Month of
Autumn-Apple
The apple is one of the oldest fruits grown. Some
varieties of apples have been grown for at least 2,000 years. There are over
7,500 kinds of apples in the world today. Apples that are grown for their
juice are known as cider apples, cooking apples or as dessert apples.
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which country do people eat the most POULTRY per person per year?
Hong Kong, at a rate of about 47kgs/103lbs per
person per year.
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Did you
know?
Gelatin – made from animal bones, skin, tendons etc. It is used in ice
creams, jelly, mousses and other desserts, some yogurts, sweets (such as
gums, jellies, marshmallows).
This animal jelly, foodstuff obtained from connective
tissue (found in hoofs, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage) of vertebrate
animals by the action of boiling water or dilute acid. It is largely composed
of denatured collagen, a protein particularly rich in the amino acids proline
and hydroxyproline.
Vegetable gelatin is also available, known
as
agar, is also produced from
East Indian seaweeds. Agar is obtained from several species of red algae,
or seaweed, chiefly from the Ceylon, or Jaffna, moss (Gracilaria lichenoides)
and species of Gelidium, harvested in eastern Asia and California. Agar becomes
gelatinous when dissolved in boiling water and cooled. Its main uses are
as a culture medium (particularly for bacteria) and as a laxative, but it
serves also as a thickening for soups and sauces, in jellies and ice cream,
in cosmetics, for clarifying beverages, and for sizing fabrics.
Want to know more about
gelatin?
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The most expensive widely used spice is saffron,
made from the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus. It costs $ 4 for 11/500
ounce.
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Ten Facts about
Water
1. Approximately 70% of the human body is
water.
2. The only thing more important than water to
the human body is oxygen.
3. Water covers nearly three-fourths of the earth's
surface.
4. The five Great Lakes form the largest fresh
surface water system in the world.
5. Most of the earth's surface water is permanently
frozen or salty.
6. About 6,800 gallons of water are required to
grow a day's food for a family of four.
7. The human brain is composed of 95% water; blood
is 82% water; the lungs are nearly 90% water.
8. Over 90% of the world's supply of fresh water
is located in Antarctica.
9. The world's rainiest place is Mt. Wai'ale'ale,
Kauai, Hawaii. During an average year, there are only 15 dry days.
10. Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest waterfall
in the world. The falls drops 3,212 feet. The drop is taller than 2.5 Empire
State Buildings stacked one on top of the other.
from
Brita
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| Where was
milk chocolate invented?
Milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland - a
man named David Peter devised a way of adding milk to create the worlds first
milk chocolate back in 1876.
Story of Chocolate
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Cardamom
History
Cardamom is considered the queen of spices, with
black pepper the king. Cardamom is native to the jungles of south India and
Sri Lanka, and belongs to the family of ginger. It is second only to saffron
in cost. Because of its high cost it is also highly valued. In the Middle
East, it is used in coffee and other dishes, and extensive use of it is
considered to be a compliment to guests. Cardamom is mentioned in an Egyptian
papyrus as early as 1550 B.C. as having numerous medical properties. Even
Cleopatra found the scent of the crushed seeds so enticing that she is rumoured
to have scented the rooms of her palace with cardamom smoke when Marc Anthony
paid her a visit!
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Do you know which is the most expensive
coffee?
The Indonesian coffee Kopi Luwak sells for $ 75
per quarter pound, partly because of its rarity but also because of the way
it is processed.
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| Banana
 Did you know that
there are over 500 different types of bananas. That means if you ate a different
kind of banana everyday, it would take almost a year and a half to eat every
one.
Bananas are most likely the first fruit ever to
be grown on a farm. Bananas might have been first found in Asia. The banana
plant can grow as high as 20 feet (or 6 meters) tall. That's as big as a
2 story house.
Bananas are almost fat free. One banana is about
99.5% fat free! Bananas are great source of potassium. Potassium helps build
muscle power and keeps your body fluids in balance.
How did people begin eating bananas? A Burmese
legend tells the story of a person who watched a bird eat a banana and realized
that this funny looking plant could be eaten.
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Curry
The word "curry" is derived from the Tamil word
for sauce, kari. Curry powder is not actually a spice, but a blend of spices.
In India, the mixture is called garam masala, and it typically includes
coriander, cumin, fenugreek, turmeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves,
cardamom, cinnamon, and chile peppers. Many times curry is misunderstood
for curry leaves, but there is no connection between curry and curry leaves.
Some say common word for gravy as curry was started in Britain,
because of the Indian cooking influence and modified the use of curry leaves
into curry powder.
The exact ingredients and proportions vary according
to the cook. The small, tan seeds of fenugreek (with a flavor similar to
artificial maple flavoring) are actually a legume. Fenugreek has been used
therapeutically for thousands of years in pastes and solutions to treat external
skin conditions, anorexia, fever, and gastritis.
from
ethnicfood
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The people from which country eat the most
candy?
The people of Denmark consume approximately 30
pounds per person per year. Denmark has the highest per capita consumption
of candy in the world at 29.5 pounds.
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| How the name vanilla came?
Growing as a wild climber in the forest and discovered
in Mexico by Spanish invaders, vanilla was one of the tributes paid to Aztec
overlords by some tribes. The Aztecs enjoyed a hot drink made from cocoa
and this little pod they called "tilxochitl." It was the Spanish who
changed the name to "vainilla", the first "i" was dropped later, which means
"little pod."
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| Asafoetida
Asafoetida is a resinous gum that is extracted
from the stems and roots of a plant (Ferula asafoetida) native to Iran,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It is sold in amber colored chunks and also int
he form of grounded yellowish powder.
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| How tea
started?
 The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years
ago. According to legend, the Shen Nong, an early emperor was a skilled ruler,
creative scientist and patron of the arts. His far-sighted edicts required,
among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution.
One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court
stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil
water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from the near by bush fell into
the boiling water, and a brown liquid was infused into the water. As a scientist,
the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very
refreshing. And so, according to legend, tea was created.
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Spice
story
How big is your spice rack? We ask because it as
come to light that spices can be beneficial to your health. They're now saying
that cinnamon, oregano, cumin, cloves, cayenne pepper and the like are more
than flavor enhancers.
They all contain powerful antibiotic chemicals which " kill or suppress the
bacteria and fungi that contaminate food." This news was revealed by two
Cornell University researchers who analyzed recipes used in tropical regions
vs. those used in colder climates.
 Garlic and onion,
among the most powerful bacteria suppressors, are used in about 80-97% of
recipes from Indonesia, and in India more than 80% of recipes arc prepared
with onions, ginger and capsicums (hot peppers) and 76% use garlic. It's
believed a taste for spicy foods is transmitted both culturally and genetically.
Generally the hotter the climate of a region, the more spices are called
for in their recipes, presumably because the more bacteria they need to kill.
from The Diabetic
Reader
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Mango
Story
Cultivated in India for several thousand years,
the mango was first made known to the outside world by the Chinese traveler
Hwen T'sang, it is said. T'sang had visited India in the first century AD.
Cultivation of the fruit then spread eastward and westward, arriving in Persia
by the tenth century.
In its home of India, the mango became a status
symbol. Akbar (1556-1605), the Moghul ruler, planted a mango tree orchard
at Darbhanga in Bihar, called "Lakh Bagh" because the number of the trees
was supposedly one lakh (one hundred thousand). Still in the sixteenth century,
the Portuguese took the mango from India to Africa. By the eighteenth century,
the mango had reached the West Indies and Brazil. In the nineteenth century,
it was known in Mexico, Hawaii, and Florida. Even though mangos are now grown
in all these areas, India is still the world's largest mango producer.
from
specialtyproduce
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