Nutritional health is achieved through the therapeutic use of whole foods, safe culinary preparation, and understanding the metabolic impacts of specific dietary frameworks and ingredients.
Tea is appreciated all over the world for its qualities as a mild physical stimulant, and its psychological value as a soothing, relaxing beverage for its aficionados. It looms large in the traditional medicine and folklore of Asia, and modern medicine is beginning to take an interest in its potential healing ability.
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In an ideal world, a sweet tooth wouldn't have health repercussions. You'd be able to eat anything you wanted, any time you wanted, and you'd never gain a pound or worry about your heart.
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In theory, muffins are a very simple thing to bake, but in practice, there is a lot of variation between them. Some bakers make them high, light and fluffy, like a cake, while others make them relatively dense and close-textured.
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When you set about making an old-fashioned bean dish, you'll likely reach for white beans. White beans have been used for centuries as a nourishing staple, even today when fresh foods are always available it's comforting to have a bag or can of white beans on hand.
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Many dieters sigh over their inability to resist chocolate, licorice or their favorite cake. For real, over-the-top addictiveness, though, nothing matches deep frying. The smell of golden french fries or battered fish coming from a nearby restaurant is as alluring as anything could be.
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Very early, professional cooks and bakers learn to make a ritual of setting out all their ingredients before starting a recipe. That way, they never get halfway through a recipe and find out that they're missing a vital ingredient. It's a good habit to get into, even if you only bake from boxed cake mixes.
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As a child, you may have wondered why the grapes in the fruit bowl didn't taste much like grape juice or grape candy and sodas. That's because commercial grape juice gets its flavor from dark, thick-skinned grapes, rather than the sweeter and milder-flavored varieties grown for eating.
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An allergy to eggs is one of the most frustrating of all food allergies to deal with. Eggs are a supremely versatile ingredient, and are used in a very large number of foods. Although there are egg substitutes of various kinds, they're not entirely satisfactory.
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Part of the fun of going to a new restaurant, or trying a new kind of food, is learning about new and exotic ingredients. This is especially true for Westerners eating Asian food, with its diverse culinary cultures and its whole new world of unfamiliar colors, flavors and textures.
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In the early years of the 20th century, as dairy and other food industries became larger and more concentrated, it became standard practice in America to pasteurize milk.
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Sugar cookies are among the simplest varieties of baked goods, but their simplicity carries with it a degree of elegance. The same basic recipe can be used with equal success at a children's birthday party or a more formal occasion, depending how the cookies are cut and decorated.
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Cakes are something of a challenge for new bakers trying their wings. When they work, they're wonderful, but there are far too many ways for them to not work.
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Cooks rely on breading to give their dishes a beautiful color, a satisfying crunch and a pleasantly toasty flavor. However, breading is also a way to protect delicate foods from overcooking, drying and toughening in the heat of your oven or skillet.
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Like eggs and raw chicken, ground beef -- and ground meat in general -- is a food that knowledgeable cooks treat with extra caution. It can easily become contaminated with bacteria, either at the processing facility or after you bring it home, and has a limited storage life in your refrigerator.
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For anyone who grew up reading the literature of previous centuries, gout has an old-fashioned ring to it, like consumption or "la grippe." Unfortunately, this painful and debilitating form of arthritis is still very much with us.
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Food allergies are chancy things. Sophisticated laboratory testing can analyze the antibodies in your system to determine not only which foods you might be allergic to, but which specific protein in that food. This is why allergy sufferers are sometimes triggered by one kind of nut, but not others.
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The sweet dumpling squash is one of the smallest of winter squashes, usually only a few inches in diameter and less than half a pound in weight. When ripe, they have an attractively variegated skin in shades of yellow and green or yellow and orange.
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Many vegetables are commonly consumed raw, as well as cooked. In general, raw vegetables are bright in color, juicy and fresh flavored. However, there are some vegetables that are seldom eaten raw. The potato is one of those.
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Corn syrup is an ingredient with many uses in the baker's kitchen. It is one of a class of sugars called "invert" sugars, which remain liquid rather than crystallizing. It also helps prevent other sugars from crystallizing, which is one reason it's often added to candy and frosting.
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Garlic is one of the world's favorite foods. It can be found in almost every major cuisine, lending its signature pungent flavor and aroma. However, appreciating garlic too exuberantly can have implications for your social life.
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