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Garlic Bread

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Garlic Bread

There’s no garlic bread on the menu? Okay, that’s an issue.

  • Garlic bread is a bread-based food item typically flavoured with garlic and butter, margarine or oil.
  • Crusty bread, such as a baguette, is commonly used to create garlic bread, and the already cooked bread is spread with a combination of butter and garlic, or soaked or drizzled in oil and rubbed in garlic, and occasionally cheeses and herbs are also added.
  • Garlic bread is popularly served as an entree or accompaniment to a main meal, especially with Italian food.
  • Garlic bread is generally heated in an oven or a frypan, or grilled, typically until toasted lightly.
  • Preparation of garlic bread can be undergone in two main ways – firstly, cutting the bread in slices and then adding flavours to each slice, or partially cutting the bread and drizzling the cut area with oils and herbs.
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Garlic Bread
Image courtesy of Marco Arment/Flickr
  • Garlic bread is derived from the Italian bruschetta, a thickly sliced bread-based dish rubbed with olive oil and garlic gloves, which was originally considered peasant food, and most likely a tradition passed down from the Ancient Romans.
  • It is common to find ready-made garlic bread, frozen or refrigerated, sold at supermarkets, so that it is only required to be heated at home.
  • Garlic bread was likely brought to America by Italian immigrants, originally as bruschetta, but due to the lack of olive oil and other ingredients, butter was substituted and later adapted to make a different dish.
  • The texture of garlic bread can be either crisp or soft, which generally depends on the preparation type, but also length of cooking, and to obtain a soft texture, the prepared bread is generally wrapped in aluminium foil and placed in the oven.
  • During preparation, garlic bread can be cut a number of ways – on a diagonal down the length of the baguette; straight across; length-ways from end to end; sliced in half length-ways and then sliced diagonally or straight across; or partially sliced through, straight across or diagonally.
Bibliography:
Bread, 2015, Food Timeline, http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodbreads.html#garlicbread
Garlic Bread, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic_bread
Garlic Bread, n.d, ifood.tv, http://ifood.tv/bread/garlic-bread/about
There is No Such Thing as “Garlic Bread”, 2011, The View from my Italian Kitchen, http://ronjamesitaliankitchen.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/theres-no-such-thing-as-garlic-bread.html

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Evodia

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Evodia

Evodia provides the double whammy – both the wood and the flowers.

  • An evodia is an evergreen flowering tree that can grow to a medium size, and is native to Australia and New Guinea.
  • ‘Evodia’ is also known as ‘pink flowered doughwood’, ‘eudia’, ‘doughwood’ and ‘corkwood’.
  • The scientific name of evodias is Melicope elleryana and it is from the family Rutaceae, the family of citrus.
  • Evodias reach heights of around five to six metres (16 to 20 feet) when cultivated and up to 25 metres (82 feet) in the wild.
  • The small tubular flowers of evodias grow in clusters along the branches of the tree, and are of a pink colour with long stamens.

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  • Evodias bloom throughout the warmer months of December to March, and the flowers are very attractive to birds, especially lorikeets, as well as butterflies, for the nectar they produce.
  • Evodias are found in forest habitats particularly in rainforest areas, and they are often home to Ulysses butterfly larvae.
  • The trunk of evodias tends to have a layer of cork-like bark; and the trees can be used as a source of timber, and they are often grown for ornamental purposes.
  • Australian-German Ferdinand von Mueller, a botanist, was the first to scientifically classify evodias and initially named the tree Euodia elleryana in 1865.
  • After flowering, small fruits of an ovoid shape develop, that change from green to a black, brown or grey colour when ripe, that then split open to each release a small, black shiny seed, that birds also like to feed on.
Bibliography:
Melicope elleryana, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melicope_elleryana
Melicope elleryana, n.d, Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, http://keys.trin.org.au/key-server/data/0e0f0504-0103-430d-8004-060d07080d04/media/Html/taxon/Melicope_elleryana.htm
Melicope elleryana (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley, n.d, PlantNET, http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Melicope~elleryana
Melicope elleryana  (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley 2001, 2015, Some Magnetic Island Plants, http://www.somemagneticislandplants.com.au/index.php/blog/11-plants/898-melicope-elleryana

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Polymer Banknote

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Polymer Banknote

Polymer banknotes may be uncommon and unfamiliar, but they certainly are not unidentified.

  • Polymer banknotes are an invention used to represent an amount of currency, using flat, generally rectangular, printed notes made of polymer plastic, and they were introduced as a replacement for paper banknotes.
  • ‘Polymer banknotes’ are also known as ‘polymer money’, ‘plastic banknotes’ and ‘plastic money’; and they are particularly difficult to forge, especially with added security features.
  • Together, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian science research centre CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), headed by Australian chemist David Solomon, invented polymer banknotes, releasing the first batch in Australia in 1988, after twenty years of development, and a cost of 20 million Australian dollars.
  • The project to develop polymer banknotes was initiated after a large Australian forgery of newly released paper ones, spanning over 1966 to 1967, mounting to approximately 800,000 Australian dollars worth at the time.
  • The first successful polymer banknote was the Australian ten-dollar note released in 1988, which originally featured an indigenous Australian on one side, and European settlers and a ship on the other, and was issued to commemorate the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia; while a full set, the first in the world, of Australian notes was not released until 1996, after some further improvements were made.
Polymer Banknotes, Money, Australian, Assortment, Plastic, Real, Collection, Types
  • For security purposes, polymer banknotes will often include watermarks; embossing and micro printing among other printing methods; various threads, including magnetic, that are embedded in the note; transparent plastic windows containing an optical variable device (OVD) – an iridescent or holographic image; and other measures, many of which were once unique to polymer money.
  • Traditionally, polymer banknotes are made by inking a plastic film with white, usually leaving a small transparent shape, cutting the film into sheets and printing on them with a variety of inks using diverse range of techniques over multiple processes, and then are varnished and cut.
  • In 2014, only 22 countries were using polymer banknotes, while only a few countries had full sets in circulation, and these included Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Vietnam, Romania, Papua New Guinea and Brunei.
  • The practical advantages of a polymer banknote compared to a paper note include its resistance to water, dirt, burning, tearing and crumpling – general factors that improve note longevity.
  • One of the primary issues against introducing polymer banknotes into many countries is its cost for initial introduction, as well as higher production costs, which in 2011, for Canadian notes was 19 cents per banknote, slightly more than double the cost of paper notes.
Bibliography:
How Plastic Money is Made, 2016, AZO Materials, http://www.azom.com/materials-video-details.aspx?VidID=430
Polymer Banknote, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_banknote
Robertson G, Funny money: How counterfeiting led to a major overhaul of Canada’s money, 2012, The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/currencies/funny-money-how-counterfeiting-led-to-a-major-overhaul-of-canadas-money/article554632/?page=all
Spurling T & Solomon D, Proceeds of Crime: How Polymer Banknotes were Invented, 2014, The Conversation, http://theconversation.com/proceeds-of-crime-how-polymer-banknotes-were-invented-34642
Weiczner J, Canada’s Plastic Money Is Stumping Counterfeiters, 2016, Fortune, http://fortune.com/2016/01/15/canadian-dollar-usd-counterfeit/

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Guatemala

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Guatemala

Guatemala is a site of exquisite history, both modern and ancient.

  • Guatemala is a small, Central American country located beneath Mexico, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, and the countries Belize, Honduras and El Salvador.
  • ‘Guatemala’ is also known under the official name of the ‘Republic of Guatemala’, and the name of the country comes from the Ancient Aztec language, derived from the word ‘Cuauchtēmallān’, meaning ‘place of many trees’.
  • Guatemala’s first inhabitants were the Mayan civilisation, however, they were conquered by the Spanish who arrived from 1517, and the natives were fully defeated in 1697.
  • Guatemala had a population estimation of just fewer than 16 million people in 2014, and the country covers an area of almost 109,000 square kilometres (42,085 square miles).
  • In 1821, Guatemala was declared independent from Spain, however the country only became a republic with a subsequently chosen president in 1847.
Guatemala, Aerial, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Country, Mountain, Australia, PlacePart of Guatemala
Image courtesy of Sara Fratti/Flickr
  • Guatemala is quite a mountainous region with a mixture of sandy and forest habitats, featuring two main mountain ranges – unsurprising considering the country is situated on a fault line – and it has 33 extinct and 4 active volcanoes.
  • The Guatemala capital, now known as ‘Guatemala City’, has been subject to multiple relocations, initially moving south-east in 1527 after an attack on the city; and relocating in 1541 and 1773, due to flooding and earthquakes respectively.
  • Guatemala has consistently been a location of political unrest and high criminal activity, having its own revolution from 1944 to 1954, and an ongoing civil war from 1960 to 1996, which resulted in millions of refugees and displacements, and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
  • Guatemala primarily produces vegetables, fruit and textiles, as well as nickel and petroleum and some other commodities, and has a GDP of approximately US$7,500 per capita in 2014.
  • Due to its ancient historical importance, particularly of Mayan culture, Guatemala is a popular destination for tourism, receiving around two million visitors a year.
Bibliography:
Guatemala, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala
Guatemala, n.d, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, https://smartraveller.gov.au/countries/guatemala
Guatemala, n.d, The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html

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Arctic Hare

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Arctic Hare

Don’t lose your hair over the Arctic hare.

  • Arctic hares are a species of hare native to the Arctic Circle, primarily in northern parts of Canada, Greenland, and islands of the Arctic.
  • The scientific name of Arctic hares is Lepus arcticus and it is from the family Leporidae, the family of rabbits and hares.
  • ‘Arctic hares’ are also known as ‘polar hares’ and ‘polar rabbits’, and they are said to be the largest species of hare in existence.
  • Arctic hares generally range from 48 to 67 centimetres (19 to 26 inches) in length and weigh 2.5 to 5.5 kilograms (5.5 to 12.1 pounds), though they can be heavier.
  • The diet of Arctic hares consists primarily of leaves from certain species of low growing plants, as well as twigs, roots, grass, moss and flowers depending on the season, while sometimes they are known to consume meat.
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Arctic Hare
Image courtesy of Jodie Wilson/Flickr
  • In winter, Arctic hares are generally white in colour to blend into their environment, and they become a blue-grey or brown-grey colour in the months without snow, so that they are more camouflaged in their habitat; however, hares in the northern regions, with short summers, may remain white or grey all year round.
  • Female Arctic hares typically have two to eight young each year, during a period between April to September, and the young are generally able to fend for themselves after nine weeks.
  • It is common for Arctic hares to live alone, however some gather in groups reaching hundreds of individuals; and they have an average lifespan of three to five years.
  • Arctic hares can reach speeds of 64 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour), achieving such speeds when threatened by predators like wolves, foxes, and large birds of prey; and they are also proficient swimmers and diggers.
  • The Arctic hare has been hunted by humans for its meat, as well as its soft, thick and absorbent fur which is used for clothes, throughout much of North America’s history.
Bibliography:
Arctic Hare, 2016, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/arctic-hare/
Arctic Hare, 2016, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/arctic-hare/
Arctic Hare, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_hare
Lepus Arcticus, 2014, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lepus_arcticus/

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Salmon (Food)

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Salmon (Food)

I’m sure salmon would make great salesmen.

  • Salmon is among a number of fish that are popularly produced and eaten as food, and Atlantic salmon is the most commonly consumed species of salmon in the world.
  • Salmon species are mostly native to the northern Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and are from the Salmo and Oncorhynchus genera respectively, both of the Salmonidae family.
  • The colour of raw salmon flesh ranges from red to orange, and occasionally white, patterned with thin, pale stripes, and once cooked, the flesh often lightens in colour and sometimes looks pink.
  • Approximately 70% of salmon produced for commercial purposes is farmed, usually in sheltered areas like bays, in a netted enclosure.
  • Salmon is known as an ‘oily fish’, and is popularly cooked by smoking; although curing, like in a mixture of sugar, dill, salt and pepper as in ‘Gravlax’ is popular; and other forms of cooking are not uncommon.

Salmon, Food, Fish, Meat, Flavoured, Prepared, Orange, Pieces, Culinary

Salmon prepared with herbs
  • Salmon is able to be eaten raw as in sushi, though the fish is usually frozen for 24 to 48 hours before consuming to ensure any possible parasites in the fish are destroyed.
  • Salmon has been commonly eaten since early times, with many cultures traditionally smoking the fish; and in modern times it is generally obtained commercially as fillets, steak, whole and canned.
  • Salmon is very high in selenium, vitamins B6 and B12, niacin and protein and it has significant quantities of many other vitamins and minerals, and is also well known for its omega-3 fatty acids.
  • Live salmon will often consume poisons such as mercury or chemicals dumped into water sources, and although this can result in human poisoning if large quantities of the meat is eaten, the risk is low, and current guidelines suggest that the consumption of this or similar fish once a week is safe.
  • In 2014, Norway produced the most salmon in the world, with more than a million tonnes (1.1 million tons), which accounted for more than a third of the world’s production.
Bibliography:
Aquaculture of Salmonids, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaculture_of_salmonids
Salmon, 2016, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=104
Salmon as Food, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Salmon Farming Industry Handbook 2015, 2015, Marine Harvest, http://www.marineharvest.com/globalassets/investors/handbook/2015-salmon-industry-handbook.pdf

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