Food Archives - Page 7 of 8

07Dec 2015 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Guar Gum – Uses, Contraindications, and Diversity

Through past decades, food products have been formulated and reformulated. This has been done so as to achieve good quality at lower cost. One of the ways to reduce cost is to replace high price thickeners with cheap substitutes. These include seaweed extracts and vegetable gums. Among them are carageenan, locust bean, xanthan and guar gums. What exactly is guar gum? From Beans to Endosperm Guar beans are harvested from the guar gum bush. It is grown in India and Pakistan. In the U.S., it is found in Texas. Gums are used to impart creaminess. They are thus added to dairy products. They also are used in place of ingredients that contain gluten. The best known food in which this has occurred is certain breads. The endosperm is the desired…

24Nov 2015 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Orange Oranges is an Historic Controversy

Food, Health

[caption id="attachment_10239" align="alignright" width="440"] Orange oranges.[/caption] As a kid many moons ago, I was told there really aren't any orange oranges. That is to say, they aren’t naturally orange, but are really green. Is this true? Not entirely, but it is partly true. Many oranges do turn orange, at least in part. Temperature and sunlight levels are relevant. The green color present in some ripe fruits is chlorophyll. Yet, when we go to the store, we see oranges that are at least mostly orange, usually completely so. Oranges, you see are often dyed. Now you may have already known that. But did you know there once was a controversy over it? We transcribe a Palm Springs, CA Desert Sun news article for 1958. The Supreme Court Rules Washington (UPI) –…

09Nov 2015 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

What is Carrageenan?

Food

[caption id="attachment_10160" align="alignright" width="480"] Cultivated Chondrus crispus seaweed.[/caption] Carrageenan is a thickening agent and stabilizer. It is derived from seaweed. Would you believe it is frequently used in dairy products? One example is commercially formulated chocolate milk. Thickening the base imparts a feeling of creaminess to the milk. And yes, this seaweed derived thickener is a major ingredient in less expensive (read: cheap) brands of ice cream. Vegetarians Its origin makes carrageenan a natural for vegetarian products. One historically important variety comes from Chondrus crispus seaweed. It is very often called Irish Moss. It replaces animal based gelatin. Another well known form comes from the seaweed Gigartina stellata (which is called Carrageen Moss). Chemically Chemically, the thickener is not simply one substance. It is a whole family of substances, the…

23May 2015 by Vincent Summers 2 Comments

Seed Potatoes: Plant Only Seed Potatoes

Food

[caption id="attachment_7288" align="alignright" width="440"] White Potatoes at harvest time.[/caption] As a child, we would eat some form of white potatoes pretty near every day. I wasn’t a fan. I wished Mom would make just about anything but white potatoes. We had ‘em boiled with butter, mashed, baked, fried. The mashed potatoes were made using a potato ricer and a small electric mixer—a lot of work and a lot of noise. The potatoes were lumpy. Tastes Change We had a small garden. We never grew our own potatoes. Instead, we’d buy them at the local A&P grocery store. When I left home, I ate relatively few potatoes. Eventually however, I overcame my distaste of eating the things and even grew to love them. Eventually, I realized how tasty they were. So…

23Apr 2015 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Gathering Morel Mushrooms

Food

I'm not one to go gathering mushrooms in the wild. There are too many risks. The one gathering mushrooms must be certain what he is gathering, or he may wind up very sick or very dead. But there is a single exception for me. I don't mind gathering morel mushrooms. Why do I feel so confident about them? Appearance Morel mushrooms proffer a very definite time window for gathering. Morel mushrooms also present a very distinct appearance, different from other mushrooms. Just look at the image associated with this article and it becomes obvious that my words are true. They look like miniature sponges! Preparing In my limited experience, morel mushrooms offer no unique flavor that distinguishes them from all other mushrooms. Still, it has a delicate texture and is,…

13Apr 2015 by Vincent Summers 10 Comments

You Can Eat Onion Grass

Food

Some plants aren't what their name suggests they are. For instance, reindeer (or caribou) moss is really a form of lichens. Or take the blackberry lily. It is really an iris. Again, the may apple does not grow in May on a tree, but is a small plant seen often in April that is only about a foot tall! Then there's onion grass. When I was a youngster (this was in the 1950s to 1960s), we used to pull onion grass and sniff it. I'm not certain what the thrill was in this, but it was a ritual that had to be engaged in by all. We'd pretend we were going to eat the stuff. But is it possible to eat onion grass and not get sick? What's in a…

26Nov 2014 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Yeast and Baking Powder Bread Dough

Chemistry, Food

[caption id="attachment_6469" align="alignright" width="440"] CC-SA 3.0 by Lou Sander[/caption] Have you ever made dough with yeast and baking powder? Bread is one of the staples of life. Some translations of the Bible read, "Give us this day our daily bread." Most bread is leavened bread. Leavening refers to an ingredient or ingredients designed to raise and lighten bread, through the incorporation of tiny gas bubbles throughout the dough. Dough rises through two mechanisms, employing yeast and baking powder. The first is a biological process, the second is a chemical process. Either procedure results in a delicious, decidedly edible product. Yeast Rolls Yeast rolls and other breads are raised by means of microscopic animals called yeast. Yeast combines oxygen from the air with carbohydrates such as glucose sugar to produce carbon…

22Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Chopping Onions Makes You Cry

Chemistry, Food

[caption id="attachment_17235" align="alignright" width="480"] Purple onion.[/caption] You are about to prepare a delicious meal—a meal that requires you to slice or chop onions. Do you dread the task? The act of chopping onions is simple enough, but you know already chopping onions makes you cry. Why? What can you do to avoid it? Let's find out. Chopping Onions Makes You Cry The chemical that comes from preparing onions is called a lachrymator. That word lachrymator is simply defined as a chemical that irritates the eyes, causing tears to flow. In fact, a purely gaseous lachrymator may be called "tear-gas." Yes, onions produce tear-gas: specifically, (Z)-propanethial-S-oxide (PTSO). Onions of themselves don’t cause a problem. It is the slicing and chopping of them, the damage inflicted to the cell walls, that causes…

21Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Chemicals to Peel Tomatoes?

Food, Manufacturing

The advertisement for Hunt’s Tomatoes says they use no harsh chemicals to peel their canned tomatoes. This statement does not openly suggest other companies use harsh chemicals, but it implies that they do. In fact, it is a common practice to use chemicals to peel tomatoes. Hunt, though, declares they use steam. To Tell the Truth My curiosity aroused, I decided to look into the matter. Technically, Hunt is telling the truth. Nonetheless, the use of lye in the peeling of fruits and vegetables is not new or unusual. Although 70% of tomatoes are peeled using hot water or steam, approximately 30% are peeled using lye. 'How To' Peel Tomatoes These facts are found in the publication by the University of California, Davis entitled, Peelability and Yield of Processing Tomatoes…

19Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Food Chemistry: What is a Glycol?

Food

[caption id="attachment_5892" align="alignright" width="440"] Propylene Glycol[/caption] In our food, we expect to find ingredients of the earth, sea, and air—ingredients that occur naturally without any finagling from humans. Grains, vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, fowl, and cheese are all welcome. But go to your neighborhood grocery and pick up any package of prepared food product, and you are likely to be assaulted with a huge array of substances that sound nothing like these ingredients. That array will include thickeners, anti-caking agents, preservatives, fungus preventatives, and so forth. Yet another ingredient may be some form or other of glycol. What is that? Simply put, a glycol is a double alcohol—two adjacent carbon atoms each has a pendant hydroxyl group. The structure is seen to the right, below: [caption id="attachment_20003" align="alignright" width="304"] glycol…