The process started out with the sumac spice, and memories of Jordan. I started going through all the recipes that sumac can be used in, and how I can combine them. I realized that two dishes are popular, fattoush and mussakhan. The salad and meat combined very well together as well as sumac spice. After that, I wrote all the ingredients down on a piece of paper. Also, looked into the flavor matrix book, and how to eat a peach by Diana Henry for guidance.
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Toasted injera bread has been an addiction as a snack, bread or crouton substitution, or an addition to a meal such as a salad. Also, great substitute for crackers with cheese. There is an Ethiopian store next to where I live, and I buy two to three bags. The energy it gives me to get through the day is great. The grain is healthy and is high in iron. The following article gives more information on this grain:
Teff Flour: Uses, Nutrients, and Benefits (healthline.com)
Continue readingMy favorite drink of all time is tea! coffee is okay once in a while, and only if I need a pick me up. I wouldn’t mind drinking it at the AM or PM. I usually go with green, black, white, herbal, and experiment with different teas from around the world. I discovered moroccan tea or maghrebi mint tea through a moroccan friend. The brewing process is more involved, but worth it. I love the combination of flavor from the mint and green tea. The recipe below suggests gunpowder tea with mint. Great flavor combination.
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The diagram above shows one part of flavor. As you remember, aroma is part of flavor – aroma, mouthfeel, and taste. The diagram above breaks down the aroma of mandarin into several aromatic smells. As Holmes from the flavor book mentions, “There’s even a commercial service (http://www.foodpairing.com/en/home), for a monthly subscription, will let professional chefs and enthusiastic amateurs start with any ingredient and follow a web of molecular similarities to find other foods with supposedly complementary flavors.” A flavorists can improve the flavor of food and beverage products. The diagram can assist the flavorist to pair ingredients together. Also, chefs are well-versed in molecular gastronomy. They can combine several ingredients to get the right flavor in a dish. A combination of both – food science & culinary science – creates a field called culinology. There is a team of chefs, flavorists, food scientists, and other specialists that work together to make the right flavor. For example, reducing the salt content of food would require an adjustment to creaminess, and mouthfeel of a product. The flavorist works on different flavor combinations. The next step includes evaluating the product with the team. Each person gives the product a taste to see if the product is acceptable. This is done to evaluate the mouthfeel, taste, aroma, and acceptability of the product after the salt reduction.
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This weekend I had a craving for brownies! I looked through my freezer and pantry to see what I can experiment with. I found a couple of items that sounded interesting, and wanted to see how the taste, flavor, and texture will turn out. Remember, taste + aroma + mouthfeel (texture is part of mouthfeel) = flavor from my previous posts.
Continue readingConsumers now care more about knowing what ingredients are in the products they buy. This in turn led food manufacturers to use ingredient traceability. The complex process is ongoing by many companies. Recently, the traceability process has used blockchain and ERP. Food ERP provides a simple definition for the term. “Traceability is the capacity to verify the location, history and application of any items by recording and proper documentation.” The article continues by providing a list of solutions with ERP. This includes operational efficiency, careful sourcing and safe production, better credibility, less legal issues, less error in production, and better inventory visibility. This technology combines ERP with food traceability. An important way to develop and organize the food supply system. As Food Online mentions: “The focus in the food industry has shifted from response to prevention, with regulations mirroring that shift. Consequently, food makers are under increasing demands to tighten traceability and visibility in the supply line.”
Continue readingWhat is food microbiology?
Image credit: https://pin.it/5KZeAS5xt and https://pin.it/5KZeAS5xt
I felt starting this blog with some funny cartoons. My food science nerd in me couldn’t resist 🤓.
Food microbiology is a subsection of microbiology. The area involves learning about microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. A food microbiologist also needs to understand the complex process of food. Combining both of these prevents foodborne illness in food manufacturing, and food service. For example, in food manufacturing, food microbiologists understand the food processing to packaging of products. In the field of food science, many professionals are multidisciplinary. They understand about each area of food processing. Even a person in sales knows a little about the product. In case a customer has a question, and they’ll be able to answer it on the spot.
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What is Food Matrix?
In nutrition term; the food matrix contains several compounds – macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and micronutrients such as vitamins & minerals. Other complex compounds are found in certain food items; just depends on what you’re eating. Joseph from foodaidquality.org defines it as follows, “The food matrix can be defined as the nutrient and non-nutrient components of foods and their molecular relations to each other (USDA NAL Glossary, 2015). Consequently, it is of
utmost importance in food product research to develop a detailed understanding of the time-dependent transient changes in the structural aspects of food matrices from raw material harvesting to product processing, to the point of breakdown during shelf life, consumption and final digestion. Understanding the mechanism of processing or breakdown and absorption or the bioavailability of nutrients from ingested food is an important aspect while designing functionally-superior foods rather than looking at foods from the nutritional content point of view.” For example, vegetables and fruits have external factors such as the soil which they grow in. This affects the final product of the food. A cucumber bought from QFC doesn’t taste the same as the one found at the farmers market. This in turn can give a change in the nutrient availability for your body. So, we have to look at the whole picture of the food item – planting, soil, processing, packaging, and final delivery to the customer. As you can see, food matrix deals with a lot of internal and external factors. The example shown in Journal of Food and Function provides an example of food matrix, the whole picture, and how the body absorbs nutrients based on the food item eaten.
I recommend reading my mouthfeel, smell, and taste blog; it adds to what I’m going to talk about today. I’ve been thinking of alternative milks, and how it compares to regular milk. So, I decided to look into the subject a little more.
Taste buds, flavors, and senses
The taste buds on your tongue detect flavors and food groups, and help you identify the foods you eat. However, other senses play a role in how we experience food. You probably know that the smell of foods can have a strong effect on how they taste, but did you know that the appearance of food also changes how we experience it? Because we usually look at food before we put it in our mouths, the very first information your brain gets about any food comes from your eyes!
Continue readingCheck out this article:
https://www.domino.com/content/ikea-sustainable-cookbook-release/
Interesting article; talking about how IKEA developed an experimental cookbook to think about sustainable cooking & food. I would be interested to order the book & see what it is all about. The strangest thing I have ever tasted; crickets in ice cream at Salt & straw at the Seattle location. The cricket gave a crunchy texture – I didn’t really notice the cricket. Would you try bugs? I think I would give meal worms a try. I’ve also tried kelp as candy. The product was coated in sugar, and I didn’t taste the kelp that much. I thought I was eating a gummy bear. The texture was very chewy, and the taste was sweet.
Continue readingHistory of coffee
National Coffee Association mentions that coffee was first used in Ethiopia, Middle East, then moved to Americas, and lastly Europe. It’s interesting to note; people in Europe thought it was an invention of Satan, and wanted to ban it. The pope gave it a taste before passing judgment, and he liked it so much that a papal approval was given.
Fun fact: legend has it; a goat’s herd, named Kaldi was taking care of his goats and noticed one of his goats staying up, and super hyper from eating the coffee beans (red berries).
Continue readingSustainable packaging
Sustainable packaging is the next big thing in the food manufacturing industry. Many consumers are becoming environmental conscious in their choices. For example, a consumer will choose a canned product that is BPA free versus a can with a BPA lining. Also, other food manufacturers are making their packaging out of recycled material. Here in Seattle, straws are made of compostable material. Plastic is banned in all restaurants to help save the environment. In grocery stores, there are recyclable bags vs plastic bags. Bringing your own bag is encouraged, or five cents is added to your receipt. I bring my own bag to avoid the charge, but I forget sometimes.
Continue readingImage credit: food business news
As many consumers change their buying habits during the pandemic; the food industry will follow suit as well. Some questions the food industry may ask; are consumers still looking at clean labels during this time? Is the percentage of consumers looking at clean label different now than before? More consumers are buying frozen, and packaged products while others are gardening and cooking at home more. Will this be an important factor using clean label? The way people shop & eat has changed during these three months. This will cause drastic changes in the food industry such as, new technologies that companies will implement, consumer behaviors & food service changes.
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History of salt
Salt has been used for a long time. As Kurlansky mentions in his Salt book, ” the earliest written record of salt production in China dates to around 800 B.C. and tells of production and trade of sea salt a millennium before, during Xia dynasty, but they were considered old ways by the time of this account, which describes putting ocean water in clay vessels and boiling it until reduced to pots of salt crystals. This was the technique that was spread through Southern Europe by the Roman Empire, 1,000 years after the Chinese account was written.” The book explores the salt trade in the old days. Interesting how the trade route for salt expanded to the world. For example, Ancient Egyptians cured meat and fish earlier than 2000 BC before the Chinese Civilization. This fermentation and curing was invented and spread to the rest of the world. Another interesting fact that the book mentions; Egyptians imported olive oil from the Syrians, Cretans, or Middle East region. Middle East was well known in making olive oil and Egyptians preferred it over their own olive oil. Also, in the tomb, there was birds and mummies that were preserved with salt. Salt was important in various uses around the world. For example, salt was used for fertility during the old ages, salt trade between countries, religion rituals, food uses such as sourdough by Ancient Egyptians, and during wars such as the Roman Empire playing with salt prices to raise money for war. As you can see, salt has an important history that changed the world we live in today. Also, did you know that salt is one of the oldest food seasonings in the world, and an important part of food preservation. I recommend reading Salt – A World History by Mark Kurlansky; provides a lot of information on this interesting food seasoning.
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Consumers’ shopping behaviors towards purchasing food has changed these past few months. Many people have increased consumption of canned food as a way to stock up in their pantry. This change in consumer behavior has affected the food supply. As Henzel from the food technology magazine mentions, “Pandemic food hoarding started with canned goods, then moved to frozen vegetables, frozen meals, bottled water, and shelf-stable products.” Also, Food Insight mentions, “nearly 4 in 10 said that they were buying more shelf-stable, pantry foods and buying more groceries each time they shopped. At the same time, nearly half (47%) of survey takers said that they were eating more home-cooked meals than one month ago. Nearly 1 in 3 reported that they were ordering less takeout or delivery than usual, while 16% say they were ordering in more often than they used to. Forty-two percent of survey takers reported buying more packaged foods than usual over the past month, while the same number said that their packaged foods purchases haven’t changed. Those under age 45 were more likely to be upping their packaged foods purchases; the same age group reported buying more frozen foods as compared to those 45-64 and 65+. At the same time, 59% of people said that they haven’t changed their perceptions on the healthfulness of packaged foods. Twenty-two percent said that they now believe them to be healthier than they did before, while 10% said that they think packaged foods are less healthy.” Moreover, canned food in our pantry helps curve hunger when we’re in a hurry. Some healthy options include black beans, tuna, and chickpea. These options are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Continue readingThis week, I decided to write about expiration dates on packages since we are all trying to figure out how to shop for food. Buying groceries every 2 weeks can be a challenge. Vegetables, fruits, and spreadable cheese can go bad quick. If you go by these package dates, you’ll be okay. There are three dates:
1- Use by: This is the date by which the product should be eaten because quality goes down. It’s not a safety issue. There might be a decline in quality, and date is set by manufacturer.
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Image credit: Photo by Art Rachen on Unsplash
History
The honey association.com mentions the following, “Exactly how long honey has been in existence is hard to say because it has been around since as far back as we can record. Cave paintings in Spain from 7000BC show the earliest records of beekeeping, however, fossils of honey bees date back about 150 million years!”
Continue readingDo you recognize the pictures below? If you go back to my previous post; Polish soup (Zurek), you’ll find the fermentation of rye flour occurring. This brings us to the topic today which is fermentation. Funny how ideas pop up in your head while you’re doing something or cooking. In my case, I was waiting for the fermentation process to finish. I thought to myself; fermentation would be an interesting topic to research for my next blog.
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Image credit: ProfDesigner on Shutterstock
The above diagram provides a general depiction of bioreactors. There are different applications, which changes the set up. Today, I’ll explore utilization of enzymes in several industries, and less on the functionality of each part in the system. In previous articles, I gave several examples of enzymatic bioreactors in food manufacturing. This includes mycoproteins and precision fermentation.
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Image credit: Martin Dawson on Unsplash. Deep green seaweed.
Image credit: Frank Zhang on Unsplash. White rice balls wrapped in seaweed, and sesame seeds.
Image credit: James Lee on Unsplash. kelp with brown leaves.
The first time I tried seaweed, I had a flavor explosion in my mouth. The use of this algae is so versatile. You can find it in many recipes, and mostly utilized in Asian cuisine. It adds umami flavor—meaty or brothy— with different ingredients, such as, miso and tofu, or as simple as a seaweed salad with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Personally, I like it as a snack. For example, gimMe product has several flavors, and I usually go with the extra virgin olive oil, or wasabi.
You might think what is kelp and seaweed? is there a difference? Let’s talk about this today. My main focus for this blog is how to differentiate each marine algae.
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Image credit: Marlik saffron on Unsplash
Saffron—the most expensive spice in the world—is priced as gold, between $50-60 per gram for the Australian species, among 80 different varieties. Despite the price, the use in different cuisines is enjoyed, from Persian rice to chicken and potato dishes. In my personal opinion, I love the flavor in rice. I’ve tried it once, and I remember having it in my cupboard for a very long time.
Before we talk about recipes, or anything else. It’s a good start to delve into the origins, and history of this interesting spice. The origins are uncertain, but records show spice trade for centuries, dating back to Assyrian civilization during the 7th century BC. Other uses of saffron include religious rituals, cosmetics, and textiles during the bronze age and ancient Greece. An interesting fact, spice wars occurred due to this spice leading to the fall and rise of many cultures, making it the longest produced commodity till today.
The word saffron comes from the Persian word—Zaafaran—which means yellow flowers, or gold strung. Depending on your description, and eyesight. I’m not surprised with the name because when you dissolve one thread in water, it gives a red-yellowish, or golden color. The production is found all over the world from Asia, Europe, with 80-90% of production coming from Iran. The fascinating thing is that the only part used is the stigma, inside part, which makes up 7% of the flower. Lastly, the agricultural process is labor intensive for one gram.
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Image credit: Image by usertrmk on Freepik
Fermentation is a technique utilized for thousands of years, using natural microbes like yeast. Think back to ancient times, the method can be traced to Egyptian civilization. Check out my previous blog to learn more about the history. On the other hand, a new technology called precision fermentation has revolutionized things; more about this in a bit. The use of genetically modified microorganisms, I know what you’re thinking, especially if you’re against GMO products. But, think of all the applications that are in the works, while others are in the market. One application is cultivated, or cell-based meat. Other companies, like Impossible Foods, and cheese companies also applied this technology. The process is similar to production of mycoproteins, as I described here. There are several challenges with this type of technology. This includes not meeting sustainability, regulatory, ethical, environmental, economical, and safety guidelines.
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Image credit: Shutterstock by nicemyphoto
Most people get squeamish when they hear about insect protein, but for centuries, many countries have used it as part of their diet. In the past few years, innovations in this area have skyrocketed due to a growing global population, which will increase by 2050. Not only this, but the use of this source of nutrition will provide a sustainable food supply, with an improvement in resource applications, and reduce food insecurities. Insect protein is a new type of alternative food, and only a few are authorized for human consumption by EU regulations—mealworms, grasshoppers, beetles, and crickets.
Insect protein nutrition is the first topic I will talk about in this article, as most people are looking at different sources of protein, and nourishment for their bodies. There is new research coming out that insect protein has similar benefits, to say, meat, and plant-based protein. There is more nutrient availability in this new source. For example, FAO requires a minimum of 15 grams, and as it shows in the table, the essential amino acid in insects is higher than the minimum requirement. It looks like the amount of amino acid level is the same, higher, or lower compared to egg whites and soybean. Therefore, insect protein would be a great addition to provide the nutritional benefits in our diet. Other vitamins and minerals are also found, Such as, high level of iron. Overall, this source of alternative food has everything from carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals that would provide maintenance for our body. Another interesting fact is the consumption of silkworms—there are hydrolysates—which are produced during the breakdown of large protein structure into smaller units for the body to easily absorb. These provide health benefits, including antihypertension, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antimicrobial.
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Image credit: Shutterstock by Antonina Vlasova
Plant-based, and cultivated meat versus meat texture
I recommend reading about flavor in my previous article, as it adds to what I will discuss today.
My main focus for this blog is comparing textures. Each product has a unique characteristic that can be measured with sensory instruments. The measurements provide hardness, elasticity, and cohesiveness results. In turn, the tests help find the maximum texture needed to provide customer satisfaction with plant-based products, and cultivated meat. Also, this helps differentiate meat from other alternatives.
Some examples of plant-based products include soy ingredients, such as tempeh, tofu, and vegetable meat analogs—like soy proteins, mycoprotein and soy leghemoglobin. As we all know, these are protein substitutes to replace traditional meats in vegan and vegetarian diets. Other ingredients are added to provide similar texture as meat. They include soy protein texturizers—soy protein isolate—and agar gels, derived from algae.
Cultivated meat, on the other hand, is a new area in the food manufacturing industry that needs further research. Let’s start by looking at traditional meat to see how it compares to other alternative proteins.
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Image credit: Freepik by mrsiraphol
Mushroom
Versus…
Image credit: Freepik by irrmago, Mycoprotein
Mycoproteins and fungal—the new superfood
Over the past few years, there is new mycoprotein research coming out. For example, the article talks about how it’s a protein sustainable food source discovered in the 1960s. There are several fungal protein benefits to this new superfood. First, there might be an association with lower total cholesterol, among people with hyperlipidemia. Second, there is not enough evidence on effects of mycoprotein role on blood glucose and insulin level. Lastly, fungal protein nutrition provides the essential amino acids and fiber, especially mycoproteins—more on the difference between fungus and mycoprotein—in a later section of this blog. There is evidence that the mycoprotein provides muscle protein synthesis, and therefore I would think it would be a good source for athletes, vegetarians, vegans, and other plant-based diets.
Continue readingAct local and SDGs
Image credit: Clem Onojeghuo from Pexels
Think global, act local – a slogan that comes to mind when we encourage conversation about how each SDG can be implemented at the local level. Also, initiatives, community led projects, and partnerships that address local challenges while aligning with SDG global goals. Is a great way to approach each goal.
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This blog is a continuation of fish and chips article. Food heritage and identity are close to my heart. History, culture, and food link human beings. Also, food shapes our sense of self and belonging. For example, sitting down and enjoying a warm, home-cooked meal brings us closer together. My Jasmine brown rice verde recipe blog is another example of how sumac—an old Middle Eastern spice—can bridge cultures. Not only that, but food can be a cultural marker. As food choices define cultural identity.
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Image credit: Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Consumers and governments are shifting policies, ideas, and innovations to save the environment with sustainable practices. One of the practices is the concept of sustainable packaging, and its importance in reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
Sustainable packaging is made of eco-friendly materials such as bamboo, recycled cardboard, seaweed, and organic textiles. The article provides different options in daily life, which are great, like using packaging for christmas presents.
To add here, my previous blog talks about sustainable packaging and different innovations. Other sustainable trends to watch out for this year; design for recyclability, replacing plastic with innovation materials, and compostable, or biodegradable packaging. The article talks about the importance of changing ink, and combining premium quality with sustainability. I find this interesting, as well as important to help the planet.
Continue readingThe Science of Sweet Things (Mostly Chocolate)
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