Category Archives: Culinary

Brussels Sprouts

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Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts sprout on stalks that sprout from soil.

  • Brussels sprouts, also known as ‘brussel sprouts’, are a vegetable eaten primarily for its leaves and they grow as buds along the stalk of a plant.
  • The scientific name of the Brussels sprout plant is Brassica oleracea variety gemmifera, from the Brassica genus, which include species of cabbages and cruciferous vegetables, and it is from the Brassicaceae family, the family of mustards.
  • Generally Brussels sprouts are a rough oval shape, with an appearance of a tiny cabbage, and they grow to sizes of 2.5 to 5 centimetres (1 to 2 inches) in length.
  • The exact origin of Brussels sprouts is unknown, although it is thought Europe’s Belgium first cultivated the vegetable, possibly in the capital Brussels sometime around the 1200s, hence the vegetable’s name, although concrete evidence only exists from the late 1500s.
  • The United States of America saw the introduction of Brussels sprouts in the 1700s by some immigrants from France.
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Brussels Sprouts
Image courtesy of Jacqueline/Flickr
  • The typical lush green colour of Brussels sprouts can vary in shade, and they can become a yellow or other discoloured colour when of poor quality, however purple coloured varieties are available.
  • Brussels sprouts are popularly cooked through boiling, stir-frying, grilling or roasting techniques, and are commonly flavoured with spices or sauces, and they are also able to be eaten raw and are sometimes used in salads.
  • Brussels sprouts contain a sulphur compound, glucosinolate sinigrin, that can produce a displeasing smell and a bitter taste when overcooked.
  • The Netherlands in Europe is one of the largest producer of Brussels sprouts in the world with 82,000 tonnes (90,390 tons), while the United Kingdom has a fairly high consumption rate of the vegetable.
  • Brussels sprouts are very high in vitamin C and vitamin K, and are a good source of folate, and they also contain other vitamins and minerals.
Bibliography:
Brussels Sprouts, 2011, Fresh For Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/brussels_sprout/brussels_sprout.html
Brussels Sprouts, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout
Brussels Sprouts, 2015, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=10

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Honeydew Melon

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Honeydew Melon

Honeydew melons are sweeter than watermelon and perhaps healthier than honey.

  • Honeydew melons are a melon fruit of roughly spherical shape, and it is said that they originated in Algeria in North Africa, and possibly other surrounding areas including the Middle East and southern Europe.
  • Honeydew melons are a cultivar known as ‘inodorus’ of the muskmelon species that has the scientific name Cucumis melo, and is from the family Cucurbitaceae, the family of cucurbits or some gourds.
  • ‘Honeydew melons’ are also known as ‘honeymelons’ and simply ‘honeydews’, and they can also be referred to as ‘winter melons’ (not to be confused with the gourds of the same name) and ‘White Antibes melons’.
  • The rough size of honeydew melons is 15 to 22 centimetres (6 to 9 inches) in length and 1.8 to 3.6 kilograms (4 to 8 pounds) in weight.
  • The skin of honeydew melons can be green, white or yellow, while the interior flesh is usually a light green colour.
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Honeydew Melon
Image courtesy of Tracy Ducasse; edited/Flickr
  • Honeydew melons are very sweet due to their high content of natural sugars, and the sugar content increases as the fruit ripens.
  • The skin texture of a good quality honeydew melon is generally waxy, and the melon will be weighty, which indicates that it contains significant quantities of juice.
  • Honeydew melons have been favoured by Napoleon, Cleopatra VII and Pope Paul II, and they were originally reserved for the noble or wealthy.
  • Raw is the most common way to eat honeydew melons, although the fruit may be cooked in dishes for a sweet addition or used to flavour beverages.
  • Honeydew melons are very high in vitamin C and are a good source of potassium, and they contain other vitamins and minerals.
Bibliography:
Honeydew, 2011, Fresh for Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/honeydew/honeydew.html
Honeydew (Melon), 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeydew_(melon)

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Lychee

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Lychee

Lie low – the lychee are just around the corner!

  • Lychee is a sweet fruit of small size, originating from the tropical areas of Asia’s China.
  • The scientific name of the tree that lychees grow on is Litchi chinensis, and it is from the family Sapindaceae, the family of soapberries.
  • The rough thin skin of a lychee should be peeled before eating, and this reveals the internal edible fruit, and a smooth brown seed.
  • The skin of lychees is generally a red to pink colour when the fruit is ripe and fresh, while the flesh inside is white and translucent.
  • Chinese emperors and other wealthy Chinese prized lychees, so much so, that it caused high demand and a significant consumption rate throughout the centuries.

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Lychees
Image courtesy of silkway/Flickr
  • Lychees are generally eaten raw, although they may be added to, or cooked in other dishes to feature their sweet flavour.
  • There are a number of varieties of lychees; and they grow on trees that are evergreen, that generally grow to heights of 10 to 12 metres (33 to 40 feet).
  • Lychees are roughly spherical in shape and are approximately 4 to 5 centimetres (1.6 to 2 inches) in diameter.
  • The skin of lychees tends to go brown after picking, and while they are best stored in the refrigerator, this can accentuate this tendency, however, the flesh remains unchanged.
  • Lychees are very high in vitamin C, they are a good source of copper, potassium, vitamin B and fibre, and they contain many other vitamins and minerals.
Bibliography:
Lychee, 2011, Fresh for Kids, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/fruit_pages/lychee/lychee.html
Lychee, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee

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Sweet Potato

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Sweet Potato

The roots literally stem to the sweet potato.

  • A sweet potato is a vegetable that is the root of a dicot plant with the scientific name Ipomoea batatas, and the plant is from the family Convolvulaceae, the family of morning glories or bindweeds.
  • Some people refer to sweet potatoes as yams, despite the term technically reserved for totally unrelated vegetables from the Dioscoreaceae family, with the scientific name Dioscorea; thus creating confusion.
  • There are numerous varieties of sweet potatoes, and the skin can be coloured orange, beige, brown, red, yellow, or purple, while the flesh can be yellow, beige, orange, white, pink, purple, red, or violet, and they are generally a long, fat shape.
  • Sweet potatoes are commonly cooked through baking, frying, grilling or boiling; and both the leaves and root can be eaten.
  • Sweet potatoes are native to South and Central America, and they have been used in these areas since ancient times, and were likely cultivated there thousands of years ago.

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  • China is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the world, producing around 81.7 million tonnes (80.4 million tons) in 2011, totalling approximately 77% of the world’s production.
  • Sweet potatoes do not grow well in cold temperatures, preferring sunlight and the warmth it generates, and once harvested they are best stored in a dry, dark and cool environment, however, they should not be stored in the fridge.
  • Europe had not seen sweet potatoes until 1492, after Christopher Columbus brought back some of the vegetables from his original visit to America.
  • The skin of sweet potatoes may be commercially dyed or waxed, the former to increase the apparent quality and fool consumers, while the latter is used to protect the vegetable from moisture loss and to maintain its freshness.
  • Sweet potatoes have an extremely high content of vitamin A and are a good source of vitamins C and B6, fibre, potassium and manganese, and they contain many other vitamins and minerals.
Bibliography:
Sweet Potato, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato
Sweet Potato, 2015, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64

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Sushi

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Sushi

What do you like in your favourite sushi?

  • Sushi is a rice-based food originating from Japan, and the rice is normally held together by, or wrapped in nori (seaweed).
  • Sushi can be prepared in wide variety of styles, including hand rolled in a cone as temakizushi, rolled cylindrically as makizushi, pressed into a rectangular shape and topped with an ingredient as nigirizushi, or put in a bowl as chirashizushi.
  • Rice made with rice vinegar is virtually always used as the base in sushi, while other ingredients can include specially prepared cooked egg (tamagoyaki), raw fish and other seafood, cucumber, pickled vegetables, yam and avocado.
  • Soy sauce, or wasabi may be served with sushi, while green tea is commonly drunk with the dish and pickled ginger (gari) commonly accompanies the food to cleanse the palate for the next course.
  • Traditional sushi, known as ‘narezushi’, originated from the 700s in Japan and surrounding areas as a way of preserving fish, as it was encased in fermented rice for many months, however, the rice was typically thrown out until the Japanese started eating it with the fish, and they eventually added vinegar to the rice, which resulted in a shortened fermentation process.

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  • Japanese Hanaya Yohei of Tokyo is credited with the invention of the now common, modern style sushi in the early 1800s, which was a ‘fast food’ version, small in comparison to the previous style, quick to make, and easy to eat.
  • Unlike Japan, raw seafood is often not chosen as a commercial sushi filling in Western civilisations, as seafood is notorious for requiring the hassle of freezing to kill potentially harmful parasites as per safety regulations in many countries.
  • Sushi may be eaten with chopsticks, although it is traditional to eat it with fingers and this is common practice in both Japan and the West.
  • Sushi is typically white in colour, due to the rice, and dark green, due to the nori seafood, and other colours vary depending on the extra ingredients, while the dish is savoury and served as the main dish of a main meal, one of the dishes in a main meal, a snack, or in bento (a portable food box),
  • Sushi is generally high in carbohydrates and protein, while significant quantities of other vitamins and minerals vary, depending on the fillings.
Bibliography:
Avey T, Discovering the History of Sushi, 2012, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/history-of-sushi/
Sushi, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi

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Ginger Root

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Ginger Root

Ginger root is strong in flavour.

  • Ginger root is the root of the ginger plant native to parts of South-East Asia, including southern China, that has the scientific name Zingiber officinale.
  • ‘Ginger root’ is also known as simply ‘ginger’, and the word has its origins in Old English, Latin, Greek and Prakrit – gingiber, zingiberi, zingiberis, and singabera respectively, with suggestions that it ultimately came from the Sanskrit words ‘srngam’ and ‘vera’, meaning ‘horn’ and ‘body’ respectively, in reference to the root’s shape.
  • Ginger root is commonly used as a culinary spice, and ranges from mild to hot strengths with a sweet tangy and spicy flavour, and it is a good source of copper, manganese, magnesium and potassium.
  • Common foods that use ginger root as a flavouring include beverages, condiments, curry, and baked goods including cookies, and the root can also be candied, pickled or juiced.
  • Ginger root can be collected when the plant root is either young or old, and it can be dried and ground or used fresh, while the younger roots are normally juicer, contain less fibres and are milder in spiciness.

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  • Ginger root can be used for medical purposes, including preventing motion sickness and other causes of nausea, reduction or prevention of some cancers, and for treating some inflammatory problems.
  • The skin of ginger root is typically brown coloured, with red, white, yellow or orange flesh, which varies according to the variety of the plant.
  • Fresh ginger root is commonly peeled to remove the skin before grating, slicing or chopping the flesh, though it is not usually necessary to peel younger roots.
  • Care should be taken when eating ginger root as it can cause allergic reactions in some people and negative affects include rashes, bloating, burping, gas and nausea, and it can interfere with some medical drugs.
  • Ginger root has been used since ancient times in the Middle East, India and China, and in 2012 India was the largest producer of the root, growing a third of the world’s total production.
Bibliography:
Ginger, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger
Ginger, 2015, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=72
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