What amazes me and annoys me the most is that for this being some of the "most expensive" items in the world, workers almost always seem to be paid 8 dls a month...
capitalism supports the existence of the middle men and their liberty no matter how much it's abused. anyway, these people need to be kept poor. that makes the others rich.
Eventually more and more people from these countries won’t want to do these jobs anymore, and instead move to the capitalist first world countries. Then it would be their issue to give them proper salary while the commodity becomes even more expensive or just unavailable because nobody wanna do the work anymore. And then who would they blame? Not the capitalist overlords, that’s for sure.
I have a exporting company specialised in spices from Kerala, the amount of time, care and dedication the farmers putting into their plants are commendable,but often they may not get fruits of their labour, mostly middle men exploits them. We try to work with the farmers directly but often they may not have capacity to store and process. Where as middle men buys the spices at low cost they store them for long time sell it higher price, even some time they create artificial shortage and increase the price.
to be more precise salt crystal other than sodium chloride is difficult to describe the taste without sodium chloride. The best example is MSG. If you taste MSG itself you cant really tell the taste but mixed with normal salt it makes the salt less tangy and more complex taste. So you don't need to worry about getting salt that is sweet. they need to make it salty to show the differences between salt products.
Well I would not tell you to worry, but do be aware that salts from different sources do taste different! I did not realize this until I experienced the world of salt from various sources! It is very interesting!
@@estelleandjason I’m interested; how do they taste different? Is it just a higher level of saltiness, or is there truly different tastes, like the difference between a red and green apple?
I give so much respect to these hard workers..people, including myself, take certain spices for granted. This is definitely eye opening. I will keep this in mind the next time I cook. Without these wonderful people involved, I would never know the incredible spices produced.
I dare to say, that this is the message we should get from these videos. In todays world we tend to forget (often forced because of economical circumstances) that time is a very important ingredient and the reason why some things are more expensive (and should be)
The amount of times it's been "roasted" isn't a selling point though... It won't be better because it's roasted more times, it's done the right amount of times for the flavor they are looking for. How did you fail to understand any of that? The idiocy is immense.
One of the keys to the taste of that reed salt is it is lower in sodium than other salt sources. Filling a pot with plant ashes and water then straining and evaporated is how we get potash which is the earliest method of concentrating potassium salts. There is a product available at most grocery stores called NoSalt marketed towards people with high blood pressure. In truth, it is potassium chloride rather than sodium chloride. It is still salt, it just doesn't affect blood pressure because sodium and potassium can both fully saturate a water solution without affecting the solubility of the other. It can, however, cause a heart attacks and kidney failure in high quantities.
I had lots of suspicions about the benefits of Bamboo salts the salt producers were claiming. And at the end of that part those questions were raised by the host and answered. I admire the honesty in making this documentary.
It was not honest. They say the benefits are yet to be fully uncovered. In truth, it was studied and they found there are no health benefits. It is just dirty salt.
Franklin Roosevelt? I need to know the story behind his name. Has to be super interesting. I love this series and can’t wait to try so many of the things I’ve seen.
@@dwaipayandebnath4232 Interesting! Would these Catholics usually adopt Anglo-style names? I got the impression that their names would be more Portuguese or Hispanic.
@@SacredDaturaa The more southwards you go it's more Anglo-names. Also in the north east its Anglo-names (but its post independence spread of Catholicism). But close to bombay or goa you will find Portuguese names/or last names such as Silva (quite common across those regions)
I am a little suspect to his “science” on filtering out microplastics. If you heat them in a sealed kiln how are they filtered out? They can only be heated and consolidated with existing salt in the bamboo tube.
It's also completely irrelevant, because you are almost definitely going to put that salt on something that would bioaccumulate microplastics as well, likely in far greater levels? Frankly just buy rocksalt if you want salt without any plastic, or any salt that's decently reputable? Crystallization removes most all impurities... Anyway the whole thing is clearly pointless, there's no 'oil' in bamboo that wouldn't have vaporized if plastic is doing the same. "Good ingredients" my arse, the closest thing that could remain after that is a bit of ash. Might as well have thrown in a pack of mineral gummies, they probably would have contributed more.
Yeah... the bamboo salt really came off as buying a "fashionable" salt and not anything truly special in any chemical or scientific way. Just like pink seasalt, it's just salt of a different shade and nothing about it is special beyond the color/process...
Nothing you do could support them unless you visit and meet these workers in real life. Then you provide them some financial aid or some gift showing appreciation in real life .
Bamboo salt cured my cancer and cured my blindness. You should honestly come to your own conclusion. Buy a small amount from a TRUSTED source. See if you like it. The first part of my comment was just an everyday joke my friend.
This episode is making me crave a masala chai with the perfect blend of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Hmm I wonder if I could add dash of salt on top? Respect to all the workers!
My God.... I have used cinnamon, cardamom and cloves my whole life but had no idea how hard some people work so we can sit in our homes and enjoy their delectable taste. I have so much respect for these workers. This sure is an eye opener, educative and sobering. I feel immense gratitude for Mother Nature and for these people who toil so hard. Our earth is truly a magical place and we are failing to serve it. I am overwhelmed and in tears. I believe that nature worship is the right thing, which ancient civilizations understood. We are at Her mercy . 🙏🙏❗❗
Our whole lifestyle in so called western countries is based on the hard work of other people who don't get much for it. It started long ago with colonialism and never stopped.
While we enjoy all these spices and salt in our foods and for other reasons, it's been very touching to note the difficult and risky jobs these poor people are doing to bring those wonderful products to us. May they be blessed for all their skills and hard work.🙏
I hadn't realized how labour intensive the harvesting & production of Cardamom, Clove & Ceylon Cinnamon are. As for the salts, I hadn't heard about them before. It's a shame how much of a negative impact Climate Change has on these spices, especially because the regions that are affected most are the ones that contribute the least to Climate Change.
Australia and USA currently both getting extreme flooding, fires, and storms multiple times a year. Maybe 5 floods this year in Aus. Idk about China. We sell them all our coal though 🤣
That's kinda just how capitalism works no matter what part of the world you're in. In America, workers are barely making ends meet while CEOs have private jets for doing almost nothing.
SUCH GOOD CONTENT!!! I REALLY like this series, A LOT!! The fact that it's expensive has that appeal that gets your attention, but then to show the people at the very beginning of the chain, and feature their hardships and work ethics makes me want to keep watching... there are SO MANY STEPS on most of the products we consume that we would NEVER guess they occur... this series shows us the TRUTH! THANK YOU!
I used to work for a Greek olive oil company. It seems to me that the inherent value of cloves and the inherent value of olives stems from the same source - the oil. If clove farmers were to extract the oil from clove trees using the same extraction process used in olive oil production, it would substantially increase yields, as the fragrant oil that gives cloves value could be extracted from every part of the plant, instead of just the flower buds. It would also increase safety for workers as harvesting could be accomplished in a less precise fashion, without any reduction in the value of the product.
If you watch some of those 'why does this thing cost so much' you will see that the answer is always the same: - abysmally inefficient manual labor. - people that are willing or have no choice but to work for such low wages that any innovation and improvent is not worth it. - elevating the soulbreaking waste of their time and labor to a rank of art and tradition in spite of common sense.
Is this really feasible though? Clove oil is an essential oil rather than a vegetable/seed oil. They are not chemically very similar. Vegetable oils are composed mostly of flammable--but not extremely volatile--fatty acids with a mild odor whereas essential oils are composed of much more volatile, very fragrant, terpene chemicals. Essential oil extraction may be a more delicate process. Could the olive oil extraction process translate easily to cloves? I'm curious to know.
am not sure whether whole cloves being used in Indian cooking and clove oil will have the same flavour profiles. whole spices add a very different dimension compared to powdered or oil versions. Most of our dishes, whether biryanis, curries or teas use mostly whole spices.
These people are so unappreciated Now I realise how my Swedish grandmother valued her Cardamon pods so much to flavour her Easter buns. After 70 years I still have these pods ,they smell so sweet. Maybe I will try to grow them?
In Sweden? The thing about a lot of these spices is that they need tropical weather, that's what made India so rich for so long and why Europeans wanted it so badly
@@ninjadog5800 you could use a cold box or something. not gonna lie, growing my own spices is something i'm gonna try. this is me coming out of canada. growing your own stuff in general helps the bottom line, anyhow. but it'd be real nice to grow my own spices and herbs right in my backyard. i suppose it's not hard if you grow it in the summer or have a pot. then you just give it enough water and full sun and you should be away. same thing works with ginger, i heard. EDIT: i slipped up. it's a cold frame. EDIT 2: no, but really, i think growing smaller tropical plants wouldn't be a problem. larger ones need greenhouses which can get expensive. and they have to be well insulated. in any case, what makes most tropical plants tropical is that they can't tolerate frost, so i'd reckon it's a game of taking it inside when you need to.
It annoys me to no end that highest quality products harvested in their country will be shipped out to the richer country while the locals settled with less than quality ingredients, similar to our country, the better quality raw materials were shipped out and we end up with some 2nd grade products :/
So the concept of trade annoys you? Ignoring the ridiculous claim that “all” of it gets shipped abroad, would you rather the country stop exporting and importing goods? Items of luxury aside, that would mean no import of crucial goods, oil and medicine. People nowadays are sure quick to blame trade for all the perceived wrongs it causes while reaping and ignoring its rewards.
Means of refinement into product is super expensive to build and maintain. And unless all sources of a raw material stood up together and said "no, we want you to pay us more" and could outlast the stalemate, the lowest bidder is going to set the bar.
Well, the richer countries have the money to pay for your over inflated quality products while your own countries don't have the market for it. If your people can't pay let's say 20 dollars for a kg of "real cinnamon" then no one will make it and your in a worse position. You can buy your own high quality products made in your countries. It's just your too poor to do so. In addition, if you get made the richer countries dont have to buy your ingredients but then now you've lost a market to make money
Thanks so much for the cloves segment. I've never seen cloves with their top bud still on, and I had no idea that quality even existed, not that such cloves are within my ability to get... maybe chefs at top notch restaurants can.. so learning about this was very interesting.
A small community in north east India also make something like river reef salt difference is that the Indian people collect weeds and other plants but the process is exactly the same
We have lots of cardamom farmers in my village which just started recently after they heard about it's profit but the thing is after 1 or 2 harvest they give up cardamom plantation because the ground workers (farmers) doesn't get the profit they expected which took so long and so much care that the profit just wasn't worth it. Also finding the right buyer is difficult to find as everyone wants to buy large quantities for the lowest price... For the top level workers (companies) it is very profitable.
That bamboo salt in India is similar to what we call as 'Kala Namak' or Black salt due to its outer coloring. It's expensive though but not as overpriced as that one.
Kala Namak is a type of rock salt. That's why it's a bit expensive than sea salt. But black salt isn't only claimed to be healthy, it's recommended by physicians too.
What about the river salt? LMAO Some kid stuck a stick in his campfire and licked it. Figured out ashes are basically Potassium Chloride and had a salty taste. Compare this to the Soy Sauce tradition and it's apparent why one society lives in mud huts
Thank you for this video. I will never buy more than I need so I never waste any of the spices. I did not realize just how much work goes into production. I would be willing to pay more if I knew the workers and farmers would get more into their pockets and practices are sustainable. It only seems fair.
@@shreythakur9079 I was thinking of somewhere between "exploitation" and "so expensive no one will buy". If people can afford $6 for a cup of coffee, or even $3, they can pay a little more for work that is so labor intensive and that makes such a difference in the local farmers' lives.
Typical woke misdirected thinking. ...I respect their "fweelings" so much I will cut back on buying their products so they can keep more of it. Ever think they might want you to buy MORE so they can friggin survive?
I like this series but especially for this one a little more descriptive narration would have been appreciated. I know it’s all about money but I’m also curious how cardomom pods smell being picked fresh. Like nothing at all? A different smell? Musky? Also, how much do these harvesters make…never mentioned.
you never think about how much work goes into the food we eat. there is a disconnect. but then thats why there has been a movement to growing and producing our own food to remove the disconnect
It is possible to make black salt (bamboo salt) with a lot less work. It is essentially charcoal and salt mixed together. Simply roast the bamboo (with no salt) untill the bamboo turns black. Then grind the bamboo charcoal into dust. Mix charcoal, salt, and water together. Re-bake untill dry. Also, use grinding machines, not chefs knives and hammers. Eating small amounts of charcoal can have some health benefits. There is no need to bake it nine times or chop the salt by hand with hammers, or motor and pestle.
She said “they bake it 9 times as it achieves the LOWEST level of toxicity and HIGHEST amount of minerals in the salt”…. THATS why they do it. By cheating out they would loose that. Sometimes there’s reasons behind why they do it.. pay attention
@@user-mr4pm7jv5e Pay attention to what? They claim it but it's not clear why baking it nine times that way achieves what they say it achieves. It's just NaCl and activated carbon.
@@user-lb8do4ew6k By burning the bamboo to ash you aren’t removing the things in the bamboo, the minerals and alkali in the real bamboo salt will be at insignificant levels anyways
Grateful to all of them for their hard work & glad these spices are available worldwide. As for the bamboo salt for medicinal purposes, why not take bamboo manna instead?
They aren’t joking because I own a produce company down in immokalee Florida and let me tell you for just 25lbs of cinnamon it cost me $550 keep in mind it’s just 25lbs
It's easy to forget that a lot of the products you buy pass through the hands of multiple people on the opposite side of the world (speaking as an American). And it's easy to take it for granted.
its pseudo-science basically Chinese medicine stuff now I'm not saying bamboo that's been obliterated alongside some molten salt might not have some very minor health effects, but the trace minerals left over are near nothing worth noting and its definitely not going to make any real health difference or purify it but people like the taste and love the idea that it might be healthier than plain salt somehow
Salt is salt. The amount of minerals don't matter because you use such small amounts it has no real impact. It's just salt. Your minerals and vitamins should come from the food you eat. Fruits/veggies mainly.
Yes, salt is salt no matter how they are made. In ancient times salt was precious cuz back then people had limited food sources and salt was needed to preserve foods (no frig). Nowadays, those conditions no longer exist. Instead, more and more people are on low salt, low sodium diet for health reasons cuz…..we consume too much processed food that are high in sodium.
I really hope Penzey’s pays these people well because I buy most of all these. I do struggle with how to use cardamom to show its best potential. I won’t embarrass myself with sharing how I used it, but I am open to serious suggestions.
Cardamom is very good in tea, simmer some black tea leaves in water, and add 1-4 cracked cardamom pods, you want to make sure the pods are cracked open to expose the seeds, then simmer for a bit and if you’d like, add equal parts milk to water to make a basic Indian chai
Whatever you do, don't leave it in the food. It's great in teas and as a natural aromatic - especially great for incensing rices (throw them in through the boiling process), and certain soups and chutneys really benefit from cardamom being involved, so long as you find a step in the process to remove them from the final product. It's rather underrated imo, same as cloves - but that's because you can very easily mess up a dish with them.
Ive bitten into so many pods in curry, it tastes unpleasant and it can damage teeth. Remove them from food if you are cooking with it, Remove any spices to avoid yourself and guests from biting into the spices.
I was surprised by the price of the Clove buds because in Mexico we can buy 1 kg bags (2.2 pounds) for 800 MXN which is about 40 USD. She said that less than half a pound can go for as much as 30 USD 🤯😳
Fantastic Cultural Heritages- Bamboo Salt /Cinnamon Tree Bark / Green Cardamom / The Forests of South India for rare Clove / All these specifically acquired artisan food traditions and traditional skills. ! HUMANITY IS MARVELOUS .! 🌿🌏🌍🌎🌿
It's very clear with all these traditions the people that are in charge and highly sought after don't make enough money. They essentially have a masters degree in these areas and are probably paid an extremely small fraction. While they may be doing better then others in their areas, it's sad they aren't better off.
the processors want money, too. unfortunately, they're usually also the ones who have more leverage since it's up to them to evaluate the quality and find the market for whatever they're selling. so it's them who get to set the rules, and the farmer usually gets the short end of the stick.
@@VanessaVicente837 its kinda their own fault though. in this internet age you can always market your commodity straight to the costumers. no excuse to relly on 3rd or 4th party.
@@harukrentz435 you might not have the resources to transport or lack a home WIFI connection preventing you from setting up an online business. There are many variables its over simplistic to just state its their own fault they are being exploited.
These are what attracted the western adventurers to colonists, from traders to establishment of military imperialism in South Asia. Today, these farmers are still exploited, which needs to change through fair trade policies.
I'll stick to sea salt and various peppers and herbs. I give a hard pass to anything that touched barefoot sweat or bloody hands or risked anybody's neck. Bamboo salt seems like a total scam.
@@BoaresAddja none of it from any strange dude in this video at any rate. I'm unusually well informed about contaminants permitted in our foods so you don't need to tell me with or without sorrow.
i enjoy how none of the so expensive videos are disrespectful to the workers. i have a very special history with cloves & clove oil. ive had oral herpes since childhood, when id get sick my mouth would be covered in them. my mom would douse q tips in indian clove oil and it was he only thing that would help. i take antivirals now when they get bad but it works… differently
spices not expensive, from farmer directly to the consumer table. but it's middle man who set up the price and get highest markup, put the brand and that's it. high profit
"this extremely fragrant and beautiful spice is delectable and loved by this culture. Thanks to its extremely long and grueling creation process, rarity of ingredients, and professional coordinated skill required to make it, it is extremely expensive" camera cuts to a bowl of ash and sticks
I have a love/hate relationship with clove. I love the smell of it and when it's used in candies, but my mum used to use it to treat toothache when I was a kid, and it was not pleasant!
truly India is land of spices. Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1499. When da Gama discovered the pepper market in India, he was able to secure peppers for a much cheaper price than the ones demanded by Venice.
@@DrinkWater713 it's one of the five. the other two are star anise and coriander. so, then, put some beef or whatever kind of meat you have, bones still on, in a pot with some fish sauce and let it boil away for a few hours, then once you come back to it just add in cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, coriander, and star anise in as well as maybe ginger and scallions[???] if you like and then you have pho broth. the rest is making the noodles and topping it.
In our Village in North East India, we collected 10 kgs per head to pay for electricity bill. Each kg was sold for around rupees 20. That's roungly $.25 dollar. Idk what kind of cinamond it is. We have a natural forest where cinamond trees would grow 1 feet diameter or so everywhere. The leaves you see here were exactly the same but they tend to grow straight with small branches
Bamboo salt sounds incredibly wasteful and pointless. The entire point of using sea salt instead of industrial salt is because of its impurities. impure salt tastes better to humans
regarding bamboo salt, why not extract bamboo "oils" by centrifuge, mixed it with the common salt and superheat until it melts? the x10 process sounds arduous. like they say, if you can do it slow, you can do it fast...
9 times roaster bamboo salt?? Just another way developed for the rich to get rid of their piles of cash. While in other parts of the world, ppl starve to death for not having enough money to buy simple bread. How do these guys sleep at night?
What amazes me and annoys me the most is that for this being some of the "most expensive" items in the world, workers almost always seem to be paid 8 dls a month...
Because of middlemen.
capitalism supports the existence of the middle men and their liberty no matter how much it's abused.
anyway, these people need to be kept poor. that makes the others rich.
Capitalism!
Eventually more and more people from these countries won’t want to do these jobs anymore, and instead move to the capitalist first world countries. Then it would be their issue to give them proper salary while the commodity becomes even more expensive or just unavailable because nobody wanna do the work anymore. And then who would they blame? Not the capitalist overlords, that’s for sure.
@@morho9422 so socialism is good ???😆😆 😆
0:00 Intro
0:20 Bamboo salt
6:24 Ceylon cinnamon
13:09 Cardamom
19:52 Cloves
28:27 River reed salt
The hero we need. Thanks man.
What about real saffron?
Thanks!
Genius
5:29 "anti-cancer effects"
Bamboo salt seems like a scam tbh.
Ikr
It was really sus when he said that heat removes microplastic 🙄🧐
@@cardboard2night especially since they have been doing it well before microplastics lmfao
@@rob-8928 The furnace during roasting number nine is at 900 degrees Centigrade. I know of no microplastic that could withstand that temperature!
It actually taste closer to msg, waaayy different then pink salt
I have a exporting company specialised in spices from Kerala, the amount of time, care and dedication the farmers putting into their plants are commendable,but often they may not get fruits of their labour, mostly middle men exploits them.
We try to work with the farmers directly but often they may not have capacity to store and process. Where as middle men buys the spices at low cost they store them for long time sell it higher price, even some time they create artificial shortage and increase the price.
Sounds like you're a middleman
@@badxradxandy there is atleast 2-3 people in between me and the farmers, and they have the huge influence in setting price and demand.
Heart breaking.
Really sad sir. Government need to build proper warehouses. What are they doing?. Am from Tamilnadu. Just asking
I won a cardamom estate in Puliyanmala, I can sell you directly, interested?
“First of all, being a salt, bamboo salt has salty flavor.” Does that mean I should worry about sweet salt?
No, but salt that isn't sodium chloride has a weird taste or smell.
Ammonium chloride has a strong smell
to be more precise salt crystal other than sodium chloride is difficult to describe the taste without sodium chloride. The best example is MSG. If you taste MSG itself you cant really tell the taste but mixed with normal salt it makes the salt less tangy and more complex taste. So you don't need to worry about getting salt that is sweet. they need to make it salty to show the differences between salt products.
Well I would not tell you to worry, but do be aware that salts from different sources do taste different! I did not realize this until I experienced the world of salt from various sources! It is very interesting!
@@estelleandjason I’m interested; how do they taste different? Is it just a higher level of saltiness, or is there truly different tastes, like the difference between a red and green apple?
The man peeling the bark has all my respect, I can't imagine the amount of splinters he has gotten his whole life.
you don't generally get splinters from fresh green wood, the fibers need to be dry and stiff.
not wrong
Soft fibres. No splinters. Still hard work
Those hands are calloused to be like gloves.
Imagine how good that job must smell tho
I give so much respect to these hard workers..people, including myself, take certain spices for granted. This is definitely eye opening. I will keep this in mind the next time I cook. Without these wonderful people involved, I would never know the incredible spices produced.
i looked super hard online, but i cant find the person who asked
I dare to say, that this is the message we should get from these videos. In todays world we tend to forget (often forced because of economical circumstances) that time is a very important ingredient and the reason why some things are more expensive (and should be)
we take things for granted. look how hard it is to produce these spices and salts
Very good 😊
@@granitwinchester3037 -
This has become one of my favourite channels. Wide ranging, well explained, organically laid out. Good job!
Real cinnamon is really fragrant and delicious
yo
Me too
@@vineethagunathilaka8213 🥺
I like cassia too when I’m looking for a more intense flavor
@@vineethagunathilaka8213 so I’ve heard 🙁
What about Saffron? Real Saffron can cost you over $10,000 per/kg yet it's not even mentioned in the video!
They uploaded a video last year focused on Saffron. Strange that it wasn't mentioned here
@@washaa Even Vanilla beans are more expensive than what have been mentioned in this video.
They had an Indian guy named Franklin Roosevelt. What more do you want? That’s priceless in itself.
@@GeoPePeTto Extremely good point
@@GeoPePeTto 😂
I'm going to start selling 10 times roasted salt
My thoughts exactly
Who's going to buy it?
I'm sure there will be plenty of stupid people that will pay for it.
The amount of times it's been "roasted" isn't a selling point though... It won't be better because it's roasted more times, it's done the right amount of times for the flavor they are looking for.
How did you fail to understand any of that? The idiocy is immense.
@@MuscarV2 clearly you don’t understand that it’s a joke lol
One of the keys to the taste of that reed salt is it is lower in sodium than other salt sources. Filling a pot with plant ashes and water then straining and evaporated is how we get potash which is the earliest method of concentrating potassium salts.
There is a product available at most grocery stores called NoSalt marketed towards people with high blood pressure. In truth, it is potassium chloride rather than sodium chloride. It is still salt, it just doesn't affect blood pressure because sodium and potassium can both fully saturate a water solution without affecting the solubility of the other. It can, however, cause a heart attacks and kidney failure in high quantities.
I was wondering about this. Your answer is insightful.
Potassium chloride also tastes like ass, unfortunately, so most definitely is not a proper replacement of sodium chloride.
Good information
I had lots of suspicions about the benefits of Bamboo salts the salt producers were claiming. And at the end of that part those questions were raised by the host and answered. I admire the honesty in making this documentary.
It was not honest. They say the benefits are yet to be fully uncovered. In truth, it was studied and they found there are no health benefits. It is just dirty salt.
me too
Franklin Roosevelt? I need to know the story behind his name. Has to be super interesting. I love this series and can’t wait to try so many of the things I’ve seen.
The other guy interviewed for that segment was labeled Charles Simpson... I think these must be pseudonyms.
@@SacredDaturaa It's south india, many people follow Catholicism, and it's quite common to find quirky names like that.
@@dwaipayandebnath4232 Interesting! Would these Catholics usually adopt Anglo-style names? I got the impression that their names would be more Portuguese or Hispanic.
@@SacredDaturaa The more southwards you go it's more Anglo-names. Also in the north east its Anglo-names (but its post independence spread of Catholicism). But close to bombay or goa you will find Portuguese names/or last names such as Silva (quite common across those regions)
@@dwaipayandebnath4232 That makes sense, thanks for the elaboration! :)
I am a little suspect to his “science” on filtering out microplastics. If you heat them in a sealed kiln how are they filtered out? They can only be heated and consolidated with existing salt in the bamboo tube.
Like Freddie Mercury used to sing; it's a kind of magic.. MAGIC !!
Cause it's 150% bullshit lol
It's also completely irrelevant, because you are almost definitely going to put that salt on something that would bioaccumulate microplastics as well, likely in far greater levels?
Frankly just buy rocksalt if you want salt without any plastic, or any salt that's decently reputable? Crystallization removes most all impurities...
Anyway the whole thing is clearly pointless, there's no 'oil' in bamboo that wouldn't have vaporized if plastic is doing the same. "Good ingredients" my arse, the closest thing that could remain after that is a bit of ash. Might as well have thrown in a pack of mineral gummies, they probably would have contributed more.
@@radarpinki Half the shit the culinary world says is grade a BS
Yeah... the bamboo salt really came off as buying a "fashionable" salt and not anything truly special in any chemical or scientific way.
Just like pink seasalt, it's just salt of a different shade and nothing about it is special beyond the color/process...
My respect to the Clove harvesters who risk their life still the spice is the cheapest among others. I will buy some cloves to support them
Buy them from the SOURCE COUNTRIES
Nothing you do could support them unless you visit and meet these workers in real life. Then you provide them some financial aid or some gift showing appreciation in real life .
they keep on emphasising "the salt absorbs the GOOD INDREDIANTS of the bamboo" lol this salt is just marketing bs
As a Korean, I didn't know what bamboo salt was until I saw this video lol
Bamboo salt cured my cancer and cured my blindness. You should honestly come to your own conclusion. Buy a small amount from a TRUSTED source. See if you like it. The first part of my comment was just an everyday joke my friend.
Not to be annoying but it just frustrates me that there’s no G in ingredients
@@kar_animates1092 I put my D in everyding.
They say that there’s nothing proven because it’s all scams, it’s just traditional mode of preparation that’s done to make money
I'm British. I only buy ceylon cinnamon not cassia... it a lot better. So pleased we label it correctly...
This episode is making me crave a masala chai with the perfect blend of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Hmm I wonder if I could add dash of salt on top? Respect to all the workers!
I agree with you
My God.... I have used cinnamon, cardamom and cloves my whole life but had no idea how hard some people work so we can sit in our homes and enjoy their delectable taste. I have so much respect for these workers. This sure is an eye opener, educative and sobering. I feel immense gratitude for Mother Nature and for these people who toil so hard. Our earth is truly a magical place and we are failing to serve it. I am overwhelmed and in tears. I believe that nature worship is the right thing, which ancient civilizations understood. We are at Her mercy . 🙏🙏❗❗
I never realized that I have never purchased real cinnamon before...
I like your cat dear reincarnation
@@privatemale27 True and strange, and if we didn't see this clip we would never know.
Our whole lifestyle in so called western countries is based on the hard work of other people who don't get much for it. It started long ago with colonialism and never stopped.
Love your beautiful viewpoint and comment...a breath of fresh air.💚
While we enjoy all these spices and salt in our foods and for other reasons, it's been very touching to note the difficult and risky jobs these poor people are doing to bring those wonderful products to us. May they be blessed for all their skills and hard work.🙏
I love how these people are so happy and passionate about what they do
look at what kind of environment they work in.
I hadn't realized how labour intensive the harvesting & production of Cardamom, Clove & Ceylon Cinnamon are. As for the salts, I hadn't heard about them before. It's a shame how much of a negative impact Climate Change has on these spices, especially because the regions that are affected most are the ones that contribute the least to Climate Change.
yeeeeah like... India? the least? come on
@@_argurios8253 "... the regions that ...", not country -- reading comprehension.
@@_argurios8253considering the population yes
Australia and USA currently both getting extreme flooding, fires, and storms multiple times a year. Maybe 5 floods this year in Aus. Idk about China. We sell them all our coal though 🤣
adapt or die...doesn't matter who or what caused the climate change, it only matters what to do about it.
I wish the cinnamon workers got more of the payment since they do all the work...
That's kinda just how capitalism works no matter what part of the world you're in. In America, workers are barely making ends meet while CEOs have private jets for doing almost nothing.
The hard work involved in producing these wonderful spices is highly commendable..
SUCH GOOD CONTENT!!! I REALLY like this series, A LOT!! The fact that it's expensive has that appeal that gets your attention, but then to show the people at the very beginning of the chain, and feature their hardships and work ethics makes me want to keep watching... there are SO MANY STEPS on most of the products we consume that we would NEVER guess they occur... this series shows us the TRUTH!
THANK YOU!
1qaaqa
I used to work for a Greek olive oil company. It seems to me that the inherent value of cloves and the inherent value of olives stems from the same source - the oil. If clove farmers were to extract the oil from clove trees using the same extraction process used in olive oil production, it would substantially increase yields, as the fragrant oil that gives cloves value could be extracted from every part of the plant, instead of just the flower buds. It would also increase safety for workers as harvesting could be accomplished in a less precise fashion, without any reduction in the value of the product.
If you watch some of those 'why does this thing cost so much' you will see that the answer is always the same:
- abysmally inefficient manual labor.
- people that are willing or have no choice but to work for such low wages that any innovation and improvent is not worth it.
- elevating the soulbreaking waste of their time and labor to a rank of art and tradition in spite of common sense.
Cloves are used as is in Indian cooking for the taste. Not sure if adding in clove oil would achieve the same effect.
I wonder about burning bamboo and pine to burn the same sea salt 9 times, what is the difference with say twice? Or # times
Is this really feasible though? Clove oil is an essential oil rather than a vegetable/seed oil. They are not chemically very similar. Vegetable oils are composed mostly of flammable--but not extremely volatile--fatty acids with a mild odor whereas essential oils are composed of much more volatile, very fragrant, terpene chemicals. Essential oil extraction may be a more delicate process. Could the olive oil extraction process translate easily to cloves? I'm curious to know.
am not sure whether whole cloves being used in Indian cooking and clove oil will have the same flavour profiles. whole spices add a very different dimension compared to powdered or oil versions. Most of our dishes, whether biryanis, curries or teas use mostly whole spices.
I like cardamom in a gin/tonic, soup and curries but man, I had no idea it was so labour intensive to get good pods.
Tastes god in tea too.
These people are so unappreciated Now I realise how my Swedish grandmother valued her Cardamon pods so much to flavour her Easter buns. After 70 years I still have these pods ,they smell so sweet. Maybe I will try to grow them?
In Sweden? The thing about a lot of these spices is that they need tropical weather, that's what made India so rich for so long and why Europeans wanted it so badly
@@ninjadog5800 'In Sweden? Yes that's right
@@ninjadog5800 you could use a cold box or something. not gonna lie, growing my own spices is something i'm gonna try. this is me coming out of canada. growing your own stuff in general helps the bottom line, anyhow. but it'd be real nice to grow my own spices and herbs right in my backyard. i suppose it's not hard if you grow it in the summer or have a pot. then you just give it enough water and full sun and you should be away. same thing works with ginger, i heard.
EDIT: i slipped up. it's a cold frame.
EDIT 2: no, but really, i think growing smaller tropical plants wouldn't be a problem. larger ones need greenhouses which can get expensive. and they have to be well insulated. in any case, what makes most tropical plants tropical is that they can't tolerate frost, so i'd reckon it's a game of taking it inside when you need to.
@@red2theelectricboogaloo961 ohhh that makes sense
My deep respect for all the workers who gave us wonderful spices without this imagine our food thank you very much.
It annoys me to no end that highest quality products harvested in their country will be shipped out to the richer country while the locals settled with less than quality ingredients, similar to our country, the better quality raw materials were shipped out and we end up with some 2nd grade products :/
I agree but they ship that stuff out for a reason, they get more money. Ultimately expanding their well-being.
So the concept of trade annoys you?
Ignoring the ridiculous claim that “all” of it gets shipped abroad, would you rather the country stop exporting and importing goods? Items of luxury aside, that would mean no import of crucial goods, oil and medicine.
People nowadays are sure quick to blame trade for all the perceived wrongs it causes while reaping and ignoring its rewards.
Means of refinement into product is super expensive to build and maintain. And unless all sources of a raw material stood up together and said "no, we want you to pay us more" and could outlast the stalemate, the lowest bidder is going to set the bar.
Well, the richer countries have the money to pay for your over inflated quality products while your own countries don't have the market for it. If your people can't pay let's say 20 dollars for a kg of "real cinnamon" then no one will make it and your in a worse position. You can buy your own high quality products made in your countries. It's just your too poor to do so. In addition, if you get made the richer countries dont have to buy your ingredients but then now you've lost a market to make money
meh.
Thanks so much for the cloves segment. I've never seen cloves with their top bud still on, and I had no idea that quality even existed, not that such cloves are within my ability to get... maybe chefs at top notch restaurants can.. so learning about this was very interesting.
A small community in north east India also make something like river reef salt difference is that the Indian people collect weeds and other plants but the process is exactly the same
We have lots of cardamom farmers in my village which just started recently after they heard about it's profit but the thing is after 1 or 2 harvest they give up cardamom plantation because the ground workers (farmers) doesn't get the profit they expected which took so long and so much care that the profit just wasn't worth it. Also finding the right buyer is difficult to find as everyone wants to buy large quantities for the lowest price... For the top level workers (companies) it is very profitable.
We have 11 acres of cardamom field and its price is very low after the covid issues .... we couldnt even get any profit from these cardamom.
That bamboo salt in India is similar to what we call as 'Kala Namak' or Black salt due to its outer coloring. It's expensive though but not as overpriced as that one.
Dono alag hai! 🙂😂
@@shreyasdeore8870 Process is almost similar. It's just that Black salt is prepared in a big pressurized pot.
Also the taste is similar i guess...Black salt too has the egg yolk flavor
Kala Namak is a type of rock salt. That's why it's a bit expensive than sea salt. But black salt isn't only claimed to be healthy, it's recommended by physicians too.
@@asmityadav4216 recommended why its still salt isn't it why would a doctor tell you to eat more salt?
So regular table salt and a one-a-day multi-vitamin will be as good health-wise as bamboo salt.
Not as good, actually better. Because all the studies show there's not much additional minerals added with bamboo salt anyway.
Wow, look at the size of those cardamom pods! They are so small and expensive in Europe! Also, opened pods are very frequent.
Makes me wonder how the 'bamboo salt' process was discovered, seems to me there must have been an awful lot of trial and error involved..
My guess.... they cooked their fish and rice in bamboo and added sea salt. They liked the way the sea salt tasted when cooked in the bamboo.
What about the river salt? LMAO
Some kid stuck a stick in his campfire and licked it. Figured out ashes are basically Potassium Chloride and had a salty taste. Compare this to the Soy Sauce tradition and it's apparent why one society lives in mud huts
Stay blessed; never stressed!
i like this
💗 I need a good hug
stay stressed never blessed
Thank you for this video. I will never buy more than I need so I never waste any of the spices. I did not realize just how much work goes into production. I would be willing to pay more if I knew the workers and farmers would get more into their pockets and practices are sustainable. It only seems fair.
Lol the demand dictates supply but also profit … if the demand falls people lose their jobs
@@shreythakur9079 I was thinking of somewhere between "exploitation" and "so expensive no one will buy". If people can afford $6 for a cup of coffee, or even $3, they can pay a little more for work that is so labor intensive and that makes such a difference in the local farmers' lives.
Typical woke misdirected thinking.
...I respect their "fweelings" so much I will cut back on buying their products so they can keep more of it.
Ever think they might want you to buy MORE so they can friggin survive?
The sad part is people who work to make this kind of stuff they are not paid too much 😐
You can find all of those spices in Indian homes. But I can't say the same about those salts. The bamboo salt doesn't even make sense to me
I like this series but especially for this one a little more descriptive narration would have been appreciated. I know it’s all about money but I’m also curious how cardomom pods smell being picked fresh. Like nothing at all? A different smell? Musky? Also, how much do these harvesters make…never mentioned.
"dont burn your food it can cause cancer."
bamboo salt goes brrrrrrrrrrrrr
The bamboo salt is so stupid
you never think about how much work goes into the food we eat. there is a disconnect. but then thats why there has been a movement to growing and producing our own food to remove the disconnect
thank you for this comment
It is possible to make black salt (bamboo salt) with a lot less work. It is essentially charcoal and salt mixed together. Simply roast the bamboo (with no salt) untill the bamboo turns black. Then grind the bamboo charcoal into dust. Mix charcoal, salt, and water together. Re-bake untill dry. Also, use grinding machines, not chefs knives and hammers. Eating small amounts of charcoal can have some health benefits. There is no need to bake it nine times or chop the salt by hand with hammers, or motor and pestle.
She said “they bake it 9 times as it achieves the LOWEST level of toxicity and HIGHEST amount of minerals in the salt”…. THATS why they do it. By cheating out they would loose that. Sometimes there’s reasons behind why they do it.. pay attention
@@user-mr4pm7jv5e Pay attention to what? They claim it but it's not clear why baking it nine times that way achieves what they say it achieves. It's just NaCl and activated carbon.
The process also adds the trace akali & other minerals in the bamboo to the salt.
@@user-lb8do4ew6k By burning the bamboo to ash you aren’t removing the things in the bamboo, the minerals and alkali in the real bamboo salt will be at insignificant levels anyways
@@user-lb8do4ew6k and microplastics...
I chuckled when I saw/heard Charles Simpson but when I saw/heard Franklin Roosevelt I was dead and buried 💀💀💀
Grateful to all of them for their hard work & glad these spices are available worldwide. As for the bamboo salt for medicinal purposes, why not take bamboo manna instead?
Watching this with beer and weed. Not a bad video. Good job!
They aren’t joking because I own a produce company down in immokalee Florida and let me tell you for just 25lbs of cinnamon it cost me $550 keep in mind it’s just 25lbs
Ceylon cinnamon is very expensive in Singapore and Thailand
It's easy to forget that a lot of the products you buy pass through the hands of multiple people on the opposite side of the world (speaking as an American). And it's easy to take it for granted.
Imagine being dense enough to think bamboo salt was purifying anything
It's a real grift alright.
ultimately it probably tastes pretty banging, ive tried a similar product. Kala Namak aka black salt
its pseudo-science basically Chinese medicine stuff now I'm not saying bamboo that's been obliterated alongside some molten salt might not have some very minor health effects, but the trace minerals left over are near nothing worth noting and its definitely not going to make any real health difference or purify it but people like the taste and love the idea that it might be healthier than plain salt somehow
Removing impurities by adding impurities.
@@TWEAKLET Same with himalayan pink salt, which is really just iron impurities in salt.
Salt is salt. The amount of minerals don't matter because you use such small amounts it has no real impact. It's just salt. Your minerals and vitamins should come from the food you eat. Fruits/veggies mainly.
Ikr Like salt having anti-cancer effect is ridiculous
Yes, salt is salt no matter how they are made. In ancient times salt was precious cuz back then people had limited food sources and salt was needed to preserve foods (no frig). Nowadays, those conditions no longer exist. Instead, more and more people are on low salt, low sodium diet for health reasons cuz…..we consume too much processed food that are high in sodium.
@@jlseagull2.060 salt isn't needed in your diet. Sodium is,completely different things.
Clove oil is good to treat tooth aches.
And mold / mildew. It is the most expensive oil I buy.
The woman at 21:05 just tossed the pods into a bag next to her, without looking first. Muscle memory is cool.
I really hope Penzey’s pays these people well because I buy most of all these. I do struggle with how to use cardamom to show its best potential. I won’t embarrass myself with sharing how I used it, but I am open to serious suggestions.
Use the seeds inside....SPARINGLY... and discard the husk. Honestly biting into a whole cardamom feels like life hitting you like a wall of bricks
Cardamom is very good in tea, simmer some black tea leaves in water, and add 1-4 cracked cardamom pods, you want to make sure the pods are cracked open to expose the seeds, then simmer for a bit and if you’d like, add equal parts milk to water to make a basic Indian chai
Whatever you do, don't leave it in the food. It's great in teas and as a natural aromatic - especially great for incensing rices (throw them in through the boiling process), and certain soups and chutneys really benefit from cardamom being involved, so long as you find a step in the process to remove them from the final product. It's rather underrated imo, same as cloves - but that's because you can very easily mess up a dish with them.
Ive bitten into so many pods in curry, it tastes unpleasant and it can damage teeth. Remove them from food if you are cooking with it, Remove any spices to avoid yourself and guests from biting into the spices.
Make Turkish coffee
i came to know today that the people behind them ared so hard working . i give huge respect to these workers .
I was surprised by the price of the Clove buds because in Mexico we can buy 1 kg bags (2.2 pounds) for 800 MXN which is about 40 USD.
She said that less than half a pound can go for as much as 30 USD 🤯😳
These ppl work so hard. My respect for these hard working people. May God bless them ❤
Bamboo salt looks like the sort of stuff that might give you stomach cancer 🤔
Fantastic Cultural Heritages- Bamboo Salt /Cinnamon Tree Bark / Green Cardamom / The Forests of South India for rare Clove / All these specifically acquired artisan food traditions and traditional skills. ! HUMANITY IS MARVELOUS .! 🌿🌏🌍🌎🌿
Very interesting…I learned a lot of things that I’d never even heard of before, like the bamboo & reed salt.
climate change climate change climate change climate change climate change climate change
We got it
Hats off to the clove harvesters
Malayali 🤗
@@nirmahl ചോദിച്ചില്ല 🗿
I thought Saffron was the most expensive spice…
It's very clear with all these traditions the people that are in charge and highly sought after don't make enough money. They essentially have a masters degree in these areas and are probably paid an extremely small fraction. While they may be doing better then others in their areas, it's sad they aren't better off.
I never knew how MUCH I should appreciate Clove
green cardamom is my favourite flavour. you need the bright green ones - the old, dry tan colour ones are terrible
I'd like to try the Kenyan river reed salt
@Start Here agreed, chocolate is horrible
@@radarpinki You're right it's disgusting.
Real cinnamon is very expensive why the workers are still poor😭.
Sarcasm statement right?
the processors want money, too. unfortunately, they're usually also the ones who have more leverage since it's up to them to evaluate the quality and find the market for whatever they're selling. so it's them who get to set the rules, and the farmer usually gets the short end of the stick.
The level of respect you get for everyone in this video is incredible .
wondering if the people harvesting these items are being properly compensated for the product they produce, because we're paying handsomely for them
@Marques Manus it's just discouraging watching these people do all the work
@@VanessaVicente837 its kinda their own fault though. in this internet age you can always market your commodity straight to the costumers. no excuse to relly on 3rd or 4th party.
@@harukrentz435 you might not have the resources to transport or lack a home WIFI connection preventing you from setting up an online business. There are many variables its over simplistic to just state its their own fault they are being exploited.
@@ibrahimhassan711 👍
@@VanessaVicente837 some people like to blame the exploited over the exploiters
These are what attracted the western adventurers to colonists, from traders to establishment of military imperialism in South Asia. Today, these farmers are still exploited, which needs to change through fair trade policies.
I'll stick to sea salt and various peppers and herbs. I give a hard pass to anything that touched barefoot sweat or bloody hands or risked anybody's neck. Bamboo salt seems like a total scam.
Why not grind it up with a machine? Doing that wouldn't take away anything and doing it by hand doesn't do anything special to it.
That's because it is a scam.
sorry to tell you but your food has an acceptable level of fecal matter
@@BoaresAddja none of it from any strange dude in this video at any rate.
I'm unusually well informed about contaminants permitted in our foods so you don't need to tell me with or without sorrow.
i enjoy how none of the so expensive videos are disrespectful to the workers. i have a very special history with cloves & clove oil. ive had oral herpes since childhood, when id get sick my mouth would be covered in them. my mom would douse q tips in indian clove oil and it was he only thing that would help. i take antivirals now when they get bad but it works… differently
I've noticed a distinct trend that I get sores far more often when I'm stressed or rundown. Vitamin B really helped mine.
spices not expensive, from farmer directly to the consumer table. but it's middle man who set up the price and get highest markup, put the brand and that's it. high profit
even if its not proven to have a healthy effect, the placebo it gives people are priceless
As a chef I would love to have the privilege to try to cook with river reed salt but it's so very difficult to find.
3 out of 5 spices from these come only from the Indian subcontinent. Why am I not surprised?
24:37, Lord have mercy
I scrolled very far to find you brother😂
Wow, I have respect for the people who produce these spices. Cloves are gaining popularity in Namibia because of its medicinal properties
"this extremely fragrant and beautiful spice is delectable and loved by this culture. Thanks to its extremely long and grueling creation process, rarity of ingredients, and professional coordinated skill required to make it, it is extremely expensive"
camera cuts to a bowl of ash and sticks
well, i mean, cleaning it is one thing in and of itself, i guess.
I have a love/hate relationship with clove. I love the smell of it and when it's used in candies, but my mum used to use it to treat toothache when I was a kid, and it was not pleasant!
salt is salt
truly India is land of spices. Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1499. When da Gama discovered the pepper market in India, he was able to secure peppers for a much cheaper price than the ones demanded by Venice.
What really surprises me is that 3/5 in the list is the main ingredients are for making Pho.
Which ones?
@@DrinkWater713 cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves
@@hoangnguyenanh815 How important is the cardamom? The other two are affordable
@@DrinkWater713 nah, is not that expensive. Our country can grow it, and the price is really affordable.
@@DrinkWater713 it's one of the five. the other two are star anise and coriander. so, then, put some beef or whatever kind of meat you have, bones still on, in a pot with some fish sauce and let it boil away for a few hours, then once you come back to it just add in cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, coriander, and star anise in as well as maybe ginger and scallions[???] if you like and then you have pho broth. the rest is making the noodles and topping it.
😲 omg.... need to treasure all species in our kitchen .. I have a high respect for these people
Ceylon and clove workers who does labour intensive work to bring them their products should be paid in gold.
In our Village in North East India, we collected 10 kgs per head to pay for electricity bill. Each kg was sold for around rupees 20. That's roungly $.25 dollar. Idk what kind of cinamond it is. We have a natural forest where cinamond trees would grow 1 feet diameter or so everywhere. The leaves you see here were exactly the same but they tend to grow straight with small branches
Using bamboo is their way of making normal salt into extraordinary salt. TBH me and my family always use black salt without threatening to bamboo.
I am amazed. What treasures we have in these workers and products!
Bamboo salt sounds incredibly wasteful and pointless. The entire point of using sea salt instead of industrial salt is because of its impurities. impure salt tastes better to humans
regarding bamboo salt, why not extract bamboo "oils" by centrifuge, mixed it with the common salt and superheat until it melts? the x10 process sounds arduous. like they say, if you can do it slow, you can do it fast...
9 times roaster bamboo salt?? Just another way developed for the rich to get rid of their piles of cash. While in other parts of the world, ppl starve to death for not having enough money to buy simple bread. How do these guys sleep at night?
Next time I use these spices I would be grateful to these workers 🙏
I loved the fragrance of real cardamom ❤
What is a fake cardamom?
@@AbhishekTiwari-xt1kt i dunno, i guess the powdered stuff.
Learnt a lot. New respect for these spices.
...In India it's not expensive..
In indo too 😀
Instead of asking why it is so expensive, we should ask why those people aren't paid enough to make a decent living wage