbearable for some people. Mangosteen goes hand in hand with durian and while durian is known as king of fruits, mangosteen meanwhile is regarded as queen of the fruits. Durian is heaty in nature while mangosteen is the reverse of it. Mangosteen is known as manggis in Malay language. Rambutan is found during its season which red in colour and the flesh is whitish clear. It is called rambutan because of its hairy skin. The rambutan comes from the word ‘rambut’ which means hair. Fruits season are normally in the month of May, June and July. During fruits season, many of these fruits are displayed and put on the roadside for sale.



b) Non-seasonal fruits ;-There are fruits that are available all year round, and among them are banana, papaya, pineapple ,watermelon, star-fruits, pomelos, guava and ciku.

c) Food and fruits festival; - Food and fruits festival or exhibition was held to promote Malaysia very own authentic food and local tropical fruits to tourist. It is also intended to encourage local to consume our local fruits and even to the extend to grow local fruit trees within their compound of their house. The objective which was primily to promote and introduce Malaysian fruits is also to create awareness for Malaysian as a whole not to be too dependent on imports of fruits from abroad. Malaysia is a fruit paradise and tropical fruits are easily available. The recent food festival was held in PISA Penang on 13th to 15th March, 2009 under the theme of “iFoodex”. Local fruits are also exhibit there. In Kuala Lumpur, it was held at Dataran Merdeka on 30th, May, 2009 under the theme “Food and Fruits Parade”.


2. Narration on spices and usage of spices in local dish

a) Nutmeg; - also known as “ buah pala” in Malay is a nice and aromatic when it process. The nutmeg itself is usually cut into slices and steam with rock sugar to make into nutmeg juice which is a very aromatic beverages to drink. The seed of nutmeg is use to cook together with curries or soup to enhance the aroma.

b) Cloves; - a kind of tropical spices in cooking of local dishes. The most common is the “nasi briyani “a kind of turmeric rice cooked with cloves. “Nasi briyani” can easily be found in Indian Muslim restaurant throughout Malaysia, but very commonly found in Penang. It can provide a tasteful and aromatic flavor to the rice. It can also use to cooking of curries as well. Cloves can be made into oil and is use as a remedy for ailments like cough, bronchitis, common cold, fever band soar throat.


c) Pepper;-also known as “lada’ in Malay, it is a very common in Malaysian dishes. Usually it is used as a seasoning in certain dishes. Pepper can add to the flavor of the dish. Its spicy nature will promote our appetite. In order to make into a seasoning, pepper in its original dried fruits is grinded into powder. It is commonly use to add into porridge to provide an aromatic taste to the food. It is also use for the local Chinese to make into “lor bak” a kind of minced meat added with some spices with pepper to make into a fried sausage. Peppers are sometime added into soup to make it more tasteful.


3. The “Marketing and promotion” strategies Malaysian government is undertaking to promote floral and fruits industry.
Malaysian government through its own agency which is FAMA (Federal Agricultural and Marketing Authority) is the main agency that is currently promoting Malaysian fruits and floral product to global market. For an instance, it had continued to provide support to farmers in technical advice, financial support and research for them to produce quality fruits for international market. Organic fertilizers are provided for farmers to grow their fruit trees. FAMA is also responsible to open and create new market overseas and market Malaysian floral and fruits. With the support from the Ministry of Agriculture, with a favorable and reasonable pricing of the fruits and floral products it will continue to encourage and motivate the farmers to continue to produce better products. Due to the support provided, Malaysian fruits had been successfully marketed in Japan, example of fruits are papaya and mangosteen.