Bangladesh urges India to withdraw ban on onion export

[Michael Corleone]

this must be a joke, what's there to beg for... it's not gold... can be bought from alternative sources

 

[Fortress]

Our agricultural model is a complete dumpster fire.

BD is supposed to be the Breadbasket of Asia, it should be exporting food, not importing. We have the most fertile and arable land in the word because we have more rivers per inch than anywhere else on the planet! Instead we've suffered multiple famines! (Read: famine, not DROUGHT which is impossible)

Farmers make up a large part of our employment force which is why we refuse to reform our agriculture. Instead of thousands of small farmers (most of whom don't earn shit), we need a smaller group of LARGE SCALE farms. Industrialized farming like the US, Brazil, Russia and Europe.

 

[saif]

We should find alternative source for onion at the soonest. India is an unreliable trading partner of Bangladesh. We should sign long term agreements with Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, and China to procure onions.

 

[Protest_again]

We should find alternative source for onion at the soonest. India is an unreliable trading partner of Bangladesh. We should sign long term agreements with Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, and China to procure onions.

Bangladesh should go for an FTA with China and import everything they need from them. Also join BRI.

 

[Bengal71]

I am not contesting this. This may answer my 1st comment which was in reply to OP this doesn't answers my reply to you.



Debatable but I don't want to divert the discussion to some other bs.



Now, here is what you answered to my reply. Btw, am not a chef by profession, since you think that "the pungent flavor" of the onion is really what makes or breaks a dish. I would contest that, it doesn't really matter since after cooking you hardly get that pungent smell/taste. Btw, alot of people dip onions in water with salt just to get rid of that pungent smell, its definitely not a positive but a negative. And since you talked about cuisine, which dish relies on onion's pungent taste/smell and is vital for that dish to exist?

Secondly, since you think that indian onions are very vital for indian cuisine, did you specifically bought indian onions while your 10 year stay in US? If so from where did you buy those for that long period of a time, and that too ensuring those were indian onions?

Indian/Bengali fish curries, Veg curries all of them. Gravy base is mainly onion and tomato. Since you don't know this. All tikka masalas that you get in restaurants are all onion base. I am a restaurateur, so I know this.

The pungent thing is true, it has a kind of heat. All onions when chopped with make you cry but our variety will make you cray rivers, very strong. Also the variety we use looks more like a shallot than onion, very small in size.

@Death Professor In Bengali cuisine, the 'pungency' or heat is a positive. The 'non-pungent' ones are bland in our taste.

Having said that, BD should become self sufficient in onion, our land is extremely fertile and we can do it. If there is shortfall, we should have multiple suppliers; there are many in the global market.

 

[Pandora]

No one can replace India in this regard.

View attachment 670328

Chinese onion doesn't suit our cuisine.

I agree with your statement it is not just Chines onions but Australian as well. Most countries who commercialized vegetable and fruit export ruined the quality to achieve more crop yield. Chinese onions often find its way to Australia and they are so tasteless and bland. They cultivate them in places by using massive amounts of fertilizers. Their lands are just not suitable for cultivation any more without use of fertilizers. Our onions are organic and Chinese onions in every sense artificially created to have more yield just so they can keep the cost low. I remember time when Chinese apples made their way into Pakistan. When you bite those apples it used to feel like someone stuffed foam inside an apple. No taste and it used to crumble in you hand like a boiled potato. Pakistan and India are lucky to have such a nutrient rich land for cultivation.

 

[bluesky]

Chinese onions started flowing into Kathmandu’s markets almost immediately after supply from India ceased exports. Traders say that if the trend continues, the fiery red bulbs could make the list of largest imports from across the Himalaya.

Why BD is not asking China to export onion here?

 

[Death Professor]

The pungent thing is true, it has a kind of heat. All onions when chopped with make you cry but our variety will make you cray rivers, very strong. Also the variety we use looks more like a shallot than onion, very small in size.

@Death Professor In Bengali cuisine, the 'pungency' or heat is a positive. The 'non-pungent' ones are bland in our taste.

Having said that, BD should become self sufficient in onion, our land is extremely fertile and we can do it. If there is shortfall, we should have multiple suppliers; there are many in the global market.

Now here we are getting confused between, organic vegs and non-organic ones. I think that was a already a given that my comparison was b/w organic onions. Also, here the debate is only about onions, I could say the same that Chinese carrots taste like shit because they are not juicy compared to local ones, but that wouldn't be a fair comparison since I am comparing non-organic orange carrot with organic local red carrots. Also those are totally two different types. And if some one argue how their onion doesn't taste as good there are already section in mart, for organic and non-organic foods. Sure you pay the premium but organic onion in a western mart will leaps and bound be different than non-organic onion in the same mart. Same with eggs, same with apples, same with any other fruit or vegetable.

 

[Shahzaz ud din]

Ab laal pyaj ko tersay ga Bangladesh

 

[Bengal71]

Now here we are getting confused between, organic vegs and non-organic ones. I think that was a already a given that my comparison was b/w organic onions. Also, here the debate is only about onions, I could say the same that Chinese carrots taste like shit because they are not juicy compared to local ones, but that wouldn't be a fair comparison since I am comparing non-organic orange carrot with organic local red carrots. Also those are totally two different types. And if some one argue how their onion doesn't taste as good there are already section in mart, for organic and non-organic foods. Sure you pay the premium but organic onion in a western mart will leaps and bound be different than non-organic onion in the same mart. Same with eggs, same with apples, same with any other fruit or vegetable.

I am not sure the organic variety in the western world taste the same as our onion though. Here in Aus I have eaten organic shallot like small onion, they are better in taste but not same as the local varieties in BD. It's the same with other fruits and veg, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes we eat here in Australia don't taste half as good as the local ones in BD. Maybe it has to do with soil type, climate, weather where they grow.

But it's not a big issue, it's a matter of people's habit. Feeding the large population is most important, taste comes later. Once people start eating these things they will get used to eventually.

 

[Death Professor]

But it's not a big issue, it's a matter of people's habit. Feeding the large population is most important, taste comes later. Once people start eating these things they will get used to eventually.

Here in Aus I have eaten organic shallot like small onion, they are better in taste but not same as the local varieties in BD.

Yeah, my original contention was about making the cuisine serviceable to eat. Since one member here stated that Indian onions are vital for the Indian cuisine. Usually I am very taste conscious about whatever I eat, but there hasn't come a day when I thought that this dish would have been so much better with Indian/Pakistani onions. Sure, Pakistani mangoes are great can't be compared with western mangoes, apple too if you buy non-organic ones there are plainly bland without any juice, even tomatoes, similarly watermelons. But for me "onion" have never been "build defining" aspect of the cuisine, sure they shouldn't be rotten, but if there are two dishes side by side one made with chinese onions and the other made with indian onions, sure I might be able to differentiate between the two. But will it cause me to straight out vomit the chinese onion dish, nopes, those aren't as taste defining as fruits like mangoes, apple etc which you directly consume.

 

[Bengal71]

Yeah, my original contention was about making the cuisine serviceable to eat. Since one member here stated that Indian onions are vital for the Indian cuisine. Usually I am very taste conscious about whatever I eat, but there hasn't come a day when I thought that this dish would have been so much better with Indian/Pakistani onions. Sure, Pakistani mangoes are great can't be compared with western mangoes, apple too if you buy non-organic ones there are plainly bland without any juice, even tomatoes, similarly watermelons. But for me "onion" have never been "build defining" aspect of the cuisine, sure they shouldn't be rotten, but if there are two dishes side by side one made with chinese onions and the other made with indian onions, sure I might be able to differentiate between the two. But will it cause me to straight out vomit the chinese onion dish, nopes, those aren't as taste defining as fruits like mangoes, apple etc which you directly consume.

We eat onions with salads too. There organic local varieties make a huge difference.

 

[Death Professor]

We eat onions with salads too. There organic local varieties make a huge difference.

We, here usually soak onions in water with salt to kill their pungent taste when using with salads. Although small dhabas tend to avoid the hectic process. but it's just meehhh, its not like one can't live without the whole thing or its considered of vital nature. It's just, probably 5% increase or decrease in your dining experience.

 

[Protest_again]

Yeah, my original contention was about making the cuisine serviceable to eat. Since one member here stated that Indian onions are vital for the Indian cuisine. Usually I am very taste conscious about whatever I eat, but there hasn't come a day when I thought that this dish would have been so much better with Indian/Pakistani onions. Sure, Pakistani mangoes are great can't be compared with western mangoes, apple too if you buy non-organic ones there are plainly bland without any juice, even tomatoes, similarly watermelons. But for me "onion" have never been "build defining" aspect of the cuisine, sure they shouldn't be rotten, but if there are two dishes side by side one made with chinese onions and the other made with indian onions, sure I might be able to differentiate between the two. But will it cause me to straight out vomit the chinese onion dish, nopes, those aren't as taste defining as fruits like mangoes, apple etc which you directly consume.

My contention and your reply to was that when Indian onion is available Chinese onion is a poor replacement. Indian onion because of pungentness adds to the taste of cuisine. You agreed to this I think in this post. Of course people can make do with any onion when the better substitute is not available. Thanks.

 

[Death Professor]

because of pungentness adds to the taste of cuisine. You agreed to this I think in this post.

Yes I do agree to this(in not just this post but previous one's as well), but I do not agree to following:

Chinese onion is a poor replacement.

Which insinuates that somehow the Chinese onions make the dish un-edible. At-most you would see a 5% change in the whole texture or taste of dish. Now onions aren't like mangoes, apples and other fruits or even other vegetable like carrots. For me, never in my life, I particularly went out of my way to just search for Pakistani/Indian onions. I did that for mangoes sure, but never for onions. To summarize it, onions don't effect the south asian cuisines to that extent as it is being portrayed here. 5% difference in taste, sure but not more than that. Or maybe some people are some sort of Onion fanatics, who like their onions in one particular way/taste, which I can understand, every one has his own likeness but here I was talking about generally.