Archive for March 2012

Are You Still Using Chilli Powder in Your Spicy Dishes?

As chillies are becoming more and more popular in today's world, chilli-heads are beginning to realise that there's a whole lot more to spicy cooking than simply adding "powdered heat" in the form of a chilli powder or mixed spices. And that's a great thing.

Often, chilli powders are very generic and made by grinding up generic chilli peppers that have been dried.

Here are 2 reasons why using a chilli powder to "flavour" or heat up your dish may not be the best way:

First of all, as with any drying process and long time storage, as soon as peppers are picked from the plant, they start to lose their flavour almost immediately - think fresh coffee beans. The fresher the better when it comes to flavour.

Second of all, often these off the shelf chilli powders use green chillies, because they have a longer shelf life, but are more bitter than their red cousins. Also you are only getting the "taste" of one type of chilli.

Each chilli has unique taste and heat characteristics...

There are actually thousands of different varieties of chili available, each with their own unique flavour characteristics. Some taste smoky, some are bitter, some are sweet, but one thing is for sure, using a generic chile powder is certainly not allowing you to experience the world of different aromas that are available.

And it's not all about the heat. A little known fact about peppers is that they can deliver their heat in different ways. Some are very harsh from the first bite and some take some time to build up. So again, it is all up to whether or not you want a warm up before you get that sought after burn!

You can choose from the hottest pepper in the world, the Bhut Jolokia or Naga to the most outrageous looking "Chilli Willy" Pepper.

Fantastically, many chilli-heads are becoming aware of the vast array of flavours and heat levels available from using fresh chillies, or at least dried whole chillies to cook their spicy dishes with, and what better way to get this variety and freshness factor than to grow your own chillies at home!

Growing your own chillies at home from seed.

It's really very easy, but will require a little care and attention on your part, but the rewards include plentiful fresh chillies to cook with every season (chillies will actually come back with a crop year after year if you "over-winter" them properly).

Sure you can buy some very hot peppers at the supermarket, but there is a lot more satisfaction and diversity to be had from growing your own. All you need is to choose some chilli seeds, sow your seeds around March, although you can also sow later if you wish, and keep your seeds warm and moist, but not soggy (an airing cupboard is perfect for this) until they sprout. Once sprouted, you will need to move your seedlings to a well lit area such as a sunny window sill and water only when the soil is touch try.

How to Choose Best Glassware for Your Restaurant and Bar

Add an elegant touch to any party or special event with a variety of branded glassware. A right type of restaurant glassware perks up the mood and adds to the ambience of any restaurant, food joint, meeting room, wedding reception or any other catered event. Used to turn plain tables into sophisticated settings, glassware for restaurant is available in various styles and sizes to match the d'(c)cor, requirement of the event and to put in the best look for every meal taken. Supple enough for a special occasion yet useful enough for daily use, adding a large variety of glassware can be a great way to include charisma and style to a restaurant or food joint.

Though the quantity of restaurant glassware and bar glasses required for a restaurant depends on the size of the business but due to the high prices, owners do not often make an effort on getting the best value. As the restaurant owners spend a lot of time ensuring that they get best deals on restaurant and bar glassware, they end up paying more than necessary on restaurant and bar glasses. To get best deals on glassware for restaurant, the best way is to buy restaurant and bar glassware from an online wholesale supplier.

A lot of online wholesale suppliers offer the best branded restaurant glassware supplies such as Libbey glassware and Anchor hocking at wholesale prices. These products include quality in budget and offer more reasons for the owners to buy the much needed quantity of glassware supplies. By ordering these supplies from a reputed online wholesale supplier, you will be amazed at the vast amount you will save on branded glassware. Find everything you want for your restaurant and kitchen at affordable prices and also get an extensive range of food service items and other commercial serving products online for restaurants, food joints, kitchens and individuals.

Along with that, these online wholesale restaurant glassware suppliers also provide fast and easy shipping facility, which saves time and additional expenses. Whether you buy bar glasses or restaurant glassware, online wholesale manufacturers will provide you the best deal.

Food Safety - A Worldwide Concern

Contaminated food and the pathogens they transmit to humans and animals is a crisis existing not only in underdeveloped countries but all over the world. The impact of food-borne diseases caused by lax or totally neglected food safety precautions leaves many people sick, malnourished, and seriously ill. Economic consequences stemming from contaminated food is calamitous, reducing the monetary value of livestock, crops and items meant for consumption while increasing the cost of medical treatment for those infected. Permanent disability or death of the primary wage earner from food poisoning also has an extremely detrimental influence on the living conditions of the primary wager earner's family.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 70% of the 1.5 billion suffering from common diarrhea is actually caused by biological (bacterial, viral, parasitical, and fungal) contamination of food. Food safety issues in developing countries are often not enforced, and food is processed under the guise of fraudulent practices which reduce the cost of the manufacturing of foodstuffs. Purposefully mis-labeling a product in order to facilitate the buying of foods which are suspect to contamination is a common practice in places where food safety is haphazardly attended to. Unstable to bad economic conditions guarantee these practices will continue, and litigation is not pursued because of poor or non-existent record-keeping.

With the world population estimated to be around 7.5 billion people in the year 2020, and an increase in the number of people flocking to urban areas in developing countries, food safety problems are going to pose an even greater threat to the health of individuals exposed to questionable food handling practices. With more mouths to feed, a heightened concentration in the field of agriculture, such as animal husbandry and increased crop production, will be necessary and food processing methods will be inevitably be structured to overlook or exploit food safety guidelines in order expedite the manufacturing of foods and satisfy the economic needs of certain industries.

Developing countries are also suffering from the effects of rapid urbanization, which has created a desperate need for clean drinking water. Sewage disposal and poorly maintained water sanitation devices are to blame for many outbreaks of food poisoning and other illnesses. Since food sold by street vendors is more affordable than food bought from a store, this type of food is bought and eaten much more frequently. These kinds of unsafe foods, however, lay exposed and unprotected all day in the sun, and are frequently seen covered in flies and mosquitoes. However, with no food safety regulations standardizing such practices, the incidences of food poisoning will continue unabated and the combination of physical, mental, and economic suffering will continue on a widespread scale. The need for the governments and food industries in developing counties to initiate discussions regarding food safety issues is imperative if the contamination of food is to be eradicated.