- SCREWPINE is not only taken advantage in the making of aromatic food and drink.
- Hindu communities use it to fill in their canang offering. Its fragrance will exude and soothe the ambience around the holy places
Screwpine or fragrant pandanus is a kind of pandan that smells good. In everyday life, it is widely used in preparing various foods and drink that require its fragrance.
This pandanus includes monocots from the Pandanaceae family, the leaves of this type of plant provide a distinctive fragrance. The leaves are an important component in the culinary traditions of Indonesia and the surrounding countries. Some use it in making cakes, yellow rice or boiling water.
Many Indonesian people cultivate this screwpine in the yard or grow wild on the edge of a shady ditch. The leaves are elongated like palm leaves and arranged in a dense rosette, and the length can reach 60cm. There are varieties of this pandanus that have serrated leaf edges.
This distinctive aroma feels strong when the leaves are still fresh or slightly dry. Apart from being a food fragrance, fragrant pandanus leaves are also used as a green food coloring (other than dracaena leaves) as well as a garnish for serving food.
This screwpine in Bali is widely used as an ingredient for making offerings (canang offerings). The leaf is sliced thinly like slicing tobacco. Some do it manually while some others do it with a machine-powered knife. The latter is meant to meet the demand of consumers who sell sliced screwpine for canang offerings. Every day Hindu communities need this screwpine slice.
Due to the high demand, a number of farmers cultivate this pandanus commercially. Thus, they are able to meet consumer demand in a sustainable manner. It can be ensured that all the flower sellers (for canang offerings) will also sell this sliced screwpine.
