Falafel is a fried ball made from ground chickpeas or fava beans, usually served in a pita or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa.
The origin of falafel is unknown. But a common theory is that the dish originated in Egypt, possibly eaten by Copts as a replacement for meat. It has also been theorized that falafel originated Turing Egipt’s Pharaonic Period. In modern times, falafel has been considered a nacional dish of Egypt. But debates over the origin of falafel has turned into a political discusion about the relationship between Arabs and Israelis.
It is a common food in the Middle East. During Ramadan, falafel balls are sometimes eaten as part of the iftar (the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamist month of Ramadan)
Falafel became so popular that McDonald’s now serves “McFalafel” in some countries.
The word”Falafel” can refer to the fritters themselves or to sandwiches filled with them. Some sources trace the name to the Arabic Word “falafil”, which means “peper”. A Coptic origin has been proponed from “Pha La Phel”, meaning “of many beans”. Falafel is Rich in protein, carbohydrates and fiber. It is also low in fat and salt and contain no cholesterol. Falafel contains some nutrients such us calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and vitamin C and B.
Falafel is eaten in any moment of the day, you can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner or just for a snack. It is said that a single sandwich made of falafel can satisfy anybody like a whole menu.
In my last post, I focused on the sauces belonging to French cuisine. In this second part I'll discuss what kind of sauces belong to other countries, such as some American and European countries appart from France, like the UK.
Mexican sauces: these sauces, commonly known as salsas, are mainly distinguished for being spicy and hot sauces. There are many types, such as:
- Red sauce: it is a red spicy sauce that is served in Tex Mex restaurants. It is very similar to tomato sauce; it only differs in the fact that it has a stronger flavour.
- Pico de gallo sauce: it is a fresh, uncooked condiment made from chopped, tomato, onion and chilis. The term pico de gallo is Spanish for rooster break. It has that name because originally it was eaten with the thumb and forefinger, and the way it was eaten resembled a pecking rooster.
-Green sauce: this kind of sauce is very typical in Mexican cuisine. It usually contains tomatillos, jalapeños or other chiles, white onion and lime. Green sauce, or, as it is known in Mexico: salsa verde, is normally a spicy sauce, as it happens to many Mexican sauces. It is usually served with tacos, grilled pork and grilled meat.
-Wild sauce: this sauce, also known as salsa brava, is a lightly spicy sauce meda with tomato, garlic, onion, and flavored with paprika, which is a kind of spice. It is mainly applied to many kinds of meat.
British sauces: this kind of sauces are used either on meat or on salads. There are many different sauces in British cuisine. The most well-known are:
- Gravy: it is a sauce made from the juices that belong to meat or vegetables during cooking. In the UK, it refers to an only kind of sauce, but in North America, there are many varieties within it. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with salt and caramel colouring. It is eaten with pork, chicken, lamb, etc.
As a curiosity, the word gravy is used in different cultural contexts. For example, it is used as a synonim of the word fine, in sentences like: "Don't worry, we are gravy".
As an idiom, it is included in: "gravy train", which means "lucrative effort".
-Bread sauce: it is a warm or cold sauce made with bread. It is usually served along with main meals. It has its origins in the Middle Ages; in fact, it is the only survivor of the medieval bread sauces. It normally accompanies dishes such as chicken or turkey. It is easy to prepare, and the ingredients are very straightforward.
There are many, many kinds of sauces in the world, depending on where you are. Some of them have a huge tradition behind, and, who knows? maybe some people are creating a new one while you are reading this post: the combination of ingredients is practically infinite.
Today I'm going to talk about those wonderful products that enrich many kinds of meal, and that we all know: sauces. You know that there are many kinds of sauces, but do you know all the regional variations? Or, for example, did you know that the Ancient Romans used sauces? In this post, I'll try to expand your knowledge in sauces.
Garum, a primitive sauce.
Garum was a kind of fermented fish sauce; it was an essential flavour in Ancient Roman cooking, the best condiment you could find. But they were not the creators of this sauce. Although it triumphed in the Roman World, it originally came from the Greeks, gaining its name from the Greek word "garos", which was referred to those fishes whose intestines were used in the sauce's production. Garum was prepared from the intestines of small fishes, and they also added salt. Finally, it was cured in the sun for one to three months. In the picture below you can see a recipient that served as a container for Garum.
Etymology and explanation of the word sauce.
Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted. It is a kind of liquid or semi-solid food, which is used in preparing other foods. In most cases, sauces need a liquid component, but there are exceptions where you can find more solid elements than liquid.
Different countries = different sauces.
There are many different cultures in the world; these cultures differ in certain aspects like clothing, social manners, and: cuisine!! Depending on the country you visit, you will find many differences in the way of cooking, and, above all, many different condiments and sauces! Below you can read the main sauces that distinguish French cuisine.
French cuisine: sauces in French cuisine date back to the Middle Ages. There were hundreds of sauces in the culinary repertory. In fact, sauces are one of the major defining characteristics of French cuisine. Here you can distinguish five "mother" sauces:
Béchamel Sauce : It is also known as white sauce. This sauce is made by mixing butter, milk and flour; its final thickness depends on the proportions of milk and flour. It is said thatthis sauce is an improvement of a similar sauce, known as velouté. In addition, this sauce is used as the base for other sauces, and it also serves for some meals from Italian cuisine, such as the lasagne. In the picture below you can see the aspect this sauce presents:
Espagnole sauce: This sauce is the basis of sauce-making in classic French cooking. It has a strong taste and is rarely used directly in food. However, as it happens with Béchamel sauce, it serves for doing many other different sauces, such as Africane sauce or Bigarade sauce. The name the sauce has is very misleading, because it has nothing to do with Spanish cuisine. It only stands for the fact that French chefs use tomatoes, which are an ingredient related to Spain. In the picture below, you can see a recipient containing Espagnole sauce.
Velouté sauce: this sauce is made by using a mixture consisting of chicken or fish thickened with butter and flour. The term velouté is from the French adjectival form of velour, meaning velvety. It has a number of derived sauces, such as Vin Blanc sauce or Venetian sauce.
Hollandaise sauce: it is a mixture of egg yolk and butter, along with lemon juice. Generally, it is seasoned with salt and black pepper. It is called Hollandaise because, probably, it is based on a Dutch sauce, which was very similar. This sauce is often paired with vegeables such as asparagus. As it happens with the above French sauces, it is also the foundation for many derivatives, created by adding or changing some ingredients. Some instances are: Béarnaise sauce or Dijon sauce.
Allemande sauce: this sauce is mainly based on velouté sauce. We could say that it is a derived sauce. Allemande sauce is thickened with egg yolks and heavy cream, and seasoned with lemon juice. It is best used with eggs, poultry or dishes including bread.
As you can see, French cuisine has sauces for everyone. It is a very rich cuisine. So, what are you waiting for? I encourage you to taste these wonderful sauces. And if you want to know a bit more about sauces, just wait, because I'll continue to talk about this topic very soon...
Chocolate is a food which stems from the cocoa beans. it is a common ingredient in many candies, ice cream, cookies, pies, cakes and desert.
The chocolate is obtained by fermentation, roasting and drying of the bitter beans that come from the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) originally from Central America.
Mucilage
As soon as harvested, the pods are broken with a club or a machete to extract the beans which are coated with a white pulp, called 'Mucilage'. This process is called 'pod breaking'. Each pod contains 20 to 50 seeds, and twenty pods provide 1Kg of dried beans.
Fermentation
Process
The beans are sorted, cleaned and subjected to fermentation
4 to 6 days in wooden boxes covered with banana leaves, in order to develop an early aroma as a result of natural chemical reactions. This first fermentation permits to liquefy the pulp surrounding the beans. During the second fermentation, the alcoholic pulp is transformed into vinegar. The beans are cleaned and the fermentation is stopped. these beans are aerated then dried.
Sun Drying Process
After that, the agglomerated packets of beans are burst to later be sorted. To reduce the moisture rate from 60% to 8%, the beans are placed on racks in the sun or in artificial dryers. This process requires 1 to 2 weeks, and it shouldn't be too slow (moulds) or too fast (acidity).
After that process, the beans are mixed with hot air; this is called calibration;
The flat beans are faulty, so they are set aside for powder or cacao butter.
Roasting Process
The plump beans are bagged and sent to the roasters. They are then roasted between 120ºC and 140ºC. The degree and roasting time will vary depending on the origin of the beans, the type of cacao or chocolate that is sought. Each type requires the cacao roaster to graduate the roasting time and degree of heat.
The beans are then passed to the 'crushing' to later be processed until getting the crane, the bitter cacao paste.
Aztec holding
Theobroma bean
Aztecs Preparing Chocolate
The Aztecs pounded the cacao beans on there knees, using a mortar half wood half iron slightly heated on a flad stone. The beans were roasted and then crushed with spices, pepper, cinnamon, and achiote, then it is served.
Once crushed, the cacao beans are transformed into liquid paste called cacao mass, or pulp, or cacao liquor. It is from this dough that we can prepare cacao powder, cacao bar, or chocolate,.
After the cacao pulp is crushed it is pressed in hydraulic presses equipped with filter cloths and we obtain two products:
A liquid, cacao butter, will be deodorized then poured into moulds where it will solidify; this represents about the half of its weight.
A solid, the meal which be crushed to give cacao powder.
Conching Process
Cacao pulp is used to make chocolate by adding sugar, cacao butter, and optionally, milk. The cacao pulp is mixed with other materials in a fix. For example, a bitter chocolate should never contain more that 40% of sugar. The pulp must undergo 'conching'; a mechanical shaking during 12 to 48 hours under 80ºC of temperature. the Crystallization of the chocolate butter will bring it all its brilliance...once cast.
The whiter the chocolate is, the more it contains cacao butter and less chocolate powder. It is said that the true fans only like dark chocolate...in fact there is no white chocolate in the chocolate lovers gourmet clubs tasting.
"An idiom is a word, phrase, or expression that cannot be taken literally because the meaning is figurative. Idioms are a form of expression peculiar to a language"
The English language has many idioms that mentions food. How can food add a bit of spice to the English language and where do they come from? This is what we are going to try to find out in this article.m of expression peculiar to a language".
Take a physiological necessity essential to human survival: eating. Mix it for several centuries to the only way of communication that humans have: language. Sprinkle the whole with a few grams of customs, locals particularities, infliuent
ial personalities... you will finaly get a nice array of food expressions!
For example, have you ever heard of the expression "to go cold turkey"?
It is usually said when you want to quit something, it can be alcohol or cigarettes as well as chocolate or soda, without weaning yourself off it. It is said that tje original idea was that a person withdrawing from using drugs would find his or her skin turning hard to the touch and translucent to look at, with goose pimples all over - like the skin of a plucked turkey. It ha salso been suggested that the phrase is a comparison between eating a no-prep meal of cold turkey and stopping heavy drugs use without preparation...
Also, have you ever "buttered someone up"?? This idiom is used when trying to persuade someone to do something for someone else. It's easy to assume that the idea behind this phrase has to do with the smoothly way of how butter can be spread on bread. But that is not it. It is said that it comes from an ancient Indian custom of "throwing butterballs of ghee (clarified butter comonly used in Indian cooking) at the statues of the gods to seek favor".
You could also hear "to have a bun in the oven". It refers to a woman who is pregnant. The origin of this term are unclear but is has been used since the early mid 20th century to compare pregnancy and baking. TThe bun aka the baby, has to be cooked for a specific lenght of time in the oven, or the mother's womb.
But the most basic ingredients of food expressions are fruits and vegetables. For example you can hear:
"to go bananas": go crazy, mad or wild with excitment, anger, frustration or any strong emotion. No one really knows where this expression comes from but it is said that it might have been originated in the 60's when rumors spread across universities campuses that roasted banana peels had psychedelic propertis and that ingesting them could lead to hallucinations similar to LSD or magic mushrooms...
"to be like two peas in a pod": to say that two people are like two peas in a pod means that they are very similar in appearance. The phrase, which is sometimes given as "like as two peas", is quite old and versions of it date from the 16th century.
"to be as cool as a cucumber": when someone is as cool as
a cucumber it means they are not anxious, but relaxed and non-emotional. This expression was first recorded in John
Gay'sPoems, New song on new similies, in 1732. "I...as cool as a cucumber could see The rest of womankind"
"a hot potato" is a problem or topic so controversial an sensitive that it is hard to deal with. This term dates back from the mid 1800's.
Why did all these food idioms emerged in English language throughout all these years? Probably because all these expressions using food are instantly very recognisable by everyone. I think that the key to a good expression is that it needs to be very easy to picture for everybody. Food is good for this reason because it is an experience that we all share and that we can all understand. Maybe in the future we will start to hear expressions about more recent culinary imports!?
The variety of the spices makes its definition very complicated. However, all of us can determine spices. We spontaneously recognize them, although some of them are less famous, such as the Chinese Fagara, practically unknown out of its native land.
The spices are parts of some aromatic plants, which have a strong and unique flavour. People use spices in small quantities in cooking as preservatives, for seasoning or as a food-coloring. The spices are almost exotic products. They were one of the most expensive commercial products during the middle ages and the medieval period. A very great number of spices was used in medicine.
The origin of spices:
Myrtaceae
The spices do not belong to one unique vegetable family, even though some of them pertain to the one determined specie: ginger, cardamom and turmeric belong to the Zingiberaceae or ginger family; myrtle, clove and allspice to that called Myrtaceae or myrtle family; cumin, caraway, coriander and ajwain on the other hand are called Apiaceae or unbellifers.
Zingiberaceae
Apiaceae
The benefits of Spices:
Do spices stem from the same part of the plant?
No. There are spices that are seeds, like mustard, juniper or sesame, but cinnamon is a bark; clove, a bud; saffron, a stigma; pepper, a fruit; and ginger, a rhizome (the underground part of the plant which is the junction of the stem and the root).
Bud
Stigma
Seed
Rhizome
Bark
Fruit
During the medieval period, the spices made reference to merchandising or trading (spices) coming from the East, along with silk, cotton and metal. Progressively, the meaning of this term has become more restricted by designating only the edible substances that nowadays we call spices.
In general terms, we agree with the fact that spices come from plant excluding salt, give off flavours, that they add colour to food sometimes, and that are subjected to a preparation after their picking, which differentiates them from herbs.
Condiments
Spices cannot be eaten as they are; they participate in the elaboration of the dish, which distinguishes them from condiments, served aside. therefore, mustard served on the table is a condiment, but the seed of the mustard is a spice. Although, spices do not embrace all the plants which perfume our kitchen, we also have garlic or onion.
Spices arouse tropical reveries and vision of opulence. they fill the large caravans running right across the road of silk through the deserts and the mountains of Arabia and Asia. they perfume the wind that blows up the caravel's sails on the oceans.
As a result, the best criterion for characterising the spices seem to be the one of the imagination. Full of exoticism, adorned with myths and beliefs, richly endowed of magic or healing powers as they were attributed in the past, spices are those which make us dream besides flavouring us.
Falafel is a fried ball made from ground chickpeas or fava beans, usually served in a pita or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa.
The origin of falafel is unknown. But a common theory is that the dish 
originated in Egypt, possibly eaten by Copts as a replacement for meat. It has also been theorized that falafel originated Turing Egipt’s Pharaonic Period.
Falafel became so popular that McDonald’s now serves “McFalafel” in some countries.
