A tasty, natural snack...
I remember loving to gnaw on this stuff when we were in Montserrat, but hadn't had it for years and years, until one of the sweetest little girls who participated in one of the Kalabia programs brought some to the Education team after the program was finished... what a treat!
Thus I found out that it grows in most of the islands of Raja Ampat, and is often considered a weed! Now I know to source it out!!! In fact, I have since read that sugar cane, actually a grass, is thought to have originated in Papua, and spread throughout the world from there.
It’s so addictive! I love just sitting around, hanging out, chatting, chewing sugar cane… that unique crunch, then squishing all the goodness out of the pulp… mmm… I can't believe that after several years in Raja Ampat, I have just become aware that it grows here!
The people consider it a weed, and other than chew it (and mostly just kids, at that), they don’t use it.
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| Hangin' out on the bowsprit, chewing sugar cane, enjoying the stunning scenery in Misool. |
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| ... and brought some back to Sorong with me as well! |
The people consider it a weed, and other than chew it (and mostly just kids, at that), they don’t use it.
… why they don’t take advantage of it in the villages to produce their own sugar puzzles me beyond belief… I mean, maybe the initial overhead is a little high, but if the community went together to purchase or engineer a crusher/squeezer/juicer, and all used it only for personal use, then it seems to me, they would save a LOT of money on sugar (in a world where money for sugar is very scarce), and make good use of something that is currently a ‘weed’!
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