Tag: food

Yet another column about tea

Tea is not only the most popular beverage in the world, it’s also good for you. Over the past 20 years, scientists have discovered potential benefits from tea against cancer, high blood pressure and infection. Now comes a report that tea may be an effective weapon in the fight against diabetes. First, some basic tea …

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Food coatings

Most people prefer shiny apples to dull ones, crisp French fries to soggy ones, and fresh nuts to stale ones. Enter food coatings. Some are visible and some are invisible, but they’re on much of the food you buy, keeping it fresh-tasting and -looking longer. It’s not easy. After all, the coating has to be …

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Barbecuing II

There are still a few good weeks of summer left, and that means there’s still plenty of time for the ultimate summer activity, barbecuing. Technically, what we call barbecuing around here is not true barbecuing, which involves the long, slow cooking of meat, often over hours, at relatively low temperatures in the presence of lots …

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The science of pizza, beer and fries

It’s all very well scientists spending their time on cures for cancer, faster computers and a general Theory of Everything, but every once in a while, I firmly believe, they need to get their heads out of the clouds and concentrate on things that are really important to the average Joe: things like pizza, beer …

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The thermodynamics of turkey

“Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,” goes the old song, but these days, goose is a rare sight on the Christmas table. Instead, the place of honor goes to the turkey. Turkeys are native to North American. In 1519 Spanish ships introduced them to Europe. By the 1700s turkey drives were being held …

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Umami

  My wife and I recently returned from the annual International Festival of Wine and Food at the Banff Springs hotel, where the master of ceremonies, Tim Hanni, presented a fascinating (and very funny) seminar on matching wine with food. Much of Hanni’s talk was devoted to exactly how the sense of taste works. It’s …

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Why we crave chocolate

It’s the season for sweets, and one of the favorites, this Christmas and every Christmas (not to mention Valentine’s Day, Easter, and assorted other special occasions) is chocolate. Why do we crave this unique food? It’s not just the taste. As new research has shown, a lot of the pleasure we get out of eating …

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Fruit

 just came back from a vacation that included a brief stay in the Okanagan. Among the treasures from that visit were two containers of delicious fresh apricots and cherries, courtesy of a friend who owns an orchard near Oliver. The amount of fruit produced by the trees of the Okanagan Valley alone is staggering: everywhere …

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Tea, revisited

  I drink a lot of tea. In my family, every meal except breakfast was accompanied by a tall glass of iced tea, and today, I almost always have a glass of iced tea at hand when I’m watching TV, reading, or writing this column. Which means that recent studies touting the health benefits of …

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Food coloring

Today is the day when all across our land, people gather to celebrate food coloring. In kitchens, in restaurants, in bars, they partake of special holiday foods, each given “a touch of the green”–green beer, green milkshakes, green pasta. It’s a touching and important reminder of the importance of color additives to our diet. What’s …

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Weight control

Here’s a topic I have far too much experience with: trying to control one’s personal mass. Let me lay out my own history… December, 1979. After two years of university, eating far too many pizzas and far too much vending-machine food, I return to Canada weighing 265 pounds. Nobody calls me “Slim.” July, 1981. After …

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Kitchen germs

In my small, elderly house, the bathroom opens onto the kitchen, which has always worried me: I keep picturing armies of bacteria marching out of the bathroom to contaminate my food. It turns out my concern is misguided: a recent study indicates it’s more likely bacteria from the kitchen will contaminate my bathroom.. Scientists from …

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