Category Archives: Culinary

Foie Gras

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Foie Gras

Foie gras is a luxurious delicacy at one destination and an illegal product at another.

  • ‘Foie gras’, a French term that can be translated into English as ‘fat liver’, is a food made of an enlarged bird liver, that is consumed as a delicacy in various parts of the world.
  • Ducks, often the hybrid Mulard species that are a cross between a Pekin and a Muscovy duck, are most commonly used to produce foie gras, totalling just over 98% of French production in 2014, while the remainder are usually geese.
  • Ducks and geese that are used for foie gras are prepared by force feeding two to three times a day using a small pipe inserted into their throat, a process known as ‘gavage’, which takes a total time of around two to three seconds for each bird.
  • Foie gras is served both hot and cold, generally cooked by roasting, grilling and pan-searing, or slow cooking methods as in a terrine, and is typically served with vegetables or other meats.
  • Many areas in the world, including a number of European countries like Germany, Denmark and Norway; India; Australia; and some parts of the United States, have marked foie gras as an illegal product to produce, as force feeding the birds may be considered inhumane or cruel, and some of these countries has also banned the import and consumption of the product.
Foie Gras, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Meat, Duck, Liver, Culinary, Dish, Food, Luxary
Foie Gras
Image courtesy of Jeremy Couture/Flickr
  • Force feeding of birds for foie gras generally occurs after 63 to 90 days from hatching, and this method of feeding lasts for around 12 to 25 days, when the liver is roughly six to ten times the normal size, after which they are slaughtered.
  • France is one of the greatest advocators of foie gras, stating it is a “cultural and gastronomical heritage” of the country, and have thus gone to lengths to protect the industry.
  • From around 2500 BC Ancient Egyptians force fed birds to fatten them, similar to the foie gras production process, and the practice eventually spread across Europe, while the earliest known mention of the consumption of fat bird livers is during Roman times.
  • France is the largest producer of foie gras in the world, with a total of 19,300 tonnes (21,275 tons) in 2014, or 72% of the total world production, of roughly 26,600 tonnes (29,321 tons).
  • Foie gras is very high in fat, cholesterol, vitamin A, vitamin B12, iron and selenium, and has a buttery feel in the mouth, and rich flavour.
Bibliography:
Foie Gras, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras
Foie Gras: Cruelty to Ducks and Geese, n.d, PETA, http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/ducks-geese/foie-gras/
López-Al J, The Physiology of Foie: Why Foie Gras is Not Unethical, n.d, Serious Eats, http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/1 2/the-physiology-of-foie-why-foie-gras-is-not-u.html

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Grapefruit

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Grapefruit

Take your pick choosing the sweet or the sour grapefruit.

  • Grapefruit is a fruit that was created through cross breeding of the sweet orange and pomelo fruits, both of which are native to Asia.
  • The scientific name of a grapefruit is Citrus x paradisi, and it is from the family Rutaceae, the family of citrus.
  • Grapefruit are typically a roundish shape and grow to sizes of 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches) in diameter, while the tree they grow on has an average height of 5 to 6 metres (16 to 20 feet).
  • The colour of grapefruit skin is usually yellow, orange or a pink-yellow, while the flesh is coloured white, pink, red, yellow or orange.
  • Grapefruit grow on trees in bunches, comparable to those of grapes, hence the fruit’s common name.
Grapefruit, Fruit, Ten Random Facts, Fruit, Red, Pink, Culinary, Food, Cut, Half
Grapefruit
Image courtesy of isox4/Flickr
  • China produced the greatest amount of grapefruit in the world in 2012, with roughly 3,800,000 tonnes (4,200,000 tons) of the world’s total of just over 8,040,000 tonnes (8,860,000 tons).
  • Generally grapefruit is eaten raw, either without additions or added to desserts for flavour, although it can be cooked to reduce its sourness, and the fruit can also be juiced.
  • It is thought that grapefruit were crossbred through natural pollination and were discovered on the island of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles in the Carribbean, and were later classified scientifically around 1830.
  • Grapefruit have a strange flavour, a combination of both sour and sweet, the sweetness varying depending on the variety, and the fruit is also quite juicy.
  • Grapefruit is extremely high in vitamin C, is a very good source of vitamin A as well as a good source of fibre, and it contains many other vitamins and minerals.
Bibliography:
Grapefruit, 2011, Fresh for Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/grapefruit/grapefruit.html
Grapefruit, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit
Grapefruit, 2015, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=25

Rhubarb

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Rhubarb

Try to hear past all the rhubarb.

  • Rhubarb is an edible stalk-based vegetable that grows as a perennial, native to Siberia and other parts of central and eastern Asia.
  • The scientific name of rhubarb is Rheum rhabarbarum and it is from the family Polygonaceae, the family of knotweed.
  • Although normally considered a vegetable, rhubarb is sometimes known as a fruit, even leading to a court in the United State’s New York to declare the food a fruit in 1947.
  • Rhubarb is grown both outdoors and indoors successfully, particularly in greenhouses where mild temperatures can be retained all year; and the produce varies in texture, taste and colour depending on where it was grown.
  • The stalks of rhubarb are stereotypically coloured red and they have leaves that are green, although stalks may also be pink, or partially or fully green.
Rhubarb, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Food, Culinary, Vegetable, Fruit, Red, Stalks, Leaves, Green
Rhubarb
Image courtesy of H. Michael Milley/Flickr
  • Commonly rhubarb stalks are cooked by gently boiling them, and the vegetable is often made into sauces or other dishes, as well as added to desserts such as pies and tarts.
  • The texture of rhubarb is quite crisp, and it has a very tart flavour, causing it to often have the addition of sugar to sweeten it.
  • The leaves of a rhubarb plant are toxic due to chemicals they contain, like oxalic acid, which can negatively impact human health upon consumption.
  • For thousands of years, rhubarb has been used medicinally, especially in China, and it has been used for digestive issues, as a laxative, and for numerous other health complaints.
  • Rhubarb is very high in vitamin K, and is high in manganese, potassium, calcium, fibre and vitamin C.
Bibliography:
Rhubarb, 2011, Fresh For Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/rhubarb/rhubarb.html
Rhubarb, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb

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Raspberry

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Raspberry

The raspberry is fit for the royals… and the commoners!

  • Raspberries are a berry grown for culinary use, and while the berry is primarily eaten, the leaves of the plant are occasionally used in herbal tea.
  • The genus name for the raspberry plant, along with other berries, is Rubus, from the family Rosaceae, the family of roses, and while there are more than 200 species, those commonly grown for commercial use are generally a red berry from the species Rubus idaeus, or sometimes the black coloured berry from Rubus occidentalis.
  • Russia was the largest producer of raspberries in 2011, with a total of 127,000 tonnes (140,000 tons), which equated to 26% of the total world production, closely followed by Poland.
  • The berry colour of a raspberry can be red, purple, black and yellow, depending on the species and variety, while the plant’s leaves are green.
  • Typically, raspberries are small with a length of 1.5 to 2 centimetres (0.6 to 0.8 inches) and they generally weigh 3 to 5 grams (0.1 to 0.2 ounces).
Raspberry, Food, Fruit, Berry, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Culinary, Red, Pile
Raspberry
Image courtesy of K Kendall/Flickr
  • Raspberries originated as a wild berry, and they are native across Asia, America, Australia and Europe.
  • The raspberry was cultivated as early as the 300s AD, although wild berries are still commonly eaten.
  • A raspberry has a shape that is roughly cylindrical, with a central core that is hollow once picked, and each berry has roughly 100 tiny sections known as drupelets.
  • The sweet-tasting raspberry can be eaten dried, pureed, juiced or raw, and are popularly added to baked goods, desserts and fruit salads.
  • Raspberries are very high in vitamin C, manganese and fibre, are a good source of vitamin K, and they contain many other vitamins and minerals.
Bibliography:
Raspberries, 2015, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=39
Raspberry, 2011, Fresh For Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/raspberry/raspberry.html
Raspberry, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry

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Bok Choy

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Bok Choy

You can’t get a vegetable with a name much stranger than bok choy.

  • Bok choy is a leafy vegetable, dubbed as an ‘Asian green’, that generally has large leaves that clusters upwards from its base.
  • The scientific name of bok choy is Brassica rapa chinensis, previously known as Brassica chinensis, and it is from the family Brassicaceae, the family of cabbages and mustards.
  • ‘Bok choy’ is also known as ‘bok choi’, ‘buk choy’ ‘white cabbage’, ‘Chinese chard’, ‘Chinese cabbage’, ‘Chinese savoy’, ‘Chinese white cabbage’, ‘white Chinese cabbage’, ‘Chinese mustard’, ‘Chinese mustard cabbage’, ‘spoon cabbage’, ‘pak choy’ and ‘pak choi’.
  • The translation of the Cantonese words ‘bok choy’ is ‘white vegetable’ in English, and there is often great confusion over the vegetable’s numerous names, which can vary depending on country or location, while some refer to different varieties.
  • The leaves of bok choy are a green colour, and the stalks are coloured white to green, depending on the variety or type, while the term ‘pak choy’ will often refer to the green stemmed variety.
Bok Choy, Vegetable, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Green, Food, Culinary
  • Bok choy originated in China, in Asia, and have been grown there since 400 AD, and it wasn’t until the late 1700s that they were introduced to Europe.
  • Both the stems and leaves of bok choy are eaten, and they are often cooked through stir-frying, while other methods include steaming, boiling and microwaving.
  • To decrease the likelihood of leaves wilting, harvesting of bok choy is performed during cooler hours, such as morning, and they are best stored in the refrigerator.
  • The thick stalks of bok choy are firm and crunchy, while the leaves are relatively thin and pliable.
  • In addition to many other beneficial vitamins and minerals, bok choy is very high in vitamin A, C and K, and it is particularly useful in decreasing the likelihood of inflammation and cancer.
Bibliography:
Bok Choy, 2011, Fresh For Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/bok_choy/bok_choy.html
Bok Choy, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bok_choy
Bok Choy, 2015, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=152

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Nashi Pear

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Nashi Pear

You cannot get more exotic than nashi pears.

  • Nashi pears are a fruit of roughly spherical shape that grow on trees from the same genus as pears.
  • ‘Nashi pears’ are also known as ‘Japanese pears’, ‘Chinese pears’, ‘nashis’, ‘Korean pears’, ‘Asian pears’, ‘Japanese apple pears’, ‘apple-pears’, ‘Oriental pears’, ‘Taiwan pears’ and ‘sand pears’.
  • The scientific name of the nashi pear tree is Pyrus pyrifolia and it is from the family Rosaceae, the family of roses.
  • The skin of nashi pears is a little course and is typically speckled, and can be a light yellow, green, golden brown or cream colour, depending on the variety.
  • The flesh of nashi pears is almost white, and it tends to be crispy, grainy, watery, and sweet.

Nashi pear, Fruit, Yellow, Glossy, Single, Triva, Ten Random Facts, Flickr, Vegetation

Nashi Pear
Image courtesy of Apple and Pear Australia Ltd/Flickr

 

  • Nashi pears are popularly eaten both raw and cooked, sometimes used as a sweetener, and they can be baked, grilled, poached and barbecued.
  • Nashi pears have their origins in Japan and China, in East Asia, where the tree’s flower has become a sign of spring.
  • Nashi pears are best stored in a dry and cool area, where they can be kept for a number of weeks.
  • Due to their high water content, nashi pears can bruise quite easily, and as a result they require hand picking and sufficient cushioning for transportation purposes.
  • Nashi pears have significant quantities of vitamin K and vitamin C, as well as fibre and potassium.
Bibliography:
Nashi, 2011, Fresh For Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/nashi/nashi.html
Pyrus pyrifolia, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrus_pyrifolia

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