Vanilla products from Taiwan have received this year’s Superior Taste Award from the Brussels-based International Taste Institute, the Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station said on Wednesday.
The two products were “Organic Vanilla Beans” produced by the Taoyuan-based Harmony Organic Agriculture Foundation, which received the honor for the second consecutive year, and “Vanilla Ville Vanilla Pods” produced by the Pingtung County-based Linbian Natural and Culture Preservation Association.
Linbian Natural and Culture Preservation Association head Chen Chin-chao (陳錦超) said the organization’s profile increased after winning the award earlier this year, even prompting a call from Taiwanese master baker Wu Pao-chun (吳寶春).
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
In addition, Chen and Tseng Yu-cheng (曾鈺誠), owner of the Harmony Organic Agriculture Foundation, said both organizations cooperate with photoelectric industries to generate power on their farmland.
Yeh Chih-hsin (葉志新), an associate researcher at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, said the station has studied Vanilla planifolia cultivation and processing development for 15 years.
Taiwanese vanilla pod products are very fragrant and sweet after being processed and extracted, with 50 percent higher vanillin content than products from Madagascar, a globally renowned vanilla producer, Yeh said.
Vanillin is the ingredient that gives vanilla its distinct aroma.
Vanilla pods typically cost US$150 to US$300 per kilogram retail. In Taiwan, they sell for NT$20,000 to NT$40,000 (US$618 to US$1,235), Yeh said.
Taiwan is expected to produce about 10 to 12 tonnes of vanilla pods this year, with a total value of NT$200 million to NT$400 million, Yeh added.
The International Taste Institute evaluates food products with a jury composed of professional chefs and sommeliers who judge the products according to criteria including first impression, vision, olfaction, taste and texture (for food) or final sensation (for drinks), the institute said on its Web site.
To win the Superior Taste Award, products have to score more than 90 percent, it said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS