Sri Lanka spice garden for weight loss. Spice gardens - the fragrant heart of Sri Lanka

It has been famous for its spices since ancient times. Previously, they were obtained from wild forest plants. But after the Dutch invasion of Ceylon, the invaders tried to grow them in more accessible conditions, choosing plantations near the coast as a planting site. And they succeeded. The first plantation of this kind was cinnamon plantations. Today, all spices known to us (pepper, cloves, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon) are grown in private farms in the districts of Matale, Mawanella and Kegalle. Their climatic conditions - wet and cool - are the best for these plants. Until the 15th century, the monopoly on the spice trade belonged to Arab merchants. But with the advent of European navigators on Asian soil, the situation changed, since sea routes to the east also opened up.

What is rich in Spice Gardens?

Scattered throughout the island, but fragrant specimens are usually shown to tourists in Matale. The garden here occupies a small area, where unique representatives of the flora are collected - natural raw materials for the manufacture of spices and essential oils. The main share of production is exported, mainly to, and. Not only the food industry needs spices and spices - they have found their application in the production of cosmetics and the medical industry. Sandalwood is recognized as the most expensive tree in the world, growing in the Spice Gardens. It can be recognized by its gray trunk with many flexible branches and leathery leaves of an unusual purple-pink color. Aromatic oils are obtained from trees that are over 30 years old. On the territory of the Spice Garden, cosmetic products and Ayurvedic preparations are sold (mostly at greatly inflated prices), which improve appearance and healers of ailments. All of them are made from local plants. Here, craftsmen demonstrate to visitors the preparation of various preparations and talk about useful properties spices.

Sri Lanka, Spice Garden - photo

Spice garden in Matale

To each Spice garden in Sri Lanka assigned a serial number. Plates with numbers are always placed in a prominent place, so there are no difficulties in finding an object. AT Matale Spice Garden earned a good reputation among the local population and foreign tourists. 12 people are engaged in maintenance of the green fragrant territory. All of them are listed as guides - guides who talk about the characteristics of plants and their areas of application. The total area of ​​the Garden accounts for several acres of land, on which more than 50 varieties of spices, cocoa, white and red sandalwood, magosa, turmeric, mimosa, citronella, royal coconut and other unusual green "inhabitants" grow. It is worthwhile to immediately understand that the Spice Garden is just a small botanical garden, in which, for clarity, one representative of the flora grows for each species of outlandish plants. The huge plantations themselves grow high in the mountains. In addition to vegetation, there is a shop on the territory of the Garden. Its visitors are offered preparations with natural ingredients. The range is represented by spices and remedies for diabetes, insomnia, hemorrhoids, stomach pain and high/ low pressure. To relieve stress and lower cholesterol levels, a special medicinal wine has even been made. Men can find potency-enhancing drugs here, women - to prolong youth (natural coconut and sandalwood oils). Prices for products vary between 10 - 80 dollars.

Spice Gardens - opening hours, ticket prices

In all districts, the Spice Gardens are open daily from 9:00 to 21:00. Ticket prices for adults and children are not the same. For young visitors, admission to the territory is free, for persons accompanying them - $ 6.

Arbatskaya Yu., Vikhlyaev K.

The spice garden in the town of Matale is small, arranged as an excursion object. The garden has a shop and a veranda where demonstrations of the use of products are made. We were led to young guy, who, to our great surprise, spoke Russian better than Madura. He says that he learned Russian on his own, via the Internet, and now he is studying at a medical university. The boy is 19 years old! We immediately imbued with respect for the purposeful guy. He introduced himself as Vicki.

Ranveli Spice Garden was founded 25 years ago. Plants used in medicine and spice plants are collected here. A pharmacy and a spice shop are located here, on the territory of the garden. The garden is private, the premises for the store are state-owned, used on a leasehold basis. The owner of the garden is called Jeratna. A narrow winding path leads through the grove-garden, along which samples of plants are planted, which the guide Vicky begins to talk about. It must be said right away that under each tree or bush there is a jar or bottle with a product from this plant on a special elevation. In some cases, the tour guide not only showed the products, but even tried to use them on us.

The first plant is turmeric. Turmeric root powder is a good disinfectant against germs, used as a seasoning for meat and fish. In particular, turmeric kills salmonella. The color of the powder is yellow, similar to saffron.
Vanilla. Liana plant. The flowers are light yellow or light green in color and bloom high above the ground. Flowers themselves are not pollinated, pollination is done artificially, using a special stick. After flowering, chocolate-colored pods 6-8 cm long appear.

Chocolate is obtained from the fruit. Unripe pods are yellow, they produce vanillin. The process is simple: the pods are harvested and dried in the shade, then doused in boiling water to soften and ground into a powder. Vanillin is ready. Vanillin in Sri Lanka is used in the confectionery industry, as well as in the production of ice cream. However, the described method for the production of vanillin is extremely laborious, and recently artificial vanillin has been increasingly used.

Citronella grass, oil is made from it. vernacular name- Lemongrass. Now in this part of the garden it is almost gone, the tourists pulled it out to smell it. But it grows higher in the garden, in a different place. Citronella is used against mosquitoes and mosquitoes and is an ingredient in aerosols. Citronella ointment, when mixed with ointments from cinnamon and other plants, is a good pain reliever. It smells very strong. An analogue of the Vietnamese "asterisk". It has an exclusively herbal composition.

cocoa tree. In the presented species, the fruits yellow color, but there are trees with red fruits. After harvesting, the fruits are dried, roasted and ground into powder. Cocoa contains a lot of calcium and magnesium. Dark chocolate without sugar, consumed every morning, is prophylactic from cancer. If cocoa powder is added to milk tea, which is drunk by locals everywhere, then, as Vicki says, “you won’t have to sleep very long.” If cocoa is added simply to milk, then the resulting drink acts on a person as a sleeping pill.

Nigeria. From this herb make a cream for hair removal. The cream does not sting the skin like some other ointments. Our guide immediately decided to demonstrate the effect of the cream on our feet.

A pineapple. The variety is called "Mursi" in the local dialect. This is exactly the variety that is exported to Russia and Ukraine.

Aloe. Local aloes do not have bitterness in the leaves. Used as a medicine for gastritis. In Ayurveda, aloe is considered the best remedy from burns and runny nose.

Ginger. The range of uses of ginger is so wide that it is impossible to list everything: from an anti-inflammatory agent for sore throat and stomach pain to food additives in tea and coffee. Powdered ginger is extracted from the roots, and the roots look like Jerusalem artichoke tubers.

Nutmeg - Magmi. Sri Lankans sometimes make jams from the skin of the fruit. The flowers are red, dried and added to soups. Muscat is used in perfumery and cosmetics. Dried nuts have a white core. If you grind it and mix it with lemon, you get a remedy that helps with abdominal pain. In cooking, nutmeg is added everywhere: in stewed vegetables, meat, fish. In medicine in Ceylon from nutmeg manufacture anti-nausea pills. Flowers can be eaten directly raw - "tasty and healthy."

Cardamom is the "king of spices" as our guide put it. Cardamom is a relative of ginger and is especially popular in the Middle East. Assembled by hand, so the price is very high. Inside the fruit there are seeds, they are dried and added to coffee. It's good for the stomach. Cardamom seeds are very strong smell, therefore, they are used as a flavoring agent in gastronomy, especially often when cooking rice. Cardamom does not like sunny sites, grows in dense jungle, preferring wet and shady places. On cardamom plantations, pickers have to endure dampness and an abundance of leeches, which are bred in such places in unimaginable numbers.

Black pepper. This is a tree-like vine of the pepper family, and reaches 8 m in height. In the forests, it wraps around trees that serve as a support. Special supports are made here in the form of poles, which she wraps around like ivy. The homeland of the plant is considered to be the southwestern coast of India, formerly called Malikhabar. Hence the name "Malabar berry". The fruits are dried under the sun for 2-3 days, then it turns black. If you first remove the peel from the fruit and dry the white core, you get white pepper. White peppers are less spicy because most of the bitterness is in the peel. Usually creepers are cut and rinsed several times in water, then the skin is easily removed.

Red pepper. An anti-cancer agent if taken regularly. The guide says that people in Ceylon don't get cancer because they eat red pepper every day. In the West, Viki develops the theme, scientists are constantly looking for new means of treating various diseases. In Sri Lanka, they are not looking for anything, a thousand years ago everything was already known: this plant is from such and such a disease, this is from such ...

Carnation. The clove tree looks like an olive tree, but the leaves are denser and thicker. The leaves, when rubbed, emit a pleasant smell of cloves. The fruits themselves, like small shoe nails, appear on the tree after the flowers have dried. Cloves are used in winemaking to warm wine, in medicine - from toothache.

Cinnamon. This is the main spice of Sri Lanka. As the Sri Lankans themselves say, cinnamon is the “pride and misfortune” of the island. The whole history of the colonization of Ceylon is connected, first of all, with this culture. Back in the 16th century, the first Portuguese who landed on the island appreciated the taste of this spice and brought cinnamon to Europe. Then the Dutch, who managed to expel the Portuguese in exchange for the king's promise to allow free trade in cinnamon, developed production to an industrial scale. Finally, the British, who owned Ceylon almost completely, increased cinnamon plantations and became the world leader in the production of this crop. Since 1948, when Ceylon gained independence, cinnamon has been supplied to the market by the islanders themselves.

Today, a third of the world's cinnamon production is concentrated in Sri Lanka (the country changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in 1972). Cinnamon is a low tree, rather a shrub. Shrub branches are cut and bark is removed. Then the bark is dried, cut into strips, and in this form is supplied to the trade. Sometimes cinnamon in the form of a powder is packaged in sachets.

Sandalwood grows enormous. Oil is produced from it, which removes acne, stretch marks after pregnancy, smoothes wrinkles - “muzzles”, as our guide said. Yellow thick oil mixed with aloe cream is used in perfumery and cosmetics. Trees older than thirty years are used to obtain aromatic oils.

Laurel. The smell of our bay leaf growing in the Crimea is not at all similar. The Sri Lankans use the powder from the leaves in cooking.

Asparagus. The leaves are ground into gruel, and in this form it is recommended to use for people suffering from circulatory disorders.
Poipole. Tea is brewed from this plant. Used as an antipyretic.
Bakalos. It is used in the manufacture of medicines for diabetics.
Liana with the local name "gandula cat". It is used to make oil for varicose veins.

The garden tour is over. We paid attention to the decorative paths made of coconut shells. They are designed so that frequent rains do not wash out the sand.

We were taken to the veranda, where various ointments, creams, oils, infusions, as well as sets of these products No. 1,2,3 were presented in abundance. Everything is packaged quite nicely. For about half an hour, Vicki told us about the merits of this or that ointment, clearly demonstrating a personal interest in sales. After the “processing” by the guide, we moved to the store. Having bought several different jars, we thanked our guide.
The spice garden is an exclusively Sri Lankan invention. It is a stretch to talk about some kind of landscape design, but the very idea of ​​arranging a garden on the basis of usefulness for a person is worth adopting in European gardens.

The spice garden is considered an exclusively Sri Lankan invention, which over time was borrowed by other countries of Southeast Asia. In its structure, this is a territory divided into beds and sectors, where, like in a botanical garden, various spicy plants and spices. For you and me, this is a great way to learn how spices grow, how they look before they become fragrant powders in packages.

In addition, the entrance to the garden is free, so why not take this opportunity to plunge into the world of primary sources of healing potions, rejuvenating cosmetics, spices that give a unique taste to any dish!

Spicy history of Sri Lanka

Cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and pepper have always been the pride of Ceylon. Since the days of the Silk Road, they have been used for long-term storage of products. Most of all, Arab merchants understood (and therefore controlled the market) spices, but during the colonization by Europeans different countries Southeast Asia, this monopoly was destroyed. Arab traders migrated to the Jaffna region, where they founded a new port, known throughout the world and in our time. Modern Mauritanian Muslims are the descendants of those same spice merchants.

According to historians, not coffee, not tea, but spices were the main reason for the colonization of Sri Lanka by the Portuguese in the early 16th century, and then by the Dutch in the 17th century. After the famous discovery of the sea route from India to Europe by the explorer Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese settled in the southern and southwestern parts of the island, actively using the ports of Colombo for transporting spices, and the territories surrounding the ports for growing them. Initially, this happened in the natural environment - forests were used. Then the plantations became more organized, structured. Vanilla vines and cinnamon trees were grown along the coast, and their fragrances wafted on the wind to every ship that entered the port. Gradually, the plantation areas went inland, where the climate turned out to be more favorable. It's no joke - Ceylon, as a tribute, annually had to send to Europe only about 50 tons of cinnamon, not to mention other, cheaper spices.

The British, who came to Ceylon at the end of the 18th century, began to cultivate the culture of growing coffee, then tea, gradually reducing the importance of spices and spices in the export structure of Sri Lanka. This British economic intervention in the life of the island is felt to this day, and the Sri Lankan government is making great efforts to restore this agricultural sector, mainly through the promotion of small and medium-sized businesses.

What is a spice garden

As a rule, the spice garden is divided into zones according to the principle of usefulness for the human body and the need for everyday life. Attempts by the owners of these establishments to formalize the territory using laws are noticeable. landscape design, although perhaps not the most advanced. Everything is very modest, but natural - as if the garden was created by nature itself, with little or no human intervention.

It should be understood that a spice garden is not a plantation. This volume of plants is not enough to produce the entire range of products that are sold in the spice garden store. The production of Ayurvedic cosmetics and medicines requires a huge amount of spices and spices, as well as specialized processing facilities. Nowadays, their main task remains to generate income from excursions for tourists and other related services. In many spice gardens, in addition to a shop with spices and Ayurvedic cosmetics, there is a restaurant with a buffet that offers dishes of Sri Lankan cuisine, where local spices are actively used, as well as a spa where the offered cosmetic products are used.

If you are not a "package" tourist, you always have a choice - to visit the spice garden or not. If you are traveling as part of a guided tour, then most likely the garden will become one of the mandatory points of the route for you. In any case, by stopping by here, you get a rare opportunity to see how Ayurvedic plants grow and spices are harvested.

Where are

First of all, you should know that there are spice gardens all over Sri Lanka, so it’s not at all necessary to travel across the entire island, say, to Matale, to look at the plants from which the well-known spices are obtained. Of course, to grow real and high-quality spices and spices, you need a fairly humid and cool climate - such as is typical for the regions, Kegalle and Matale. It is in these regions of the island that the cultivation and production of cinnamon, pepper, cardamom and other spices on an industrial scale has been established. The resulting raw materials, as you might guess, are mainly exported. The main and oldest spice gardens are also located here, which, in fact, have turned from a small part of the plantation into an excursion and entertainment facility.

It is noteworthy that the Department of Tourism of Sri Lanka monitors this activity - if the spice garden has been certified, then it automatically receives a number in a special registry “approved by the government of the country”. If the spice garden does not have a number, then it is 100% amateur and a scam. The quality of preparations and spices in such establishments is not guaranteed.

The number of official spice gardens is about 30. Most of them are located within a radius of 50 km around the city, including Matale, the most densely populated area with these establishments. - this is a vivid example of the organization of the garden space, a classic selection of all the main types of spicy plants, aggregates and mechanisms for making spices and much more.

And on the south or southwest coast, the only official garden in the area, Kosgoda Spice & Herble Garden, is open so far, so vacationers do not need to travel across the entire island to the center of the country.

The table below provides a list of spice gardens approved by the Department of Tourism for 2016.

All other spice gardens that are in in large numbers can be found in different parts of Sri Lanka, suitable only for inspection. It is not recommended to purchase anything from them.

Do you know what

• All spice gardens located in Matale are the remains of plantations that were planted here in the 18th century.
• The McDonald's chain is the largest buyer of cinnamon among all restaurants and coffee shops in the world. Several billion apple pies are sold every year around the world, which means that everyone can experience the fragrant taste of Sri Lanka.
• On the site of cinnamon plantations of the 16th century, which have long been cut down, there is the famous fashionable area of ​​Colombo and a five-star hotel, which is called the Cinnamon Grand ("cinnamon" in English - cinnamon). The interior design of the hotel actively intersects with the theme of spices.

There are many opinions on the topic of spice gardens in Sri Lanka. In particular, that this business is connected with extorting money from tourists. This is partly true, but among all the minuses, you can find pluses - this is an excellent educational source for children and adults, interesting ideas exotic photos, quality Ayurvedic products and spices in official spice gardens.

Somewhere along the way from Colombo to Kandy, in the small town of Mawanella, there is a spice garden, under the mysterious number 66. In Sri Lanka, each spice garden has its own serial number in the public register, and this sign must be placed in a conspicuous place. Such strange laws. The garden was opened in 2004 and throughout its work has been able to earn a good reputation both among foreigners visiting the garden and among local residents who also use natural-based preparations.

The garden employs 12 people, mostly guides who show and tell visitors about various plants and how they are used in folk medicine.
The area of ​​the garden is 4 acres. Growing in the garden: cocoa, magosa, nutmeg, vanilla, aloe, almond, coconut, turmeric, saffron, pineapple, red pineapple, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, mimosa, lemongrass, red and white sandalwood, citronella, coriander, anise, jasmine, garlic, royal coconut. Also, more than 50 types of spices grow in the garden, for which he actually received such a name - "Spice Garden".


A pineapple Avocado
Banana Carnation
Ginger
Cocoa
Cactus
Cardamom
Coffee
Coconut Cinnamon
Turmeric
Magos
Mimosa
Muscat sandalwood Vanilla In addition to plants, there is a shop that sells preparations made on a natural basis.



There are a lot of drugs here, almost for all occasions.




Of course, there are also spices. And even a poster on anatomy.
Remedies for: 1) high blood pressure, 2) sweating and 3) stomach pain.
Medicinal wine, anti-cholesterol and stress reliever.
Citronella oil, ginger syrup, antidiabetic agent, sandalwood powder.
Red Coconut oil, remedy for stomach pain and diabetes.
Migraine oil, hemorrhoid remedy, sleeping pills.
Remedies for high and low blood pressure.
Means for raising potency.
Weightloss remedy.
Sandalwood oil.

Assortment and prices of the store

• spice garden

• spice garden

Many travelers associate Sri Lanka with the aroma of spices, spices and incense. And this is no coincidence: the state in the Indian Ocean has been a leading producer of quality herbs and spice-aromatic mixtures for several centuries. The Spice Garden in Matale is the most fragrant, colorful and vibrant garden, which has no analogues in the whole world.

History reference

Sri Lanka has been home to all the most valuable spices since the Middle Ages. The ancient Romans, Arabs, Greeks, and later European merchants worked closely with the Sri Lankans and bought spices. All the colonial wars and seizures of Sri Lanka are connected precisely with spices: the Portuguese, Spaniards and British sought to conquer the country and receive preferences in the spice trade. cinnamon, vanilla, different types peppers and other spices have been cultivated since ancient times in the forests and plains along the Indian rivers. Only after the 16th century, the cultivation of aromatic crops was concentrated in Colombo, and then in the province of Matala. It is here that the climate is most suitable for growing spices of different groups.

Landscape

The Spice Garden is not a park, not a nature reserve. These are fully operational plantations in miniature, where all known spices are grown. If in the Middle Ages the plantations tried to hide from prying eyes in the forests, today spices are grown on an industrial scale and in many private farms. Plantations in Kandy, Colombo, Kagala, Kegalle are represented by a variety of aromas and tastes. The spice garden in Matale is represented not only by the main plant species, but also by collections of spicy endemics that grow in different parts of Sri Lanka: cinnamon and cocoa, coffee and ginger, cardamom and jackfruit, lime and shatavari, as well as cannabis and cannabis banned in many countries. hemp.

Visiting Rules

The Spice Garden is a unique excursion area, which is absolutely free for all guests. Spices and spices will give their flavor daily from 9 am to 9 pm. A professional guide (Russian, English and other languages ​​of your choice) will colorfully tell the story of each plant that grows in the garden.

Excursions

Holidays in Sri Lanka will be incomplete if you do not visit the Spice Garden. Immersion in fragrant haze begins with the first steps in the Garden. The guide will tell the story of the famous vanilla creeper, the most popular spice in the world. He will tell in detail about all types of pepper: black and white, gray and green, pink and red. Introduce cinnamon tree and banana palm, wild pineapple and rubber giants, Liberian coffee and a tree full of cocoa beans. Walking through the Garden will allow you to see the fragrant castor beans, from the seeds of which Castor oil, curry and healing ficuses, tinctures from which help get rid of many diseases. It is difficult to find plants in the Garden that are not used in cooking or medicine. The Sri Lankans believe that useless and empty plants do not exist.

Mysteries of history

Sri Lanka is not only the birthplace of almost all known spices, but also the cradle of Ayurveda. Everything physical that is on Earth is a medicine - this is the main dogma of the great teaching, the history of which has more than 3 thousand years. The plants presented in the Spice Garden are successfully used to prepare medicinal mixtures for the treatment of various diseases. On the territory of the Spice Garden in Matale, not only spicy plants and spices are presented, but also ancient adaptations for Ayurveda. Near each plant there are jars with spices and medicinal mixtures, which can be purchased at specialized stores in the Garden. In addition to the store, there is a magnificent veranda, which demonstrates the use of medicinal products and introduces non-trivial ways of using spices familiar to everyone.

How to get there

The Spice Garden is located in Matale, between the cities of Kandy and Dambulla. You can get to the Garden either by regular bus (distance about 25 km and ticket price 10-12 rupees) or by rented car.