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Selected article 1
Portal:Food/Selected article/1French cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of France. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The Middle Ages brought lavish banquets to the upper class with ornate, heavily seasoned food prepared by chefs such as Guillaume Tirel. The era of the French Revolution, however, saw a move toward fewer spices and more liberal usage of herbs and refined techniques. French cuisine was codified in the 20th century by Georges Auguste Escoffier to become the modern version of haute cuisine. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. There are many significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. Cheese and wine are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) (regulated appellation) laws.
Selected article 2
Portal:Food/Selected article/2Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs including the flowers and leaves of the medicinal plant Artemisia absinthium, also called wormwood. Although it is sometimes incorrectly called a liqueur, absinthe does not contain added sugar and is therefore classified as a liquor. Absinthe originated in Switzerland as an elixir, but is more well-known for its popularity in late 19th and early 20th century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers whose romantic associations with the drink still linger in popular culture. In its heyday the most popular brand of absinthe worldwide was Pernod Fils. At the height of this popularity, absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive, psychoactive drug; the chemical thujone was blamed for most of its deleterious effects. By 1915 it was banned in a number of European countries and the United States. Modern evidence shows it to be no more dangerous or psychoactive than ordinary alcohol. A modern-day absinthe revival began in the 1990s, as countries in the European Union began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale.
Selected article 3
Portal:Food/Selected article/3The history of saffron in human cultivation and use reaches back more than 3,000 years and spans many cultures, continents, and civilizations. Saffron, a spice derived from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), has remained among the world's costliest substances throughout history. With its bitter taste, hay-like fragrance, and slight metallic notes, saffron has been used as a seasoning, fragrance, dye, and medicine. Saffron is native to Southwest Asia.
The wild precursor of domesticated saffron crocus is Crocus cartwrightianus. Human cultivators bred C. cartwrightianus specimens by selecting for plants with abnormally long stigmas. Thus, sometime in late Bronze Age Crete, a mutant form of C. cartwrightianus, C. sativus, emerged. Saffron was first documented in a 7th-century BC Assyrian botanical reference compiled under Ashurbanipal. Since then, documentation of saffron's use over a span of 4,000 years in the treatment of some ninety illnesses has been uncovered. Saffron slowly spread throughout much of Eurasia, later reaching parts of North Africa, North America, and Oceania
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Portal:Food/Selected article/4Cheese is a food made from the milk of cows, goats, sheep and other mammals, by coagulating the milk. This is accomplished by first acidification with a bacterial culture and then employing an enzyme, rennet (or rennet substitutes) to coagulate the milk to "curds and whey." The precise bacteria and processing of the curds play a role in defining the texture and flavor of most cheeses. Some cheeses also feature molds, either on the outer rind or throughout.
There are hundreds of types of cheese produced all over the world. Different styles and flavors of cheese are the result of using milk from various mammals or with different butterfat contents, employing particular species of bacteria and molds, and varying the length of aging and other processing treatments. Other factors include animal diet and the addition of flavoring agents such as herbs, spices, or wood smoke. Whether the milk is pasteurized may also affect the flavor. The yellow to red coloring of many cheeses is a result of adding annatto. Cheeses are eaten both on their own and cooked as part of various dishes; most cheeses melt when heated.
Selected article 5
Portal:Food/Selected article/5Medieval cuisine was the foods, cooking methods and eating habits of European cultures during the Middle Ages. During this period, diets and cooking changed across Europe, and many of these changes laid the foundations for contemporary regional and folk cuisines. Transportation and communication were slow and prevented the export of many foods, especially fresh fruit and meat, which today are commonplace in all industrialized nations. Imported ingredients such as spices were expensive and mainly the preserve of the wealthy nobility, making their foods more prone to foreign influence than the foods of lower strata of society. The single most important foodstuff was bread, and to a lesser extent other foods made from cereals such as porridge and pasta. Meat was more prestigious and more expensive and therefore less cost-efficient than grain or vegetables. The most common dishes were potages and stews, and common ingredients used in cooking were verjuice, wine and vinegar. These, combined with the widespread usage of sugar (among those who could afford it), gave many dishes a distinctly sweet-sour flavor. The most popular types of meat were pork and chicken, while beef required greater investment in land and grazing and therefore was less common.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/6Saffron has been used as a seasoning, fragrance, dye, and medicine for more than 3,000 years. The world's most expensive spice by weight, saffron consists of stigmas plucked from the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus). The resulting dried "threads" are distinguished by their bitter taste, hay-like fragrance, and slight metallic notes. Saffron is native to Southwest Asia, but was first cultivated in Greece. Iran is the world's largest producer of saffron, accounting for over half of the total harvest.
In both antiquity and modern times, most saffron was and is used in the preparation of food and drink: cultures spread across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas value the red threads for use in such items as baked goods, curries, and liquor. Medicinally, saffron was used in ancient times to treat a wide range of ailments, including stomach upsets, bubonic plague, and smallpox; clinical trials have shown saffron's potential as an anticancer and anti-aging agent. Saffron has been used to colour textiles and other items, many of which carry a religious or hierarchical significance.
Saffron cultivation has long centred on a broad belt of Eurasia bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the southwest to Kashmir and China in the northeast. The major saffron producers of antiquity—Iran, Spain, India, and Greece—continue to dominate the world trade. The cultivation of saffron in the Americas was begun by members of the Schwenkfelder Church in Pennsylvania. In recent decades cultivation has spread to New Zealand, Tasmania, and California.
Selected article 7
Portal:Food/Selected article/7Maraba Coffee (Kinyarwanda: Ikawa ya Maraba; French: Café de Maraba) is a Fairtrade-certified coffee grown in the Maraba area of southern Rwanda.
Maraba's coffee plants are the Bourbon variety of the Coffea arabica species and are grown on fertile volcanic soils on high-altitude hills. The fruit is handpicked, mostly during the rainy season between March and May, and brought to a washing station in Maraba, where the coffee beans are extracted and dried. At several stages, the beans are sorted according to quality. The farmers receive credits based on the amount and quality of the beans they provide.
The beans are sold to various roasting companies, with the best beans going to Union Coffee Roasters of the United Kingdom and Community Coffee of the United States. Rwanda Specialty Coffee Roasters buys from Maraba and sells to the domestic market. Maraba Coffee is also brewed into a beer.
About 2,000 smallholder farmers grow the coffee plants under the Abahuzamugambi cooperative, founded in 1999. Since 2000, the cooperative has been supported by the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and the PEARL. The cooperative has improved coffee quality and penetrated the specialty market.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/8The Paleolithic diet[a] (or Paleolithic nutrition), also popularly known as the paleo diet (var.: paleodiet), caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a dietary regimen which seeks to mimic the diet of wild plants and animals that humans[b] habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era, a period of about 2.5 million years that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture.
Based upon commonly available modern foods, the Paleolithic diet consists mainly of lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar and processed oils.
First popularized in the mid 1970s by a gastroenterologist named Walter L. Voegtlin, this nutritional concept has been expounded and adapted by a number of authors and researchers in several books and academic journals. Building upon the principles of evolutionary medicine, it is based on the premise that modern humans are genetically adapted to the diet of their Paleolithic ancestors and that human genetics have scarcely changed since the dawn of agriculture, and therefore that an ideal diet for human health and well-being is one that resembles this ancestral diet.
This dietary approach is a controversial topic amongst nutritionists and anthropologists. Advocates argue that modern human populations subsisting on traditional diets similar to those of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers are largely free of diseases of affluence, and that such diets produce beneficial health outcomes in controlled medical studies. Supporters point to several potentially therapeutic nutritional characteristics of preagricultural diets. Critics of this nutritional approach have taken issue with its underlying evolutionary logic, and have disputed certain dietary prescriptions on the grounds that they pose health risks and may not reflect the features of ancient Paleolithic diets. It has also been argued that such diets are not a realistic alternative for everyone, and that meat-based diets are not environmentally sustainable.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/9Odwalla Inc. is a health food company founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1980 that sells fruit juice and food bars. Odwalla, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola, is headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California, with a production facility in Dinuba, California. Odwalla's range of products includes juices, smoothies, dairy-free soy milk, and similar organic beverages, as well as several flavors of energy bars, known as food bars, and bottled spring water.
The company has experienced strong growth from its incorporation in 1985, expanding its distribution network from California to most of North America, and went public in 1993. However, a period of decline occurred as a result of a fatal outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria on October 30, 1996, caused by contamination of its apple juice. Odwalla recalled its juices and experienced a ninety-percent reduction in sales following the event.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/10George Constant Louis Washington (May 1871 – March 29, 1946) was an American inventor and businessman of Anglo-Belgian origin. He is best remembered for his invention of an early instant coffee process and for the company he founded to mass-produce it, the G. Washington Coffee Company.
An emigrant from his native Belgium, he arrived in the New York area in 1897 and dabbled in several technical fields before hitting upon instant coffee manufacture during a sojourn in Central America in 1906 or 1907. He began selling his coffee in 1909 and founded a company to manufacture it in 1910. Based in New York and New Jersey, his company prospered and became an important military supplier during World War I. The company's products were also advertised in New York newspapers and on the radio. The success of his company made Washington wealthy, and he lived in a mansion in Brooklyn and then moved to a country estate in New Jersey in 1927. In that same year, he lost a dispute with the tax authorities. Washington was married and had three children.
Washington's company was sold to American Home Products in 1943, shortly before his death. Though the coffee brand was discontinued by 1961, Washington's name is still used today in the product G. Washington's Seasoning & Broth.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/11Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The same fruit is also used to produce white pepper and green pepper. Black pepper is native to South India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single seed.
Dried, ground pepper is one of the most common spices in European cuisine and its descendants, having been known and prized since antiquity for both its flavour and its use as a medicine. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine. Ground black peppercorn, usually referred to simply as "pepper", may be found on nearly every dinner table in some parts of the world, often alongside table salt.
The word pepper is derived from the Sanskrit pippali [1], via the Latin piper and Old English pipor. The Latin word is also the source of German pfeffer, French poivre, Dutch peper, and other similar forms. In the 16th century, pepper started referring to New World chile peppers as well. Pepper was used in a figurative sense meaning "spirit" or "energy" at least as far back as the 1840s; in the early 20th century, this was shortened to pep.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/12Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is an everyday food in many parts of the world. Butter consists of butterfat surrounding minuscule droplets consisting mostly of water and milk proteins. Butter from cow's milk is most common, but butter is made from the milk of other mammals as well, including sheep, goats, buffalo, and yaks. Salt, flavorings, or preservatives are sometimes added. Butter is used as a condiment and in cooking applications including baking, sauce making, and frying. Butter can be rendered to produce clarified butter or ghee, which is almost entirely butterfat. Butter is a firm solid when refrigerated, softening to a spreadable consistency at room temperatures. Butter's color is generally a pale yellow, but can vary from deep yellow to nearly white. The color of the butter depends on the animal's feed and is sometimes manipulated with food colorings, most commonly annatto or carotene.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/13The durian is the fruit of trees of the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows and linden trees. Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits", the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale-yellow to red, depending on the species. The hard outer husk is covered with sharp, prickly thorns while the edible flesh within emits a distinctive odour, which is regarded as either fragrant or overpowering and offensive. The odour of the ripe fruit is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. The flesh can be consumed at various stages of ripeness and is used to flavour a wide variety of savoury and sweet edibles in Southeast Asian cuisines. The seeds can also be eaten when cooked. Many consumers express preferences for specific cultivars, which fetch higher prices in the market.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/14Burger King (NYSE: BKC), often abbreviated to BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. The first restaurant was opened in Miami, Florida in 1954 by James McLamore and David Edgerton, and has since used several variations of franchising to expand its operations. Burger King Holdings Corporation is the parent company of Burger King; in the United States it operates under the Burger King Brands title while internationally it operates under the Burger King Corporation banner. It is a publicly traded company with investment firms of TPG Capital, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners each owning about 25% of the company.
At the end of its fiscal year 2008, Burger King reported that there are more than 11,550 outlets in 71 countries; 66% are in the United States and 90% are privately owned and operated. The company has more than 37,000 employees serving approximately 11.4 million customers daily.[2] In North America, franchises are licensed on a per store basis, while in several international locations licenses are sold on a regional basis with franchises owning exclusive development rights for the region or country. These regional franchises are known as master franchises, and are responsible for opening new restaurants, licensing new third party operators, and performing standards oversight of all restaurant locations in these countries. The largest example of a master franchise is Hungry Jack's, which exclusively owns, operates or sub-licenses over 300 restaurants in Australia.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/15Italian cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Its roots can be traced back to the 4th century BC. The cuisine changed significantly with discovery of the New World which helped shape much of what is known as Italian cuisine today with the introduction of items such as potatoes, tomatoes, bell pepper and maize, which are all central parts of the cuisine but were not introduced in scale until the 18th century. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. There are many significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. Similar to French cuisine, cheese and wine are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) (regulated appellation) laws. Coffee, and more specifically espresso, has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/16Palestinian cuisine consists of foods from or commonly eaten by the Arabs of historical Palestine — which includes those living in the Palestinian territories, Israel, refugee camps in nearby countries as well as by Palestinians living abroad. The cuisine is a diffusion of the cultures of civilizations that settled in Palestine, particularly during and after the Islamic era beginning with the Arab Ummayad conquest. It is similar to other Levantine cuisines, including Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordanian cuisine. Meals are usually eaten in the household but dining out has become prominent particularly during parties where light meals like salads, bread dips and skewered meats are served. Rice and variations of kibbeh, a type of dumpling, are common in the Galilee. The West Bank engages primarily in heavier meals involving the use of taboon bread, rice and meat. In Gaza fish and other seafood, chili peppers and lentils are more common. Palestinian cuisine also has many desserts, ranging from those made regularly and those that are commonly reserved for the holidays. Most Palestinian sweets are pastries filled with either sweetened cheeses, dates or various nuts such as almonds, walnuts or pistachios.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/17Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape gets it name from the French word sauvage ("wild") and blanc ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France. It is now planted in many of the world's wine regions, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine. Conversely, the grape is also a component of the famous dessert wines from Sauternes and Barsac. Sauvignon blanc is widely cultivated in France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, California, and South America. Depending on climate, the flavor can range from aggressively grassy to sweetly tropical. Wine experts have used the phrase "crisp, elegant, and fresh" as a favorable description of Sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley and New Zealand. The wine is usually consumed young, as it does not particularly benefit from aging. Dry and sweet white Bordeaux, typically made with Sauvignon blanc as a major component, is the one exception.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/18Coffee is a widely-consumed stimulant beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. Coffee was first consumed in the 9th century, when it was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia. From there, it spread to Egypt and Yemen, and by the 15th century had reached Armenia, Persia, Turkey, and North Africa. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, and then to the rest of Europe and later the Americas. Today, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide. To produce coffee, coffee berries, which contain coffee beans, are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted, undergoing several physical and chemical changes. They are then ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee is an important export commodity. In 2004, coffee was the top agricultural export for 12 countries, and in 2005, it was the world's seventh largest legal agricultural export by value.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/19Riesling is a white grape variety which originates in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally pure and are seldom oaked. As of 2004, Riesling was estimated to be the world's 20th most grown variety at 48,700 hectares (120,000 acres) (with an increasing trend), but in terms of importance for quality wines, it is usually included in the "top three" white wine varieties together with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Riesling is a variety which is highly "terroir-expressive", meaning that the character of Riesling wines is clearly influenced by the wine's place of origin. In 2006, Riesling was the most grown variety in Germany, and in the French region of Alsace. There are also significant plantings of Riesling in Austria, northern Italy, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, China and Ukraine. In the countries where it is cultivated, Riesling is most commonly grown in colder regions and locations.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/20The cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies was derived from familiar traditions from the colonist's home countries, mainly England. Many agricultural items came to the New World through trade with England and the West Indies. Certain familiar items grew better in the New World than others, and this led to a dependence on imports which drove the daily lives of the colonists. For example, the cost of items such as imported wool gave the colonists an incentive to raise sheep, not only for wool to replace imports, but for access to the meat of the older animals as mutton. However, the colonial diet was increasingly supplemented by meat and plant foods indigenous to the New World. In the years leading up to 1776, a number of events led to a drastic change in the diet of the American colonists. Taxes and tariffs levied by England increased the costs of goods and caused colonists to hold a grudge toward the British monarchy and British imports. Import tariffs and taxes, and other issues, eventually led to the American Revolution. As they could no longer depend on British and West Indies imports, agricultural practices of the colonists began to focus on becoming completely self sufficient.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/21Aeroplane Jelly is a gelatin dessert brand in Australia created by Bert Appleroth. Appleroth's backyard business, Traders Pty Ltd, became one of Australia's largest family-operated food manufacturers and was sold to McCormick Foods Australia, a subsidiary of United States corporation McCormick & Company, in 1995. Aeroplane Jelly is the market leader in Australia's jelly market, with over 10 million packets sold annually. Strawberry is the best-selling flavour.
Aeroplane Jelly ran a successful advertising campaign featuring a jingle that has become part of Australian culture. It is one of Australia's longest running jingles, and was played on radio over 100 times per day in the 1940s. The jingle was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in June 2008.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/22The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family Rosaceae. It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. The tree is small and deciduous, reaching 3 to 12 m (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" ft) tall, with a broad, often densely twiggy crown.
The leaves are alternately arranged simple ovals 5 to 12 centimetres (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" in) long and 3 to 6 cm (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" in) broad on a 2 to 5 cm (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" in) petiole with an acute tip, serrated margin and a slightly downy underside. Blossoms are produced in spring simultaneously with the budding of the leaves. The flowers are white with a pink tinge that gradually fades, five petaled, and 2.5 to 3.5 cm (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" in) in diameter. The fruit matures in autumn, and is typically 5 to 9 cm (Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" to Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" in) diameter. The center of the fruit contains five carpels arranged in a five-point star, each carpel containing one to three seeds.
The tree originated from Central Asia, where its wild ancestor is still found today. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples resulting in range of desired characteristics. Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the same rootstock.
At least 55,000,000 t (61,000,000 short tons) of apples were grown worldwide in 2005, with a value of about US$10 billion. China produced about 35% of this total. The United States is the second leading producer, with more than 7.5% of the world production. Turkey, France, Italy, and Iran are also among the leading apple exporters.
Selected article 23
Portal:Food/Selected article/23Saffron (pronounced /ˈsæfrən/, /ˈsæfrɒn/) is a spice derived from the dried stigma of the flower of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), a species of crocus in the family Iridaceae. The flower has three stigmas, which are the distal ends of the plant's carpels. Together with its style, the stalk connecting the stigmas to the rest of the plant, these components are often dried and used in cooking as a seasoning and coloring agent. Saffron, which has for decades been the world's most expensive spice by weight, is native to Southwest Asia. Saffron is known as 'Kasubha' in The Philippines and St.John's, 'Kesar' in India, and 'Kong' in Kashmir, which is among the few places in the world where the spice grows.
Saffron is characterized by a bitter taste and an iodoform- or hay-like fragrance; these are caused by the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal.[3][4] It also contains a carotenoid dye, crocin, that gives food a rich golden-yellow hue. These traits make saffron a much-sought ingredient in many foods worldwide. Saffron also has medicinal applications.
The word saffron originated from the 12th-century Old French term safran, which derives from the Latin word safranum. Safranum is also related to the Italian zafferano and Spanish azafrán. Safranum comes from the Arabic word aṣfar (أَصْفَر), which means "yellow," via the Persian paronymous zaʻfarān (زَعْفَرَان).
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Portal:Food/Selected article/24A shrimp farm is an aquaculture business for the cultivation of marine shrimp or prawns for human consumption. Commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply, particularly to match the market demands of the USA, Japan and Western Europe. The total global production of farmed shrimp reached more than 1.6 million tonnes in 2003, representing a value of nearly 9,000 million U.S. dollars. About 75% of farmed shrimp is produced in Asia, in particular in China and Thailand. The other 25% is produced mainly in Latin America, where Brazil is the largest producer. The largest exporting nation is Thailand.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/25In the fictional universe of Babylon 5, spoo is a valuable and highly desired food product. Made from the alien worm-like creatures of the same name, spoo is considered to be the most delicious food in the galaxy, regardless of which species is asked. Although it is a universally loved foodstuff and an actively traded commodity, the creature itself is regarded with contempt by the races that consume it.
Since its introduction on the Babylon 5 television series, spoo has remained popular among fans of the science fiction saga, spawning everything from attempts to cook their own version of spoo, to fan fiction related to the creatures. In recent years, spoo has taken on various meanings outside the Babylon 5 universe and fan community, and can now be found in areas such as day trading jargon and computer programming.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/26Maize (pronounced /ˈmeɪz/) (Zea mays L. ssp. mays) is a cereal grain that was domesticated in Mesoamerica and then spread throughout the American continents. Maize spread to the rest of the world after European contact with the Americas in the late 15th century and early 16th century. The term maize derives from the Spanish form (maíz) of the Arawak Native American term for the plant. However, it is commonly called corn in the United States, Canada and Australia. Corn is a shortened form of "Indian corn", i.e. the Indian grain. The English word "corn" originally referred to a granular particle, most commonly cereal grains. Hybrid maize is preferred by farmers over conventional varieties for its high grain yield, due to heterosis ("hybrid vigour"). Maize is the largest crop in all of the Americas (270 million metric tons annually in the U.S. alone).
While some maize varieties grow 7 metres (23 ft) tall at certain locations, commercial maize has been bred for a height of 2.5 metres (8 ft). Sweet corn is usually shorter than field-corn varieties.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/27Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of sugar maple, red maple or black maple trees. In cold climate areas, these trees store starch in their stems and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar and rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped and the exuded sap collected and concentrated by heating to evaporate the water. Quebec, Canada, produces most of the world's supply of maple syrup.
Maple syrup was first collected and used by Native Americans and First Nations, and was later adopted by European settlers. It is most often eaten with waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, crumpets, and French toast. It is also used as an ingredient in baking, or as a sweetener and flavoring agent. Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup.
Maple syrup is graded according to the Canada, US or Vermont scales based on its density and translucency. Syrups must be at least 66 percent sugar to qualify as "maple syrup" in Canada; in the US, any syrup not made almost entirely from maple sap cannot be labeled as "maple". Maple syrup and the sugar maple tree are symbols of Canada and several US states, particularly Vermont.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/28The cuisine of Madagascar reflects the influences of successive waves of Southeast Asian, African, Indian, Chinese and European migrants that have settled on the island since its initial population by seafarers from Borneo between the first and fifth centuries CE. Rice, the cornerstone of the Malagasy diet, was cultivated alongside tubers and other Southeast Asian staples by these earliest settlers, later complemented by the introduction of beef in the form of zebu by East African migrants around 1,000 CE. Trade with Arab and Indian merchants and European trans-Atlantic traders further enriched the island's culinary traditions by introducing a wealth of new fruits, vegetables and seasonings that combined to produce the cuisine currently enjoyed in Madagascar.
Throughout nearly the entire island, the contemporary cuisine of Madagascar consists of a base of rice (Malagasy: vary, pronounced [ˈvarʲ]) with some form of accompaniment (laoka [ˈlokə̥]). Laoka may be vegetarian or include animal proteins typically cooked in a sauce often flavored with ginger, onion, garlic, vanilla, curry powder or occasionally other spices. In parts of the arid south, pastoral families may replace rice with maize, cassava and curds made from fermented zebu milk. A wide variety of sweet and savory fritters and other street foods are available across the island, as are diverse tropical and temperate-climate fruits. Locally-produced beverages include fruit juices, coffee, herbal and black teas and alcoholic drinks such as rum, wine and beer.
Meals eaten on Madagascar in the 21st century range from the simple preparations of the earliest settlers and the refined dishes prepared for the island's great monarchs to more recent favorites introduced over the past century by Chinese and Indian immigrants to Malagasy shores, reflecting the historic and contemporary diversity of this Indian Ocean island nation.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/29Thomcord is a seedless table grape variety and a hybrid of the popular Thompson Seedless or Sultanina grape (a Vitis vinifera variety) and Concord grape (a Vitis labrusca variety). Thomcord was developed in 1983 by Californian grape breeders working for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as part of a test to better understand a new seedless grape breeding procedure.
Its aromatic, "labrusca" flavor is similar to that of Concord, but mellowed by the mild, sweet taste from Thompson Seedless. Thomcord grows well in hot, dry climates, ripens between late July and mid-August, and is tolerant to powdery mildew. It is a productive variety, yielding an average of 15.1 kg (33 lb) of grapes per vine, but has produced as much as 30 to 32 kg (66 to 71 lb) per vine in grower trials. The berries weigh between 2.72 and 3.38 g (0.096 and 0.119 oz) and have a medium-thick, blue-black skin that adheres to the fruit, unlike Concord, which has a thick skin that can slip off the pulp easily. The aborted seeds in the fruit body are relatively small, but larger than those in Thompson Seedless.
The plant is not restricted for propagation and distribution. Virus-free propagation material is available from the Foundation Plant Services (FPS) at the University of California, Davis, and its genetic material is archived at the National Plant Germplasm System. After 17 years of testing, it was declared ready for use in 2003. It is expected to appear in supermarkets, possibly as a specialty item.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/30Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used: the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé powder, or the French base made of flour and fat, roux. The dish likely derived its name from either the Bantu word for okra (ki ngombo) or the Choctaw word for filé (kombo).
Several different varieties exist. Creole gumbo generally contains shellfish, tomatoes, and a thickener. Cajun gumbo is generally based on a dark roux and is spicier, with either shellfish or fowl. Sausage or ham are often added to gumbos of either variety. After the base is prepared, vegetables are cooked down, and then meat is added. The dish simmers for a minimum of three hours, with shellfish and some spices added near the end. If desired, filé powder is added after the pot is removed from heat. Gumbo is traditionally served over rice. A third, lesser-known, variety, the meatless gumbo z'herbes, is essentially a gumbo of slow-cooked greens sometimes thickened with roux, with rice served on the side.
The dish combines ingredients and culinary practices of several cultures, including French, Spanish, German, West African, and Choctaw. Gumbo may have been based on traditional West African or native dishes, or may be a derivation of the French dish bouillabaisse. It was first described in 1802, and was listed in various cookbooks in the latter half of the 19th century. The dish gained more widespread popularity in the 1970s, after the United States Senate cafeteria added it to the menu in honor of Senator Allen Ellender. Chef Paul Prudhomme's popularity in the 1980s spurred further interest in gumbo. The dish is the official cuisine of the state of Louisiana.
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Portal:Food/Selected article/31Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so via an asymmetric division process called budding. Yeasts are unicellular, although some species with yeast forms may become multicellular through the formation of a string of connected budding cells known as pseudohyphae, or false hyphae, as seen in most molds. Yeast size can vary greatly depending on the species, typically measuring 3–4 µm in diameter, although some yeasts can reach over 40 µm.
By fermentation the yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts carbohydrates to carbon dioxide and alcohols - for thousands of years the carbon dioxide has been used in baking and the alcohol in alcoholic beverages. It is also extremely important as a model organism in modern cell biology research, and is one of the most thoroughly researched eukaryotic microorganisms. Researchers have used it to gather information about the biology of the eukaryotic cell and ultimately human biology. Other species of yeast, such as Candida albicans, are opportunistic pathogens and can cause infections in humans. Yeasts have recently been used to generate electricity in microbial fuel cells, and produce ethanol for the biofuel industry.
Yeasts do not form a single taxonomic or phylogenetic grouping. The term "yeast" is often taken as a synonym for Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but the phylogenetic diversity of yeasts is shown by their placement in two separate phyla, the Ascomycota and the Basidiomycota. The budding yeasts ("true yeasts") are classified in the order Saccharomycetales.
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