8/26/2010

Chinese Cuisine

Traditional dim sum includes various types of steamed buns such as cha siu baau, dumplings and rice noodle rolls (cheong fun), which contain a range of ingredients, including beef, chicken, pork, prawns and vegetarian options. Many dim sum restaurants also offer plates of steamed green vegetables, roasted meats, congee porridge and other soups. Dessert dim sum is also available and many places offer the customary egg tart. Having a meal in a Chinese teahouse or a dim sum restaurant is known as yum cha (yam cha, 飲茶), literally "drinking tea", as tea is typically served with dim sum.

Dim sum can be cooked by steaming and frying, among other methods. The serving sizes are usually small and normally served as three or four pieces in one dish. It is customary to order family style, sharing dishes among all members of the dining party. Because of the small portions, people can try a wide variety of food.

Dim sum dishes can be ordered from a menu or sometimes the food is wheeled around on a trolley by servers. Traditionally, the cost of the meal is calculated based on the number, size, and sometimes color of the dishes left on the patron's table (more below). Some modern dim sum restaurants record the dishes on a bill at the table. Not only is this tidier, it also prevents patrons from cheating by concealing or stealing the plates. Servers in some restaurants use distinct stamps so that sales statistics for each server can be recorded.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: loewy, table 8

Openricer Review 2

Hihihi..asyik juga ya nulis review. Diinget-inget gw pernah foto-foto makanan yang laen juga nih...Setelah gw baca-baca review OR yang lain, ternyata gak mesti special occasion aja ya nulis review? Jadiii.. gw cerita lagi deh meski sebenernya sih udah agak lamaan juga ya dari anniversary gw itu. Berhubung fotonya gw simpen jadi yaa...gw bisa tulis deh. Waktu itu sebenernya gak laper-laper amat, makanya gak cari tempat makan dengan porsi segambreng. Gw juga gak cari makanan dengan menu yang “serius” so, makan sandwich enak kali ya.. Ternyata sandwich yang satu ini mantep banget. Meskipun kedengerannya kayak makanan ringan, ternyata bikin perut full alias kenyang mbangeti! Ini sih lebih-lebih daripada makan nasi sepiring...hahaha. Niat awalnya cuma nyari cemilan, gak taunya malah kenyang beneran. Gak apa-apa, deh. Mantep sih. tongue

Hahaha..untung gw gak sendirian. Satu sandwich bisa diserbu rame-rame. Tower sandwich yang isinya 6 lembar roti ini macem-macem bu isinya... ada grilled chicken, beef bacon, scramble egg, rib eye steak, tuna n sauted mushrooms. Pantesan aja harganya mahal, lengkap siiih...

Btw, judulnya kan "Wish and Sandwich"... Wish-nya apa ya? Mmmm... semoga towernya diskon deh...heheheh...tongue


Source: www.id.openrice.com


See also: tamani, marzano


Openricer review

Akhirnya bisa review lagi...!!!

hahaha... kali ini mau review salah satu restoran buffet di Grand Indonesia..
Well.. THANKS To OPENRICE atau Vouchernya... Free 1 Person Meal at Cardamon..!!!

Restoran Cardamon ini terletal di lantai 5 Grand Indonesia.. Restorannya cukup nyaman, Desain nya a`la cafe italia gitu.. tapi sebenarnya masakannya asia abis,..
Untuk suasana dan kebersihan restoran Cardamon cukup oke.. Cuma agak mengecewakan ternyata di dalem boleh smoking.. dan tidak ada space khusus para smoker.. alhasil kamipun cukup kecewa.

Ok, Langsung aja ke makanannya ya

Cardamon Restaurant memiliki konsep self service buffet yang artinya kita tinggal ambil aja makanannya dari meja saji..

1. Appetizer

Disini appetizernya ada salad dan soup...
nah karena soupnya kelihatan lebih maknyus makanya kamipun mengambil soup jagung.. nah di pojok kiri kami melihat sushi terpajang... langsung deh naluri sushinya muncul..langsung aja kita ambil..
Soup jagungnya enak..jagungnya manis asli..tapi supnya jadi agak terlalu manis..gurih sih..
sushinya standar lah.. yang enak sushi yang dibungkus telur itu..bentuknya bagus..telurnya manis-manis asin gimana gitu..

2. Main Course
Spaghetti Oriental.. Spaghetti ini nggak tawar...enak banget...pedes, manis, gurih... yummy..

Gindara Fish Finger..
Ikan gindara goreng ini enakk banget...ikannya seger.. emang dasar gw suka ikan sih...mantap abis deh ikannya

Potato Wedges.. Potato Wedgesnya ga tawar..dikasih bumbu gitu.. jadinya enak deh..beda sama potato wedges di resto buffet lain..

Beef Ball Curry
Bola-Bola daging sapi ini dimasak agak sedikit mirip rendang, hanya saja bumbunya tidak pedas.. rempah-rempahnya nampol abis..

Chicken Thailand Curry
Ayam ini the best of the best food menurut kami di cardamon.. bumbu karinya begitu enakk.. rempah abis... bumbunya juga tidak pedas..Recommended

Nasi Goreng
Nasi Goreng di Cardamon rasanya halus dan tidak terlalu nampol. ringan rasanya..

Mie Aceh
Mie Aceh juga salah satu makanan yang kami rekomendasikan.. Mie-nya rempah banget..agak pedas dan gurih asinnya juga pas... sensasi rasanya buat penasaran... pengen nambah lagi...

Khusus untuk Nasi Goreng & Mie Aceh dipesan melalui Waiter..

3. Dessert

Banana Caramel
Pisang disini manis-manis asem..cuma karena ada karamelnya yang begitu melted itu menutupi rasa asamnya.. yang bikin saya tambah suka.. Pisang Karamel disini disajikan dalam keadaan HANGAT... padahal taro di piring gitu loh di deretan dessertnya..

Es Selasih
Es nya rasanya standar..Segar manis.. isinya selasih, Rumput laut, dan nata de coco.

4. Beverages

1. Hot Tea
Hot Tea disini ga asal2an.. Pake DILMAH TEA.. terus dikasih berbagai macam pilihan gula untuk ditambahin ke tehnya... yang lucu kjita dikasih sebuah biskuit Oreo di samping cangkir tehnya..

2. Strawberry Thai Tea..
Minuman ini enak banget..di atasnya juice strawberry gitu cuma strawberrynya ga terlalu hancur... kemudian dicampur teh thailand, dan susu kental manis di bagian dasarnya..manis, asam.. TOP!!!!


Keseluruhan, makan di cardamon ini berkualitas dan enak.. tidak seperti kebanyakan restoran buffet yang mementingkan kuantitas dibanding kualitas.. mungkin ini sebabnya di cardamon memiliki jargon Eat All You Can bukan All You Can Eat kali ya..

Untuk makanan per-orang Rp. 75000++ Plus pajak 17% Jadi sekitar 87ribu-an..
Untuk Hot Tea nya Rp 13.500 + 17%
Untuk Strawberry Thai Tea nya Rp 26.000 + 17%

Disini member openrice yang udah punya open rice Card juga dapet diskon 15%..

Keseluruhan, Restoran Cardamon bakal jadi Restoran yang selalu bikin rindu setiap penikmat makanan asia..

Source: www.id.openrice.com

See also: ramen, sushi tei


Health benefits of eating seafood

Research over the past few decades has shown that the nutrients and minerals in seafood can make improvements in brain development and reproduction and has highlighted the role for seafood in the functionality of the human body.

Heart health
Doctors have known of strong links between fish and healthy hearts ever since they noticed that fish-eating Inuit populations in the Arctic had low levels of heart disease. One study has suggested that adding one portion of fish a week to your diet can cut your chances of suffering a heart attack by half.

Fish is thought to protect the heart because eating less saturated fat and more Omega-3 can help to lower the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood – two fats that, in excess, increase the risk of heart disease. Omega-3 fats also have natural built-in anti-oxidants, which are thought to stop the thickening and damaging of artery walls.

Regularly eating fish oils is also thought to reduce the risk of arrhythmia – irregular electrical activity in the heart which increases the risk of sudden heart attacks.

Brain functionality
The human brain is 10-12% lipids, including the Omega-3 fat DHA. Recent studies suggest that older people can boost their brain power by eating more oily fish, with those who enjoy it regularly are able to remember better and think faster than those who eat none. Other research has also suggested that adding more DHA to the diet of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder can reduce their behavioural problems and improve their reading skills, while there have also been links suggested between DHA and better concentration. Separate studies have suggested that older people who eat fish at least once a week could also have a lower chance of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Joint benefits
Including fish as a regular part of a balanced diet has been shown to help the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis – a painful condition that causes joints to swell up, reducing strength and mobility. Studies also show that sufferers feel less stiff and sore in the morning if they keep their fish oil intake topped up.

Recent research has also found a link between Omega-3 fats and a slowing down in the wearing of cartilage that leads to osteoarthritis, opening the door for more research into whether eating more fish could help prevent the disease.

Iodine, Selenium, Vitamin A, Zinc
Fish is high in minerals such as iodine and selenium, which keep the body running smoothly. Iodine is essential for the thyroid gland, which controls growth and metabolism, while selenium is used to make enzymes that protect cell walls from cancer-causing free radicals, and helps prevent DNA damage caused by radiation and some chemicals.

Fish is also an excellent source of vitamin A, which is needed for healthy skin and eyes, and vitamin D, which is needed to help the body absorb calcium to strengthen teeth and bones.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: Ice cream, sate

8/25/2010

Dim Sum Fast food

Two women picking microwave-cooked dim sum from the freezer in Circle K, Hong Kong.

Certain kinds of instant dim sum have come onto the market in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore. People can enjoy snacks after a 3-minute defrosting and reheating of the instant dim sum in a microwave oven.

Some stalls serve "street dim sum" which usually consists of dumplings or meatballs steamed in a large container, but served on a bamboo skewer. The customer can dip the whole skewer into a sauce bowl and eat while standing or walking.

Dim sum can be purchased from major grocery stores in most countries with a Chinese population. These dim sum can be easily cooked by steaming or microwaving. Major grocery stores in Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Mainland China, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Australia, United States and Canada have a variety of dim sum stocked at the shelves. These include dumplings, siu maai, bau, cheong fun, lo bak go and steamed spare ribs. In Singapore, as well as other countries, dim sum can also be purchased from convenience stores, coffee shops and other eateries. There is also halal certified dim sum available, with chicken taking the place of pork which in addition to Singapore is very popular in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.


Source: www.wikipedia.com


See also: loewy, table 8

Kobe Beef

Kobe beef (神戸ビーフ, Kōbe Bīfu?) refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu cattle, raised according to strict tradition in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The meat is generally considered to be a delicacy, renowned for its flavour, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi, teppanyaki and more.

Kobe beef is also called "Kobe-niku" (神戸肉?, lit. Kobe meat), "Kobe-gyū" (神戸牛?, lit Kobe cow) or "Kobe-ushi" (神戸牛?, lit Kobe cow) in Japanese.

History

The Wagyu cattle that produce this highly prized meat were introduced into Japan in the second century as work animals, used in rice cultivation. As beef consumption became more prominent in society, farmers began hiring workers to massage the animals' backsides to improve meat quality. The mountainous topography of the islands of Japan resulted in small regions of isolated breeding, yielding herds that developed and maintained qualities in their meat that differ significantly from all other breeds of cattle. Herd isolation and distinctive feeding techniques which resulted from the limited land availability have led to distinguishing features that make the meat both superior in marbling and in the ratios of unsaturated versus saturated fats.


Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: tamani, marzano


Ramen Outside Japan

Ramen has become popular in China in recent years where it is known as rìshì lāmiàn (日式拉面, "Japanese Style lamian"). Popular Japanese ramen chains serve ramen alongside distinctly Japanese dishes such as tempura and yakitori, something which would be seen as odd in Japan.

Wagamama, a successful pan-Asian chain with establishments mainly in European cities, is known for its noodle soups marketed as ramen (but which are quite different from ramen in Japan).

Ramyeon (라면) is the Korean version of ramen. Ramyeon in Korea is a popular instant meal. Korean ramyeon is known to be hot and spicy, as its soup is usually flavored with chili peppers. There are many varieties of Korean ramyeon, such as kimchi-flavored, seafood-flavored and beef-flavored. Some restaurants serve variations of ramyon with different flavors.It is usually served with vegetables, such as carrots and green onions, and eggs on top.

In Central Asia the dish has thicker noodles, is significantly spicier, and is known as laghman.

Source: www.wikipedia.com


See also: sushi, sushi tei


True ice cream

Ice cream recipes first appear in 18th century England and America. A recipe for ice cream was published in Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts in London 1718.

To ice CREAM. Take Tin Ice-Pots, fill them with any Sort of Cream you like, either plain or sweeten'd, or Fruit in it; shut your Pots very close; to six Pots you must allow eighteen or twenty Pound of Ice, breaking the Ice very small; there will be some great Pieces, which lay at the Bottom and Top: You must have a Pail, and lay some Straw at the Bottom; then lay in your Ice, and put in amongst it a Pound of Bay-Salt; set in your Pots of Cream, and lay Ice and Salt between every Pot, that they may not touch; but the Ice must lie round them on every Side; lay a good deal of Ice on the Top, cover the Pail with Straw, set it in a Cellar where no Sun or Light comes, it will be froze in four Hours, but it may stand longer; than take it out just as you use it; hold it in your Hand and it will slip out. When you wou'd freeze any Sort of Fruit, either Cherries, Rasberries, Currants, or Strawberries, fill your Tin-Pots with the Fruit, but as hollow as you can; put to them Lemmonade, made with Spring-Water and Lemmon-Juice sweeten'd; put enough in the Pots to make the Fruit hang together, and put them in Ice as you do Cream.

The earliest reference to ice cream given by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1744, reprinted in a magazine in 1877. 1744 in Pennsylvania Mag. Hist. & Biogr. (1877) I. 126 Among the rarities..was some fine ice cream, which, with the strawberries and milk, eat most deliciously.

The 1751 edition of The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse features a recipe for ice cream. OED gives her recipe: H. GLASSE Art of Cookery (ed. 4) 333 (heading) To make Ice Cream..set it [sc. the cream] into the larger Bason. Fill it with Ice, and a Handful of Salt.

1768 saw the publication of L'Art de Bien Faire les Glaces d'Office by M. Emy, a cookbook devoted entirely to recipes for flavoured ices and ice cream.

Ice cream was introduced to the United States by Quaker colonists who brought their ice cream recipes with them. Confectioners sold ice cream at their shops in New York and other cities during the colonial era. Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were known to have regularly eaten and served ice cream. First Lady Dolley Madison is also closely associated with the early history of ice cream in the United States. One respected history of ice cream states that, as the wife of U.S. President James Madison, she served ice cream at her husband's Inaugural Ball in 1813.

Around 1832, Augustus Jackson, an African American confectioner, not only created multiple ice cream recipes, but he also invented a superior technique to manufacture ice cream.

In 1843, Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia was issued the first U.S. patent for a small-scale handcranked ice cream freezer. The invention of the ice cream soda gave Americans a new treat, adding to ice cream's popularity. This cold treat was probably invented by Robert Green in 1874, although there is no conclusive evidence to prove his claim.

Ice cream sundaes with fruit, nuts, and a wafer

The ice cream sundae originated in the late 19th century. Several men claimed to have created the first sundae, but there is no conclusive evidence to back up any of their stories. Some sources say that the sundae was invented to circumvent blue laws, which forbade serving sodas on Sunday. Towns claiming to be the birthplace of the sundae include Buffalo, New York; Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Ithaca, New York; and Evanston, Illinois. Both the ice cream cone and banana split became popular in the early 20th century. Several food vendors claimed to have invented the ice cream cone at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, MO. However, Europeans were eating cones long before 1904.

In the UK, ice cream remained an expensive and rare treat, until large quantities of ice began to be imported from Norway and the US in the mid Victorian era. A Swiss-Italian businessman, Carlo Gatti, opened the first ice cream stall outside Charing Cross station in 1851, selling scoops of ice cream in shells for one penny.

Source: www.wikipedia.com


See also: sate, seafood

8/11/2010

Fresh Cocktail

A cocktail is a mixed drink containing two or more ingredients. Originally a mixture of distilled spirits, sugar, water, and bitters, the word has gradually come to mean almost any mixed drink containing alcohol.

A cocktail today usually contains one or more types of liquor and one or more mixers, such as bitters, fruit juice, fruit, soda, ice, sugar, honey, milk, cream, or herbs.

History

The earliest known printed use of the word cocktail was in The Farmer's Cabinet on April 28, 1803:

Drank a glass of cocktail—excellent for the head...Call'd at the Doct's. found Burnham—he looked very wise—drank another glass of cocktail.

The earliest definition of cocktail was in the May 13, 1806, edition of the Balance and Columbian Repository, a publication in Hudson, New York, in which an answer was provided to the question, "What is a cocktail?". It replied:

Cocktail is a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters—it is vulgarly called a bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a Democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.

Compare the ingredients listed (spirits, sugar, water, and bitters) with the ingredients of an Old Fashioned.

The first publication of a bartenders' guide which included cocktail recipes was in 1862 — How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon Vivant's Companion, by "Professor" Jerry Thomas. In addition to listings of recipes for Punches, Sours, Slings, Cobblers, Shrubs, Toddies, Flips, and a variety of other types of mixed drinks were 10 recipes for drinks referred to as "Cocktails". A key ingredient which differentiated "cocktails" from other drinks in this compendium was the use of bitters as an ingredient, although it is not used in many modern cocktail recipes.

The first "cocktail party" ever thrown was allegedly by Mrs. Julius S. Walsh Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1917. Mrs. Walsh invited 50 guests to her home at noon on a Sunday. The party lasted an hour, until lunch was served at 1 pm. The site of this first cocktail party still stands. In 1924, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis bought the Walsh mansion at 4510 Lindell Boulevard, and it has served as the local archbishop's residence ever since.

During Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933), when the sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal, cocktails were still consumed illegally in establishments known as speakeasies. The quality of the alcohol available was far lower than was previously used, and bartenders generally put forth less effort in preparing the cocktails. There was a shift from whiskey to gin, which does not require aging and is thus easier to produce illicitly.

Cocktails became less popular in the late 1960s and 1970s, as other recreational drugs became common. In the 1980s cocktails again became popular, with vodka often substituted for gin in drinks such as the martini. Traditional cocktails and gin are starting to make a comeback in the 2000s.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: cake, pasta, marzano

8/10/2010

Soto

Etymology

Nasi uduk literally means mixed rice in Indonesian. The name describes the dish preparation itself which requires more ingredients than common rice cooking and also varieties additional side dishes.

Preparation

Nasi uduk is made by cooking rice soaked in coconut milk instead of water, clove, cassia bark, and lemongrass.

Nasi uduk is commonly served with emping (melinjo chips), empal, fried chicken, and fried onion sprinkled on the top of the rice. Additional side dishes might be added according to one's taste. Chili sauce is also common in nasi uduk preparation.

Popularity

Nasi uduk is a popular dish for the busy commuters in Jakarta, mainly because it's both affordable (one serving costs on average Rp5000,- or about $0.50). It can be found throughout the day, some roadside stalls open exclusively in the morning, noon, or night, depending on the demographic of the surrounding areas. Stalls located near schools usually open at noon, while the ones near offices usually opens at night.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: soto, restoran, makanan

8/09/2010

Sidewalk cafe

A sidewalk cafe (sometimes called a pavement cafe, or patio) is an outdoor part of a coffeehouse or cafe. This is an area where customers go to relax, dine, and socialize. Other activities at a sidewalk cafe might include studying, reading, or using, if it is available, the cafe's internet access.

Sidewalk cafe ambiance

Many people who frequent sidewalk cafes, do so for the comfortable and quaint atmosphere. Typically in a sidewalk cafe there are tables and chairs [and sometimes benches] for dining and relaxing. Sometimes they are permanently outside, however they are often taken inside on closing time, or earlier if it gets colder. Usually there are parasols depending on the style and decor of any particular sidewalk cafe and there may be a low fence around it for protection against wind and/or for the purpose of decoration.

Fast food restaurants such as McDonald's also often have an outdoor dining area, thus making them sidewalk cafes.

Popular sidewalk cafe activities

Cafes where food is the main attraction usually are for dining, entertainment, and meetings, both business and casual. A cafe where coffee is the main attraction is usually for socializing, internet, reading, studying, entertainment, and dining. There are several types of cafes and venues as well as types of people that frequent these places for different activities.

Depending on the country and on permits alcohol may or may not be served. In some places local laws allow drinking alcohol in a sidewalk cafe but not on a public bench etc.

A sidewalk cafe's surrounding area

Typically a cafe or restaurant needs a permit from the municipality to have an outdoor part. This will not be granted if due to lack of space there is too much inconvenience for passers-by. The municipality may restrict the opening hours for the outdoor part.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: restoran, tamani



8/06/2010

Tofu

Tofu skin also known as dried beancurd, yuba or bean skim, is a Chinese and Japanese food product made from soybeans. During the boiling of soy milk, in an open shallow pan, a film or skin composed primarily of a soy protein–lipid complex forms on the liquid surface. The films are collected and dried into yellowish sheets known as tofu skin or soy milk skin. Because it is derived directly from soy milk, the name tofu skin is technically inaccurate.

Preparation

Tofu skin may be purchased in fresh or dried form. In the latter case, the tofu skin is rehydrated in water before use. It is often used to wrap dim sum.

Because of its slightly rubbery texture, tofu skin is also manufactured in bunched, folded and wrapped forms that are used as meat substitutes in vegetarian cuisine. Tofu skins can be wrapped and then folded against itself to make doù baō (Chinese: 豆包, literally "tofu package"). These are often fried to give it a firmer skin before being cooked further.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: makanan, minuman


8/05/2010

Chinese Hot Pot

Hot pot (Chinese: 火鍋; pinyin: huǒ guō), less commonly Chinese fondue or steamboat, refers to several East Asian varieties of stew, consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce. In many areas, hot pot meals are often eaten in the winter.


History

The Chinese hot pot boasts a history of more than 1000 years. While often called "Mongolian hot pot”, it is unclear if the dish actually originates in Mongolia. Mongol warriors had been known to cook with their helmets, which they used to boil food, but due to the complexity and specialization of the utensils and the method of eating it, hot pot cooking is much better suited to a sedentary culture. A nomadic household will avoid such highly specialized tools, to save volume and weight during migration. Both the preparation method and the required equipment are unknown in the cuisine of Mongolia of today.

Hot pot cooking seems to have spread to northern China during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906). In time, regional variations developed with different ingredients such as seafood. By the Qing Dynasty, the hot pot became popular throughout most of China. Today in many modern homes, particularly in the big cities, the traditional coal-heated steamboat or hot pot has been replaced by electric, gas or induction cooker versions.

Because hot pot styles change so much from region to region, many different ingredients are used.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: loewy, table 8, chinese food



8/04/2010

Japanese Drinks

Aojiru (青汁?) is a Japanese vegetable drink most commonly made from kale. The drink is also known as green drink or green juice in English, a direct translation of the Japanese meaning. (In modern Japanese, the character ao means "blue", but it is commonly still used in older contexts to refer to green vegetation.)

Aojiru was developed in October 1943 by Dr. Niro Endo (遠藤仁郎, Endō Nirō?), an army doctor who experimented with juices extracted from the discarded leaves of various vegetables in an attempt to supplement his family's meager wartime diet. He credited the cure of his son from pneumonia and of his wife from nephritis to aojiru, and in 1949 concluded that kale was the best ingredient for his juice.

Aojiru was popularized in 1983 by Q'SAI (キューサイ?), who started marketing 100% kale aojiru in powdered form as a dietary supplement, and sales boomed after 2000 when cosmetics giant Fancl started mass retailing of the juice. Today, many Japanese companies manufacture aojiru, usually using kale, young barley or komatsuna leaves as the base of the drink, and the size of the aojiru market was well over $500 million in 2005.

The taste of aojiru is famously unpleasant, so much so that drinking a glass of the liquid is a common punishment on Japanese TV game shows. However, new formulations of aojiru have attempted to minimize the bitter taste of the original.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: restoran, makanan, minuman



8/03/2010

Ice cream in US

United States

In the United States, ice cream made with just cream, sugar, and a flavouring (usually fruit) is sometimes referred to as "Philadelphia style"ice cream. Ice creams made with eggs, usually in the form of frozen custards, are sometimes called "French" ice creams or traditional ice cream.

American federal labeling standards require ice cream to contain a minimum of 10% milk fat (about 7 grams (g) of fat per 1/2 cup [120 mL] serving), 20% total milk solids by weight, to weigh no less than 4.5 pounds per gallon (in order to prevent consumer fraud by replacing ingredients with air), and to contain less than 1.4% egg yolk solids. Federal government regulations pertaining to the process of making ice cream, allowable ingredients, and standards, may be found in Part 135 of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Ice cream is an extremely popular dessert in the United States. Americans consume about 15 quarts (more than 13 liters) of ice cream per person per year — the most in the world. As a foodstuff it is deeply ingrained into the American psyche and has been available in America since its founding in 1776: there are records of Thomas Jefferson serving it as a then-expensive treat to guests at his home in Monticello. In American supermarkets it is not uncommon for ice cream and related products to take up a wall full of freezers.

Although chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry are the traditional favorite flavors of ice cream, and once enjoyed roughly equal popularity, vanilla has grown to be far and away the most popular, most likely because of its use as a topping for fruit based pies and its use as the key ingredient for milkshakes. According to the International Ice Cream Association (1994), supermarket sales of ice cream break down as follows: vanilla, 28%; fruit flavours, 15%; nut flavours, 13.5%; candy mix-in flavours, 12.5%; chocolate, 8%; cake and cookie flavours, 7.5%; Neapolitan, 7%; and coffee/mocha, 3%. Other flavours combine for 5.5%. Sales in ice cream parlors are more variable, as new flavours come and go, but about three times as many people call vanilla their favorite than chocolate, the runner-up.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: cake, Tamani

8/02/2010

Words of Cafe

A café or coffee shop is an informal restaurant with full-service tables and counters and broad menu offerings over extended periods of the day. In hotels, the coffee shop is a more popular-priced alternative to the formal dining room. Coffee shops often encourage families and provide special menus for children. To establish a family-friendly atmosphere, in many localities they do not serve wine and beer.

Notes

The most common English spelling, café, is the French spelling, and was adopted by English-speaking countries in the late 19th century. As English generally makes little use of diacritical marks, anglicisation includes a tendency to omit them, especially in less pretentious contexts. Thus the spelling cafe has thus become very common in English-language usage throughout the world, especially for the less pretentious, ie "greasy spoon" variety (although orthographic proscriptivists often disapprove of it). The Italian spelling, caffè, is also sometimes used in English. In southern England, especially around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was often facetiously altered to /ˈkæf/ and spelt caff.

The English words coffee and café both descend from the continental European translingual word root /kafe/, which appears in many European languages with various naturalized spellings, including Italian (caffè); Portuguese and Spanish (café); French (café); German (Kaffee); Polish (kawa); Ukrainian (кава, 'kava'); and others. European awareness of coffee (the plant, its seeds, the beverage made from the seeds, and the shops that sell the beverage) came through Europeans' contact with Turkey, and the Europeans borrowed both the beverage and the word root from the Turks, who got them from the Arabs. The Arabic name qahwa (قهوة) was transformed into kaweh (strength, vigor) in the Ottoman Empire, and it spread from there to Europe, probably first through the Mediterranean languages (Italian, Spanish, French, Catalan, etc.) and thence to German, English, and others, though there is another well-based theory that it first spread to Europe through Poland and Ukraine, through their contacts with the Ottoman Empire.

Source: www.wikipedia.com

See also: ice cream, sate