With nearly a ton of butter, Texas gingerbread house sets record
John Herskovitz
Coming in at 35.8 million calories and covering an area of 2,520 square feet, the 21-foot high gingerbread house in Bryan, Texas, has been declared the biggest ever by Guinness World Records. The house, with an edible exterior mounted over a wooden frame, was built by the Traditions Club near Texas A&M University to help raise money for a trauma center at the regional St. Joseph’s Hospital. The previous record holder was a 36,600-cubic-foot model construction in Bloomington, Minnesota’s Mall of America in 2012. The recipe: 1,800 pounds of butter; 2,925 pounds of brown sugar; 7,200 eggs; 7,200 pounds all-purpose flour; 1,080 ounces ground ginger and a few other ingredients, bake and form into panels for mounting. The house withstood sun and a few storms. One unanticipated problem: bees. The bees loaded up on so much sugar they stumbled around as if they were drunk!
The Year in Five (or so) Food Stories
Food News Journal
With food stamps going to record numbers of recipients, freaky food trends like cronuts and the ramen burger, and the usual assortment of trends and travesties, it isn’t easy to pick favorites. But Food News Journal did.
Fallen Stars. Culinary luminaries Paula Dean and Nigella Lawson both suffered fairly ignominious falls from grace this year.
Lost Icons. The sudden death of Chicago chef Charlie Trotter at 54 rocked the national food firmament. Widely regarded as the man who turned Chicago into a culinary hot spot, Trotter was known as much for his zealous sourcing of absolute-best ingredients as for his oftimes prickly nature. Judy Rodgers left no less a legacy. Though perhaps not as larger-than-life as Trotter, the 57-year-old chef at San Francisco’s Zuni was nonetheless as influential.
Sriracha’s Death Knell? When enough neighbors of a southern California Sriracha plant complained about the harmful effects of fumes from the crushed chile peppers, a California court took notice. The plant was partially shut down, and the nation’s cultish hot-sauce supply was in jeopardy. Though sauce maker Huy Fong says there’s enough to go around, heat aficionados won’t breathe a spicy sigh of relief until the factory is back at full strength.
Insta-Edibles. So many foodies photographed their comestibles over the once-in-a-bluemoon holiday Thanksgivvikuh that Instagram set a new company upload record.
Fast-Food Wage Wars. Fast-food jobs may be plentiful, but the pay is more suited to high-school students than to self-supporting adults, much less parents. Last summer and again in early December, workers in cities across the US organized strikes to protest their roughly $8-per-hour salaries and demand a living wage.
There are many stories we’re leaving out like the “Tips for Jesus”, the rise and rise of Charleston chef Sean Brock, Prince Charles’ philanthropic–and organic—food business, and the 3D-printer food, but we just couldn’t do it all.
5 Surprising Things We Feed Cows
Alex Park
In addition to the old standbys of corn, soy, hay (and, uh drugs), “there’s a lot of stuff which the general public might not think of as feeds which are actually quite common,” according to a livestock nutrition expert at Oregon State University. Examples:
Sawdust. Sawdust is made up largely of cellulose, a carbohydrate. Remove the binding compound, lignin by soaking it in nitric acid, and the cows are ready to chow down. They like it, it’s good for them, it’s economical and it’s green!
Candy, wrapper and all. Ranchers report feeding their beef steers and dairy cows a variety of bulk candy, including gummy worms, marshmallows, hard candy, sprinkles, chocolate, candy corn and hot chocolate mix. Candy provides sugar that cows would usually get from corn, giving them more energy and making them fatter. The wrappers just pass through like excess fiber.
Chicken poop. It’s plentiful and cheap. The problem is not the poop itself, but the smorgasbord of other substances it frequently comes with, including feathers, heavy metals, bacteria, antibiotics, and bits of rodents.
Ground limestone. The stuff is a cheap source of calcium, and it also seems to promote growth.
Crab guts. For ranchers and feedlots near the coast, seafood byproducts can be mixed into other feeds and can be an abundant source of cheap protein. Fishmeal cattle feed isn’t a new idea; Marco Polo observed in his diary that cows at it “without any sign of dislike.”
The 6 Ingredients You Should Never, Ever Substitute
Joel Ozersky
There are times when we all suffer from a lack of planning and we are scrambling in our pantry and substituting ingredients. In some cases, you really need the real deal. Consider the absence of the following from your cupboard as a roadblock and reconsider your plans—unless plans don’t include a trip to the market.
Fresh herbs. It’s not that dried herbs are bad. But when you actually need fresh rosemary for a board dressing, or fresh parsley for a pan sauce, or fresh thyme with which to perfume the foaming butter in which you are bathing a steak, you cannot go to the jar instead. If all you have is dried herbs, re-improvise.
Decent olive oil. Don’t get carried away cost-wise with this one. Good olive oil should be greenish, at the very least; olive oil should taste like olives. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Good Italian cheeses. If you need to use Parmigiano cheese, don’t reach for the green can of shake cheese!
Fresh garlic. Do not get the jar with tan granules suspended in amniotic fluid. It’s not OK.
Beef: Choice (or better). Beef animals that are raised like eggplants and sent off to bovine death camps tend to produce crappy meat, the kind that’s as red as a clip-art icon. If your choice is between, say, a gnarly, all-red strip steak and a richly marbled, healthy-looking boneless short rib, go for the latter or just make lamb chops.
Beef: ground chuck or sirloin. In the meat aisle fresh ground beef is usually marked as either 80 or 90 percent lean. Eighty percent is chuck, and better; 90 percent is sirloin, and worse. But either is infinitely preferable to anything marked “hamburger,” fresh or frozen.
Ten “Blood” Products Other than Diamonds
Greg Krauss
Diamonds aren’t the only kind of natural resource often tainted by bloodshed and abuse. In a few cases natural resources have contributed to so much trouble that, like diamonds, they have earned the adjective “blood” or “conflict.” Here are a few examples:
Conflict gold (1). A civil war in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed more than 5 million lives since 1998. Rebel groups obtain much of their financing by controlling the gold trade.
Conflict Tin (2), Tantalum (3), and Tungsten (4). Is your smartphone funding a civil war? All three are found in electronics as well as other products.
Blood Sapphires (5) and Jade (6). Military leaders in Burma, or Myanmar, continue to suppress ethnic minorities and operate mines that rely on child labor and forced labor.
Blood Ivory (7). Elephant poaching in Africa has risen as poachers try to meet rising demand for ivory in China.
Blood Cocoa (8). Cote d’lvoire is the largest cocoa producer in the world, and cocoa production there continues to fund rebel militants. The reliance of the Ivorian cocoa industry on child labor is another serious problem.
Blood Timber (9). “Blood timber” was used to describe logging in Liberia during the early 2000s that helped finance Charles Taylor’s corrupt and brutal government. More recently, it was used with reference to teak wood sold by the Burmese military junta.
Conflict Palm Oil (10). Rising demand for palm oil, an ingredient found in snack foods, has led to the disruption of millions of acres of rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia. New palm oil plantations are also taking away habitat from endangered orangutans and rely on child labor and forced labor.
11 Things You Didn’t Know About Pomegranates
Emily Saladino
In season through January, pomegranates are one of the more delicious ways to fight off holiday excess. Get tart, and smart, with these 11 pomegranate truths:
Heart of the matter: The edible parts of the pomegranates are technically arils, not seeds. The tart, semi-translucent red aril coats the seed within, protecting it and enticing animals to eat up and share the love.
Make it rain. Removing the fruit from its shell can be a drag. There are different techniques but our favorite is violent yet effective: Cut a pomegranate in half horizontally. Hold one half, cut side down, into a relatively deep bowl. Smack the uncut side of the fruit with a spatula or other blunt object and watch the seeds fall out.
The pom, the myth, the legend: In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Pluto uses pomegranate seeds to trick Prosepina into shacking up with him for four months every year. Her semi-annual jaunts were a way to explain the changing of the seasons.
To your health. Rich with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory fibers and paraoxonase enzymes, pomegranates can limit UV damage, help prevent arthritis and keep bad cholesterol from accumulating in arteries.
Feel the chill. The average pomegranate can contain anywhere from 200 to 1,400 arils. Fortunately, arils can be frozen for up to three months.
Parlez-vous artillery? The French word for pomegranate is grenade. Etymologists speculate the connection stems from 15th Century cast-iron grenades, which were filled with tiny, round pockets of gunpowder. To the gentlemen soldier-botanists throwing them in France, these resembled aril-filled pomegranates.
Heaven is a place on earth: Judeo-Christian historians believe pomegranates to be among the fruits given to Moses to demonstrate the fertility of ancient Israel. Some argue that, given its widespread cultivation in the region, pomegranate was probably the original forbidden fruit. And the Quran cites pomegranates, grapes and olives as earthly evidence of Allah’s greatness.
Alternative appeal. A prominent tool in Hindu Ayurveda, alternative healers boil and grind the peels into a powder, and use it to treat tonsillitis, inflamed or bleeding gums and even just bad breath. Roasted pomegranate skin is mixed with rose water for an all-natural astringent, and juiced arils are said to prevent memory loss, osteoarthritis and heart disease.
Been around the world. A Persian native, pomegranates grow throughout the Middle East and central Asia. They were brought to China’s Han dynasty around 100 BC, had a starring role on the Roman plate, made their way to Spain by 800 AD and were brought to the Americas by 15th Century Spanish conquistadors.
Rinse and repeat. No toothbrush? Pomegranate juice is filled with polyphenolic flavonoids, which make it as antibacterial as prescription mouthwash.
Never too late for now. Pomegranates do not continue to develop sugars after they’re harvested, so, once picked, they remain ripe. They are good in your refrigerator for up to 2 months.
Hops, Fernet and the next Sriracha? Sensient’s 12 flavors to watch in 2014
Maggie Hennessey
The growing consumer desire for sophisticated, nuanced and personalized flavor experiences—with the enticing added benefit of health and wellness claims is what will dominate flavor trends in the coming year, according to global flavor and fragrance supplier Sensient Flavors. The 12 flavors to watch are:
Balsamic fig. A blend of sweet, full-flavored figs and aged dark balsamic vinegar is neither too sweet nor too tart.
Burnt calamansi. A hybrid of a kumquat and mandarin orange, burnt calamansi has a unique citrus profile similar to a sour orange or a slightly sweeter lime.
Fernet. An aromatic spirit or bitter containing myrrh, chamomile, cardamom, aloe and saffron that is a popular digestif in Italy.
Ginger plum. A juicy, sweet and tart plum with a touch of spice from ginger.
Gochujang. Referred to by some as “the new Sriracha sauce,” it is a savory and pungent fermented Korean condiment made from red chiles, rice, fermented soybeans and salt.
Green coconut. Green (young) coconut gained its initial recognition in the US form the rise of popularity of coconut water.
Guasacaca. A Venezuelan avocado sauce with a bright, grassy parsley note.
Juniper berries. Gin is primarily flavored with Juniper berries and invokes the nostalgic feeling of an elegant past era.
Rhubarb. With antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, Rhubarb has a straightforwardly tart flavor profile.
Ras el Hanout. A spice blend which brings the flavors and culture of Morocco to consumers’ doorsteps. Its name in Arabic means “top of the shop,” or the best spices the merchant has to offer.
Tayberry. Cross between a blackberry and a red raspberry. Rich in vitamins and antioxidants.
Willamette hop. Used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent, hops impart a bitter, tangy flavor in beer, and increasingly, in confections and other unexpected food products.
Americans’ eating habits worst since 2008; ‘systemic change’ needed, RD says
Maggie Hennessy
According to the latest Gallup/Healthways poll, Americans’ eating habits deteriorated in 2013. Healthy eating is down for all months in 2013 when compared with 2012. Additionally the percentage of Americans who report eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables at least four times a week dropped in eight out of 10 months. Moreover, healthy eating in most months last year has been at its lowest in Gallup trends since 2008. In line with these results, Gallup and Healthways reported in November that the adult obesity rate so far in 2013 is 27.2% (up from 26.2% in 2012), and is on pace to surpass all annual average obesity rates since 2008.
Sweeteners with health benefits
Casey Seidenberg
For those of you with a sweet tooth, remember: Not all sweeteners are alike. Refined white sugar and corn syrup have no nutrients, have a high glycemic index and contribute to obesity and diabetes. The artificial sweetener aspartame has no nutrients and has been shown to cause problems such as dizziness and headaches. Many agave syrups contain more fructose than high-fructose corn syrup. There are two star sweeteners that impart flavor and nutritional benefits.
Blackstrap molasses. High in iron and calcium, this sweetener offers health benefits with a sweet, tangy flavor. It can be substituted for molasses in most recipes, but is slightly more bitter. Blackstrap molasses also offers magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese. It has similar calorie count and sugar content as white sugar, but its glycemic load is lower so that diabetics can consume it more safely.
Grade B pure maple syrup. With a higher sugar content and a lower mineral content than blackstrap molasses, maple syrup has a more universal sweet taste. Two teaspoons of maple syrup provide 22 percent of your daily requirement of manganese. The zinc in maple syrup supports our immunity and heart. A majority of shoppers purchase grade A maple syrup because it most resembles the highly processed versions made with corn syrup. Grade B is usually produced later in the season, tends to have a richer flavor, pours a bit thicker and is more nutrient dense.
Tooth-friendly candy promise with novel probiotic, says BASF-backed study
Oliver Nieburg
A short-term pilot study claims that a lactic acid bacterium holds potential for use in sugar-free candies to reduce the risk of dental caries. Research conducted by German R&D firm Organo Balance with support from BASF found that Lactobacillus paracasei DSMZ16671 (LP) could be added to sugar-free candies to improve oral health. The randomized, double blind, in vivo study split 60 participants into three groups. Each group was instructed to consume either a placebo candy or one containing either 1 or 2 mg of PB per piece four times during one and a half consecutive days. They found mutans streptococci was significantly lower for the PB candy groups as compared to participants’ levels before the study. Levels in the placebo group were largely unchanged. The effect was witnessed in spite of the fact the PB bacteria was killed by heat. Further trials are planned with larger populations.
ScienceShot: How to Green Your Firing Range
Matt Davenport
Firing ranges host some of the planet’s most heavily contaminated soils. Cleaning this soil is often too costly for the operators of military and private ranges. Now, Korean scientists have created a natural mixture that sops up nearly all the metals: pulverized oyster shells and fly ash, the sooty particles spewed by combustion. Combining the two waste products creates a concoction rich in minerals that shackle metal ions within tight molecular bonds. The researchers identified a unique blend that locked up 98% of leachable lead contamination and 96% of the copper in grossly contaminated firing-range soil. Other soil-scouring techniques exist, but the shells-and-ashes approach is far cheaper and more sustainable.
Self-Cleaning Tableware Will Change Your Life…And Your Bad Habits
Huffington Post
Thanks to an invention by Swedish design studio Tomorrow Machine who has created a way to do away with one of our least favorite household chores—washing dishes. Self-cleaning tableware uses the organic compound cellulose (which is mostly used to produce paper) eliminates the need for washing plates and dishes ever again. The cellulose pulp is first made into a sheet, which is then heat pressed in a mold. The material becomes as hard as a regular ceramic product. A wax is dissolved in carbon dioxide at high pressure and temperature, and then sprayed onto the surface. The coating is a new technology, which creates a surface that’s resistant to dirt and water. Still in prototype, the technology isn’t ready for the industry just yet.
The Alton Browncast has been selected for iTunes Best of 2013! Showcasing picks chosen by the iTunes Editorial team, this feature celebrates the year’s best music, TV shows, movies, books and podcasts.
Check out the feature here: http://www.itunes.com/bestof2013