Tamarind is a Fruit Widely Known in Cuisines Around the World (Chris Rawstern)

My first experience with tamarind was in Guatemala. While living there, I grew to love the refreshing beverage made with tamarind. As the tamarind pulp is quite tartly acidic, it works similarly to lemons for making lemonade. Once returning to the US in the 1980s, tamarind was unavailable in most places and my interest fell by the wayside.

Tamarind is originally from Africa, around what is the Sudan, today. It grows abundantly in India and the name tamarind comes from the Indian words Tamar Hindi, meaning Indian Date. The tamarind was introduced into Mexico and the Caribbean sometime around the 16th century. The tamarind tree can grow to a height of around 80 feet in its preferred climate. The tree appears feathery, with tiny leaflets down each side of the stems. These leaflets close up at night. The fruit grows as brown pods. The outer casing of the pods is dry and brittle and easily cracked off. The inner fruit is a dark reddish brown, thick, fibrous and sticky. The fruit encases 1 to 12 glossy brown seeds. It is tart and sour when young, sweetening as the pods ripen.

Tamarind was once again highlighted when interest in world cuisines and fusion cooking picked up in the later 1990s. This time the focus was on the pulp used in recipes, rather than solely as a beverage. An amazing flavor, tamarind is both sweet and sour at the same time. It is a potent flavor, best used somewhat sparingly unless you are quite accustomed. It is a wonderful addition to any sweet and sour dishes. It is an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce. In Southeast Asian cooking, it is a flavor often combined with such other ingredients as garlic, dried shrimp, coconut and chilies. Pad Thai is one commonly known Thai dish using tamarind. In India, it is used to make delicious chutney, as well as a Tamarind Rice or South Indian Fish Curry. In the Caribbean islands it is often used in cooking seafood. Small amounts of tamarind paste are used in sauces for dishes containing cassava, chickpeas, potatoes or rice with greens. It can be used to make sweet and sour sauces, mixed into recipes with both sugar and pepper, mixed into barbecue sauces, made into beverages, desserts and candies.

One common use for tamarind is in sauces, which gives control of the amount used. Plain tamarind sauce or paste is available in many places these days, including online. Adding from a teaspoon to many tablespoons of this prepared sauce simplifies making any recipe. It can flavor a marinade for meats. Chicken, beef, pork and lamb are all candidates for a tamarind flavored marinade. The natural acidity can be used in a marinade to tenderize tougher cuts of meat. It can be used in vegetarian dishes, adding wonderful sweet and sour flavors to a vegetable stew. The paste can be cooked into a jam. If making a Caribbean type barbecue sauce with tamarind, some suggested ingredients would be chilies, mango, onion, garlic and a bit of spicy mustard. Sugar may be added to taste. These flavors seem to beg for barbecued chicken.

I plan to try out recipes in the Caribbean or African style. A little tamarind sauce with sweet potatoes and brown sugar would be a great combination. Mixed into a stew with greens and chickpeas and sweet potato is another great application. Find some tamarind, whether in pods, compressed into a cake, or strained into a sauce. Experiment with the flavor. Make it into a refreshing beverage with sugar, to taste. This gives the first indication of the flavor of tamarind. Then look at trying this new flavor out in other recipes. It is so versatile, lending the use to both sweet or savory recipes, and sometimes both together. Put tamarind on your list of new flavors to try if you have not already.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.

My name is Chris Rawstern, I have been on a cooking and baking journey for 42 years. Many people have asked what A Harmony of Flavors means. Have you ever had a meal where the visual presentation was stunning, the smells were incredible the taste was so remarkable that you ate slowly savoring every bite, wishing the experience would never end? Then you have experienced what a truly harmonious meal can be like.
I began my cooking career in Guatemala, in 1970. I moved there as a naive 20-year-old, and set out to learned about cooking in a foreign land. I will pass along special recipes that I have been making for 42 years, and new ones. I will also pass on tips or notes with things to watch for and what just plain works better. I have amassed huge quantities of recipes over the years, and recently have begun giving classes.
My passion is to teach people how to create a Harmony of Flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own.
Visit my Web site http://www.aharmonyofflavors.com my Blog my Marketplace at http://www.a-harmony-of-flavors-marketplace.com or on Facebook page at A Harmony of Flavors. I share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site.I hope to see you there soon

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Tamarind is a Fruit Widely Known in Cuisines Around the World (Chris Rawstern)

My first experience with tamarind was in Guatemala. While living there, I grew to love the refreshing beverage made with tamarind. As the tamarind pulp is quite tartly acidic, it works similarly to lemons for making lemonade. Once returning to the US in the 1980s, tamarind was unavailable in most places and my interest fell by the wayside.

Tamarind is originally from Africa, around what is the Sudan, today. It grows abundantly in India and the name tamarind comes from the Indian words Tamar Hindi, meaning Indian Date. The tamarind was introduced into Mexico and the Caribbean sometime around the 16th century. The tamarind tree can grow to a height of around 80 feet in its preferred climate. The tree appears feathery, with tiny leaflets down each side of the stems. These leaflets close up at night. The fruit grows as brown pods. The outer casing of the pods is dry and brittle and easily cracked off. The inner fruit is a dark reddish brown, thick, fibrous and sticky. The fruit encases 1 to 12 glossy brown seeds. It is tart and sour when young, sweetening as the pods ripen.

Tamarind was once again highlighted when interest in world cuisines and fusion cooking picked up in the later 1990s. This time the focus was on the pulp used in recipes, rather than solely as a beverage. An amazing flavor, tamarind is both sweet and sour at the same time. It is a potent flavor, best used somewhat sparingly unless you are quite accustomed. It is a wonderful addition to any sweet and sour dishes. It is an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce. In Southeast Asian cooking, it is a flavor often combined with such other ingredients as garlic, dried shrimp, coconut and chilies. Pad Thai is one commonly known Thai dish using tamarind. In India, it is used to make delicious chutney, as well as a Tamarind Rice or South Indian Fish Curry. In the Caribbean islands it is often used in cooking seafood. Small amounts of tamarind paste are used in sauces for dishes containing cassava, chickpeas, potatoes or rice with greens. It can be used to make sweet and sour sauces, mixed into recipes with both sugar and pepper, mixed into barbecue sauces, made into beverages, desserts and candies.

One common use for tamarind is in sauces, which gives control of the amount used. Plain tamarind sauce or paste is available in many places these days, including online. Adding from a teaspoon to many tablespoons of this prepared sauce simplifies making any recipe. It can flavor a marinade for meats. Chicken, beef, pork and lamb are all candidates for a tamarind flavored marinade. The natural acidity can be used in a marinade to tenderize tougher cuts of meat. It can be used in vegetarian dishes, adding wonderful sweet and sour flavors to a vegetable stew. The paste can be cooked into a jam. If making a Caribbean type barbecue sauce with tamarind, some suggested ingredients would be chilies, mango, onion, garlic and a bit of spicy mustard. Sugar may be added to taste. These flavors seem to beg for barbecued chicken.

I plan to try out recipes in the Caribbean or African style. A little tamarind sauce with sweet potatoes and brown sugar would be a great combination. Mixed into a stew with greens and chickpeas and sweet potato is another great application. Find some tamarind, whether in pods, compressed into a cake, or strained into a sauce. Experiment with the flavor. Make it into a refreshing beverage with sugar, to taste. This gives the first indication of the flavor of tamarind. Then look at trying this new flavor out in other recipes. It is so versatile, lending the use to both sweet or savory recipes, and sometimes both together. Put tamarind on your list of new flavors to try if you have not already.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.

My name is Chris Rawstern, I have been on a cooking and baking journey for 42 years. Many people have asked what A Harmony of Flavors means. Have you ever had a meal where the visual presentation was stunning, the smells were incredible the taste was so remarkable that you ate slowly savoring every bite, wishing the experience would never end? Then you have experienced what a truly harmonious meal can be like.
I began my cooking career in Guatemala, in 1970. I moved there as a naive 20-year-old, and set out to learned about cooking in a foreign land. I will pass along special recipes that I have been making for 42 years, and new ones. I will also pass on tips or notes with things to watch for and what just plain works better. I have amassed huge quantities of recipes over the years, and recently have begun giving classes.
My passion is to teach people how to create a Harmony of Flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own.
Visit my Web site http://www.aharmonyofflavors.com my Blog my Marketplace at http://www.a-harmony-of-flavors-marketplace.com or on Facebook page at A Harmony of Flavors. I share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site.I hope to see you there soon

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How Chefs All Over the World Create Meals For People With Diabetes (Andy Salazar)

It is believed that primarily due to lifestyle choices diabetes is on the rise and can be prevented with some care and some changes in the respective lifestyle.

Chefs all over the world while preparing meals for diabetics tend to take some measures in to count so that the people who have diabetes can also enjoy their meal properly.

Experts say that one should try to lose weight if he or she is borderline diabetic, as losing even 5 to 10% of the total weight would help in reducing the blood sugar level considerably apart from lowering blood pressure and cholesterol level in the system.

There should be certain changes that should be made to the daily eating habits so that a healthier lifestyle can be adopted. And not necessarily the changes have to be drastic but some minor adjustments like replacing white rice consumption with brown rice, instead of white bread, consume whole wheat or wholegrain bread etc.

Also, according to the chefs one should include lot of non starchy vegetables and fruits in the diet for daily consumption. One should also limit intake of concentrated sweets such as candies, chocolate bars, ice cream etc. Alcohol should be totally avoided and the consumption of soft drinks should also be stopped.

It is best if one can cook with olive oil instead of ghee, butter and vegetable oil. Beans are believed to be great source of dietary fiber and should be made a part of daily diet. These are also believed to lower blood sugar levels to a great extent. Chefs believe that meals comprising fish is also a healthy dish which can be served to the diabetics.

You need to eat fish because it is a good source of omega 3fatty acids and help to keep your arteries clear. As much as you should avoid fatty foods and fatty meats, you can always go for lean meats like chicken breast etc. And if you cook it in slow cooker most of the nutrients can be retained and the flavor also turns out to be pretty good.

Nuts are considered to be good source of vitamin E and any meal which comprises of them is considered consumable and healthy. Fresh yogurt which is rich in protein is considered healthy and is believed to help you lose weight as well.

Another important kitchen ingredient which most of the time goes unnoticed but has immense benefits is cinnamon. It is believed that just by sprinkling cinnamon on the food and consuming it one can lower blood sugar level to a great extent.

It is advisable to totally avoid junk food, fried food and oily dishes as they don't have any positive impact on your body and only burden your system with unnecessary fat.

If you sometimes feel the urge to munch on something you can think about snacking on apples, cheese, homemade popcorn, plain biscuits etc. While eating you need to remember that moderation is the key and by choosing to eat healthy you are just helping yourself to lead a better life.

Reader, writer, reviewer for Being Grand Kitchen Table Talk, the food and beverages site with recipes and healthy eats for diabetics, and what women talk about around the kitchen table.

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