>Hi Kirt, In regards to cassia, you said that it was "free for the
>taking" in Thailand.  Was it sold in markets, or did you go cassia gathering?

Not available in markets. It was generally considered poisonous by the
locals. The tree is planted as an ornamental in many estates. One of the
big hotels downtown (Siam Intercontinental) has several trees on the corner
of one of the nastiest urban intersections on the planet--but we left the
(likely) lead toxined pods for the traffic.;) The trees are all over and
when they are flowering they really seem to be noticable everywhere,
standing out with their yellow blossoms--including along the highway near
Hua-Hin a couple hours south. A ritzy hotel in Hua-Hin (the Sofitel) has a
few bursting trees near their pool and around the gardens. Cassia is all
over the west coast of Thailand (the Pattaya side) as well, which is primo
durian country, especially farther south of Pattaya.

I gathered much of our cassia from a nearby golf course where I routinely
jogged, along a boulevard leading to a hospital in Pakkret (which I found
delightfully ironic), and all over on the other side of the big river from
Pakkret. The city of Prachuap Kiri Khan seems to have an abundance of
cassia (and cheap oysters!!) in public areas, not to mention some of the
best pineapple and jacfruit on the planet (it is however somewhat devoid of
local durian :/).

I have heard that a famous boulevard in Bombay is lined with cassia trees,
but have never been there. Also heard that after _much_ wrangling with the
customs authorities in Mexico City Guy-Claude and his family brought cassia
with them from Europe, only to see the road in from the airport lined with
trees. This was decades ago though, so don't fly to Mexicao City in search
of cassia--you may be disappointed! (I have heard similar rumours about
durian being available in Mexico City, but again would not assume it is at
all easy to find if it is.) I found some cassia "relatives" in south
america but not the "caro fistula" or "cassia fistula".

>Do you get your
>from Pangaia now?

I bought some from them and brought some gathered by myself for free in a
oceanside parking area on the main drag in Hilo HI. They were laying all
over the ground underneath the trees planted for ornamental purposes I
assume. There are some young cassia trees planted at Pangaia, but those
guys know the best foraging places all around the big island. And with the
trouble of foraging and the labor intensity their new method of jarring the
cassia to get around the export laws, you will probably find that whatever
price they settle on you are getting a real bargain/value.

>I smell a new career for you and Melisa...a kind of
>import business which would allow you to travel and make raw fooders
>happy.  Sounds good to me!

One of Guy-Claudes son's, Christian, has (had?) the enviable job of
shopping the world for the Chateau's and ORKOS' food stuffs. Going to SE
Asia to scope out sources of organic durian, mangosteens, etc, then on to
CA to scope out organic dates (and eat wild yellowtail, too many avos,
etc), and so on. Man, you gotta wonder about the "jobs" some people luck
onto. I consider "movie reviewer" to be about as ideal as Christian's job.
But I'll leave the cassia import business to you. I'm much more interested
in having a cassia tree in my future yard than in making instincto or it's
peripheries my livelihood...

Cheers,
Kirt

PS --I CCed the list. Hope you don't mind...:)