Category Food

How they make pineapple rings all the same size?

Cut a fresh pineapple on the kitchen chopping board and the slices will vary in diameter, because of the tapering shape of the food. But buy a can of sliced pineapple and the rings are all the same diameter. This is because the pineapples are put through an almost entirely mechanical process to make them fit into the cans.

A machine called a Ginaca processes up to 120 pineapples a minute. It cuts out a cylinder of the pineapples and juicy flesh, removes the horny outer shell, cuts off the shell at top and bottom and punches out the core. A device called an eradicator scraps off surplus flesh adhering to the shell to make crushed pineapple juice.

The cylinders of pineapple flesh are inspected on the conveyor belt my teams of trimmers, who remove remaining fragments of shell and any blemishes. The cylinders are then carried to a slicing machine, which produces the precision-rings. Packers inspect the rings and put them in the cans.

Each can of rings is topped up with either syrup or pineapple juice, mechanically lidded and sealed under vacuum. They are then cooked in pressure cookers known as retorts. Finally, sterilised cans of fruit are cooled in water or by air labelled and packed.

Most of the worlds pineapples are grown in Hawaii., The Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Kenya and the Ivory Coast.

Over a three-year period, pineapple plant produces two fruits, each weighing about 4.8lb (2.2kg). To simplify harvesting, the plants are made up to flower at the same time being sprayed with a growth regulator such as ethephon. This means that the fruits all ripen at about same time – between June and September. In Australia there are two harvests, one in May-June and a summer harvest in January.

 

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What are the different ways of cooking?

Have you ever cooked? Made a sandwich, perhaps? Or something more interesting that needed lightning a stove or switching on the oven?

Cooking is a useful skill. Good cooks are in great demand, they have more friends than others. Cooking will make sure you will never starve. Sure, readymade foods are a dime a dozen now, and shops fill their shelves with “add-hot-water-and-eat” food items, but can all this be equal to homemade stuff? And psychologists tell us that cooking is therapeutic. It helps to develop patience, it teaches us to be careful, and when the dishes come out, the effort and result give us a sense of achievement. Confidence with a plate of corn fritters!

So, it is a good idea to know the different ways of cooking. Dependency on the type of ingredients and the recipes you choose to follow, you can pick from these various methods of preparing a dish.

Baking

Baking is when you apply dry convention heat to your food in an enclosed environment. Baking can be done in an oven run on coal, wood, electricity or microwave. Most people today bake in ovens run on electricity. The dry heat in the baking process makes the outside of the food go brown, and keeps the moisture locked in. There are any number of very tasty items you can bake, but the most popular are cakes, pastries, bread, casseroles in bake-and-serve dishes. Ever tasted lasagne? A mug cake – made in a mug and eaten from it?

Steaming

As the name suggests, in this method, food is cooked or a large vessel and the food is placed over it in another vessel. When put on the burner, the water boils, sends steam up and steam cooks the food. Some people even bake a cake by steaming it. The best examples of steamed food items are the south-Indian puttu and idlis. Steaming is a healthy form of cooking.

Frying

This means cooking your food in fat. There are different ways to fry food.

Deep-frying, where the food is completely immersed in hot oil. Stir-frying, where you fry the food very quickly on high heat in a pan with a little oil. Pan-frying, where food is cooked in a frying pan with oil. Sautéing, where the food is browned on one side and then the other with a small quantity of fat or oil.

Frying is one of the quickest ways to cook food. There are some dishes that need this form of cooking. How do you make puris? Or French Fries without immersing the potato slivers in hot oil? The only problem with frying is that doctors tell us that reuse of the frying oil is harmful for health.

Roasting

When you roast chicken, what do you do? Roasting is cooking food on high heat. It is a form of baking, but unlike baking, roasting is done openly. In earlier times, when people cooked in open spaces, say after a hunt, they would install two Y-shaped sticks at some feet away, rest a strong stick across the crooks of the Ys and hang a pig by its legs from the stick in the middle. This is called a “spit.” Cooks would light a fire below and keep turning the pig so it would cook slowly in the heat. The animal will be cooked in its own fat. In this form of cooking, the meat gets drier and browner on the outside and soft on the inside. Of course, you can roast vegetables by coating them with oil.

Poaching

Here is how you “poach” an egg. Break the egg, take what is inside in a large spoon. Lower it gently in a vessel with water boiling in it. See that the egg does not scatter. You can do that by holding it in the spoon till it cooks a bit. Food is “poached” in water, but try milk, broth or vegetable stock! Common foods cooked by poaching are fish, eggs and fruit.

Stewing

A stew is what you need on a cold day, or when you are nursing a cold. You first shallow fry or sauté the meat, chicken or vegetables and then cook it in liquid with herbs, pepper and salt. That is, the food is sautéed or seared first, and then cooked in liquid. To make a stew, you need to cut the vegetables and meat into small cubes.

Grilling

In this method, cooking is fast, dry and done on high heat. The food (have you tasted grilled sandwiches?) is placed under intense radiant heat. Grilling can be done with wood burning, coal, gas flame, or electric heating. For grilling, you prepare the food by coating it with various herbs, lemon juice, etc. Close to grilling is broiling, where the heat source comes from the top instead of the bottom.

 

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What is the history of gingerbread?

How it all began?

The origin of gingerbread is unclear, but many food historians believe it was born after the 11th Century crusaders returning from the eastern Mediterranean brought ginger to Western Europe.

It was initially prepared only in aristocratic households. However, as the price of ginger and a few other spices dropped, gingerbread became popular among the common people. Some historians say the first-known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 B.C. However, there is no definite proof to this theory.

In Medieval period, “gingerbread fairs” were held regularly, and gingerbread was a very popular dish among the people. These gingerbreads were made in several shapes such as animals, birds and humans. An evidence of the cookie’s popularity is its mention in Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” (1597).

A royal connection

Queen Elizabeth I is credited with the invention of the gingerbread men. She gifted the dignitaries visiting her court, gingerbread cookies that resembled them.

All the way from Germany

The iconic gingerbread houses prepared in western countries during Christmas, originated in Germany during the 16th Century.

However, these intricately decorated cookie houses became popular only following the 1812 fairytale of ‘Hansel and Gretel”, written by Brothers Grimm.

Across the ocean

Gingerbread was introduced in a few other regions, including North America, during the period of colonisation. Today, gingerbread is an inseparable part of North American holiday season.

The type of gingerbread prepared in this part of the world is a little different from those in Europe. For instance, the gingerbread prepared in the U.S. is moist and soft, whereas the ones in Britain are dense and harder.

Why is gingerbread a Christmas tradition?

Nutrition experts suggest that this could be due to the medicinal properties of ginger. Ginger, as a spice, can provide warmth for the body during winter and can also be an effective calming agent for a festive season that involves eating a lot of heavy treats. Some believe that during the Medieval period, gingerbread preparation was restricted to gingerbread chefs or masters most of the year, except during Christmas and Easter, due to the high price of ginger. The common people, therefore, prepared the dish only during the festive season, making gingerbread a season-specific dish.

Wide varieties

The three most iconic-flavours of gingerbread are brown, wafer-based and honey. There are several offbeat flavours as well, and these include cranberry, oatmeal, gluten-free, paleo, orange-scented, caramel, chocolate and almond spice. Apart from the usual gingerbread men and houses, there are many other adaptation such as gingerbread pie, cheesecake, cake, granola, latte, French toast, scones, pancakes, trifle, doughnuts and waffles.

 

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What is the history of pizza?

The pizza story

Flatbreads with toppings have been consumed for centuries by the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. One of the earliest reference to a pizza-like food is documented in the “Aeneid”, an epic written by Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 BC. The modern variant of pizza was born in the city of Naples, Italy. Naples had a large number of working class people who preferred affordable food that could be consumed on-the-go. Pizzas served this purpose. These street-side pizzas were flatbreads with various toppings such as tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies (a type of fish) and garlic.

In the mid-1800s, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of the Kingdom of Italy visited Naples. This is seen as an iconic event in the history of pizza. The royal couple wished to dine on an assortment of pizzas made in the city.

Until then, pizzas were primarily consumed by the working class and were frowned upon by the Italian elite. The queen’s favourite pizza was called pizza mozzarella, which was topped with the cheese, tomatoes and basil. Since the, this pizza has been known as pizza Margherita.

However, the popularity of pizza never spread to the rest of the world, until it became a hit in the U.S.

Taken to the U.S. by immigrants from Naples in the early 1900s, pizza became an instant hit in the region. After World War II, pizza came to be known as a fun fast-food. Food historians claim that pizza became popular in its birthplace Italy only after the war.

Today, there are several pizza chains across the world and several flavours to cater to local palates.

Want to study pizza at college?

You can now include pizza studies to your curriculum. One such famous programme is offered by the Manchester Metropolitan University, England.

This is a degree-level apprenticeship provided in partnership with Pizza Hut. The training aims to focus on academic and practical skills, including financial analysis, food production and hospitality leadership.

Cheesy facts

Did you know that pizza has been delivered to space? In 2001, a pizza was delivered to the International Space Station on-board a re-supply rocket. The entire process cost over one million dollars.
Pizza was one of the first items to be sold online.
In 2013, a group of NASA-funded scientists invented a 3-D printer that could cook pizza in just 70 seconds.

Spin it..

Did you know that spinning pizza dough is an art from according to UNESCO? Known as ‘Pizzaiuolo’. This art form has four stages and is passed on to future generations by Master Pizzaiuolos.

Regional adaptations

One of the primary reasons for pizza’s international fame is its regional adaptations. Most communities that consume pizza have adapted it to suit their preferences. For instance, chicken tikka and paneer makhani pizzas in India, and miso, mentaiko (pollock roe) and fermented soyabeans pizza in Japan.

 

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What is the history of sushi?

Where it all began

The story of sushi began in southeast Asia as a fish preservation method. Sushi is the Japanese word for “sour rice”. Some of the earliest documentations of sushi comes from 3rd Century China. Fish caught from the river was then preserved in layers of salt and cooked rice and stored in barrels for about a year. This method helped prevent the fish from spoiling and also gave it a pungent odour and savoury flavour. Chinese people ate just the fish and threw away the rice.

During the 8th Century, this preservation method spread to Japan, where the rice used in the fermentation process began to be eaten with the fish. In the Edo period (between 1603 and 1868), as rice vinegar was invented, people began picking the rice with the vinegar to shorten the fermentation period. This also made the rice much more palatable. Sheet seaweed was also invented around this time and eventually allowed contemporary sushi roll to take form. Sushi then began to be consumed as fast food in Japan. Stalls were set up and people grabbed a few sushi rolls going to work.

As refrigeration became popular, raw fish began to be used instead of fermented ones, making the process much quicker.

In the late 19th Century, when the Japanese began migrating to the U.S., they introduced sushi to the western, world. And by the late 20th Century, this Japanese fast food became popular across the world.

Chemistry behind the taste

In the earliest-known sushi preparations, fermentation occurred as the good bacteria in the rice converted sugar in rice into lactic acid. This lactic acid prevents harmful bacteria such as botulinum to grow and ensures the fish doesn’t spoil. Today, a professional sushi chef trains for years to perfect the art. Every component is given equal importance and the chemical components are studies in detail by sushi chefs. For instance, it takes over two years to master the art of cooking sushi rice. The rice is expected to be in a consistency where it just sticks together without being over-mashed. Each grain of sushi rice consists of a starch known as amylopectin. Therefore while cooking, chefs tend to break open most individual grains using a spatula, releasing the starch and allowing the rice to stick together.

Varieties

There are many types of traditional sushis and the most famous ones include nigirizushi, makizushi, sashimi, tempura and temaki.

After sushi was introduced in the U.S., it took on many diverse forms to appeal more to the western palate. For instance, the Philadelphia roll is makizushi made with smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber; and California roll consists of avocados and faux crab meat.

There are many other quirky varieties such as sushi burritos, deep-fried sushis, sushi burgers, ice-cream sushi and Canadian sushi pizza.

 

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What is the history of Brownie?

Happy Brownie Day!

Born in the U.S., chocolate brownie is one of the most favourite desserts for those in America and the country is one of the highest consumers of this rich and chocolaty treat. The country celebrates National Brownie Day each year on December 8.

The birth of brownies

There are a few legends on the invention of the chocolate brownie. For instance, some believe the first brownie was invented by accident, when the home chef didn’t have enough flour.

A few say that a woman in Bangor, Maine, the U.S., forget to add baking powder to her chocolate cake and that resulted in the birth of the first brownie.

However, the most common story behind the origin of brownies lead to Bertha Palmer, owner of Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, the U.S. Palmer was the president of the Ladies Board for Managers for the World Columbian Exposition of 1893. Incharge of making desserts for the event, she instructed her chefs to create a dessert easier to eat than a piece of pie and ones that could be carried in boxes. Herchefs made fuddy cakes with chocolates, walnuts and apricot glaze. They became a huge hit at the event, and are believed to be the first-ever brownies to be made.

Palmer;s chocolate dessert was not known as brownies when they were made.

The very first mention of the word brownies was seen in the 1896 version of the “Boston Cooking-School Cook Book” by American culinary expert Fannie Farmer. However, this recepie reportedly did not include chocolate. Food historians suggest that the first evidence of chocolate brownies with a recepie similar to today’s can be found in a few American cookbooks in the early 1900s.

How is it different from a chocolate cake?

Brownies and chocolate cake are not the same. Change in proportions of sugar, flour and butter gives the variation between the two. Usually, cakes consist of twice the amount of flour required to make brownies. Another notable difference between cakes and fuddy brownies is the usage of leavening agents such as baking powder or baking soda. These ingredients are hardly used in the preparation of brownies. This makes brownies denser than cakes. Most brownies also make use of more chocolate than a regular chocolate cake.

Brownies for all

Brownies can also be made without chocolate. These are known as blondies. These are several new adaptations of brownies for those with dietary restrictions. For instance, vegan brownie bars without eggs, glueten-free, keto, paleo and sugar-free brownies.

There are also many quirky varieties of brownies such as red velvet, pumpkins, sweet potato, salted caramel, ginger, peanut butter, mint and avocado.

So, what are brownie points?

You might have heard the phrase “brownie points”. This is an informal and a humorous idiom used to praise or approve something someone has done. Here’s an example: ‘I hoped to score brownie points by helping her compose her album.”

 

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