Author Archive: blogger

Why Your Macarons Are Going Wrong – The Most Common Pitfalls

blogger March 15, 2023

Making macarons is not easy – anyone that tells you otherwise has either never trued making them or is lying for some reason. If some of the world’s greatest chefs admit that they often struggle to make perfect macarons, how can any of the rest of us claim otherwise?

However, the good news to come out of all this is that making decent macarons you don’t in fact intend to serve to members of the aristocracy or sell to the public doesn’t have to be an unmitigated nightmare. The basic recipe is pretty simple and so too is the process of putting the ingredients together – tasty and pretty macarons do not demand a degree in the culinary arts.

So, you may ask, why are you coming out with pure garbage pretty much every time you try? Well, the simple answer is that you’re most likely making once of a few extremely common mistakes and not even realizing it. So if you happen to be guilty of any of the following, you probably have your answer as to how and where you’re going wrong:

1 – Fresh, Cold Eggs The most common pitfall of all that’s happening all over the world right now as you’re reading this is the use of fresh eggs straight from the fridge. Any good recipe will tell you that it is preferable to use fresh egg delivery that have been -aged’ for a few days to get the right texture for your batter. It will also tell you that using eggs that aren’t at room temperature is inadvisable. Of course, some see it as easier to ignore the rules than to delay their baking any longer, so they end up with a batch of bothersome biscuits they have no use for. Ignore this tip and you’re wasting your time.

2 – Weak Whisking If you don’t give your egg whites enough time and attention with the whisk, your batter will be a disaster. This is pretty much the be all and end all of your macarons after all, so be prepared to really go for it and not stop until you know you’re on the money – even if you’re getting sore and bored. Just to coin a comparison, you’ll know you’re heading in the right direction if and when the mixture looks similar to shaving foam.

3 – Timing the Sugar Call it dull and boring all you like, but if you don’t time the adding of the sugar exactly, you’re in for a disappointment. You need to add the icing sugar – NOT icing mix – after you’ve been beating the egg whites for about 30 seconds-no more and no less. This timing is essential to ensure the right consistency, so don’t ever overlook its importance.

4 – Oven Issues About half way through the cooking process, you should open the oven door and rotate the baking trays. Why? Two reasons – one being that you need to let the excess moisture escape from the oven and the other being the importance of even cooking across the board. Ignore either and you may end up with half your macarons fit for a king and the other half not fit for the dog.

Culinary

Team Building Ideas

blogger February 26, 2023

Sometimes a company needs to collectively take a break and give its hard-working employees the chance to unwind. Once people get to know each other on a personal level, rather than through the veneer of professionalism and office politics, it can often become easier to work with one another on a day to day basis. And a shared experience can do wonders in terms of bringing people together.

But what sort of day will everyone appreciate? In most companies, theres such a variety of individuals that it can be hard to cater to everyones tastes. It may be the case that some of the typical team building activities you would assume everyone would enjoy may be unsuitable, or perhaps make some members of staff feel uncomfortable. Nothing is worse than putting the effort into a special day for everyone to enjoy, only to find that no one seems to be having a particularly good time.

Thats why it is important to assess all the options available to the company. Decide on a rough budget and shop around to see whats available. Failing to do this could lead to an embarrassing moment at a later stage, when you realise youve missed out on a truly memorable team-building opportunity.

When it comes to deciding which activity to do there are certain “go to” activities that seem to work well in most office situations. One modern classic is paint balling. A company can organise themselves into teams (or death squads), pick up their weapons and get either as tactical or as Rambo as they like. Cue rudimentary military sign language and terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions. Usually there will be a variety of scenarios to play through, such as sieges, capture the flag and sometimes even historic reenactments.

But sometimes the idea of paint balling wont appeal to certain members of a team. For a more refined day out, a team cookery session can be a great activity, and usually an activity that is universally liked by the group. Corporate days are available for almost all styles of cookery, from traditional English to Thai. This is great way to get teams to gel, whilst simultaneously broadening their culinary horizons.

There are also a variety of rather more unorthodox corporate days that have emerged in recent times. Smoothie making, sumo suit wrestling and even spy days are becoming increasingly popular. Whether you decide to go with a tried and tested day, or something more unusual, team building is an essential part of modern office life.

Allowing for a properly bonded team to form doesnt make sense only from a HR perspective, but also from a financial one. Studies have shown that people working in offices built on good relationships are actually more productive, with a lower staff turnover.

Team building days are not the only way to build office relationships, but they should form a part of a businesss overall strategy to keep staff happy.

Culinary

Arnold Schwarzenegger, HR

Up and down through Italy searching the Carnivals tastes!

blogger February 22, 2023

The Italian culinary tradition is notoriously full of excellence confirmed by the enormous mass of registered products and imitations that in every corner of the world people tried to do. In addition to the products themselves there are also numerous recipes that can be found in the Italian tradition, a different proposal for every occasion, many kind of cakes that in every region are related to a particular years period. Just thinking to the “panettone” and “pandoro”, typical cakes of the Christmas period, specialties exported all over the world. But not only in especial occasion there are cakes but also all over the year, just think to nougat that is appreciated every time. Those cakes are also exported from Italy, by particukar firms, like precious thing, which they are.

Very popular, tasty and delicious desserts are also going to celebrate the carnival, those various names that change from northern to southern Italy, but in essence are very similar. The most famous are undoubtedly those that are produced in the province of Venice, due to their resonance in the world due to the influx of tourists who flock to see the beautiful Carnival of Venice. Historically, the period of Carnival is the one that precedes Lent, a time for penance and fasting, so the tradition provides great entertainment, such as masks and big binge, which then created the wide variety of desserts. But Carnival the sweets are very fat, usually fried and tasty.

There are two typical desserts of this period par excellence: the “frittelle” and the “galani” (in other parts of Italy called “chiacchere”). The “frittelle”, or “fritole” in local dialect, have been considered for centuries the national sweet of the Serenissima Republic of Venice, and still retains its dominance in the entire area around Venice and in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The “frittelle” is essentially a mixture consisting of eggs, flour, sugar, raisins and pine nuts fried in oil, pork fat or butter in frying suitably designed. Once the production was so sweet “frittelle” states that a special craft guild, that of “fritoeri”, was created in Venice.

The “galani” or “chiacchere”, “crostoli”, “lattughe”, whatever you want, from cakes are more ancient origins that trace their origin in Roman times that was prepared during the spring festival of fried dough similar to lasagna but in the fat. The mixture of current “galani” fact is very simple: flour, water, sugar, eggs and butter. The mixture is “pulled” until you reach a certain thickness that distinguishes “crostoli” of the mainland that are bigger and the “galani” lagoon who are more subtle and far more brittle. Both versions are tasty, but especially enjoy special moments of celebration and sharing!

Walking through Italy and then there are many proposals for this period is passed because we “cicerchiata” the Marche to “panzerotti alla marmellata” typical of the Val D’Aosta until you reach the “farra” from Puglia and “stracci” from Tuscany. In short, many proposals all to try and why not to experiment at home by digging a diet and enjoy the tradition and taste of italian products!

Culinary

Italy

Culinary Traditions Of France

blogger February 20, 2023

French cuisine is the amazingly high standard to which all other native cuisines must live up to. The country of France is home of some of the finest cuisine in the world, and it is created by some of the finest master chefs in the world. The French people take excessive pride in cooking and knowing how to prepare a good meal. Cooking is an essential part of their culture, and it adds to one’s usefulness if they are capable of preparing a good meal.

Each of the four regions of France has a characteristic of its food all its own. French food in general requires the use of lots of different types of sauces and gravies, but recipes for cuisine that originated in the northwestern region of France tend to require the use a lot of apple ingredients, milk and cream, and they tend to be heavily buttered making for an extremely rich (and sometimes rather heavy) meal. Southeastern French cuisine is reminiscent of German food, heavy in lard and meat products such as pork sausage and sauerkraut.

On the other hand, southern French cuisine tends to be a lot more widely accepted; this is generally the type of French food that is served in traditional French restaurants. In the southeastern area of France, the cooking is a lot lighter in fat and substance. Cooks from the southeast of France tend to lean more toward the side of a light olive oil more than any other type of oil, and they rely heavily on herbs and tomatoes, as well as tomato-based products, in their culinary creations.

Cuisine Nouvelle is a more contemporary form of French cuisine that developed in the late 1970s, the offspring of traditional French cuisine. This is the most common type of French food, served in French restaurants. Cuisine Nouvelle can generally be characterized by shorter cooking times, smaller food portions, and more festive, decorative plate presentations. Many French restaurant cuisines can be classified as Cuisine Nouvelle, but the more traditional French restaurant cuisine would be classified as Cuisine du Terroir, a more general form of French cooking than Cuisine Nouvelle. Cuisine du Terroir is an attempt to return to the more indigenous forms of French cooking, especially with reference to regional differences between the north and south, or different areas such as the Loire Valley, Catalonia, and Rousillon. These are all areas famous for their specific specialty of French cuisine. As time has progressed, the difference between a white wine from the Loire Valley and a wine from another area has slowly diminished, and the Cuisine du Terroir approach to French cooking focuses on establishing special characteristics between regions such as this.

Culinary

Cuisine Nouvelle, France, Loire Valley, Southeastern French

China culinary arts tour

blogger February 16, 2023

One of the most important parts of Chinese practices, Chinese cuisine has been admired and recognized throughout China’s history.

You might have been teased through Chinese food from periodicals, or appreciated the experience of visiting a Chinese restaurant inside your own region.on.

Having said that, whatever you may not understand is that authentic Chinese meals is vastly different from what you’ve got been eating up to now. Most Chinese food that you are familiar with is actually heavily fried. Vegetables tend to be or much less treated since condiments as opposed to the cause of some meals. Chinese food that you simply order with regard to take-out does not totally realize the countless regional distinctions discovered all through China.

China Cuisine is universally named one of the greatest dishes of the world.Chinese culinary art is without doubt one of the greatest pleasures any visitor could experience in almost all parts of China. China’s huge area and long history have given birth to distinct regional cuisines over the centuries. The actual number of regional cuisines in China is still under dispute, but professionals concur on at the very least four: Sichuan,Shandong, Guangdong (Cantonese), and Jiangsu-Zhejiang.

This particular can be a China tour specifically developed for men and women who enjoy Chinese cuisine. This tour will provide you with the chance to check out some of China’s most well-liked destinations and find out how you can cook the local foods.

DAY BY DAY ITINERARY

Day 01: Arrive in Beijing
On landing , you’re welcomed and helped transfer to the hotel to check in .

Day 02: Beijing-B,L,D
This morning, discover the wide Tianmen Square along with the Forbidden City, the finest preserved imperial palace in China as well as the largest ancient palatial building in the world. Right after lunch,drive to a local culinary school where you are going to spend about 3 hours in order to get familiar with the Chinese cooking utensils and discover the simple abilities of the best way to make Beijing Food.

Day 03: Beijing-B,L, D
Today enjoy a highlight of your trip as you check out the renowned Great Wall, one of the great wonders of the world. En route,if traffic permits, to stop to photograph the iconic Bird’s Nest. The Beijing National Stadium is a host to a lot of spectacular events of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Then arrive at the incredible Great Wall, and walk along its ramparts as emperors once did. Immediately after lunch stroll along the Sacred Way to the Ming Tombs and Chang Ling Exhibition Hall. The Ming Tombs is the burial location of 13 Chinese emperors and includes the very best preserved examples of 15th century Chinese art and architecture.

Day 04: Beijing / Chengdu-B, L,D
This morning , visit yet another cooking school where experienced Chinese chefs will show you the entire process on how to cook typical Beijing food and understand the way to make several Chinese dishes from the correct beginning to the end, and then try producing 1 dish by your self.

Afterwards, you will have lunch at the renowned Jiaozi Restaurant to see how Chinese dumplings are made and then have a tour of the local vegetable marketplace. Here you will be shown all of the special meats, spices and vegetables that are required so as to make most Chinese dishes.
Later, fly to Chengdu.

Day 05: Chengdu-B,L,D
An fascinating day starts as you travel to a nearby culinary school.
Course of this morning is focused on the simple theory of Sichuan Banquet . At about 11:00,start off to practice under the guidance of master for 1 course of Sichuan Food.This afternoon practice under the assistance of cuisine master for 2 to 3 course of Sichuan Food. Tonight, you’re our guests at a conventional Chinese Medicinal Herbal Banquet.

Day 06: Chengdu /Leshan / Chengdu–B, L, D
A a quite different experience awaits you as you go to visit the well-known Panda Reserve to see these cute animals being reared in wooded surroundings reminiscent of their natural habitat. According to the pandas’ activities once you check out, you could have the chance to take your picture with an adorable baby panda! Later travel to Leshan to check out the remarkable Grand Buddha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also the world’s largest Buddha statue carved into the side of the Lingyun Mountain.Take a short boat trip to observe the statue. From here , drive back to Chengdu.

Day 07: Chengdu-B,L,D
Training course of this morning instructs the simple theory of Sichuan Snack and Hot Pot. At about 11:00,commence to practice under the guidance of master for 1 course of Sichuan snack.This afternoon practice under the guidance of cuisine master for 2 to 3 course of Sichuan Snacks. This evening, take pleasure in the acclaimed Sichuan Hotpot.

Day 08: Depart Chengdu-B,
Check out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for your flight onward.

Culinary