Kerala spices

Kerala is also known as the Malabar coast, or as the spice coast, and it was the rich array of spices that attracted so many traders to this side of India... from Arabia, China, and eventually Europe. In these photos I share some of the spices we saw on a short walk through a plantation. See blog at https://davidkotz.org/2008/12/17/kerala-part-3-the-hills/

Kerala
Mara shows me coffee beans, bunched at the bottom of photo. (Spice tour in the Kerala hills.)
Kerala
pepper vine! white pepper:stays on vine for a long time, boil it, strip husk, dry. black pepper: remove from vine earlier, dry in sun. green pepper; remove earlier still, harden in cold water, dry in electric fire. (Spice tour in the Kerala hills.)
Kerala
The guide splits the stem of this plant, and when Andy blows through the sticky sap, bubbles float out! (Spice tour in the Kerala hills.)

Kerala
Andy shows me the tea plantation in the hills of Kerala. Note the interspersed oak trees provide shade to the tea and structure for the pepper vines. (Connemara Tea Plantation, in the Kerala hills.)