TedFind » Food & Drink

Espresso Machines are Easy to Use

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:10:00 +0000

The variety of home coffee makers continues to grow and expend in their optional features as well as designs, styles and models. And the recent growth in coffee shop popularity has also generated an increased interest in home espresso machines . However, many people are concerned that they are too complicated to use and have hesitations about their purchase. The good news is that they are no more complicated than a standard brew machine and in some cases are even easier.

All you need to do is put the water in the reservoir, similarly to regular coffee pots, and then put the ground espresso in the small metal filter cup, place it in the handle and secure it to the machine. Then you turn the control knob to brew and pretty soon the room will fill with the beautiful aroma of fresh espresso.

Meanwhile, there are numerous coffee drinks that are made using a shot of espresso as their base. Recipes are readily available and you can soon find yourself making delicious mochas, lattes and cappuccinos right in your own kitchen. You can purchase the flavoring syrups and experiment with alternate creamers. Soy or rice milk is a popular alternative to cow milk and this is great for anyone with lactose issues. Home espresso machines are simple to use and introduce a whole new world of coffee drinks to your kitchen.

Espresso Machines are Easy to Use is a post from: TedFind

New Way to Eat Burgers in New York City

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:10:00 +0000

New York City offers the best wine and dine experience available anywhere in the world. It also has more of the best restaurants than any other city in the United States. However, walk into any food restaurant that sells burgers and you have a choice to make, either pick your favorite burger such as a cheese burger with bacon, or wait for a new burger restaurant opening up next month aimed to completely shake-up the way you order burgers.

The new restaurant is 4food, conveniently located to many of the busiest New York City hotels , will offer online ordering and staff will carry around iPads for in-store orders. While chomping down on a 4food burger, you’ll be able to take advantage of the free WiFi and a power outlet located next to all seats.

McDonalds 4foods is not. Instead, 4food wants to offer consumers a lot more choice with locally sourced ingredients, composting of all waste and in general, a greener place to eat.

Every time you order a burger, ranging from $5 to $10, you get 25 cents back on your account. Burger combinations can also be named and stored online for re-ordering, and 4food wants you to share your favorites and therefore embrace social marketing to get more customers into the shop.

As an incentive to entice people to try one of their burgers, 4food is offering $12 of credit for registering a free account. 4food will open September 7, 2010 and is located on Madison Avenue and East 40th Street in Manhattan.

New Way to Eat Burgers in New York City is a post from: TedFind

Much Ado about Japanese Sake

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:53:02 +0000

To drink hot or cold sake? Hmmm, the age old question! In early years, sake was served hot, due to being stored in cedar tanks. The tanks resulted in sake that tasted woody, rougher, sweeter and fuller so serving it warm made the most sense. Sake is now stored in stainless steel, ceramic-lined tanks. Significant advances in brewing technology and the development of new rice and yeast strains have resulted in sake that is more delicate and fragile. Adding heat would only destroy the hard work the brew masters put in. As a general rule, less expensive sakes are served hot (i.e. sake bombers in restaurants ) while the premium sakes are served chilled. Just don’t drink too much –depending on the variety, sake contains between 10 to 20 percent alcohol.

Sake is made from a combination of short grain rice, water, lemon juice, kome-koji (also known as malt rice), and yeast. Approximately 65 varieties of rice are designated as “sake rice,” some more revered than others. Omachi rice, from Okayama, is one of the most popular. There are over 1400 established breweries of sake, called kura, in Japan so picking the best brands to try can be a daunting task. Popular ones include Hakkaisan, Juyondai, and Koro. Note that sake is commonly served filtered, though many prefer it unfiltered.

Interestingly, if you traveled to Japan and asked for sake, you would be requesting any number of alcoholic beverages. The proper term for sake in Japan is “nihonshu.” It is meant as a drink to represent family, friendship and reverence. Tradition dictates that a person should never pour his or her own sake. The Japanese began mass production of this beverage, though its origins can be traced back to 4000B.C. China.

One of the most elegant aspects to drinking sake is the presentation. Tiny cups for drinking and artful bottles for pouring, sake sets are usually beautifully decorated or engraved. Food friendly, it is best served with fish and light dishes.

Much Ado about Japanese Sake is a post from: TedFind

Dr Pepper Museum in Waco

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:55:51 +0000

Dallas is one of the country’s most interesting cities, and there are millions of visitors every year. Some come to see friends and family, because it is perhaps one of the friendliest and most amiable places on earth. Some come here to do business because of Dallas’ thriving industries, where the local charm is merged with a cosmopolitan disposition, making for a smart and lively place to conduct work. Some come as tourists, looking to discover what Dallas might have to offer. The results are always good, and there’s a lot to do here for visitors of any age.

Check out the link for lodgings and you’ll be on your way to learning about this interesting place. There are plenty of things for children here, and lots of nighttime fun for adults, and some places where everyone is welcome and entertained. One place for visitors of all ages is the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco. If you’re looking for a museum that’s truly unique, and if you like your nostalgia served up with a bit of self-conscious irony, then this is a place for you.

It’s enormously fascinating, but also quite amusing, too. The museum isn’t devoted to Dr Pepper on its own, but is about looking at the whole spectrum of soft drinks, and also to celebrate the free market system and teach the principles of this economic method to visitors. You’ll discover that this drink is actually older than the others, and also that there really is no period in the name. As for the origin of the name, there are many different stories and theories, but that information is lost to history. There are plenty of other facts to learn however, and lots of ephemera that will appeal to history buffs and the tragically hip alike, and so many others in between.

Dr Pepper Museum in Waco is a post from: TedFind

Vikram Chandra in Mumbai

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:51:32 +0000

Traveling to India is always a splendid thing. There are many globetrotters who make it a regular stop, and there are those who make it a once in a lifetime thing, and it’s always a life-changing proposition. It’s impossible to come here and not be touched in some significant way. It’s almost as though some of the secrets of the human race are found here, and it is continually evolving, in an amusing, baffling, and wonderful way. Mumbai is one of the major centers in India, as well as the world. It attracts some of the country’s best artistic minds, drawn by the lures of Bollywood, the literary life, or the thriving alternative art communities that practice their craft here. Mumbai could also very well have some of the world’s best restaurants. Mumbai is a remarkable place.

There are many different cultures and languages that merge in the cityscape, with stunning results in the food that’s offered here. Many regional types of cuisine are served in the restaurants, representing the best of India’s culinary history, and it has some of the tastiest food in the world. Many people, when they think of Indian food, think of coconut and curry and extremely rich taste sensations. That’s entirely true, of course, but there’s much much more. Sample a few of the dishes at our excellent restaurants, and see for yourself what your new favorite food might be. And if the literary life appeals to you, you might want to keep an eye out for Vikram Chandra.

He and his wife split their time between here and Oakland, California, in the U.S. They both teach at UC Berkeley in the Creative Writing Department. Chandra was born in New Delhi, and has degrees from Pomona, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Houston, and also had a short stint as a student at Columbia University, but left to write his first novel. He’s written a few novels, and has also worked in screenwriting. His latest work, Sacred Games, is 900 pages long, and has received critical acclaim from all over. It is set in Mumbai in the recent past, and is a kind of guide to the underworld here, with a fantastic sense of the elusiveness of the city, and a flair for playing with the languages that are spoken here.

Vikram Chandra in Mumbai is a post from: TedFind

Manhattan’s Alphabet City

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:22:31 +0000

Not very long ago, Tompkins Square Park and the New York neighborhood of Alphabet City was home to many foreign refugees, many of them German. It was also the ‘red light district’ of the city as recently as one hundred years ago. By the 1950′s however the demographics of the neighborhood had changed, as the area became known as Loisaida. This was a term of combined Spanish and English language, known as Spanglish, and it meant Lower East Side. This was due to the large amounts of Puerto Ricans that began to move to this area of Manhattan.

During the 1960′s and the 1970′s this became an important site, culturally and socially not only for the Puerto Rican culture, but for the intellectual and artist cultures as well. The Nuyorican Movement had begun, which was a number of poets, artists and intellectuals that were calling this neighborhood their home during this time. Some of the well known and influential members of this group were Miguel Pinero and Miguel Algarin. Some of the best restaurants, Manhattan coffee shops and neighborhood bars often were filled with the members of the group who would gather to discuss such topics.

By the 1980′s the Alphabet City was filled with many African American and Puerto Rican families as well as the young and mostly white struggling musicians and artists of New York. The atmosphere was creative and bohemian, the district was well known for the low rental rates. The area was also filled with incidence of violent crimes and a lot of illegal activity surrounding drugs. One of the many references to the neighborhood and to Tompkins Square is the popular musical “Rent“.

By the late 80′s the park had become the camping grounds for many of the cities homeless population and in the summer of 1988 a riot between the NYPD, the homeless and the activists broke out. The neighborhood has undergone gentrification in the last twenty years. This has resulted in the lowering of crime rates, the elevation of rental space. The apartment buildings on Avenues A, B, C and D are now re-modeled and abandoned shops are now housing popular restaurants, retail businesses and nightclubs. This is just one of the many interesting districts in the city of New York, rich with history, art and culture that has been influenced by all those who have Alphabet City their homes.

Manhattan’s Alphabet City is a post from: TedFind

South African Cheeses

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:12:35 +0000

South African cheese quality is improving. So much so every year more and more Cheese festivals are popping up all around the country. South Africa Cheese Festivals remain a premier event with one of the widest cheese selections world round. Africa’s cheese’s are in serious competition with the USA and the UK. The South Africa Five Star Hotels will only proudly serve African cheeses due to there award winning tastes and consumers putting pressure on local cheese makers to supply greater amounts of their favorite and pressures to create newer exciting cheese.

South Africa is relatively a new comer to the cheese industry. However, as the popularity of South African cheese grow the more the African economy grows. It’s a strategy South Africa put into place. One being affordable cheese makers an opportunity to showcase their quality cheese products. Another is a forum to show cheese consumers new varieties which is organized Cheese Festivals. The main objective of the Cheese Festivals will be to promote cheese and increase consumption to benefit all the population of South African. Standard and new cheese consumers will be introduced to the ever expanding applications of cheese as a cooking ingredient to change and enhance all consumers to always choose cheese dishes. To change South Africans preference of a milder cheese to use a more flavorful artisan cheese, as the french do in their most famous recipes. Today, in South Africa, it is beginning to happen. Most markets only carried a few varieties, now Delis, farmers markets are beginning to carry bold brine-ripened cheese, savory blue-veined cheese and specialty goat’s and sheep milk cheeses.

South Africa, being a member of the World Trade Organization which has kicked up their quality of cheese and its production to satisfy an ever growing need in the world consumption for artisan cheeses. You’ll find in most historical South African dishes a lack of cheese as an ingredient. But today, South African cuisine is becoming more interesting and intriguing with the enhanced tastes of excellent cheese. A whole new industry has grown and providing more employment opportunities for the mostly poor and war torn population. In turn, the income of South Africa is growing and starting to keep up with the economical growth of other 3rd world countries.

South African Cheeses is a post from: TedFind

The Feni of Goa

admin — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:11:21 +0000

The most popular and famous drink in Goa is called Feni. It is served in many of the bars, restaurants and four star hotels. Goa is known for its Feni production, sometimes referred to as Fenny. This is one drink that has a very high alcohol content, and those not familiar with the effects should be very careful as it is quite easy to become pretty intoxicated in a short amount of time. There are two different kinds of Feni , one is made from cashews and the other from coconut juice. Both are made by fermenting the fruits. Many cities in India produce Feni, but the Goan fenis are considered to be superior to those produced in other regions.

The distillation process is very tedious and requires a lot of time and effort. With the cashew Feni, the nuts are manually crushed and the juice is collected in a ceramic pot. This is buried far under ground to allow for the fermentation process. Just about four percent of the juice will become alcohol. This is then distilled in large copper basins. When the juice is boiled, the alcoholic steam that rises is collected and put into a condenser for the cooling process. This whole process is done three separate times, with different kinds of Feni being produced each time. The first drink, Urrack, is very low in alcohol content. The second, produces a drink called Cazulo, which is a bit stronger. The third, and the most popular is the true Feni. This is the intoxicating liquor that is most popular. Many drink Feni straight up, but some prefer to mix it with soda and lemons, or just regular cola. Just as with fine wine, Feni’s main attribute that distinguishes the various qualities, is the aroma. Just as many visit the wine countries of California, France and Italy, many connoisseurs travel to Goa for a bit of tasting and quite a lot of fun.

The Feni of Goa is a post from: TedFind

Civility in the City

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:09:20 +0000

Being a tourist in New York City can be a fairly intimidating experience. Most American suburbanites aren’t used to walking or accumulating the amount of mileage that’s necessary to traverse the city. The up and down of subway stairs can also be daunting. But all that is considered minor when you’re faced with the dilemma of needing to find public rest room. Most restaurants and small stores are not required to have public restrooms. What makes matters worse is that they don’t usually feel obliged to let you use theirs even if you ask. So where does a visitor look? To begin with you can be confident that a large department store will always have a rest room. Bloomingdales at 58th and Lexington has a clean, well maintained rest room although it may be hard to find. You’ll definitely have to ask a salesperson for directions. On the other hand, Macy’s at 34th and Broadway has a large restroom that almost always has a long line. It seems that it’s the home away from home for many stragglers. It’s not the nicest, but in a pinch it will do. Nowadays most Starbucks can accommodate you but a token is necessary and you might get a dirty look if you don’t at least buy a cup of decaf.

My absolute favorite and one of the most reliable restrooms is in one of the top New York City hotels. The legendary Plaza Hotel at Central Park South and 59th St. has lovely rest rooms in the basement level. Visiting this ladies room can be one of the finer moments of your vacation. You enter the lounge which large room with many sofas where you’ll find a place to rest or simply get your packages in order. Near the door you are greeted by a smiling attendant in a starched uniform who will direct you to the next available stall. After you finish washing your hands a paper towel is politely handed to you. On the counter there’s a selection of hand lotions and other niceties for your use. It’s then you notice the discreet plate piled high with coins and cash. No reason to worry, tipping is optional. However, if you do feel inclined to express your gratitude for this bit of civility, one dollar will provide a sufficient thank you.

Civility in the City is a post from: TedFind

International Fair Celebrates Tea

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:32:14 +0000

The first International Tea Fair will be held in Hong Kong on August 13-15, 2009. The event is part of a series of Food and Health events that includes the HKTDC Food Expo 2009 and the International Conference and Exhibition of the Modernization of Chinese Medicine & Health Products 2009. All events will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The International Tea Fair is being developed by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) in partnership with the Chinese Tea Culture International Exchange Association. I will focus on tea-producing and tea-trading regions such as China, Sri Lanka, India and Japan as well as other areas. The HKTDC points to the 200 million middle class Chinese who are interested in purchasing imported luxury and food items as a major market just waiting to be reached by tea producers. Tea production was 3.87 million tons in 2007 according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

The event hopes to bring together buyers and producers from around the world. Assistance packages are being offered to buyers to attract buyers from emerging markets such as the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Russia as well as the Chinese mainland. The best Hong Kong hotels and restaurants are also looking to improve business during the event.

The Fair will include a tea gallery, tea ceremony demonstrations and a tea competition. The goal is to attract buyers and media interest in hopes of “infusing a tea lifestyle.” The event will be open to the public on the final day.

The HKTDC Food Expo will run from August 13 – 17th as will the International Conference and Exhibition of the Modernization of Chinese Medicine & Health Products.

International Fair Celebrates Tea is a post from: TedFind