Saturday 30 January 2016

Top End Bamboo

Australia Day is 26 January so we are having a week of Australian themed posts, not just restricting them to Sundays.

This is Bambusa arnhemica, otherwise known as Top End Bamboo. It's native to the northern, tropical third of the Northern Territory of Australia (an area often referred to by the locals as the Top End), it's big (8 metres tall), long lived and it grows so fast you can just about see it happening. I remember getting the feeling the locals were a bit scared of it. It's usually found on sloping forested river banks prone to flooding but with deep well drained alluvial soil. Because its requirements are rather particular, its distribution is patchy. It doesn't do well on poorly drained soil or where fires are frequent. Where it does grow, it dominates the area.

*****************************************************
A la cuisine hier: I made a big tub of brine, some of which I used to marinade a shoulder of lamb in overnight. I'll slow cook the lamb today. The question is -- should I make a pot roast or madras curry? Which do you think we chose? Or maybe it will be slow roasted a la boulangere...

3 comments:

Le Pré de la Forge said...

Salt lamb.... just roast it...
and slow cook the veg in one pot...
along with white beans...
and spuds, like Ratte, that can be cooked in their skins.
Don't spoil good meat in a Madras...
curries are meant for tough old mutton!!
Nothing better than curried mutton chops!!!
But a nice shoulder of lamb... never, just roast in foil with rosemary and garlic!

Nice to see a 707 with a BOAC symbol on its tail....
surprised it wasn't a Quantas!!

chm said...

I bet for madras because it is closest to Australia!

Le Pré de la Forge said...

Aha...
the Boeing 707 has become a pink flower with a fringe...
Very sort-of Indian decoration.... I think there is a curry in the offing!!

Post a Comment