The Food Culture of the Tamil Region

Food production is a science; food preparation is a living art. We prepare food to share with our kith and kin for our earthly and spiritual sustenance. All the great religions teach that food is a Divine blessing and should be treated with respect and immense gratitude. In Tamilnadu food is a spiritual science with precise prescriptions of how to cultivate, prepare and consume food for physical, emotional and spiritual well being. Our local traditions have several things in common with global traditions. In that light this article presents our food culture through ages with its uniqueness of thanks giving to nature and people.

Virgin Olive Oil and Its Use in Gastronomic Offer of Dalmatia and Istria

Olive growing is a significant, developing branch of the Croatian economy in total agricultural production. Virgin olive oil is one of the most nutritious fats in the Croatian gastronomic offer, especially in Istria and Dalmatia. For this reason, the chefs’ knowledge regarding virgin olive oil is required. The quality of olive oil is determined by live varieties, cultivation climate, and method of production. This paper aims to examine the presence of virgin olive oil in the food preparation of Croatian restaurants and the possibility of its application in Croatian restaurants. This study has shown that restaurants in Istria and Dalmatia use mostly virgin olive oil, produced exclusively in Croatia. Croatian hospitality workers have only domestic oil in their offer, mostly from their production. Many chefs from this study believed the consumption of olive oil should be higher. The results may encourage the olive oil producers, and hospitality workers, to monitor the competitiveness of the product in markets.

Challenges for Upcycled Foods: Definition, Inclusion in the Food Waste Management Hierarchy and Public Acceptability

Upcycled foods contain unmarketable ingredients (e.g., damaged food produce, by-products and scraps from food preparation) that otherwise would not be directed for human consumption. Upcycled food is a new food category and thus faces several challenges, such as definition development, inclusion in the food waste management hierarchy and public acceptability. This review provides an overview of these three challenges. The upcycled food definitions have been developed for research, food manufacturers, and multi-stakeholders use. Thus, there is a need for a consumer-friendly definition for the general public. A simplified definition is proposed to introduce these foods as environmentally friendly foods containing safe ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption such as damaged food produce, by-products and scraps from food preparation. Moreover, an updated version of the food waste management hierarchy has been proposed by including the production of upcycled foods as a separate waste management action that is less preferable than redistribution but more favourable than producing animal feed. Furthermore, consumer sociodemographic characteristics and beliefs, as well as food quality cues and attributes, were identified as crucial factors for the public acceptability of these foods. Future research should address these challenges to facilitate the introduction of upcycled foods.

Improvement of the condensation efficiency of the condensation hood

Condensation hoods are currently widely used in modern gastronomy. They condense the steam produced by the combi-steamer during the food preparation process. In this paper, some improvements implemented to the design of the hood heat exchanger are described. Experimental and computational analysis allow to determine the consequences of those modifications in terms of condensation efficiency as well as their impact on production cost. Results of the measurements are in good agreement with results of simulations carried out using in-house CFD model.

School Pantry Cook-Off: An Approach to Educate Youth on Food Insecurity

The “School Pantry: Mystery Food Box Cook-Off” is a program designed to increase awareness of food insecurity among youth and teach strategies to prepare healthy foods on a budget. A pre-and-post survey showed a statistically significant difference in participants’ overall knowledge, skills, and confidence level after the program compared to before the program. Findings revealed a hands-on nutrition education strategy via cook-off could educate youth on food insecurity and increase their knowledge and confidence to make healthy and affordable meals at home. Other Extension educators seeking to address food insecurity and food preparation skills among youth can replicate this program.

“We should at least have basic survival skills, right?”: young males support mandatory food skills education

PurposeThis study explored young males' suggestions for food skills education in three domains: food selection and planning, food preparation and food safety and storage. It also solicited young males' perspectives on mandatory food skills education.Design/methodology/approachThis descriptive qualitative study employed a semi-structured interview guide. A one-page list of food skills was provided to each participant to form a consistent basis for the interviews. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method.FindingsForty-four young men aged 17 to 35 participated in the study. Thirty-seven supported mandatory education for food skills. Gender stereotypes around food skills were identified as a barrier to young males enrolling in elective food skills courses. When asked how food skills should be taught, the two main strategies mentioned were “online” and “hands-on.” Most participants identified skills in the food preparation domain as essential to include in the curriculum, although some recognized the importance of incorporating skills from all three domains.Practical implicationsUnderstanding important characteristics of effective food skills education for young males may increase their participation in school, virtual and community-based food skills education. Curricular content should consider young males' interests and baseline competencies and emphasize practical hands-on skills. Mandatory food skills education in secondary schools for all genders represents a comprehensive solution.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to report young males' opinions on crucial components of, and methods for, effective food skills education for this population.

Getting Steamy in Amnon’s Chamber: Philological and Metaphorical Observations on 2 Samuel 13

2 Samuel 13:1–19 presents us with dueling perspectives on a rape scene. Despite Tamar’s protests, the narrative voice reflects Prince Amnon’s lustful viewpoint, in which he and Tamar are acting out a scene of steamy seduction. Within this framework, the unexpectedly detailed description of Tamar preparing the dumplings deserves more attention. I examine the Hebrew words לְבִבוֹת (“heart-cakes”), יצק (“to pour out”), and מַשְׂרֵת (traditionally, “baking pan”), offering a philological explanation of their associations that diverges from much modern scholarship. This new understanding of the food-preparation scene makes it clear that Tamar’s actions are a narratively realized metaphor: in preparing the food to be consumed, she is preparing herself to be consumed erotically—at least, as viewed by Amnon. In other words, using the language of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Tamar is the cake.

Intervention to decrease salt intake inadequacy using a control device to monitor and control salt use when cooking at home – iMC SALT preliminary results

Introduction Excessive salt intake is one of the greatest risks to public health, making urgent to propose measures to reduce its intake and bring great benefits to reduce cardiovascular diseases risk. In the Portuguese population, the main source of salt consumption is the salt that is added during food preparation and cooking meals. Purpose The main aim of this study was to assess whether an intervention using a dosing salt device (Salt Control H) in food preparation and cooking has beneficial effects in salt intake. Methods This was a two-arm randomized controlled trial. A total of 88 workers from a public university (50% female; mean age 47.2±11.4 years), were randomly assigned to a intervention (I; n=42) or a control group (C; n=46). The intervention was delivered by health professionals in an occupational medicine setting, asking participants to use a salt control device that delivers the maximum amount of salt to add in food preparation and cooking, according to the number and age of the persons who will consume the meal, during 8 weeks. Primary outcome was the 24-hour urinary sodium excretion (Na24), validated by creatinine coefficient, and secondary outcome was 24-h urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio (Na/K24). Parametric tests were used to assess differences between urinary data stratified by C or I group and Mann-Whitney to evaluate differences between stratified groups according to meet WHO daily recommendations of intake. Results At baseline, there was no significant differences in mean Na24 (C: 3145.5±1420.1 and I:3268.7±1159.8 mg/d, p=0.096) and Na/K24 (C: 2.0±0.9 and I: 2.1±0.8 mg/d, p=0.792) between the two groups. After 8 weeks intervention, a Na24 and Na/K24 non statistically significant decrease was observed in the I group (to 3094.1±1391 and 2.0±0.8 mg/d), as opposed to the C group (to 3262.5±1527.0 and 2.2±0.9 mg/d). The proportion of participants from I group that present Na<2000 mg/d increased (from 17 to 29%) as the proportion of participants that present Na/K24 <1 (from 0 to 12%) without significant differences from C group (p=0.214 for Na <2000 mg/d and p=0.383 for Na/K24 <1). Conclusion The Salt Control H measurement device showed promising results to increase adherence to daily salt intake recommendations. The device is a useful and practical tool for educating individuals about dietary salt doses to add to meals cooked at home. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia Figure 1

Pyro Geography and Indian Quest during Anthropocene to COVID-19

Taming fire by homosapiens was one of the foremost technological advancement in the history of evolution. The homosapiens tried to tame the wild fire by locating, preserving, using as tools for hunt game, food preparation, rituals and religion, and protecting them from predators. The modern men in Anthropocene in Pyroxene period, the fire have been used for domestic, industrial, and pioneering researches to concur the earth. The type of ignition to our vast deciduous forests can be natural, accidental, out of negligence, deliberate, incendiary, agriculture purposes, resource collection, and at times cultural. Present assessment embraces the changes that occurred in the wildfire due to weather-related and anthropogenic ignited. The wild fire deaths in towns, factories and mines have been reduced for the last six years. But during the pandemic COVID-19 under the locks, shutdowns and curfews, the numbers of crowdie and industrial fires in India has abridged, but dependence on forest products for livelihood by the aboriginal people and global warming had increased numbers of forest fire in India. There are also increased electrocution fatalities in different hospitals in India due to oxygen enriched surroundings during the present Pandemic.