Cooking with mandarin

Mandarin is the blanket term for every “easy peel” citrus. The three main kinds are Clementine, Satsuma and Tangerine, but there are limitless hybrids.

Although mandarins look gorgeous, they keep best in the fridge. Take out a few at a time to top up the fruit bowl, so they were at room temperature when you eat them.

The skin of a very fresh fruit will spritz oil when it is peeled, and the fruit will be juicier. Like oranges, the skin is wax, so wash it well in hot water before using it in cooking.

Clementines sold with their leaves are pretty, and shiny lithe leaves are proof that the fruit is fresh. Add a well-washed leaf to beef casseroles or oriental dishes for a citrus-bay leaf flavor.

Pure Chocolate – Food of the gods

Rich, decadent and addictive, chocolate has got to be one of the most delicious and seductive food on earth. Even if you don’t want another reason to indulge in its dark sweetness, a trip to “Chocolate: the Exhibition” will give you one and many more.

You will learn that chocolate is called the food of the gods because the plant’s botanical name, Theobroma cacao, literally means “food of the gods.” But you can credit the Aztecs for inspiring chocolate’s stature to that point. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, they valued the cacao seeds like money. To them, chocolate was a luxury, a drink for warriors and nobility, used in ritual and ceremonies. You could buy tamale for just one cacao seed. So it looks like gold was not the great discovery in 1512 by Cortez, the Spanish Conquistador. It was a chocolate.

Winter cooking - grilling season

The bold, single flavor of grilled foods is more popular than ever - from steaks (the hands down favorite), burgers and chicken, to grilled vegetables and appetizers. And while grilling is naturally thought to be the quintessential summer cooking activity, an increasing number of Americans are firing up their grills year-round.

Even children's taste has evolved. They have learned to enjoy flavors that frequently accompany grilled foods; International Flavors and Fragrances Group data shows that "classic" children's flavors now include sour cream and onion, buffalo, and honey-mustard.

Singaporean food flavors

In Singapore, foodies are not simply a group of folks from the more-affluent parts of the population. Every socioeconomic level within this little city-state, which comprises only 246 square miles - and is home to over 100,000 registered hawker food stalls - has a keen interest in food.
This provides a platform for one of the most-dynamic, multiethnic and pervasive food culture around. We could look to Singapore for more than just what is delicious - we can learn how to improve our food quality, raise foodservice turnaround and get ideas on how to create collective eating arenas for food.

Chinatown is one of the only places you can still eat on the street - accurately. In the evening, the road is closed to traffic, and the tables come out. Chinese cuisine can be found all around the island: Fine-dining restaurants, casual eateries and stalls within the hawker centers churn out real Chinese cuisine from all around China.

Holiday Flavor Added at Tasti D-Lite

During the month of November, Tasti D-Lite has featured a mixture of old and new fall flavors - Apple Pie, Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Pie, and new Pumpkin Cheesecake - as a complement to its daily rotation of more than 100 flavors of frozen desserts. Adhering to Tasti D-Lite's mission of offering lower-calorie treats, each of these featured flavors have between 70 and 90 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, and 14 grams or less of carbs, plus 5 grams of protein, per 4-fluid-ounce serving. These flavors will also be available in the chain's increasing line of cakes and pies, which will be promoted at 20 percent off at participating locations during the month of November.

In December, Tasti D-Lite will focus on two extra holiday flavors: Eggnog and Peppermint.

Pasta sauce with flavor

The point of a pasta sauce is to improve the flavor of starchy noodles, not emulate it. But the demands of current food processing can play havoc with the sauce’s flavor.

To start with, product designers need to add stabilizers and texturizers to improve pasta-sauce performance - ingredients that not only contribute to the way flavors are perceived by altering texture and mouth feel, but may actually result in chemical interactions that bind flavor volatiles. The relationships between stabilizers and flavor chemicals could be complex - different stabilizers can have a different effect on the same flavor compounds and vice versa. Other elements of the sauce, such as fat content, can also affect flavor release. Often, a pasty or floury sauce is the result of over-determined attempts at stabilization.

Development of american peanut butter

Americans are concerned about one of their major beloved treats: peanut butter. In March 2009 over 15,000 tons of peanut butter made by the Peanut Corporation of America were recalled, along with other thousands of products, from brownies to ice cream to cereals, and even dog treats that controlled peanut butter. The situation was not singular - cases of product contaminated with salmonella were reported since 1985, and instead of declining, the instances only grew: from 168,000 cases in 1985, to 224,000 in 1993 and over 300,000 in 2008 - and products containing infested peanut butter are amongst the major causes in this development.

Peanut butter is a main aliment for children’s menus in schools and kindergartens as well; many households cannot imagine breakfast without it and many charity organizations, including the Salvation Army, count peanut butter as a main ingredient to feed the poor. But the FDA didn’t make any current updates on the recalls, and the industry keeps quiet about the case - so the consumers are obviously worried that another salmonella outbreak will follow if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration don’t get funds for inspections.

Fortune cookies – American Traditions

Fortune cookies have been an American traditional since the early 1900s. The original fortune cookie has a bland almond or vanilla flavors and have become an American icon through the last century. Traditionally, fortune cookies contain messages to expect your future, always in vague terms, or provide a bit of common-sense wisdom. In recent years, the fortune cookies have become a tool for marketers in an array of industries - and even in Hollywood.

In 1988, Mike Fry invented the flavored, colored fortune cookie and since that time, his company FancyFortuneCookies has thoroughly experimented, tested, tweaked and perfected each flavor and color formulation to create the most delicious fortune cookie possible. This continual process has given them the insight essential to formulate over 25 one-of-a-kind color and flavor combinations specifically created to match logos, corporate colors or event themes.

Flavor food with cinnamon

Cinnamon, an ancient spice used as a cologne and love potion for rich Romans, comes from the bark of the tropical evergreen. Its aromatic scent makes it a good ploy for real estate agents - heat a pan of cinnamon water in an oven to perfume the kitchen during open houses. Along with selling house, cinnamon is diabetic-friendly as it desensitizes the liver lowering blood sugar levels, induces sweating to detox with the flu and colds, and jazzes up the whole thing from oatmeal and baked apples to stews and lasagna.

Cardamom, one of the world's expensive spices behind saffron and vanilla, is a first cousin to ginger. A native to India, these dried aromatic seeds perk up a cup of joe, curry and chili dishes, burgers and pie crusts. Cardamom is also a great digestive aid in case you' have OD'ed on those curry and chili dishes. A pinch is plenty, as this spice is quite strong.

Drink a healthy cup of traditional tea

Tea, the second most generally consumed beverage worldwide (after water), has been regarded for thousands of years as a key to well-being. Now we are finding out much more about the many health benefits found in the different variety of this popular drink made from God’s plants and herbs.

Traditional teas are black, green, white and oolong - are made from the plant camellia sinensis, and all contain high levels of antioxidant polyphenols. Actually, tea ranks as high as or higher than many fruits and vegetables in the ORAC score, a score that measures antioxidant potential of plant-based foods.

Black tea, the kind most Americans and Europeans drink, has the maximum caffeine content, and the strongest flavor.

Herbal teas: Made from herbs, fruits, seeds, or roots steeped in hot water, herbal teas have lower concentrations of antioxidants than green, black, white, and oolong teas. Their chemical compositions vary widely depending on the plant used, but two of the most general and beneficial herbal teas are hibiscus and chamomile.

The popular brown butter sauce

As the sauce bubbles away on the stove, a sugary scent reminiscent of roasting almonds fills the room. Step closer to the pan and you will see that it's not a milky, nut-infused topping but instead a thin, golden-brown liquid. Another whiff of the warm nuttiness says you that neither vegetable nor chicken stock or even beer simmers in the pan. Instead the sole ingredient of this aromatic, rich sauce is butter.

Brown butter sauce is popular with cooks not only for its versatility but also because it is so easy to prepare. All you require is a pan, a burner and unsalted butter. Once the sauce is completed, it can be used immediately or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Before serving the sauce, some cooks strain it in cheesecloth or a well mesh sieve to remove the dark specks. Others believe that the flecks of brown add color and reinforce the notion of "brown butter," and so forgo strain and present the liquid as is. With no hard and quick rule, proper presentation rests in the cook's hands.

How vanilla is formed?

One flavor many cooks frequently forget to try is vanilla, which has a heady, aromatic taste combined with sweet, fruity and floral scents. Vanilla beans are grown in mainly four locations around the world - Madagascar, Indonesia, Mexico and Tahiti - and each variety of beans can be used to enhance both sweet and savory flavors.

Vanilla’s flavor and fragrance are so enveloping throughout American life, it is often assumed to be a common, easily grown ingredient. However, that assumption couldn’t be further from the reality. The vanilla bean is the second most expensive spice in the world, second only to saffron, and it is so expensive because it is so difficult and time-consuming to grow and ferment.

Vanilla actually is produced by an orchid (Vanilla planifolia) native only to Central America - the only orchid of around 20,000 varieties that bears anything edible. In order to produce the vanilla bean, the orchid wants to be pollinated by stingless Melipona bees, also only found in Central America, and the orchid flower only opens for less than a day. If not pollinated during that time, the flower will fall off and no vanilla beans will be formed.

Oolong tea offers ‘beauty’

”Oriental Beauty” is the type of oolong tea. The features it possesses are just as beautiful as its name suggests, while all those features came about during an accident.

In another story, Oriental Beauty was initially called “Puff Tea.” At that time, a farmer's tea garden was injured by insects. He couldn't reconcile himself to the idea of suffering a big loss, so he took his tea into the town for sale. Unexpectedly, his tea was favored by many peoples because of its unique fragrance. After he returned, he shared his experience with the insect-injured tea; the villagers quickly dubbed it “Puff Tea.”

The fermentation level of Oriental Beauty is the deepest among oolong teas, so its tea water turned darker, or amber-colored. In addition, the tea leaves are tremendous, with five colors you can see by looking carefully - red, yellow, white, blue-green and brown. Therefore, some people also call it as “Five-color Tea.”

Life of coffee flavors

Coffee gives untold legions reasons to perk up in the morning, stay up late at night and just sit to enjoy the intimacy coffee lends to conversations both serious and silly.

It is a universal language served up in the container of choice and in the setting of selection at whatever temperature one desires.

Coffee has steadfast friends, with more than half of the nation's adult population consuming it every day.

Numerous varieties from more than 70 producing coffee nations, in addition to an array of syrups, keep coffee from ever becoming boring.

In many ways, coffee is like ice cream - there is a flavor out there, somewhere, which almost anybody will like and appreciate.