Gourmet Articles
Regional Cuisine Of China Szechuan Style
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 586)
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The Szechuan style of cuisine arose from a culturally distinct area in the central western of part of China, a province known as Sichuan. This area of China came into its own culturally towards the end of the Shang Dynasty, during the 15th century. However, it was also the climate of the area that helped to shape the culinary traditions that were to arise from Sichuan province and make their way into the realm of international cuisine.
The province from which the cuisine that the world knows as Szechuan evolved is often hot and humid, and this contributed to this necessity of preparing foods in ways that differ significantly from other regions of China. Szechuan cuisine is primarily known for its hot and spicy dishes, though naturally there is more to Szechuan food than spice and sauces rich and strong in flavor.
A general overview of culinary history and trends reveals that, for the most part, areas that tended to spice heavily were areas in which the fresh food supply was not as reliable as in places that traditionally used a lighter hand in their use of spices. The climate of Sichuan is conducive to faster food spoilage. This, particularly in the past, made necessary food preservation techniques that themselves left behind a strong flavor, such as salting, pickling, drying, and smoking. Thus, spices served to mask the flavors of less than fresh foods and those that have been preserved by methods that affect their natural flavors. In addition to masking certain flavors, the use of hot spices, such as chili peppers, tends to be more common to hot climates, as the sweat that they can produce is thought to cool the body.
Much of the spicing of regional Chinese cooking is based upon bringing together five fundamental taste sensations - sweet, sour, pungent, salty and bitter. The balance of these particular elements in any one dish or regional cuisine can vary, according to need and desire, especially as influenced by climate, culture and food availability.
In Szechuan cuisine, there are a variety of ingredients and spices used to create these basic taste sensations. These include a variety of chili peppers, peppercorns over various types, Sichuan peppers, which are in reality a type of fruit, not pepper, and produce a numbing effect in addition to their warm flavor. Sichuan peppers, also called flower pepper and mountain pepper, are a traditional part of the Chinese five spice powder, or at least of those that are modeled upon the most authentic versions of the spice combinations common to regional Chinese cooking.
Other ingredients used commonly in Szechuan cuisine to create the five fundamental taste sensations include different types of sugars, such as beet root sugar and cane sugar, as well as local fruits for sweetness. The sour comes from pickled vegetables and different varieties of vinegar. A special bitter melon is added to many dishes to offer the touch of bitterness that complements other flavors. Other spices and flavors include dried orange peel, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and bean paste. Salt is important to Szechuan cuisine, and the area produces uniquely flavored salts that help to distinguish authentic Szechuan cuisine from the other regional cuisines from China.
Szechuan cuisine is marked by its rich traditional flavors, which stem from a culture of hundreds of years and are in part shaped by the natural forces of climate. Authentic Szechuan cuisine offers a unique dining experience made up of adventurous and creative taste sensations.
A Gourmet Chocolate Gift Basket Is The Perfect Gift
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 415)
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There are many online specialty stores that offer nothing but the best in chocolate gift baskets. They offer a great assortment to choose from, and you can even individualize your basket by picking just your favorites.
Chocolate gift baskets are designed for all occasions and holidays; Valentines Day, birthdays, weddings, and Mother's Day are by far the most popular, but they are offered in designs perfect for any type of gathering.
May chocolate gift baskets can be combined with other items as well, such as with flowers, wine, fruit, nuts, cheeses, appetizers, or whole gourmet meals, and are perfect for a romantic getaway or picnic too.
These gift baskets are available in a variety of sizes and prices, and can be gift wrapped for special occasions with a personal card attached and shipped directly to the recipient. With the internet you can shop, make your purchase, and have it shipped all in a relatively short period of time.
It will be packaged to keep your chocolate gift basket fresh and cool, and is usually delivered by UPS or Fed Ex to guarantee that your purchase arrives in the state in which it left the store.
If you are a lover of chocolate, you have simply not lived until you have tasted true, high quality, gourmet chocolates. Chocolate gift baskets are a great gift and are a nice substitute or tasty addition to traditional floral bouquets, or other gift arrangements.
People who are true connoisseurs of fine chocolate will appreciate your gift, and you will probably get to enjoy a sample as well if you deliver the chocolate gift basket personally! Chocolate gift baskets are available in a variety of collections, and include a wonderful assortment of the best gourmet confections around.
If you choose to purchase a chocolate gift basket at a local retailer, you can sample their specialties, and literally select items based on your personal tastes. Retailers also offer special promotions around the holidays or for special occasions, and can ship the chocolate gift basket for you as well. Whatever you decide, it will be truly decadent and loved by everyone. Who doesn't like chocolate? Not me!
You haven't lived until you have had a handmade chocolate truffle filled with a decadent filling surrounded by a tasty outer chocolate shell. And who says that you have to just buy these little pieces of oral pleasure just for others, you deserve to indulge yourself too!
White Barbecue Sauce Sweet Sour Tickling And Tangy
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 160)
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BBQ sauce is generally a basic mixture of tomatoes, sugar and vinegar. Tomatoes used can be in various forms such as tomato sauce, paste, puree and even ketchup. Sugar adds sweetness to the barbecue sauce and can either be corn syrup, honey or molasses. The addition of vinegar, on the other hand, lends a sour flavor to the bbq sauce and can be in the form of beer, white or flavored vinegar, wine or citrus juices. In general, bbq sauces can be used throughout the barbecue process from preparation to cooking.
Bechamel sauce or White Barbecue Sauce has a long and illustrious history. It has been a pet of the French food connoisseurs, since 1651. One of the mother sauces of French cuisine, the white sauce is nowadays made by whisking scalded milk gradually into a white flour-butter roux. However, it can also be made by whisking a kneaded flour-butter beurre mani
How To Make Authentic Mexican Cerviche
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 397)
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When I mention the word "cerviche" to people I am usually questioned, "what the ___is that?" After they taste my recipe for true Mexican cerviche they are begging me to teach them how to make it.
First let me explain why I call it authentic Mexican cerviche. I lived in the Yucatan Peninsula over 20 years ago at the beginning of the birth of Cancun. I worked on boats every day and learned to make Mexican food dishes from the natives I worked with.
One of my favorites has always been cerviche because it is very fast and easy to make and it is very light and cooling on hot days.
So what is it and how do I make it? Well, for starters there are several different types of cerviche. It can be made from Conch, a large shellfish found all over the Caribbean, shrimp, or a white meat fish such as snapper, trout, etc. We used Spanish Mackerel a lot as well when I was in Cancun.
The recipe is the same regardless of the meat you choose so let me begin.
For a refreshing snack that will feed six to eight people you will want about a pound of meat filleted and deboned. You will need a couple of large tomatoes, several limes or a couple bottles of lime concentrate, an onion, and several chili peppers. If you are averse to really spicy foods you can substitute less spicy peppers.
The first thing you do is cut the meat into small fingertip sized chunks and place in a large bowl with a lid so you can shake the mixture up easily later. After you have the meat cut up pour just enough lime juice over it to cover the meat thoroughly, shake it up and put it to the side.
Next cut up your tomatoes into small chunks and scrape them into the mixture, then your onions and peppers and so on. Be sure to cut the peppers extra small.
If you like a little more seasoned taste you can sprinkle a little of your favorite spice on it although most people prefer to eat it as is.
Let the mixture chill in the refrigerator or on ice for at least one hour then serve with tortilla chips or crackers washed down with a good cold beer.
Midsummer House Awards
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 311)
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Another award comes to Midsummer House this year in the guise of the BMW Square Meal Award for Best Out-of-Town Restaurant 2005. Midsummer House is in good company, the previous winners of this award being Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons (2001), The Waterside Inn (2002), The Vineyard at Stockcross (2003) and The Fat Duck (2004). This award is particularly special as it's decided not only by the Square Meal team of reviewers, but also by their readers, who provide Square Meal with their own verdicts on restaurants around the country.
Having also been awarded it's second Michelin Star this year, Midsummer House has firmly established itself on the culinary map.
Midsummer House is the only additional two-star restaurant in this year's guide and remains the only Michelin star restaurant in East Anglia. Midsummer received its first Michelin Star in 2002 and the team has been working towards receiving this second star ever since. Having recently undergone a major refurbishment and having new menus created, Midsummer House certainly deserves this prestigious accolade.
Clifford's cooking is based upon a sound grounding in French technique and he constantly seeks to improve and innovate: low temperature cooking, jellies, foams and unexpected contrasts of taste, texture and temperature. A research kitchen has recently been added to the building in which Clifford experiments with new ingredients, processes and dishes. A plasma screen has also been installed in the private dining room so guests can watch their choice of dishes being prepared, a rare opportunity to watch the 'man of genius' at work.
Chef/Patron Clifford, who started his career as a kitchen assistant at Canterbury College comments, "I have worked towards this award for many years and am delighted that along with my team all our efforts have been recognised."
For more information please view the Venue Reservations website at:
www.venuereservations.co.uk
Why Cheesecakes Make The Perfect Gift
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 301)
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Cheesecake makes a perfect gift. There are guidelines that should be followed when choosing the perfect gift. For one thing, the gift should be chosen specifically for a certain individual whose tastes are known to you. If you are not well acquainted with the recipient, you must give a general-type of gift that will not offend. Another guideline for choosing the perfect gift is that the gift must fit, and most important, if the recipient doesn't like the gift, it must be passed on to someone else.Do you know anyone who doesn't like cheesecake and wouldn't consider it the perfect gift? For gift-giving occasions the ultimate gift is one that is adored and can be shared with others, and this makes cheesecake the perfect gift. Even if the recipient is on a low fat, no fat, no sugar or no
carb diet, cheesecake is the perfect gift because it can be made to adhere to almost any diet by carefully choosing the ingredients. In today's society there is almost no limit to the availability and variety of ingredients that go into a cheesecake.Can you imagine the pleasure on the face of that special someone on whom you have bestowed a freshly made cheesecake? Add a few different toppings such as a variety of fruit toppings and streusels to adorn the cheesecake and you have created the perfect cheesecake gift. There are different varieties of cheesecakes such as the original New
York Cheesecake, which is probably the most well known of all the varieties.Create a cheesecake in your own kitchen and present it in a special dish to a special person. When you see the pleasure on their face, you'll know that cheesecake makes the perfect gift.
Send a Cheesecake to someone special today.
Top 5 Things You Need In Your Kitchen
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 375)
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If you are just starting to cook, or are moving in on your own, chances are, you don't have much in terms of cooking equipment. Here is what we recommend for you to get, as you are starting out. As times goes by, you will, of course, get more kitchen gadgets. But here are five that we recommend starting out with:
- Chopping board. This is something very basic, as you can't chop anything without having a chopping board. It is very versatile, as you can chop pretty much anything on it - onions, potatoes, tomatoes, meat, herbs, etc.
Some people prefer to get separate chopping boards to meat, dairy items, vegetables, etc. Others get differently sized chopping boards, and use them depending on the volume of things they need to chop. Start out with one, and see what else you need.
- A knife. Again, this is very basic, but you will not be able to chop or cook anything without a knife. A good, sharp knife goes a long way to help you prepare food. You can go to some stores, and hold the knives in your hand, so that you know which one you are comfortable with.
- A big pot. You need a pot for pretty much anything - from boiling pastas to making soups to stewing to pretty much anything else. Some pots come with colander inserts, which makes it easier to cook pasta. Or, you may get a colander separately, and use that.
- A saute pan. We love saute pans, and use them all the time. Again, they are very versatile, and we recommend getting ones without wooden handles, so that you can put the saute in the oven as well.
Use the saute pan for preparing stir fries, sauteing meat and fish, cooking vegetables and much, much more.
- Roasting Pan. These are perfect for preparing things in the oven. From roast to roasted chicken to roasted vegetables, a roasted pan can help you cook your favorite dishes in the oven.
Don't be scared - cooking is fun. Start getting a few things that we recommended, and add to your collection of kitchen equipment as time goes.
Culinary Traditions Of France
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 502)
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French cuisine is the amazingly high standard to which all other native cuisines must live up to. The country of France is home of some of the finest cuisine in the world, and it is created by some of the finest master chefs in the world. The French people take excessive pride in cooking and knowing how to prepare a good meal. Cooking is an essential part of their culture, and it adds to one's usefulness if they are capable of preparing a good meal.
Each of the four regions of France has a characteristic of its food all its own. French food in general requires the use of lots of different types of sauces and gravies, but recipes for cuisine that originated in the northwestern region of France tend to require the use a lot of apple ingredients, milk and cream, and they tend to be heavily buttered making for an extremely rich (and sometimes rather heavy) meal. Southeastern French cuisine is reminiscent of German food, heavy in lard and meat products such as pork sausage and sauerkraut.
On the other hand, southern French cuisine tends to be a lot more widely accepted; this is generally the type of French food that is served in traditional French restaurants. In the southeastern area of France, the cooking is a lot lighter in fat and substance. Cooks from the southeast of France tend to lean more toward the side of a light olive oil more than any other type of oil, and they rely heavily on herbs and tomatoes, as well as tomato-based products, in their culinary creations.
Cuisine Nouvelle is a more contemporary form of French cuisine that developed in the late 1970s, the offspring of traditional French cuisine. This is the most common type of French food, served in French restaurants. Cuisine Nouvelle can generally be characterized by shorter cooking times, smaller food portions, and more festive, decorative plate presentations. Many French restaurant cuisines can be classified as Cuisine Nouvelle, but the more traditional French restaurant cuisine would be classified as Cuisine du Terroir, a more general form of French cooking than Cuisine Nouvelle. Cuisine du Terroir is an attempt to return to the more indigenous forms of French cooking, especially with reference to regional differences between the north and south, or different areas such as the Loire Valley, Catalonia, and Rousillon. These are all areas famous for their specific specialty of French cuisine. As time has progressed, the difference between a white wine from the Loire Valley and a wine from another area has slowly diminished, and the Cuisine du Terroir approach to French cooking focuses on establishing special characteristics between regions such as this.
As part of their culture, the French incorporate wine into nearly every meal, whether it is simply as a refreshment or part of the recipe for the meal itself. Even today, it is a part of traditional French culture to have at least one glass of wine on a daily basis.
How To Enjoy A Good Cup Of Gourmet Coffee
(category: Gourmet, Word count: 612)
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Are you tired of your regular Joe life and your regular Joe cup of coffee that you start your day with? Then it's time to reward yourself with something different. Why not jazz up your morning ritual with cup of rich gourmet coffee.
The dictionary defines gourmet food like this, "Gourmet food is that which is of the highest quality, perfectly prepared and artfully presented." If you want the highest quality food you go to a top notch restaurant but if you want the highest quality coffee, you can do that at home yourself. That gourmet meal is probably going to stay at the restaurant unless you invite a chef over but gourmet coffee can be made in the comfort of your own home with just a little practice.
Gourmet coffee is more expensive than say, supermarket brands but the taste is also much richer. Unless money is no object, why not save the gourmet cup of coffee for the weekends. Make it an end of the week tradition. Stick with the supermarket coffee for when you're rushing off to work.
To make your own gourmet coffee start with the beans. Gourmet Coffee beans can be bought by the pound and there are many varieties to choose from. Some of the most popular gourmet beans include Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, and Sumatra types.
Coffee beans are similar to wine in that they name the beans after the region. In the world of wine you have the popular Sonoma wines which come from Sonoma Valley in California. In the world of coffee the equivalent would be Kona beans which come from Kona, Hawaii.
Kona coffee beans are grown in rich volcanic soil and the mild tropical climate of the Kona coffee belt on the western side of the Big Island of Hawaii. It has a wonderfully full, rich and smooth flavor with little or no bitter after taste. Be sure that you buy Kona beans and not a Kona blend. A Kona blend can legally be labeled as Kona with as little as 10% of actual Kona beans in it.
Next you'll need to grind your beans. Ground coffee begins losing it's flavor once it's exposed to air. So you'll want to grind just enough to make your desired amount. Store any leftover grinds in an air tight container. You'll want to grind you coffee beans very fine but don't pulverize them into dust. If you over grind them the heat and friction will vaporize the oils that give the coffee it's distinct flavor.
When was the last time you cleaned your coffee maker? A clean coffee maker makes a significant difference in how your coffee tastes. At least once a month pour a mixture of half vinegar and half water into your coffee maker. Let the mix run through the full brew process. Repeat the process again using only water this time to rinse it out. Do this one more time if a vinegar smell is still present.
Now you're work is done and it's time for the coffee maker to pulls it's weight. Use clean filtered water and fill the coffee maker to the desired level. Use about 6 ounces of water for every 2 heaping tablespoons of coffee. Turn it on and hang around while it brews. You'll want to be there to enjoy the delightful aroma.
Everyday coffee is perfect for everyday life. But every once in a while you should treat yourself to something special. And what better way to start a special than that with a special cup of coffee. Gourmet coffees can really jazz up your day.
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