Archive for April, 2007

I was browsing the web on my downtime this weekend and I looked at food related news and stuff. I found some interesting facts related to food and nutrition. I’d like to share 8 of the most interesting with you in this post.

1. Fruity cocktails count as health food

   Recent studies have found that the small amount of alcohol found in fruity cocktails actually enhance the antioxidant properties of fruit juices. So drink up!

2. Fast Food is as addictive as heroin

   Scientists have found that fast food eaters can become chemically dependent of the fat and sugar found in their diet. These substances affect the same areas of the brain as in the case of drug addiction. So now I know what caused my Krispy Kreme addiction.

3. You can cook food in paper

   Well not the brown grocery paper bag variety, but in parchment paper. A traditional French cooking technique wrap meat, fish, poultry or vegetables in a packet made of parchment paper. The packets are then put in an oven to bake the contents. They say it’s a good way to seal in the natural flavors of food.

4. Eating less salt is really good for you

   Recent findings has confirmed what doctors have suspected for a long time. Reducing salt intake will lower your chances of developing cardiovascular diseases.

5. Vinegar gets rid of kitchen odors

   Keeping an open bowl filled with white vinegar is supposed to absorb unpleasant food odors such as cooking cabbage, frying fish and sauteing onions. This could help those who don’t like those smells. But personally I love how a cooking kitchen smells.

6. Artificial sweeteners do not cause cancer

   US studies have found no data to show the often claimed connection of artificial sweeteners with cancer. This is good news for non-diabetics who want to use artificial sweeteners to reduce their sugar intake.

7. Fast food nutrition is confusing

   Polls have shown people are unable to tell which food from the fast food menu contains more calories. They say this is true even with so called ‘health items’ in the menu. So, that fast food caesar salad may actually have more calories than your milkshake.

8. Pasta cooks faster with less water

   For large quantities of pasta, a big bulk of the cooking time is boiling the water it’s cooked in. It was found that cooking pasta in less water is just as effective. Less water takes less time to boil, thus the pasta cooks faster.

I am having a marathon chicken week. I have eaten three different preparations of chicken: fried, roasted and in a pasta sauce. I think I can have chicken all day for a week and not repeat a single dish. I think it’s the most versatile and most available meat in modern history.

It seems every family and every restaurant the world over has its very own chicken specialty. In fact, Randal Caparoso (one well traveled gourmet, sommelier and author) attests that a restaurant’s caliber can be judged by the chicken it serves. That is: great chicken dish = great resto (or maybe he just loves chicken). Because chicken is a more widely accepted meat source compared to pork or beef, any menu should have at least one chicken dish.

One the other side of the gustatory spectrum, when we dine on unfamiliar ‘meat’ we say that it ‘tastes like chicken’. We have heard that from people feasting on rats, frogs, snakes and what have you. It seems that everything out of the ordinary gets in this flavor category. An evolutionary biologist claims to have an answer here. They basically are saying that commercially grown chicken tastes bland like most other exotic meats. They lack flavor when compared to say beef or pork.

Whatever scientists say, I’ll still go on culinary adventures in and out of my kitchen - with or without chicken because those weird stuff are bound to taste like chicken to me anyway.

Eggs are great! You can find them in almost any kind of food preparation, from appetizers to desserts. Plus, they’re so nutritious too! Here are a few egg photos from Flickr. I hope they inspire you to be more creative with your eggs.

A breakfast classic: scrambled eggs with tomatoes - saute a bit of green onions before putting in the eggs and cook the tomatoes last if you want them firm and not watery.

With gourd, bitter gourd - the trick is to rub the whole gourd with salt before washing it. I learned this from my grandma - it removes the bitter taste of the gourd.

Yummy on (half) pizza florentine - steam your spinach for a few seconds before putting on the crust and top with the egg.
A satisfying lunch!

An oriental take on eggs - a slice of salted duck egg is ’sandwiched’ between thousand year eggs

Egg noodles with eggs on the side

On rice noodles with lot of seafood. This dish is called Pancit Malabon. This is literally a one dish meal. Perfect for dinner!

And finally a dessert - egg custard tart.

I think we have enough eggs to last us for a week. Enjoy!