FOOD TRIVIA: About Wine

The California wine industry was started by a Hungarian immigrant, Count Agaston Haraszthy de Maksa, who planted Tokay, Zinfandel, and Shiraz varieties from his native land.

Pinot, a variety of red and white wine grapes used for making the red Pinot Noir and white Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris wines were named Pinot because the grapes grow in tightly clustered, pine cone-shaped bunches; Pinot means pine cone in French.

 

The country that produces the most wine is Italy.

The name used in England for the red wine from the Bordeaux region of France is Claret.

COOKING TIP: Using Your Ice Cube Tray

Water from your tap becomes cloudy when frozen. Boiled water, allowed to cool slightly, put into ice cube trays will give crystal clear cubes.

 Puree garlic and ginger with water, freeze and add to soups, stews, stir-fries or mashed potatoes.

 Place cut pieces of fruit, Strawberries, Blueberries, etc. into an ice cube tray, fill the tray with water, and freeze. Use to make fruit cocktail or add to drinks to keep them cold, add some fruit flavor and give a colorful accent to the drink.

OR

                                                            
Puree berries, sweeten to taste, place in ice cube trays, and freeze. Put in drinks to add color to the drink AND a continuing, sweet berry flavor as the cubes melt.

Freeze bacon fat drippings. Warm to melt a cube and add to salad dressings, soups, toss with greens, use to fry eggs, or use in any other cooking task in which you want to add bacon flavor. The same applies to chicken, duck, or goose fat.

Freeze left-over coffee and add to warm milk to make iced coffee. Same with tea; add to cold tea for iced tea without diluting the tea flavor by using water ice cubes.

Never throw away leftover sauces, small amounts of ketchup or mustard remaining in their containers Freeze them in small amounts. Add tho any dish where you think their addition will improve the flavor of what you are cooking.

FOOD HISTORY: Dinner Once Was Breakfast

In the Neolithic Era (8000 - 6000 BC), which was a great period of innovation, humans began to use querns  (grinding stones) to turn grains into a porridge-like food. Roman soldier 's  soon began consuming it to “break the fast” between the evening meal and the first meal of the next day.  The Latin word for that early morning meal was “disiunare” from the Latin root “dis” meaning reversal, and “iunare” meaning fast: together, "breakfast".  This word was later shortened to “disnare” or “disnar” and, even later, in old French, to “diner,” which meant, at that time, the first large meal of the day.  Eventually, in medieval England, this word that originated in Latin evolved into the English word "dinner". In England during that time, food writers emphasized that two meals a day should suffice and eating more frequently was considered “beastly.” People were expected to have a sizeable meal in the morning (dinner) and then have a smaller meal in the evening. Eventually, however, intermediate smaller meals became customary, and the larger meal was eaten much later in the day. Thus, the word "dinner", originally meaning "reversing the fast", is now used to indicate the last largest meal of the day while the word "breakfast" has come to be known as the first meal of the day.

 

COOKING TIP: Alternate Uses for a Melon Baller.

1) Use melon baller to remove the choke from artichokes.

2) Portion out mini appetizer sized drop biscuits. 

3) Scrape seeds from cucumbers, zucchini, jalapeno peppers, etc.
of other firm, juicy fruits and vegetables.

4) Core halved fruits, e.g., apples, pears. etc.

5) Hollow out vegetables for stuffing; tomatoes, squash, cucumber, baby potatoes, etc.

6) Use to make mini ice cream scoops.

7) Remove eyes from fresh pineapple.

8) Scoop out tops of cup cakes to make a hole for stuffing.

9) Make balls from melon and other fruit,. freeze and add to summer drinks to cool them down, add  flavor and color.

10) Portion  mini cookies.

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                                        +           +             +

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