The staff of life - Bread!

Bread is one of the oldest known prepared foods, a definite daily staple for most cultures around the world, even today. There are a large variety of types and favours, most are prepared by baking, steaming, or frying dough.

One thing all breads have in common however is that they all start out as flour and water; salt is present in most cases. The first breads produced were probably cooked versions of simple grain pastes. Pastes made from various ground cereal grains and water. These may have been developed by accidental cooking or deliberate experimentation with water and grains. Variations of these first experiments and early breads are still commonly made worldwide with different grains, for example... Mexican tortillas, Indian and Pakistani chapatis, rotis and naans, Scottish oatcakes, North American Johnnycakes, Middle Eastern Pita bread (Kmaj in Arabic and Pitot in Hebrew) and the Ethiopian injera. These basic flat breads formed a staple in the diet of many early civilizations.

Bread in more modern times has often included a leavening agent such as yeast or a fermented starter. This development of leavened bread can however probably also be traced back to prehistoric times as yeast spores occur everywhere, including on the surface of cereal grains. If any dough or grain paste is left to rest it will become naturally leavened. Archaeological evidence has detected yeast cells in some ancient Egyptian loaves.
Leaven breads today can have added amounts of sugar, butter and eggs for enrichment and flavours from spices, fruits or vegetables, nuts and or seeds are also common.

All breads are prized for their freshness and fresh homemade bread has taste and texture like no other!

42 Below Feijoa Vodka

42 Below is New Zealand vodka ; 42 Below Feijoa vodka is the meridian.

This vodka really does have a distinctive feijoa flavour ; lending itself to mixing in cocktails - both long and short.

My favourite way to drink feijoa vodka is in a long cocktail with elderflower cordial and soda water. Not too sweet and not too strong.

Go make yourself a drink, then come back and amuse yourself with some 42 Below adverts.

Their PR strategy has to be admired.

Tiffin

How often do you find yourself tossing away food packaging, plastic wrap, plastic bags, containers? Even if you pack your own lunchbox, are you using plastic wraps and plastic ziplock bags, containers and other packaging, generally finding yourself creating more and more plastic waste than you might like to . . .?

A Tiffin pot is a great investment and replacement for a plastic lunchbox.
Most Tiffin pots are stainless steel and therefore highly resilient, they're very easy to wash or pop through the dishwasher over and over again. The stainless steel also won't leach toxins into you food like so many plastics can, a tiffin is not only better for our environment, it's also better for you!
Tiffin pots are comprised of several, 2, 3, 4 and even 5 units which stack together on top of each other with a carry handle, they come in loads of different sizes.

Originally from India, catering services or wives would place hot naan in one compartment, rice in another, dahl in the next, another curry in the last to send off to working men for lunch. Tiffins therefore are great for both hot and cold foods, the separate units allow you to keep your side dish from running into your main course. The units seal tightly so are ideal for keeping sandwiches or salads fresh without the need for plastic wrap. You can also pop one compartment into the fridge overnight to set jellies or custard for carry away dessert.

You can carry a tiffin almost everywhere with you or even just use it for storage in your own kitchen, for storing spices in the pantry to leftovers in the fridge. Wherever you perhaps previously would have used disposible plastic packaging. To the office, to school, while camping or picnicking and why not even take it to your favorite Indian or Chinese takeaway and ask them to fill it with fried rice rather than the normal plastic disposable container?

Look out for Tiffin pots in Asian stores throughout the country.

The Food Show Wellington

The Food Show is on in Wellington this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
There will be exhibitors of food, wine and food products, as well as demonstrations by chefs and food writers.

I am particularly looking forward to Rex Morgan of of Citron Restaurant's presentation Cured, Carpaccio and Tartars. I love his food, and I am sure it will be a great insight to how he works.

The Food Show Wellington
25-27 May 2007, 10am - 6pm daily
Westpac Stadium,
Waterloo Quay,

Wellington.

Feijoa Auction

This afternoon I bought 4.5kg of feijoas in a TradeMe auction. I was just about to buy some feijoas from the supermarket, when my friend Henry suggested that I looked on TradeMe. I thought he was being funny, but it turned out that there is loads of food for sale by online auction. Click the TradeMe logo for a link to feijoa auctions.

I am intending to make chutney - and eat lots just as they are - so check back for a very special recipe.

What a great way to buy seasonally, when there is a glut from which people want to be free!

Feijoa and Pear Crumble

Winos and Foodies

If these cold evenings of Autumn weren't enough to get your mind, body and soul craving hot fruit crumbles and sweet creamy crème anglaise, then Barbara's Winos and Foodies blog makes it even harder to resist whipping up Feijoa and Pear Crumble. The classic crumbly toasted oats topping on soft sweet and glistening Autumn fruits are comforting and warming simply to view, on the palate I'm in no doubt they are an absolutely gorgeous combination of textures and taste. And her photo, well surely it speaks for itself... superb!

How to Eat

When I moved into my first flat as a student in Dunedin mum gave me a cookbook. That book was How to Eat by Nigella Lawson. I have to admit that for whole time as a fee paying flatting student I did not even open it. But as soon as I started working and living in flats where we actually had dinner as apposed to "It is your turn to cook" I could not put it down.

Unequivocally, now, it is the favourite, most treasured and used cook book on my shelf.

There are sections covering basics, cooking in advance, one & two, fast food, weekend lunch, dinner, low fat, feeding babies and young children. Maybe it was the last that scared me as an eighteen year old - Mum?

I have given this book for presents : wedding, engagement and birthday, but only once the food becomes more important than the drink for entertaining. I think you need it.