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.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS