In the field of food safety and proper food handling, there are four principles by which the food industry regulates how it relates to all food hygiene applications. Together, these principles work to cover all critical areas where contamination of food occurs. Observing these principles greatly minimized the health risks involved in directing the food and the consequent contamination of the food.
The four golden rules of food hygiene are:
Buy food from a safe source.
Prevent bacteria from entering food.
Prevent the proliferation (growth or development) of bacteria in their food.
Destroy bacteria in the food, utensils and work surfaces
Make sure you buy food only from suppliers that are well known and reputable. It is important to note that all foods are within their expiration date and appropriate conditions are maintained in the store. The meters of the portion should be kept spotlessly clean, the machines also including mincing machines, knives and slicers.Freezers, coolers and refrigerators should display their temperatures and must be fixed in less than 5 degrees centigrade for products and cooled to -18 degrees centigrade or less for frozen products.
All packaging must be original and not trying to force with or forged. This would indicate that the product is not original and was produced by a fraudulent company. Do not buy these products under any circumstances because they threaten their health.
All reputable retail outlets that sell food must display the license until all required regulatory authorities as required by law. Check with your local authority to find out what licenses should have a store of food or a supermarket to be open for business in your area. (more…)
People enjoy drinking wine because it’s relaxing, a great meal partner, and has healthy effects on the body. Before deciding what type or brand of wine to buy, there are some things that you need to know. Always make sure that you are buying the best bottle. Here are some things that you should check before purchasing a bottle of wine.
Quality Most wines on the market right now are made for mass consumption, therefore making it more “acceptable” to general taste. When you are out searching for a bottle, be sure to consider its brand or type. In this country, a sparkling wine is usually called “Champagne”. We all know that Champagne is a place in France where great sparkling wines are made. Good sparkling wines don’t carry the name Champagne on their labels. So be sure to look for descriptions of this kind before purchasing.
Taste Most starters like sweet wine. However, as you get familiar with the taste, be sure to try different kinds. The first thing that you should consider is the wine’s color. Red and white wines have different tastes, and a rose wine has a whole different kind of taste. Aside from this, various wines can be partnered with different meals too. Wines have many different tastes and it’s best to try them to find your favorite.
Terroir Although this has been a debate over the years, most wine drinkers believe that the wine’s terroir has a great effect on its quality. Terroir is defined as the soil and the environment where the grapes are harvested. People believe that the wine’s from well known terroirs are better than most wines produced in other places. So if you want to be more sophisticated in choosing your wine bottle, make sure they come from a well known terroir.
Personalize Visit your local wine shop and ask the owner about wine types that you may like. As you try different types, make a list of the wines that you find interesting. In this way, you will have your own ‘criteria’ and before you know it, you’ll be an expert when it comes to your own tastes buds.
Egyptian cuisine is very diverse, reflecting the country’s long history and it’s position as the bridge between Africa and Arabia. The fertile plains of the Nile made Egypt a major producer of grains and grains, beans (especially broad [fava] beans), fruit and fish have long been staples of the diet. Traditionally meat was considered a luxury and typically tends to be used to flavour a meal. Honey was the traditional sweetener and is still used in many Egyptian pastries and desserts.
Below are two classic Egyptian recipes:
Fool Medames
Ingredients:
450g dried broad (fava) beans or pink beans
90g red lentils
3 tbsp lemon juice
60ml olive oil(1/2 tsp ground cumin
100g spring onions, chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
Method:
Sort through and rinse the beans then place in a large saucepan and add lightly-salted water to cover. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover and cook on low heat for 2½ hours. If needed top-up the water to ensure that the beans are covered at all times.
Add the lentils, cover and simmer for a further 30 minutes, until both the lentils and the beans are tender and the mixture has thickened. Stir-in the lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Tip into a serving bowl and garnish with the chopped spring onions.
Koushry (Rice and Lentil Stew)
Ingredients:
180g dark lentils
180g long-grain rice
1 tsp salt
3 medium onions, chopped
2 tbsp oil
Method:
Place the rice and lentils in separate pans. then add just enough boiling water to the lentils to cover and add 400ml water to the rice. Bring both pans to a simmer and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
It should also be remembered that November was the traditional time for slaughtering cattle in the Celtic world. Indeed, the modern Welsh name for this month, Tachwedd literally means ‘The Month of Slaughter’ and the feast of Halloween would have been the start of this month of plentiful meat.
Apples were also important to the ancient Celts and this became even more important with the arrival of the Romans as the worship of the goddess Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, became grafted on Celtic belief. Also late autumn is the time of apples.
To celebrate these two parts of Celtic belief I have re-created a Celtic pork and apple stew for you to enjoy, below- This is an ancient-inspired stew of pork with apples (these have a natural affinity) that’s been re-created using authentic ingredients and techniques
Ingredients:
1.2kg pork meat, cubed
2 tbsp fat (or oil)
2 leeks, chopped
400g greens (strong greens like turnips tops, collard greens, kale are best), chopped
400g wild mushrooms, sliced
3 turnips, peeled and chopped
3 cooking apples, peeled, cored and quartered
70g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
200ml cider
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp chives
1 tsp dried sage, rubbed
salt, to taste
Method:
Add the fat (or oil) to a large casserole or pot and use to fry the pork and leeks until the meat is nicely browned (about 8 minutes). Add the mushrooms and turnips and cook for 2 minutes then add the herbs and cider along with 800ml water. Bring the mixture to a boil then add the apples.Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 90 minutes, or until the pork is truly tender. Season to taste, then serve ladled into bowls, topped with the hazelnuts. Accompany with chunks of warm crusty bread.
Thanks to the phone call, the spaghetti was a little softer than al dente, but it had not been dealt a mortal blow. I started eating-and thinking.” The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami’s narrator is typical of most non-Italians when it comes to cooking pasta. They know that it ’should be’ cooked al dente, but they’re not going to lose a lot of sleep over it. Al dente is, according to – amongst other – Lidia Bastianich, the famous Italian media cook in America, one of the most difficult concepts in Italian cooking to get across. It is, though, one of the most fundamental.
Why do we say al dente?
There are a number of theories to this, but the most widely accepted and most sensible is simply that the pasta is tested, to see if it’s ready, by biting into it. It should not be uncooked, nor should it be soft – so there should be a slight resistance to the teeth – al dente in Italian.
But why should pasta be cooked al dente?
There are a number of good reasons, apart from simple tradition. Firstly, pasta nearly always interacts with a sauce, and when cooked al dente it ‘takes on’ the sauce more efficiently.
Many people don’t have a lot of time to cook. They have a lot of other things to do. Between work and school and other activities they’re lucky if they have time to stop at a fast food joint much less prepare quality meals at home. Quick, healthy, inexpensive meals aren’t easy to plan, that’s the problem. It’s not that hard, folks. A seven day menu isn’t all that hard to plan for people who know where to look. Here are a few good dinner ideas for delicious meals the whole family can enjoy.
Fairs and street vendors often have corn dogs, an American favorite. It’s delicious and easy, even though not exactly healthy. Coat the hot dogs with batter made of flour, corn meal, milk, salt, sugar and baking powder, then fry them until golden. You an even add a corn dog stick to make it feel authentic.
In colonial times, dinner was an afternoon meal, followed by a later light meal called supper. As time went by this changed based on social class and schedule. Physical laborers needed an afternoon dinner to keep up their strength throughout the grueling day. But now dinner has become the sole evening meal, the anchor to the family and transition from the work of the day to winding down at night. But supper and dinner have become intertwined, often interchanged in meaning this big meal. The late meal can be light especially for people who are weight conscious. Go the traditional dinner route with a light soup or roast chicken salad.
Busy schedules and crock pots were made for each other. Set it, forget it, then return home to a well cooked meal. The whole meal can cook without supervision. Add some meat and some potatoes cut into quarters for a terrific pot roast. Pick up some salad and a fresh loaf of bread at the store. You can also let the bread slide if you’re worried about the waist line.
From the Oriental countries has descended our taste for salads. “A lodge in a garden of cucumbers” in the
sultry eastern lands was a haven of rest indeed. In those days, cucumbers and melons were among the greatest luxuries.
The Greeks were noted for their fondness of lettuce, which they served at the end of a repast. The Romans, always the imitators of the Greeks, followed their example in this respect, but later they used lettuce with egg as a first course, in order to stimulate the appetite. In default of lettuce, they ate endive. Ancient physicians recognized the narcotic value of lettuce, and the Greek physician, Galen, termed it the “philosopher’s, or wise man’s herb.” The herb doctors prescribed the spring salad for the sick, while the superstitious extolled it as a preventive of disease and decay.Queen Catherine of England, a great lover of the salad, could not procure it in London, and her royal husband, Henry, had to send to the Netherlands for a gardener to come and cultivate the necessary plants.
Many Americans have the erroneous idea that foreign nations excel in salad making. France for a long time lead in this delicate art; we are told that the artist preeminent in salad-making was the Frenchman, Chevelier Gaudet, who fled to England at the outbreak of the French Revolution, and without friends or fortune, realized a handsome property from his knowledge of salad-making alone. He considered the mixing of a salad as so serious and dignified a profession that he never approached the salad bowl except in full gala costume, with his sword by his side. His services were in great demand by the nobility, in order that their guests might be regaled with one of his creations.
The salad stands alone in this particular: It may be served on all occasions, and to any class of people. It is one of the most delightful and healthful of Heaven’s gifts to man. A modern authority tells us “salads refresh without weakening, and make people younger.” While this statement may be accepted with the proverbial grain of salt, it is nevertheless true that salad plants are better tonics and blood purifiers than druggists’ compounds.
Some peoples dislike carrot, as a result they do not include carrot in their daily menu. An alternative way to
make carrot based food is necessary to help them to love carrot. Carrot cake seems to be a suitable meal for them.
To make carrot cake, the first thing you have to do is to prepare these:
1. Wheat flour, 120 grams
2. Maize flour, 20 grams
3. Baking powder, a half teaspoon
4. Egg white, 250 cc
5. Sugar, 200 grams
6. Cake emulsifier, a half tablespoon
7. Salt, a half teaspoon
8. Sweet condensed milk, 100 cc
9. Carrots, 200 grams, rasp first, squeeze and take its water.
10. Orange dye
Carrot cake is easy to be made, follow these steps to make it:
1. Stir the egg white with sugar, cake emulsifier, and salt until it is soft and expanding.
2. Add the sweet condensed milk. Keep it stirred while wheat flour, maize flour, and baking powder are added to the dough.
3. Separate the dough into 2 parts, Dough 1 and Dough 2. Add carrot and orange dye into Dough 1, stir well.
4. Lubricate a baking pan using margarine, and pour some amounts of Dough 1 into the pan. Steam it for 5 minutes.
5. Pour Dough 2 into the pan, and steam it for 5 minutes.
6. Pour Dough 1 again into the pan, and steam it for 5 minutes, continue with Dough 2, and then Dough 1 if there are still any remainders.
7. After completing this layer making process, steam the entire dough for 25 minutes until it is done.
8. The luscious carrot cake is ready to be served.
Every cook likes to keep as many recipes on hand as possible in their kitchen. Just as a mechanic needs different types of tools for different vehicles, a chef needs different recipes to match the occasion and culinary desires at hand. Each additional meal or dish that a chef knows how to prepare is one more trick up their sleeve to amaze and delight the people who will be eating at their tables. By having many different restaurant style recipes to cook, a chef will be able to prepare most any delicacy, and always keep them coming back for more.
It’s hard to know where to find good recipes though. The internet is full of websites with endless lists of recipes, and of course you can always get them in more limited supply from your family and friends. Without talking to people who have tried them though, it can be hard to tell which recipes are winners. The great news is that new websites are coming out every day with authentic and delicious Restaurant Recipes that are ready to be downloaded into your recipe book and brought out whenever the occasion calls for it. Dozens of recipes for every taste bud can be found either by doing an internet search, or in informative articles like this one.
So whether you’re a chef with decades of experience looking for the newest tool to put in your toolbox, or you’re a hobbyist who just loves to have a good home full of good food, someone has the recipes for you.
