Cooking World

Victuallers have made something incredible. With their light touch suddenly it came into fashion to be clever. The tendency of the last time - everybody read tea excursus, study wine science, in the evenings rush to courses to cook something from the French cuisine for their friends and loved.
To begin with the future head-cook need free time to go to gourmet’s courses which, by the way, were attended by many celebrities - Princess Diana, Jacque Chirac, Gerard Depardieu, Johnny Depp and family members of all known politicians and businessmen in Europe and the USA.
Gastronomic masters - classes and wine lectures are conducted by many Russian restaurants with the average bill from $50. In Moscow there are some independent educational centers. Among the best are Accademia del gusto and evening courses «The City Class».
There are also foreign culinary schools, the majority of which focus not only on professionals, but also on amateurs (irrespective of age and training level). As a rule, similar courses take from several days to two-three weeks. Training is in native and English languages (if necessary you may use Russian-speaking translator).

The geography of similar schools is rather extensive, but first of all it is necessary to go to Mecca of a world delicatessen - Paris. One of the oldest and authoritative Parisian schools Le Cordon Bleu was founded by members of the strange organization named Order of the Holy Spirit.
Now this school has the special program of the French cuisine for the solvent gourmets, organized together with the legendary Four Seasons Hotel George V. The concept of training is fairly clear: within several days “students” live in the above mentioned hotel, during the day - a theoretical part, in the evening - practical lessons at a hotel restaurant.
One more well-known courses - Ritz Escoffier located in the hotel of the same name. At Maxim’s de Paris restaurant owned by Pierre Karden, there are prestigious culinary courses Ecole Internationale Maxim’s de Paris.
Also one of the best in Paris is school of the owner of Michelin “ten stars” Alain Ducasse Le centre de formation d’Alain Ducasse. Branches of this school operate in many world capitals.
Besides France there are a lot of other places where you may join gastronomic culture.

In the list of the best Italy art of cookery educational centers it is necessary to mention Lorenzo de ‘ Medici Institute and Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners. In Spain - Escuela de Hosteleria Hoffman de Barselona. Courses at Californian The Culinary Institute of America at Graystone are considered one of the best in America. If you wish it is possible to find something more exotic.
For example, to visit school of the northern Thai home cuisines Baan Thai (Thailand), the Israeli Academy of kosher cookery (unfortunately men only can visit these courses) or to go to Singapore where all interested persons will be train in art of orchids dishes cookery.
This pleasure is inexpensive in comparison with the European analogues: two-hour studies cost only $33. But already in couple weeks you will not only have the common knowledge about the Asian delicatessen, but also can surprise your beloved with the shrimps seasoned with a melon and orchids.

In Southern Africa grows the honey bush (Honeybush - Сyclopia intermedia). In recent years its leaves began to be used for production of tea in industrial scale. This kind of not exactly tea is not widely sold in the Russian market yet, but in Europe and America it has already taken its frugal niche. The dried shape of honey tea is enough unusual: bright red - brown short spinules with a glossy surface. Almost without a smell, but you need only to pour boiling water as the gentlest honey aroma is burst from a cup. The second rising wave of a smell is dried fruits. Intensive on color infusion reminds very much strong high-quality tea. Sweet enough to taste, slightly sour and that is why similar to compote. A big plus of a drink is that its sweetness is not caused by substances of the sugar nature and they are not assimilated by our organism. To all this benefits we should add absence of caffeine content, preservatives, and artificial dyes. On macro- and microelement content it does not yield to the true tea.
Tea of a honey bush can receive not wide spread for several reasons. First, it simply remains unnoticed in huge assortment of teas in our market. Second, it has the same price, as at classical high quality tea.

Cloned animals meat and milk could soon enter the EU market according to the outcome of a European Food Safety Authority scientific review.
EFSA informed that the European Commission had requested it to advise on the possible implications of animal cloning on food safety, animal health and state of the environment.
Cloning could give meat of better quality and other products, such as milk. It offers the possibility of creating species of animals with increased resistance to disease.
However consumer resistance is going to create a problem, as it happed in the case of genetically-modified foods.
Presently in Europe cloning is not a commercial activity and there is no specific laws on the authorization of food products from cloned animals for human consumption in the EU.
EFSA’s report, which is planed to be produced within six months, will therefore inform any future EU decisions on cloned animals and their products.
In the US, debate around this issue gathered at once, after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inform about its plans to approve cloning for food production later this year.
The US authorities have issued a consultation proposing to allow the product into the food industry without the need for additional labeling. But independent studies in the US indicate that 60 per cent of Americans would not consciously eat cloned meat. Europeans also were generally against any new foods that had been produced through new scientific technologies - such as GMOs.

A new system of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for pizzas lowers the need for two machines, necessary for pizza wrapping.
PFM Packaging Machinery states that its Mistral flowrapper uses a lamellar film, which removes the need for the additional pasteboard packaging.
Traditional pizza packaging requires two machines to wrap and then to box. Removing the pasteboard packaging reduces production and load costs, as the wrapped pizzas are obviously smaller than boxed.
Company representatives assure that more pizzas can be stored in refrigerators because of the reduced packaging size.
Pizzas are packed in lamellar film, which helps to maintain form, texture and colour of the ready product.
The Mistral can wrap any pizza at a maximum speed of 120 packs per minute, states the manufacturer.
This packaging helps to preserve the vitamin and oil proportion, so that pizzas look and taste fresh.
According to the manufacturer, the flowrapper is made of AISI 304 stainless steel, with the cover built with rounded corners to improve hygiene by allowing easier cleaning.

Not really chocolate, white chocolate is, as a rule, a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids, lecithin and vanilla. This product can’t be officially defined as “chocolate” because it doesn’t contain chocolate liquor in it, which means there’s also very little chocolate flavor. White chocolate should be melted very slowly over low heat to prevent it from scorching and clumping.
Chocolate
The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec xocolatl, which means “bitter water”. Really, the unsweetened drink the Aztecs made from pounded cocoa beans and spices was probably extremely bitter. Bitterness nevertheless, the Aztec king Montezuma so believed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac that he supposedly drank 50 golden glasses of it each day.
Chocolate comes from the tropical cocoa bean, “food of the gods” cacao. When the beans are removed from their pods they’re fermented, dried, roasted and cracked, separating the edges from the shells.
If additional cocoa butter is extracted from the chocolate liquor, the whole result is ground to produce unsweetened cocoa powder. If other ingredients are added, for example, milk powder, sugar, etc, the chocolate is refined again. The final step for most chocolate is conching - a process by which huge machines with rotating blades slowly blend the heated chocolate liquor, so that it get rid of rest moisture and volatile acids.
Chocolate should be stored, tightly and thoroughly wrapped, in a cool (60° to 70°F) and dry place. If stored at warm temperatures, chocolate will develop a pale gray “bloom” (streaks and blotches on the surface), caused when the cocoa butter rises to the surface. In damp conditions, chocolate can form tiny gray sugar crystals on the surface. In both cases the chocolate can still be used but the flavor and texture will be slightly affected. Under ideal conditions, dark chocolate can be stored for 10 years. However, because of the milk solids in both milk chocolate and white chocolate, they shouldn’t be stored longer than 9 months.

You will have a nice chance to enjoy yourself with French cuisine of castles and provinces, and will taste a large selection of premium French cheeses and a big selection of champagnes.
As the restaurant’s name suggests this is the ideal place to have a meal with beloved one or to fall in love. The restaurant interior is designed to represent the 18th century French castle town courtyard. The stone walls are covered with rose wreaths and the interior terraces are decorated with flowers and jars containing colorful dried soft fruits, and flowers of every colour, with plump cupids hovering over the tables, to provide a really romantic atmosphere. The wine list includes fine wines from around the world and is managed by the trained sommelier. There is a large selection of Champagnes.
The restaurant cuisine presents “Cuisine du village”. The menu opens the French cuisine with recipes that are based on regional dishes covering the whole France. From Provence comes “Provencal mussels”, Bordeaux provides veal Bordeaux (cooked on the bone with potatoes and vegetables). There are dishes from Alsace, the Dordogne and Brittany as well as the Basque region of France. L’amour also may delight you with the large selection of premium French cheeses.

Pizza dough is made with barm so you should plan it in advance, but it’s easy to handle and can be frozen. This recipe is enough for making of dough for about two 12-inch pizzas.
Possible toppings include roasted eggplant and bell peppers
If you want to freeze the dough, wrap it in a plastic wrap and then in foil, and freeze.
If the water is too cold or too hot, the barm will not work. “Warm” water should be about 115 degrees F - it should feel warm but not hot. If you like you can add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to the dough.

Splash the barm into a medium dish containing 1 1/4 c. warm water and stir until barm dissolves.
Add 2 c. sifted flour and stir until blended.
Add another 1 1/2 to 2 c. flour and blend.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for 10 to 15 minutes until dough is smooth.
Place the dough in another dish greased with a small amount of oil. Turn the dough once so that the top is oiled.
Cover the dish with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place for about 45 minutes - until the dough rises to about double its first size.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Dump the dough back onto the floured surface and punch it down to get rid of any bubbles. Divide the dough in half and let it rest a few minutes.
Roll each half into a 12-inch circle, depending on your personal preference for how thick pizza crust should be.
Move the dough to an oiled pizza pan or baking sheet.
Add sauce, cheese and toppings as desired. If you like, brush the crust with olive oil.
Bake each pizza for 15 to 20 minutes or until the brown crust and cheese is melted.

After a claim, that adding milk neutralized the healthy properties of tea, the benefits of the great British tradition of tea-drinking were called into question.
A German study compared the effects on arteries of those drinking black tea, tea with skimmed milk and plain, hot water.
It found that caseins, proteins in milk, blocked the powerful effect of catechins in tea - that helped to protect the arteries and kept cardiovascular disease in a cleft stick.
16 women participated in a study. Their arterial function was measured two hours after drinking.
“Our results provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on heart disease in the UK.”, was said in the European Heart Journal.
But Bill Gorman, the chairman of the Tea Council, said: “This is a very small study. I can show you studies that show that milk does not hinder the bio-activity of tea.”