39. 胡芦巴 (hú lú bā) – Fenugreek – Trigonella foenum-graecum
I’m posting this as an example of one of the problems I am up against. The same story applies to many spices and herbs.
Fenugreek, as I’m sure everyone here will be aware is most associated with Indian cuisine. India and China have had a fractured relationship for decades – this mainly manifests itself in the ongoing border disputes played out on top of bleak, barely accessible mountain tops in the Himalayas. It frequently breaks into actual shooting at each other.
It also results in there being very little chance of me sourcing ingredients associated with India. I have, for example, never seen basmati rice in any store, supermarket or market. I can but it online but it comes from Pakistan. So, the choice of spices is also limited.
Fenugreek, known as methi in India, is one of my favourites, either the leaves as a herb or the seeds as a spice. But it is unavailable here – or so I thought.
I was in a local traditional pharmacy yesterday (looking for something non-eG related) and spotted something I thought I recognised. Yes, turmeric seeds! And they are grown in China’s Anhui Province. It turns out they are used in TCM to cure everything except gullibility!
The only problem is that I can only buy them in loads of 500 grams. So, I broke my usual rule of only ever buying spices in small amounts and grabbed a bag (it was only $2.30 USD equivalent). I have planted a few to see if they germinate, but I’m not confident. Still, I’m happy with the seeds.
