SAFFRON (Crocus sativus)

Saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, is native to the Mediterranean area and most imported saffron comes from Spain. The ancient Assyrians used saffron for medicinal purposes. The Greeks and Romans used it to perfume their luxurious baths. The bright orange-yellow color also made saffron useful as a dye.

Each saffron crocus flower has 3 stigmas, it takes about 80,000 flowers (240,000) stigmas to make a pound of saffron. It takes an experienced picker about 12 days to pick this many. By the time saffron gets to retail stores, its cost is $600 to $2000 per pound.

In 1444 any merchant caught selling adulterated saffron in Bavaria was burned alive.

BENGAL APPLE

Bengal Apple:: (Aegle marmelos) The Bengal apple is also known as the Bael fruit, Bengal quince, Indian quince, golden apple, holy fruit, elephant apple and stone apple. The tree grows wild in Pakistan, Bangladesh and in the dry forests and plains of central and southern India and Burma. Mention of the tree is found in writings dating back to 800 BC. It is cultivated throughout India, mainly in temple gardens, because of its status as a sacred tree.

The fruit is round, oval, oblong, or pear-shaped, 2 to 8 inches in diameter, and has a thin, hard, woody shell, which when fully ripe is dotted with aromatic, minute oil glands. Inside, there is a hard, central core with eight to twenty weakly defined triangular segments. The dark-orange segments are filled with aromatic, pale-orange, sweet, resinous, more or less astringent pulp.

MILK

Camel's milk is about 5.5% milkfat, 7.5% milk solids and 87% water.
Cow's milk is about 3.5% milkfat, 8.5% milk solids and 88% water.
Ewe's milk is about 8% milkfat, 11.5% milk solids and 80.5% water.
Mare's Milk is about 1% milkfat, 8.5% milk solids and 90.5% water.
Reindeer's milk is about 22.5% milkfat, 14.5% milk solids and 63% water.
Water Buffalo milk is about 7.5% milkfat, 10.5% milk solids and 82% water.

CAPERS

Capers are the pickled, unopened flower buds of a Mediterranean bush and have been used as a seasoning and condiment since ancient Roman times. Capers grow wild throughout the Mediterranean area, both in Africa and Europe. The young flower buds are picked daily, early in the morning, allowed to wilt for a few hours, and then placed in vinegar, salted white vinegar or dry salted. Capers have a sharp, pungent, salty sour taste.

THE 4 CLASSESS OF VEGETARIANS

_{1. True Vegetarians- Will eat nothing from an animal, cooked or processed.}

_{2. Lacto-Vegetarians- Will eat dairy products.}

_{3. Ovo-Vegetarians- The only animal product allowed to eat is eggs.}

_{4. Pesco-Vegetarians-Will not eat red meat, but will eat fish, chicken, eggs and dairy products.}

ASPARAGUS

Asparagus is a member of the Lily family and is related to onions and garlic. The asparagus spears grow from a crown that is planted about a foot deep in sandy soils. The spears are usually not harvested until the 3rd or 4th year, to allow the crown to develop a strong root system. The plants will then produce spears for about 15 years. Under ideal conditions, an asparagus spear can grow 10" in a 24-hour period. Each crown will send spears up for about 6-7 weeks during the spring and early summer. How often spears may be picked depends on the temperature. Early in the season, spears may be picked every 4 days or so, and later as the average temperature warms up, the may have to be picked every day!

TEQUILA SUNRISE

Popular in the 1970s, the Tequila Sunrise had a movie, numerous restaurants, a hit song, a quilt pattern and several flowers named after it.

No one knows for sure who invented the Tequila Sunrise, but it was listed in bar guides of the 1960s. The Tequila Sunrise was also featured the 1976 novel by Cyra McFaden 'The Serial.'

JELLY

Jams are made by cooking the whole fruit with sugar.

Jelly is fruit juice cooked with sugar to form a gel, some fruits and fruit combinations require added pectin in addition to the natural pectin present in the fruit itself.

Preserves are whole or cut up fruits cooked in a thick sugar syrup.

Citrus preserves are generally called Marmalades.

Preserves and jams must contain at least 45% fruit, the rest is sugar. Citric or similar food acids, corn syrup and dextrose are also permitted. No artificial colors or flavors are allowed. There are also stringent and complicated USDA grade specifications for each type of pack (such as portion packs and large bulk pack).

CHAMPAGNE

When you drink champagne, you become more intoxicated more quickly than with non-carbonated wine with the same alcohol content. There have been several recent studies that have verified this fact, checking blood alcohol levels in test subjects.. Why does this happen? No one is really sure why this is the case. One theory is that carbonated beverages pass through the stomach and into the small intestine quicker, which would speed up the rate of alcohol absorption.

BLACK FOREST CAKE

Germany has long been known for its love of and quality of its chocolate, and the Black Forest area in the south is known for the quality of its pastries, and especially for its sour cherries and Kirsch made from those cherries. Kirsch or Kirschwasser is a double distilled, clear cherry brandy made from the small, sour Morello cherry which has a dark red skin. They leave the pits in the cherries when preparing the 'mash' for distilling and some of them are crushed, which gives a sort of bitter almond flavor to Kirsch. Black Forest Cake - Schwarzwälder Kirsch torte (chocolate layer cake with Kirsch, whipped cream, sour cherries and chocolate curls) - originated in Swabia in the Black Forest Region. When and by whom I have never seen any references. But it was most likely soon after chocolate arrived in the late 16th century. Austria, Spain and France were the countries who drank the most hot chocolate then (its original use) and chocolete and cherriesjust naturally go together.

ALCOHOL IN COOKING

Contrary to what most people believe, and that includes most professionals, when using beer, wine or other alcoholic beverages in recipes, a lot of alcohol still remains after cooking.

Here are the facts from the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA (1989).

ALCOHOL IN COOKING
Alcohol remaining after preparation:

100% Immediate consumption
70% Overnight storage
85% Boiling liquid, remove from heat
75% Flamed

Baked or simmered:
40% after 15 min
35% after 30 min
25% after 1 hour
20% after 1.5 hour
10% after 2 hours
5% after 2 1/2 hours