Orchids as Food and Medicine..

         Orkid bukan sahaja dijadikan sebagai tumbuhan hiasan semata-mata tetapi juga sebagai ubat, makanan haiwan, minyak wangi hinggalah dijadikan makanan manusia..Banyak Negara-negara atau tempat-tempat di dunia menjadikan orkid sebagai makanan..bukan sahaja pada masa dahulu tetapi sehingga hari ini, ada juga yang telah menjadi makanan tradisi negara tertentu.. Apa yang saya senaraikan di sini ialah pelbagai cara manusia mejadikan orkid sebagai sumber makanan.

Vanilla

        Semua orang mengetahui tentang perisa Vanilla. Ia terkenal di seluruh dunia..kerana Vanilla telah menjadi bahan perisa penting dalam makanan. Di negara Cuba, vanilla dijadikan perisa makanan dan perisa tembakau. Pada kurun ke 16 dan 19 Vanilla dipercayai mampu meningkatkan tenaga batin..

       

       Vanilla juga mempunyai nilai-nilai terapeutik seperti membantu penghadaman, meredakan sakit kepala dan mengurangkan bisa sengatan haiwan..Selain itu Kajian pada tahun 1092 mendapati bahawa Vanilla mampu menambahkan selera makan dan mengurangkan rasaloya dan muntah-muntah kepada pesakit yang menjalani rawatan kemoterapi. Pada tahun 2004 kajian menunjukkan bahawa vanilla boleh digunakan untuk mendiagnosis penyakit Alzheimer kerana mereka yang menghidapnya tidak dapat mengenal bau vanilla. Pendek kata vanilla merupakan spesis orkid yang paling terkenal dan meluas penggunaannya oleh manusia.

        Orchids are not only used for their ornamental value but for their medicinal properties, for perfume preparation, as fodder and even as food for humans.They are very useful. People around the world  use orchids in preparation of foods in a lot of ways..Some have been their traditional delicacies for centuries. 

        Vanilla is the most famous orchid for its flavor all over the world.  In Cuba It has been used to flavor food and tobacco. Not only was Vanilla considered a wonderful flavouring for foods and beverages, but from the 16th to 19th centuries it was considered to be an aphrodisiac and to have therapeutic values, from aiding digestion and preventing headaches to counteracting poisons and bites. A recent study in 1992 discovered that Vanilla improves food intake and reduces nausea and vomiting in patients given chemotherapy. A research In 2004 proved Vanilla as a tool for diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in that patients cannot smell vanilla. In terms of this post Vanilla in fact being the most famous orchid for foods.

The flower of Vanilla planifolia, the most famous orchid that can be used as food..but there are people especially outside the orchid league who doesn't realize that vanilla flavour comes from an orchid. 

Tak ramai yang pernah tengok secara live bunga ni (termasuklah saya) Vanilla Planifolia. Dan ada sesetengah orang yang tak pernah tahu pun yang perisa vanilla adalah berasal dari buah orkid ini, terutamanya yang tak minat orkid lah..

Bundles of dried Vanilla seed pods.

Perasa vanilla datang dari buah vanilla yang telah dikeringkan ini..

Berikut secara ringkas saya senaraikan kegunaan orkid di tempat-tempat lain di seluruh dunia. 

Below, I’ve listed other uses of orchids from other places all over the world.

Asia

        Batang dendrobium jenis ‘Soft cane’ digoreng sebagai sayur. Dan di Singapura dan Jepun ia dijadikan ramuan untuk membuat sos masakan.

       Mature canes of many “soft-cane” dendrobiums are being stir fried in many Asian countries, also being used for making sauses in Japan and Singapore. 

Dendrobium nobile adalah salah satu spesis yang berbatang lembut..

Dendrobium nobile is a soft cane type.

China

       Bunga Dendrobium Chrysotoxsum, Chrysanthum. Digunakan untuk dijadikan minuman teh. Batang Dendrobium cathenatum direbus untuk mengembalikan tenaga selepas hubungan kelamin atau baru pulih dari sakit. Dalam perubatan cina orkid dikeringkan untuk digunakan sebagai ubat kanser hinggalan untuk memulihkan mata yang rabun. Dendrobium chrysotoxum dijadikan minuman teh.

       In China Dendrobium cathenatum canes are boiled for tea to regain strength after sex or illness. Orchids have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. Some of its species are used in traditional Chinese medicine. According to a research, use of dried orchids ranges from cancer treatment to eye-sight improvement. While  Dendrobium chrysotoxum flowers are being dried and consumed as tea for pleasure or good health.

 Dendrobium cathenatum

Twisted dried dendrobium canes used as medicine.

Dried Denrobium nobile canes to treat fever,coughs,lung, stomach tonic.

Sarawak (Borneo)

       Spesis Arundina graminifolia dijadikan sayur, biasanya digoreng.

       

       There’s a stir fried Arundina graminifolia. If you like to see how it looks like.. here

 Bamboo orchid. Arudina graminifolia

Taiwan

       Daun Jewel orkid..Anoectochilus dijadikan teh untuk diminum. Dpercayai ia mampu untuk merawat tekanan darah tinggi, gula berlebihan di dalam darah, masalah hati dan pundi hempedu.

Anoectochilus formosanus (Pearl orchid) is a terrestrial orchid that grow in virgin forests at an altitude of 500-1,800 metres above sea level. Although this species was once commonly found throughout the mountainous areas of Taiwan, it has long been eagerly sought after because of its value in treating high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and disorders of the liver and gall bladder.

The leaves of Jewel orchid are used to make a herbal tea, by itself or mixed with other herbs.

USA

        Orkid dijadikan hiasan makanan seperti salad dan pencuci mulut. Dendrobium hybrid (jenis Biggibum) dijual untuk dijadikan hiasan makanan sekaligus boleh dimakan.

        Orchid used as food garnishing such as desserts and salads..Dendrobium hybrid (bigibbum type) flowers are even sold in The US as edible decorations for food. 

Edible sugar coated orchid was put in the center of this chocolate cupcakes. 

Orkid bersalut gula yang boleh dimakan menjadi hiasan kek cawan.

Thailand 

      Bunga orkid dicelup tepung dan digoreng

      

      In Thailand, Dendrobium flowers are dipped in batter and deep fried,

This is an orchid dipped in batter and deep fried ..Wanna try? 

Inilah rupanya orkid celup tepung..Di rumah boleh buat ni..

Eropah

         Ramai yang menjadikan orkid sebagai hiasan manisan dan kek.

         Spesis Orchis juga dipercayai mempunyai kesan  untuk mencegah demam, sakit perut dan cirit birit. Teh Bourbon yang popular pada abad ke 19 dibuat dengan mencampurkan bunga orkid dari Mauritius seperti Jumellia fragrans. Teh ini dikatakan mempunyai kesan sedatif.  Selain itu extrak alcohol juga dihasilkan dan disapukan pada hujung jari untuk memperbaiki deria sentuhan.

         Many European cooks garnish desserts and cakes with them.

        They were first known in England for their medicinal properties. William Turner in the first English Herbal (1568) gave four main uses, including the treatment of alcoholic gastritis! Eleven years later, Williams Langham reported anti-pyretic, anti-consumption and anti-diarrhoeal effects. Bourbon tea, popular in the nineteenth century, was made from an infusion of orchids from Mauritius and Reunion that included Jumellea fragrans. The tea was thought to be a sedative. A tincture was also made to apply to the fingertips and improve the sense of touch.

 Jumellia fragrans once used in tea.

Australia

         Batang dendrobium Kingianum telah lama dijadikan makanan oleh orang asli. Begitu juga spesis Gastrodia sesmoides, dendrobium speciosum dan caladenia. Dikatakan ubi Diuris maculata sebesar kacang pis mempunyai rasa yang manis.

         Dendrobium kingianum pseudobulbs have been used by the aborigines in Australia as food for no one knows how long. Besides Dendrobium kingianum many other orchid species were employed as emergency bush food and were used by the Australian aborigines and early settlers (Gastrodia sesamoides (roasted), Dendrobium speciosum and Caladenia species). Diuris maculata is said to have sweet-tasting tubers (at $30 a tuber in the US. Diuris would be very expensive to try since its bulbs are the size of a pea). 

 

Dendrobium kingianum

 

Flowers of Gastrodia sessamoides. A saphrophytic orchid. 

Gastrodia sessamoides sejenis orkid safrofit yang tidak mempunyai batang atau daun..

Gasrodia sessamoides tubers. used as food by Australian aborigines.

Nepal

         Spesis dendrobium dijeruk. Ramai petani yang memotong daun cymbidium dan coelogyne untuk dijadikan makanan ternakan.

         Dendrobium flowers are used in Nepal for pickle. Many farmers cut Cymbidium leaves or Coelogyne tubers to feed their animals.

Pickled orchids was used in this western style cooking.. 

Jeruk orkid digunakan dalam masakan barat ini..

Turki

          Ubi dari Spesis Orchis (Orchid mascula) dijadikan tepung yang dikenali sebagai salep. Ia dijadikan sebagai ramuan untuk minuman, dicampurkan di dalam roti dan aiskrim. Juga sebagai bekalan makanan ketika mengembara.

          Tubers from Orchis Species were grounded into powder which is known as salep. Salep is a starchy, sweet substance that can be added to bread or make into a drink and the famous Turkish Ice cream ‘Dondurma’. It is historically known for its high nutrient content and was used by travelers as a meal replacement.

Orchis mascula

Benua Afrika

         Ubi daripada beberapa spesis orkid tanah seperti Oeceoclades dan Eulophia telah dijadikan makanan sejak beratus tahun dahulu. Sehingga kini dilaporkan sebanyak hamper 77 spesis orkid di benua Afrika dijadikan makanan.

Di Zambia ubi orkid tanah yang dipanggil cikanda atau kinaka direbus dan diproses untuk dijadikan sejenis makanan. Antara spesis yang terlibat ialah Disa, Habenaria dan Satyrium.

         Orchids have been used in Africa as food for hundreds of years. First to be “discovered” were the terrestrials Oeceoclades and Eulophia, Over 77 species of orchids are used as food in Africa.

In Zambia, the boiled orchid root tubers of terrestial orchids called Chikanda or Kinaka are used to make a food dish,. The orchids involved are from three genera: Disa, Habenaria and Satyrium.

 

Chikanda, a Zambian dish that uses orchid tubers, peanuts and chilli..If you want to know how to make chikanda visit here

Hawaii

        Penduduk  kepulauan Hawaii telah lama menjadikan orkid sebagai bahan campuran di dalam salad,memasak orkid dengan scallop (sejenis siput) atau membuat orkid bersalut gula semenjak tahun 1960-an lagi.

        People in Hawaii have been making salad dishes, cooking orchids and scallops together or have made sugar coated orchid candies since the 1960s.

A very colourful orchid salad..

Bhutan

        Kudup bunga orkid dari spesis Cymbidium hookerianum atau elegans dicampurkan di dalam kari untuk memberikan rasa yang sedikit pahit..

        The buds of Cymbidium hookerianum and C. Elegans, are used by the Bhutanese as an ingredient in curries , giving the food a slightly bitter taste.

 Cymbidium elegans

 Cymbidium hookerianum

India

        Biji benih orkid cymbidium ditempelkan pada luka untuk menghentikan pendarahan.

        In India, Cymbidium seeds areapplied to cuts and injuries as a haemostatic.

 

 

Cymbidium Erythraceum. One of the Indian Cymbidium..

Amerika Selatan

        Penduduk di sana menggunakan orkid sebagai ejen pengentalan dalam penghasilan keju.

        Locals in South American use and orchid as a curdling agent to make cheese.

South American cheese..Im not sure which type that they used orchids maybe the homemade ones..

Iran

         Bunga dari spesis Orchis juga djadikan haruman. Selain itu ubi yang muda akan dicampur dengan susu kambing sebagai peningkat tenaga batin manakala ubi yang kering untuk mengurangkannya. Juga sebagai bahan antiseptic atau gangguan perut yang disebabkan oleh meminum wine, Selain itu juga untuk meredakan demam, cirit birit dan meningkatkan kesuburan lelaki.

        From the same orchids perfume is made in Iran. Tender tuber and goat milk was

used for aphrodisiac, while dry topical tuber as anti-aphrodisiac, antiseptic or gastro-intestinal

problems associated with wine. Tubers were used for their anti-pyretic effect, anti-diarrheal or to increase fertility in men. 

Wall carving of a servant in ancient Persia, holding container with aromatic oils from 5th century BC.

Orchis pinetorum. One of the Iranian Orchis species

        Kesimpulannya semua orkid selamat untuk dimakan tetapi ada sesetengahnya yang boleh menyebabkan sedikit ketidakselesaan perut. Realitinya tiada orkid yang beracun tetapi orkid yang ditanam lebih di utamakan sebagai makanan. Sekurang-kurangnya orkid yang ditanam itu perlu dibiarkan bersih dari racun serangga selama sebulan sebelum betul-betul selamat untuk dimakan.

       Finally The blooms of all orchids are considered safe for consumption, but some species may irritate the stomach. In reality, none of the orchids are poisonous, so all orchids are edible; but orchids grown as food is more desirable, and at least one month is necessary to completely wash off all the pesticides.

       Sekian..entri saya buat kali ini. Ambil masa jugak nak prepare semua informasi ni dan juga nak cari gambar-gambar..untuk dikongsi dengan anda.. Semoga apa yang dipaparkan memberi manfaat kepada semua. Jumpalagi di entri yang seterusnya..

       It takes quite sometime to prepare all this information and pictures..to share with all of you..Anyway, thanks for your time. Thanks for visiting my blog..Hope that all was given has been informative and useful to you..see you in another post..

Oh..before I forget. I appreciate any comments if you would like to, cause maybe I made mistakes or some infos that is not accurate..

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 

 

Gerard De Nerval