Author: Myschizlife

Culinary Fun Fact: Should you eat oysters only in months whose names contain the letter R?

Culinary, Culinary Fun Fact, Seafood

The “R” rule may have been true 30 or 40 years ago, but thanks to advances in aquaculture it has fallen by the wayside. It used to be fishermen dug for oysters only in the colder “R” months (September through April) to avoid the spawning season. 

Warm waters (above 60 degrees) encourage spawning, rendering oysters bland, soft-textured, and small. Once the spawning season is complete, oysters are generally plumper and better-tasting, thus commanding a higher price tag.

Today’s oysters are more likely to be farmed than found, with farmers having more control over the conditions in which they are grown, harvested, and stored. This means that oyster cultivators can plant oysters in cold waters, thereby staggering spawning and keeping their product available year-round. So forget the “R” rule—any time is fine for eating oysters.

Culinary Fun Fact: Soy Alergy

Culinary, Culinary Fun Fact

Ingredients to avoid —> Hydrolyzed soy protein, miso, shoyu sauce, soy-anything, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, soy sauce, soybean, soybean granules, soybean curd, tempeh, textured vegetable protein, tofu.

Foods commonly containing soy —> Baby foods, baked goods (cakes, cookies, muffins, breads), baking mixes, breakfast cereals, packaged dinners like macaroni and cheese, canned tuna packed in oil, margarine, shortening, vegetable oil and anything with vegetable oil in it, snack foods (including crackers, chips, pretzels), nondairy creamers, vitamin supplements.

Substitutions —> There are no good substitutes for items like tofu and soy sauce, so choose recipes that don’t directly rely on soy-based products. Read labels carefully as soy is used in an astonishing number of commercial products, often in places that you wouldn’t suspect, such as pasta sauce.

Culinary Fun Fact: Salmon Pin Bones

Butchery, Culinary, Culinary Fun Fact

Food Scientist Harold McGee tells us in “On Food and Cooking,” (Scribner 2004) that fish in the herring, salmon, and related families have these pin bones to “help stiffen some of the connective-tissue sheets and direct the muscular forces among them.” Other members of the salmon family include steelhead, trout, whitefish, and Arctic char. Basically, the pin bones allow the fish to swim faster.

Dr. Michio Kaku on God and Stephen Hawking

Science, Secular Humanism

“Can you prove the existence of God? Probably not. Science is based on evidence which is testable, reproducible, and falsifiable. So God is outside the usual boundary of science. Also, it is impossible to disprove a negative, so you cannot disprove the existence of God, either. Similarly, you cannot definitively prove the non-existence of unicorns. So I am not an atheist. I personally find much wisdom in Einstein’s belief in the God of Spinoza, a God of beauty, simplicity, elegance, and truth, when the universe might have been random, ugly, and chaotic.

My colleague, the late Stephen Hawking, did not believe in God because there was no time in which to create the universe right after the big bang. But string theory actually takes you before the big bang, to the multiverse. So the big bang is the not the beginning of time. String theory leaves open the possibility that our bubble/universe collided or fissioned into other universes, as in a bubble bath, so there was a multiverse of universes before our universe was born. This idea might even be testable. So the big bang was just the collision of two universes, or the fissioning of a universe into a baby universe. This concept fits into the inflationary universe theory, which all the data and is the leading theory of the big bang itself. So time did not begin with the big bang.”

~ Dr. Michio Kaku, Theoretical Physicist, Futurist, Bestselling Author.

#Science #MichioKaku #GodOfSpinoza

Veal Cut Profile: Veal Shank

Butchery, Culinary, Ingredients

Description: Veal shank the lower portions of both the front and rear legs, is legendary for its rich, smooth, melting texture.

Meat Characteristics: Shank meat is tough and lean, with small muscles surrounded by connective tissue. Braising turns it smooth and rich.

How much should I buy: For Osso Buco one crosscut round, 12 to 20 ounces each, per person. A whole shank serves four.  You may also serve a smaller whole veal shank.

Common flavor combinations: Bay leaves, cilantro, cinnamon, cumin, garlic, golden raisins, lemons, marjoram, oranges, porcini mushrooms, red onion, white truffles, white wine.

Christianity Drives Out The Faeries

Faerie Realm, Mythology

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, ‘the Wife of Bath’s Tale’ 14th century:

“In the days of King Arthur, Britain was full of fairies. The elf queen danced in meadows with her companions. This is what I read, anyway. Now, no one sees elves any more, because of the prayers of friars. These friars search all over the land, blessing every building and house, with the result that there are no more fairies. Where elves used to walk, the friar himself now goes at all times of the day, saying his prayers. Women can walk anywhere they want without fearing anyone but the friar, who will only dishonour them, rather than beget demon children upon them.”

Excerpt from ‘Farewell, Rewards, and Fairies’ by Bishop Richard Corbet, 16th century:

“By which we note the Fairies

Were of the old Profession.

Their songs were ‘Ave Mary’s’,

Their dances were Procession.

But now, alas, they all are dead;

Or gone beyond the seas;

Or farther for Religion fled;

Or else they take their ease.”

Culinary Fun Fact: Peanut Allergy

Culinary, Culinary Fun Fact

Ingredients to avoid —> Peanuts, peanut butter, peanut starch, peanut flour, peanut oil, mixed nuts, crushed nuts, hydrolyzed plant protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, vegetable oil (if the source isn’t specified), and depending upon the severity of the allergy, anything that states “may contain trace amounts of peanuts.”

Foods commonly containing peanuts —> Baked goods, baking mixes, chocolate and chocolate chips (many contain trace amounts of peanuts), candy, snacks, nut butters, cereals, sauces (peanuts are sometimes used as a thickener), Asian food (stir fry, sauces, egg rolls), veggie burgers, marzipan (almond paste).

Substitutions —> If your dish calls for peanuts, you might be able to substitute with cashews or sunflower seeds. For peanut butter, you can use soy nut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower butter. Of course these substitutions are only valid if you or your guest aren’t allergic to all tree nuts.

Culinary Fun Fact: Are All Fish Eggs Caviar?

Culinary, Culinary Fun Fact

False!  False!  Caviar only refers to the cured eggs of certain species of sturgeon. That’s it, don’t be fooled.  Salmon, trout, paddlefish, etc. those are technically roe, but not caviar. Caviar is not a regulated term, so buyer beware.

What to look for:

Read the label. You want to see a far-off expiration date (most jars get at least two months from the time of packing), a lot harvest date to show tracking, and the scientific species, country of origin, and farm to know you’re getting what you’re paying for.

Be wary of the words:

“beluga,” “Caspian,” or “wild.”  They are often black market

“Osstra” that is not specifically Acipenser gueldenstaedtii (Russian Sturgeon).

“Sodium tetraborate” a preservative that’s not necessarily bad, but is often used to mask off flavors

Look in the jar. You should see individual spheres, nothing smashed or deflated, no liquid pooling.

Good caviar needs nothing more than a buttery bread such as brioche or challah, crepes, or yeasted blini. Lay out an assortment of snipped chives, minced shallots, and sieved hard-boiled egg.

Platypus

Biology, Science

Australia’s platypuses carry a surprising load in their cheek pouches. Platypuses feed on worms, snails, and shellfish on the river bottom, scooping them into their cheek pouches along with some gravel. The gravel is a natural blender, mashing the food for the toothless platypus, who consumes his to-go meal at the water’s surface.

#NatureFunFact #CheekPouches #Platypus