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October 19, 2007

FOOD FACTS

These are some information I had gathered about the food we use everyday

Sultanas,Raisins,Currants
Sultanas are seedless,large berried and light yellow in colour
Larger than currants but smaller than raisins
Grapes are harvested when overripe and air-dried or in special drying plants
These are bleached,sulphured and machanically de-stalked to extend shelf life

Raisins are harvested in bunches and sun-dried
They are seeded,large-berried and with stalk
Currants are seedless,small-berried and are purple black in colour
Fresh currants are fruits of plants in the gooseberry family and are pink,red,black or white in colour

Lime and Lemon
Both are small green,yellow citrus fruits of citrus family
Limes are smaller and globular in appearance
Lemons are larger,oval and shaped like the orange

Corn syrup and Maple syrup
Both are sweet syrups obtained from source other than cane sugar
Corn syrup is liquid sugar from corn starch
Clarified and decolourised,usually contains vanilla flavouring
Maple syrup is thicker and obtained by boiling the sap water from maple tree

White,Black and Cayenne Peppers
Black pepper is the powder of dried berry of the pepper plant
White pepper is from the berries whose outer black skin is removed and dried
Cayenne pepper is the powder of the dried red cayenne pepper pods.It is same as our chilli powder

Grape and GrapefruitBoth are edible fruits
Grapes are small fruits that grow in bunches on the grapevine
They may or may not be seeded
Grapefruit are a fine variety of the shaddock,the pompelmoose,which sometime has grape-like taste
It is like a very large orange and has a sour,bitter taste

Mustard seeds and Mustard
Both refer to the taste enhancers added to food
Mustard seeds are essentially used in oriental cooking
The brown black tiny seeds are splurred in oil,or ground as paste and used in cooking
Mustard as it is known in continental cooking is a product of mustard seed
The white and brown mustard are ground seperately and sifted to seperate husk and bran from the flour
The flour is tinned and marketed

Sea salt and Rock salt
Both are edible and differ in their occurance in nature
The salt we get in our countryis from sea waters
The water,on evaporation yields the basic salt
In its unaltered and unpurified state is kallu uppu
Though it appears like stones it should not be confusrd with rock salt
The powdered salt goes by the name table salt is also from seawater
Rock salt is a mineral Halite and is quarried from salt mines
Some rock salts are known to contain certain minerals beneficial to human body,particularly digestion
Rock salt or kaala namak is extensively used in Ayurveda

Baking powder and Baking soda
Both are used to fluff up flour in cooking
Baking soda is plain sodium bicarbonate
On addition of water,it releases carbon dioxide
Soda is a strong acting substance
Baking powder is sodium bicarbonate plus acid saltsof tartarates and/or sulphates
This is milder and serves as yeast substitute in baking

Poached and Boiled eggs
Both refer to eggs cooked in water
Poached eggs are cooked,without the shell in boiling water which is a tricky process
Boiled eggs are cooked with the shell till done and then the shell is removed

Blanched and Stewed
Both refers to the process of softening the fruit generally tomatoes and apples
Blanching is soaking the fruit in hot water and allowing it to cook and shrink just enough so that the outer skin comes off
Stewing is boiling slowly with some moisture
The fruit is not directly to be dipped in water

2 comments:

renuka said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Swaruchy said...

Nice facts all neatly lined up in one place....Good Job Renuka...:-)