FOOD TRIVIA: Interesting Facts About Champagne

To be labeled as "True" Champagne, a wine must be made in the Champagne region of France using only Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or Chardonnay grapes grown in that region. Further, it must get its bubbles by a double fermentation process; once in the barrels and second in the bottle. 
               
There are approximately 49 million bubbles in a standard size bottle of Champagne.

 Drinking Champagne too fast allows the bubbles to cause the alcohol to enter the blood stream too quickly which often leads to a headache. Sip Champagne slowly to savor its taste but, also, to dissipate the bubbles before swallowing.

The classic Champagne coupe was from a wax mold made from the breast of Marie Antoinette.

The pressures in a Champagne bottle (about 90 lbs/sq. inch) is more than the pressure in most automobile tires.

COOKING TIP: Want to Drink Tea like a Connoisseur?

Most of us have drunk tea using those very convenient teabags that one can find on any grocery market shelf and have enjoyed the experience. However, to TRUE CONNOISSEURS, by doing this, we are really missing the real pleasure of drinking all the various kinds and types of tea available. The following will give you some information about the most widely available types of tea and methods of preparation for you to get the most pleasure out of drinking them.

TYPES OF TEA

All teas are processed to some degree and are classified by the amount(s) of processing they undergo.

WHITE TEAS: The least processed of all the teas. Young leaves are dried, which removes all moisture but retains the natural flavor of the leaves, leaving a light-bodied tea which is naturally sweet

GREEN TEAS: These teas are heated shortly after harvest to halt the oxidation process and retain their green character. Their flavor is lighter than more oxidized black teas and has a clean, refreshing flavor.

OOLONG TEAS: These teas are partially oxidized which imparts a lighter body than the even more oxidized black teas resulting in a highly aromatic, flavorful brew.

BLACK TEAS: These teas are fully oxidized resulting in a rich, full-bodied taste

PREPARATION

1)   It is suggested that you use loose tea purchased from a reliable supplier and freshwater to brew your tea. Tea can be brewed as   an individual cup or in a pot using various sizes of tea infusers or, if you are brewing in a pot, the tea can be poured threw a small strainer to remove the leaves

2)   Use 1-3 teaspoons of tea, depending on how strong a brew you prefer, for each 6 oz cup of water or follow the specific measurements recommended on the tea package.

3)   Steeping times and the ideal water temperature in which to brew your tea varies with the kind of tea you are using.  Use the following table as a guide but experiment with different steeping times to suit your own taste.

STEEPING TIMES

Tea Type            Time/Min           Temp/F

                                                           Green               2-3                 170-180

                                                           White               2-4                  180-190

                                                            Oolong             2-5                      190

                                                            Black                2-5                      212

 

A LITTLE EXTRA TEA TRIVIA

The British add milk to their tea. Traditionally, milk is added to the cup before the tea is poured into it. Why you ask? When tea was introduced into England, it was quite expensive, available only to Royalty and the very wealthy. These people drank their tea from thin, high quality, fine China which would crack if the hot tea was poured directly into it. Therefore, cold milk was added first to cool the tea enough to prevent damage to the cup.

For those who would like more information about tea and its history, see my series of 4 posts about "The History of Tea": Oct – Jan, 2017.

COOKING TIP: How Do You Like Them Apples?

In the mid-1800's, there were 1000's of varieties of apples in the U.S; one of the most diverse of food crops. However, the industrial agricultural industry destroyed that world, deciding to promote only a few varieties world-wide.While the rest of the varieties did not become biologically extinct, they became commercially extinct. However, new varieties are being developed constantly in recent years.  Some of these newer and some older varieties and the way (s)  they may best be used are listed below.

                                                                                               

  MOST SWEET                                                                                USES
   
                                 NAME                                             FRESH     PIE     COOKING

                                    Fuji                                                      +           +             +
                                    Sonya                                                   +           +            
                                    Gala                                                      +                          +
                                    Acey Mac                                             +                          +
                                    Jonagold                                               +           +
                                    Cameo                                                  +            +
                                    Golden Delicious                                  +           +             +
                                    Red Delicious                                       +            +
                                    Honey Crisp                                          +            +            +
                                    Ginger Gold                                                        +             +
                                     Rome                                                                  +             +
                                     Braeburn                                               +                           +
                                     Pink Lady                                              +           +             +
                                     Granny Smith                                        +           +             +

MOST TART

FOOD HISTORY: Peanut Butter

Peanuts, which are native to South America, were used as food and as a source for oil for the ancient Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. The Aztecs even roasted and mashed peanuts into a paste to use for food.  This was, however, no where near the peanut butter which we currently know and love today. Peanuts spread to  Europe, US and the rest of the world following colonization of the "New World". The first development on the road to modern peanut butter was in 1884 when Marcellus Gilmore Edson, a Druggist in Canada, applied for and was granted a US patent for a " new manufacture of peanuts to form a flavoring paste". He milled roasted peanuts between heated surfaces to a form a paste that had, "the consistency similar to butter, lard or ointment." He believed that a candy could be created using his peanut paste and sugar but there is no evidence that he made or sold his peanut paste idea into a commercial venture. Later, others began making "pastes/butters" out of peanuts. In 1894, George Bayle, owner of a St. louis, MO food company was encouraged by a physician to process peanuts into a paste to be sold as  as "protein" substitute for people with "not-so-good dental works" that couldn't eat meat, He also sold lots of his peanut butter at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition as a snack food. Dr. J.H. Kellog , a devout Seventh Day Adventist and strict vegetarian, experimented with peanut paste made using steamed peanuts as a vegetable protein for the patients at his Battle Creek, MI sanatorium in 1898. Benton Black founded the Krema Peanut Company in Columbus, OH in 1898 with its first product being peanut butter. (The Krema Company is in business today and still produces peanut butter). The problem with all of these products was that the peanut oil separated from the grainy peanut solids fairly rapidly, rose to the top of the container, became exposed to light and oxygen and became rancid.  Because of this,  peanut butter had to be consumed shortly after its being prepared. This made all peanut butters at that time, products that had to be eaten in areas only quite close to the processing sites. This changed in 1923, when Joseph Rosefield  of Alameda CA, received a patent to manufacture peanut butter using an process which prevented oil separation. Because of this, his peanut butter was the first shelf stable peanut butter, staying fresh for up to a year. In1928, he licensed a company to make "Peter Pan Peanut Butter" which was the first dominant national peanut butter. However, in 1932, after a licensing dispute with the maker of Peter Pan, he started his own company, the Rosefield Packing Company, making peanut butter with the brand name,  'Skippy". Over the next years, Rosefield introduced many innovations in peanut butter including putting fragments of peanuts into the butter to make a  "chunky - style" peanut butter and went to the wide mouth jar for easy access to the product, The wide mouth jar has been the accepted industry wide standard ever since. Even before Reese's created peanut butter cups, Rosefield brought a peanut butter-chocolate product to the market; Choc-Nut Butter. Although this was not a commercial success, it shows the forward thinking of Rosefield about the potential uses for peanut butter. The Skippy brand overtook Peter Pan in the late 40's and it remained the nations favorite until 1980. In 1955, he sold his company to Best Foods for six million dollars. That same year, Procter and Gamble bought "Big Top" peanut butter from W. T. Young  Foods. Inc., Lexington, KY. Over the years, P & G reformulated the "Big Top" product, replacing peanut oil with other oils and added  sugar and molasses to sweeten it. they rebranded it with the name "Jif" to compete with Skippy and Peter Pan. Some of these changes were adopted by other peanut makers, as well. After years of dispute between peanut manufacturers and the US government over what could be called peanut butter, governmental standards were established in 1971. Jiff, with help from  a new advertising slogan, "Choosey mothers choose Jif",  jumped from being the number three to being number one selling brand. The Jif brand was purchased by Smuckers in 2001 and has been the nations' best selling brand for more than 30 years. Because peanut butters history of development and promotion as a as a food product was mostly associated with the United States, its popularity outside the US was slow to develop. However, according to a current report by the IMARC Research group, the global peanut butter market is presently worth three billion dollars with a increase in demand growth rate during the years 2009-2016.

COOKING TIP: Using Miso

Miso is a thick paste - like substance made from fermented soybeans with a salty and tangy taste. On its own it is most commonly used in the making of Japanese Miso soup. However, it adds an unusual burst of flavor when used in other ways. Miso comes in several colors from white to dark brown; the darker the color, the longer fermentation time and, therefore, the stronger the intensity of flavor. You can try several types to see which one suits you taste.

USES

1) Whisk one teaspoon into your favorite vinaigrette.
2) Mash some into potatoes alone or with the milk and butter.
3) Mix with softened butter and serve with radishes as an appetizer.
4) Any other way your imagination and taste takes you.

FOOD TRIVIA: How do you start your day, with dinner or breakfast? 

The early Romans (approximately27 BC) started their day with a a porridge-like substance to “break the fast” between the evening meal and the first meal of the next day. The word for that meal in Latin was “disiunare” from the Latin element “dis” meaning - reversal, and “iunare” meaning - "fast". Later it was shortened to “disnare” or “disnar” and later, in old French, to “diner,” which meant, at that time, the first big meal of the day; the one that broke your fast from the evening before, i.e., “breakfast”. It further devolved into the English word “dinner” In medieval time’s, food writers emphasized that only two meals a day should be sufficient and that eating more often was “beastly.” Therefore, people were expected to eat well in the morning (dinner) and then have a smaller meal in the evening. Later on, due to a variety of reasons, intermediate meals were added, and the larger meal was eaten later in the day. Thus, the word “dinner”, originally meaning the meal that was eaten to “break one’s fast”, is now used to indicate the last and largest meal of the day while the word, "breakfast” became the word we use for the first and earliest meal of the day.

 

COOKING TIP: What Else You Need to Know About Salt

Before discussing salt, some understanding about TASTE BUDS must be presented. For many, many decades, it was thought that there were only four primary taste sensations, sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Further, it was believed that these four taste elements were distributed in fixed positions around the tongue. However, in 1908, a Japanese scientist discovered that there was a FIFTH taste, he called "UMAMI", a Japanese word that has no exact translation to English but is interpreted to mean "savory", "meaty' or "delicious". UMAMI taste is found in foods containing high levels of certain chemical substances, mainly glutamate.  Thus, currently, we know that there are five not four primary tastes. Furthermore, contrast to what was once believed concerning the various primary taste buds being "mapped" in specific positions in the tongue, it has been found that taste buds are distributed throughout the oral cavity (tongue and upper palate), although some areas may be more sensitive than others. With this as background, we can learn about the effect of salt (or, at least the sodium ions contained in it) on taste and flavor well beyond just imparting a salty taste to food.

As you know, our enjoyment of what we eat is enhanced by the number of senses - sight, smell, touch (texture) and taste that each food/dish stimulates. In the case of salt, its use can stimulate several of our senses. A piece of chocolate or a caramel, for example, with a scattering of sea salt on top enhances visual appeal (sight) by presenting a contrast in color - white granules on a dark background - on what you are eating.  In addition, it increases the anticipation of a textural difference - a crunch of the salt against the soft, melting feel of the chocolate in your mouth or the chewy nature of the caramel. Further, salt added to food makes certain molecules in the food more volatile, so the aroma of food is enhanced. This adds the sense of smell to the perception of taste when salt is added. Regarding the sense of taste, in addition to imparting a salty taste to food, salt also depresses the sensitivity of the bitter taste buds, therefore decreasing the bitter taste perception. Thus, if your coffee tastes bitter, adding a pinch of salt rather than adding more sugar will make the coffee taste less bitter without adding to the sweetness. Moreover, recent studies have shown that a "sensor" in the taste buds which allow glucose (sugar) to move into the sweet taste cells in the mouth is activated when salt (it's sodium component) is present. This allows these cells to register more sweetness. This is why a sprinkle of salt on watermelon or its addition to candy makes them taste sweeter and why the addition of salt is part of every recipe used for making cakes. Finally, as was stated above, the UMAMI taste is mediated by the amount of glutamate found in food.  We now know that the UMAMI taste sensation that is mediated by glutamate becomes more intense in the presence of the sodium ion contained in salt. One of the many foods that are rich in Umami taste are tomatoes. You all know that a sprinkling of salt on tomatoes intensifies the taste. Now you know why.

I hope this “salty" information make you look at using salt in a different light.

 

FOOD HISTORY: Jello

While gelatin (gelatine in French; gelatin in English, from the Latin word "gelatus" meaning :jellied" was "invented" by boiling and removing the glutinous materials from bones and first described by French researcher/ inventor Denis Papin in 1682, It's use  in a dessert product didn't occur until over 100 plus years later. That began in 1845 when Peter Cooper, American inventor, who invented and built the "Tiny Tim" steam locomotive to demonstrate the potential of steam to power rail transportation in the United States and who founded The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City also obtained the first US patent for the manufacture of a gelatin dessert product. His product was very simple; one only had to add boiling water to the gelatin powder to use. While Cooper manufactured and packaged it for sale to cooks, because it had little taste, it never became popular and Cooper did little over the next 50 years to commercialize it further.  In 1895, cough syrup manufacturer Pearl B. Wait bought the patent and, in order to make the gelatin more flavorful, added fruit syrup to it and  developed a packaged, flavored gelatin dessert. Wait's wife named the product Jell-O; a combination of the words "gelatin and jelly". While there was no competition for Jell-O on the market, it also had few customers. Therefore, Wait sold his business to O.F. Woodward for $450. Woodward could not improve sales and was so concerned about the business that he tried to sell it for $35. NO TAKERS! However, in 1900, several cooking experts discovered Jell-O and decided it would make a nice ending to a meal. After that, Jell-O began to appear as a dessert at banquets and fancy dinners. In 1902, Woodward launched the Jell-O, " America's Most Famous Dessert" advertising campaign and, from that time on, Jell-O became known world-wide and now is the world's largest selling powdered dessert.

FOOD TRIVIA: More Interesring Chanpagne Facts

In 1725, Bordeaux wine makers in France named the four bottle size of champagne “Jeroboam” the biblical founder of Israel who ruled from 931 - 920 BC because he is referred to as, “a man of great worth.”, as was this size bottle to the sellers of champagne.

The largest bottle size of Champagne is called Melchezedek (30 liters;40 standard bottles; 240 glasses) who was the King and Priest in the Book of Genesis that blessed Abram; his name translates as  "King of Righteousness". 

A raisin dropped in a glass of champagne will bounce up and down, continually, from the bottom of the glass to the top.

"Sabrage" is a term used for opening a bottle of champagne using a sword.

Napoleon Bonaparte and Winston Churchill, both lovers of Champagne used the drink for both good and bad times. Churchill said, " I drink Champagne when I celebrate."  and Napoleon is alleged to say " …. I drink Champagne when I lose , to console myself."