When Tsai Hsing, a 68-year-old farmer from New Taipei City, retired from his job working as a wholesaler in the textile and apparel industry eight years ago, he moved back to his hometown in Sanzhi District to breath life back into the farmland that his father had left him. The land had run fallow after years of neglect, but after seeking out an expert pear farmer named Huang Lai-wang in Danshui District to teach him how to farm, Tsai became the first person in Sanzhi to cultivate the Japanese Hosui pear, reaching an average sweetness as high as 13 degrees Brix — a standard measurement of sugar content.
In recalling the past, Tsai says that he worked in the textile trade for several decades and had several shops in Taipei, adding that though he lived a life of elegance, after many years he had grown sick of the busy city life and decided he would upon retiring take up idyllic life again and return to the farmland left to him by his father.
Tsai says that the more than 6,000 ping (19,935m2) of farmland his father left to him had once been a paddy rice field, but had been abandoned for many years in accordance with the government’s policy regarding fallow farmland. He spent half a year plowing the land, using organic fertilizer and expanding the farming area, but had no idea what he was going to grow at the time.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者賴筱桐
One day when he was driving past Huang’s orchard he saw row upon row of full-grown pears. Huang ardently taught him how to grow pears and all the tricks of the trade. When farming Tsai followed all of the skills that he had learned from his mentor and has had bountiful harvests year after year ever since. He also makes his own fake eagles and snakes that he hangs in the pear trees to keep the birds away.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
新北市六十八歲農民蔡興原從事服裝批發業,八年前退休回到故鄉三芝,將父親留下荒廢多年的農地重新整理活化,並向淡水「水梨達人」黃來旺拜師學藝,如今成為三芝栽培豐水梨第一人,甜度高達十三度。
蔡興回想,從事服裝買賣生意二、三十年,在台北市開了數家門市,十分風光,但長年下來,對都市忙碌生活有些厭煩,想起長輩留在故鄉的地,決定退休重拾田園生活。
蔡興表示,父親留下六千多坪田地,早期種水稻,配合政府休耕政策,荒蕪多年,他花半年將地整平,施用有機肥,擴大田區,但要種什麼卻摸不著頭緒。
有次他開車經過黃來旺的果園,看到結實纍纍的水梨,黃來旺也熱心教授栽種水梨的「撇步」;蔡興得到師父「真傳」,「照步」栽培,果然連年豐收,還自製老鷹及蛇的標本吊掛樹上,防鳥類偷吃。
(自由時報記者賴筱桐)
A: Wow, three Taiwanese restaurants just won the 2024 “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” awards. B: Awesome! Which three restaurants? A: Taipei’s Logy at No. 22 and MUME at No. 34, and Taichung’s JL Studio at No. 33. B: Actually, there are many more great establishments in Taipei. How about other Asian cities? A: Singapore claimed nine spots this year, making it Asia’s new “food capital.” A: 2024「亞洲50最佳餐廳」名單揭曉了,台灣有3家餐廳上榜。 B: 好厲害,哪3家? A: 台北的Logy和MUME分獲第22和34名,台中的JL Studio獲第33名! B: 其實台北還有很多好餐廳,那其他的亞洲城市呢? A: 新加坡今年入選9家,可說是亞洲美食之都。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Let’s explore another delicacy primarily known to Tainan locals: floating milkfish in thick soup. Despite its peculiar name, this dish is another Tainan specialty that showcases the popularity of milkfish, which is made into fish paste and served in thick soup. Unlike the version with tutuo fish, which also adds other ingredients to its thick soup, the floating milkfish version primarily features the “floating fish” itself in its thick soup, ensuring that the fish paste remains the star of the dish. 讓我們來探索另一道台南人熟悉的美食:浮水魚羹。這道菜名奇特的美食,再再展現了台南虱目魚料理的多樣。浮水魚羹是用虱目魚漿做成的羹品,雖然和𩵚魠魚羹一樣是羹湯,但不像𩵚魠魚羹會在湯中加入其他食材,而是讓虱目魚漿成為這道料理的主角。 peculiar (adj.) 獨特的;古怪的 The belly of a milkfish is considered the most
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