Category Food

The rich and fulfilling butter chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Indian cuisine.

The story of butter chicken is connected to the beginning of two other popular Indian dishes, namely tandoori chicken and dal makhani.

Origin

Kundan lal Gujral, an Indian chef and the inventor of butter chicken worked at Mukhey Da Dhaba, a food joint in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). Around the 1920s, the owners of the dhaba sold it to Gujral. Following this, he changed the name of the food joint to Moti Mahal.

Gujral, also the inventor of tandoori chicken, wanted to find a way to make use of the tandoori chicken pieces that were drying up when left unsold in his restaurant. In order to make the chicken moist and palatable, he tossed them in tomato puree, butter, fresh cream and spices such as coriander, fenugreek, cloves and cardamom. This was the birth of butter chicken.

When the 1947 Partition took place, Gujral flew to Delhi with his family.

He established his hotel Moti Mahal in Delhi and his tasty inventions led to the rise of popularity of his restaurant. After butter chicken, he also went on to create the famous dal makhani.

International appeal

Gradually, Gujral opened a chain of restaurants acroos India and several other countries such as New Zealand, Tanzania and Oman. Several popular names such as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, and star chef Gordon Ramsay have visited Gujral’s restaurant to taste the butter chicken. Over the years, many other eateries and restaurants have also developed their own versions of the butter chicken. The dish is now a quintessential part of North Indian cuisine.

Evolution

The butter chicken prepared in Peshawar has evolved into several other dishes such as chicken lababdar and murgh makhanwallah.

Some food experts suggest that the recipe of chicken tikka masala is also inspired by butter chicken.

Quirky adaptations

There are several interesting adaptations of butter chicken today, namely butter chicken tacos, pizzas, rolls, burgers, biryani, lasagna, dumplings and even kurtoskalacs (a Hungarian spit cake).

 

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Unlike several other Mexican dishes, nachos are a fairly recent invention. First prepared in the height of World War II in Mexico, the crispy snack became a huge hit across the globe in just a few decades,

History

The first plate of nachos was created by restaurateur Ignacio Anaya Garcia in 1943 in a restaurant in Piedras Negras, a Mexican city. Garcia, who was working as the head waiter at the restaurant had to feed a group of women, who came from the U.S. military base nearby, situated in Fort Duncan, Texas. As there was no food left at the restaurant at that time of day, he reportedly at that time of day, he reportedly fried some tortilla chips and topped them with shredded cheese and jalapenos. He called this dish, “nacho”, after his nickname. Nachos were first mentioned in a cookbook in 1949 and Garcia was given the credit for creating the dish. In the next few decades, nachos became popular, Garcia opened his own restaurant in Piedras Negras. As Garcia never patented the dish, his son tried to obtain the rights for the original recipe in 1960. However, as a long time had passed since the invention, the recipe couldn’t be owned by the creators and it automatically became free for public use. In the 1970s and 80s, the dish began to be widely consumed as a snack across the U.S. Entrepreneur Frank Liberto is credited with the boom in the popularity of the snack in North America. Liberto invented the special “nacho cheese” and marketed the nachos at sport stadiums and movie theatres.

Not-so-real nacho cheese

In the initial years after the nachos were created, the cheese had to be melted in an oven before being added as the topping. The invention of nacho cheese eliminated the need for an oven and also enabled easy storage and a longer shelf life. Nacho cheese, created by Liberto is a gooey liquid that can be poured over nachos without being melted or heated. The recipe of this cheese remains a secret. However, this cheese is not considered real by many experts, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Nachos with the cheesy topping were first sold at a stadium food stall in 1976. Since then it has become one of the famous snacks in such venues.

Across the world

Nachos are still predominantly consumed only in North America and Mexico. However, owing to globalisation in the last few decades, several other places across the world have also been preparing varieties of nachos. For example, beef nachos are one of the most popular dishes made on Australia Day across Australia Bacon and baked beans nachos are widely consumed in Britain. In India, cheesy, tangy and sweet nachos spiced with cumin seeds and red chilli powder are often eaten with chutneys.

Among the most iconic Japanese variants are the kimchi and miso nachos.

Endless choices

From the tortilla chips to the cheese, there are several options. Tortilla chips made with gluten-free or carb-free ingredients are gaining popularity.

Some even use shredded vegetables such as sweet potatoes or squash to make the chips. The cheese can be made with other plant-based alternatives too. From strawberry cream, pineapple to chilli (gravy made with ground beef) and guacamole (an avocado dip), the choice of toppings that can be added to the nachos are endless.

 

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Salt is now sold in a variety of shapes and size.

Table salt

It is mostly harvested from salt deposits found underground. It’s iodized, highly refined and finely ground, with impurities and trace minerals removed in the process. It’s also treated with an anti-caking agent to keep from clumping.

Kosher salt

It is also called koshering salt. It is flakier and coarser-grained than regular table salt. Its large grain-size makes it perfect for sprinkling on top of meat, where it releases a surprising blast of flavour. Kosher salt also dissolves quickly, making it a perfect all-purpose cooking salt. According to Saltworks, most kosher salt does not contain any added iodine or any anti-caking agents. The salt is used in the koshering process, when surface fluids are removed from meat through drying.

Sea salt

Harvested from evaporated sea water, it is usually unrefined and coarse-grained. It also contains minerals like zinc, potassium and iron, which give sea salt its special flavour. Sea salt is made into several specialty salts.

Himalayan pink salt

Himalayan alt is the purest form of salt in the world. It is harvested by hand from the Khewra Salt Mine in the Himalayan Mountains of Pakistan. Its colour ranges from off-white to deep pink. It contains the 84 natural minerals and elements found in the human body. Himalayan salt is used in cooking and in spa treatments. You can buy a slab of this salt in the shops in the mountains.

Celtic sea salt

It is also known as sel gris (French for “grey salt”). Celtic sea salt is harvested from the bottom of tidal ponds off the coast of France. The salt crystals are raked out from the mineral-rich seawater and this gives Celtic salt its moist, chunky grains, grey colour and briny taste. Bakers prefer this salt.

Fleur de Sel

The word means “flower of salt.” Fleur de sel is a sea salt hand-harvested from tidal pools off the coast of Brittany, France. Paper-thin salt crystals are cut off carefully from the water’s surface, much like cream is taken from milk. This is done on sunny, dry days with a slight breeze, and only with traditional wooden rakes. This salt is rarely found and needs a lot of work and therefore is the most expensive salt (five pounds of it is 80).

The salt is moist, has a blue-grey tint and is rich in minerals. Fleur de sel is used as a finishing salt to add a dash of flavour to meat, seafood, vegetables and even sweets like chocolate and caramel.

Kala Namak

Kala namak or black salt is Himalayan salt that’s been packed in a jar with charcoal, herbs, seeds, and bark, then fired in a furnace for a full 24 hours before it is cooled, stored and aged. It is reddish-black in colour, has a pungent, salty taste and a faint smell of eggs. It’s often used in vegan and vegetarian dishes to give egg-free dishes the taste of egg. Also used in Ayurvedic practice.

Flake salt

Harvested from salt water through evaporation, boiling or other means, flake salt is thin and irregularly shaped with a bright, salty taste and very low mineral content. Its shape makes the salt dissolve quickly. So this can be used for gargling and oral dehydration therapy.

 

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The website Saltworks calls the common salt (sodium chloride) a “timeless ingredient.” And goes on to tell you why.

Salt must have been discovered accidentally, we don’t know when. But there are records to show that in 6050 BC (some 8 thousand years ago), salt was used. Around 2700 BC, in a research paper on pharmacology published in China, more than 40 kinds of salt and descriptions of two methods of salt extraction were mentioned. Nomads spreading westward carried salt, and Egyptian art of 1450 BC records salt making. Phoenicians traded salt with parts of their Mediterranean empire. In all the civilizations, salt has been used for cooking, preserving and in cultural, economic and religious practices.

The expression “not worth his salt” comes from the practice of trading slaves for salt in ancient Greece. Special salt rations given to early Roman soldiers were known as “salarium argentum,” (“sal” is salt in Latin) from which we get the word “salary.” Another theory says the word “salad” also came from “salt”, since early Romans added salt to the green leafy vegetables they ate. In ancient times, salt was a highly valued product, and its production was legally restricted. So it was used as currency. The Bible has 30 references to salt including the phrase “salt of the earth.” Salt stood for purity.

World history has close connections with salt. The city of Tuzia in Bosnia-Herzegovina is named for “tuz,” Turkish word for salt. Salzburg, Austria, has made its four salt mines major tourist attractions. Bolivia’s main tourist attraction is a hotel constructed entirely of salt. In the 16th Century, when the Dutch blockaded the Iberian salt mines, Spain went bankrupt and king Philip II was defeated. Mahatma Gandhi’s resistance to British colonial rule was marked by his Dandi march to make salt.

Portuguese and Spanish fleets used the “wet” method of preserving fish onboard with salt, while the French and English fleets used the “dry” or “shore” salting method. Thanks to this, the French and British fishermen became the first European inhabitants of North America since the Vikings a half century earlier.

In America, the Erie Canal, opened in 1825, was known as “the ditch that salt built” because salt was its principal cargo. Syracuse, NY, is proud of its salt history and its nickname, “Salt City.” The important role of salt in the history of Kanas is captured in a salt museum in Hutchinson, KS. In the American West, a “salt war” was fought at El Paso, Texas.

Salt is an extraordinary ingredient. No kitchen can function without it. Plants need salt to survive. It is a great food preservative. Salt is used in a lot of industries. In the 19th Century, techniques using salt were used to make photographic prints. Salt-glazed pottery is still popular in the U.S.

 

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Cheesecakes have been prepared for several centuries across Europe. With several regional adaptations, it is one of the most widely consumed dessert globally.

History

One of the first evidence of cheesecake can be traced back to ancient Greece. Food anthropologists believe cheesecakes were served for the participants at the ancient Olympic games in 776 B.C. These Greek cheesecakes were reportedly made with four ingredients, namely flour, wheat, honey and cheese.

The Roman annexation of Greece resulted in the introduction of cheesecakes in Rome. One of the earliest mentions of cheesecake can be seen in Roman statesman and writer Marcus Porcius Cato’s book “De re Rustica”, around 200 B.C. In the next few centuries, as the Romans expanded their empire, the dessert was taken to several places across Europe. During this period, those in the Great Britain and a few other Eastern European countries began making their own versions of cheesecakes. Henry VIII, the King of England from 1509 to 1547 was very fond of cheesecake that he asked his chef to experiment new types. Over the years, ingredients such as eggs, butter and sugar began to be used. Colonization was a major factor in taking cheesecakes to the U.S. and other former colonies.

Regional adaptations

Though cheesecake has its roots in Europe, it has been embraced in several forms across the world. They have been adapted according to local taste preferences. The New York cheesecake is made with thick and velvety cream cheese with a base made of cookie crumbs. The French use Neufchatel cheese and also add gelatin to the mixture. In Japan, cheesecakes o not have a separate cookie base, instead cornstarch and whipped egg whites are added to the cheese mixture, which makes the cake extremely fluffy. Germans make their cheesecake (known as Quarkkuchen) with cottage cheese or quark (a type of cheese). Several other European cheesecakes make use of other cheese varieties such as ricotta, mizithra, feta or Swiss.

Pie or cake?

Some believe cheesecakes are pies or even tarts because most of them come with multiple layers – a crust filling and sometimes even a topping. While some food experts suggest cheesecakes are cakes as they are “sweet baked foods made using a thick batter”. The debate of whether the cheesecake is a cake or a pie is unsolved.

What do you think? Is cheesecake a cake, pie or a tart?

Cheesecakes for all

From vegan and dairy-free cheesecakes made with plant-based cream to keto and gluten-free cheesecakes, there are many varieties prepared to cater to the dietary preferences of people.

Apart from the usual berry or fruit flavours, there are many interesting and unique options such as garlic, foie gras, hibiscus, sweet potato, matcha and maple bacon cheesecakes.

Tasty stamps!

American ice-cream brand Haagen-Dazs, in collaboration with the Austrian Postal Service, made stamps infused with flavours of strawberry cheesecake, macadamia nut brittle, and cookies and cream into the adhesive on the back. So when someone licks the stamp to stick it on a parcel or envelope, they get a taste of their favourite flavour!

 

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The Agra petha, made of ash gourd (white pumpkin), is probably the Indian sweet with the fewest ingredients. Even-popular, the petha is believed to have originated when Shah Jahan ordered his cook to make a sweet as white as the Taj Mahal. The chef, experimenting at short notice, probably found it easiest to dunk white ash gourd in sugar syrup. The result was the soft but firm and sweet jujube-like petha. While the original recipe contained just sugar, water and pumpkin, modern recipes include additives for colour and flavour. Cherry, orange-pineapple, khus khus, paan and even chocolate are some of the flavours in which pethas are available today.

We have a rich, varied and, if prepared the traditional way, even healthy repertoire of sweets.

 

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