Category Archives: Food

Today, I am going to lead you to a special tasting experience. Wine tasting? NO!
Tasting is not an experience only limited to wine! Terroir is neither a privilege of wine making. It is a part of the DNA for many kinds of artisanal food. Terroir exhibits environmental factors which affect the growth of a plant. It is a taste of the place, its soil fertility, its climate and its topography. So long as your food does not come with a commercial formula through flavour blending, it is worth tasting.

Have you ever tried honey tasting? If not, let me show you step by step.

1. Choose the honey
Select 3-5 honey varieties to pair each honey with 1 cheese.

We suggest our BioBio Organic Honey: Organic Wildflower Honey (Mount Peloritani), Organic Wildflower Honey (Mount Etna), Organic Wildflower Honey (Mount Erei), Organic chestnut honey and Organic eucalyptus honey.

Pour some of each honey into a small tasting glass with a lid to protect the aroma

2. Pick the accompaniments
Prepare crusty bread, crackers with apple slices and dried fruits. Arrange also different varieties of cheese, goat cheese, parmesan, brie, blue cheese and emmental. Include nuts and root vegetables, like carrots and parsnips.

 

3. Open a bottle
If you like a bottle to drink, sparkling wine or red and white wine pair well with cheese and honey.

 

 

 

4. Set the table
Put the cheese on a wooden board. Arrange other food accompaniments into different plates or bowls. Provide spoons or wooden sticks for tasting.

5. Get tasting charts
Print the tasting charts for every participant, record your tasting and talk about it.

Have you got your honey with you? Yes, then let’s get started!

Now, I am going to show you some key points on honey tasting.

• Observe

1. Is the colour light or dark?

1.  

Honey with light colour usually has a milder flavour while the dark one has stronger flavour. Here flavour means the distinctive taste or scent of the flowers where the pollen came from. 

The colour also indicates the amount of antioxidants in the honey. In general, darker the colour, higher the antioxidants level. 

2. Is the texture liquid or crystalised?

If you observe crystallization, it is a guarantee that your honey is authentic. All real honey will eventually crystalize. It is a matter of time which depends on various factors. The main factor is the fructose/glucose ratio (F/G) and the glucose/water ratio (G/W). A high F/G and a low G/W generally have a slow crystallization process because it is the presence of glucose that becomes insoluble in water and leads to crystallization. 

• Smell

Cup the small glass of honey in your warm hand to help release the aroma of the honey. Is it intense? Does it remind you of some food? Is it earthy? Herbal? Floral or fruit? Describe the aroma.

• Taste

Take a good spoonful of honey, close your eyes and taste it. 

Is it sharp, sweet or subtle?

What is the texture?

Other than sweetness, what does it remind you of?

Then, spoon some honey on a piece of cheese or with crackers or dried fruits. Bring your tasting experience to a different level. Let the mix of flavours delight your palate.

Discover our honey collection here and start your unique honey tasting experience with your loved ones.

Modica chocolate pilgrimage

I remember the first time I tried Modica chocolate was in Modica. My husband drove for 2 hours to satisfy my ”Modica chocolate pilgrimage” compulsion. YES, I love dark chocolate. How could I miss Modica chocolate? (Click here to see how Modica chocolate is made)

This is Modica

Modica, a medieval town in Ragusa, South Sicily. Very quiet place, with tidy roads and abundant pedestrian curbs for a relaxing amble. The main road, Via Umberto, was quite a sight. Along the many cafes and fashion boutiques, as we were expecting, a lot of shops, almost every corner, were selling, displaying or just promoting Modica Chocolate.

The antique Dolceria

We spotted the Modica Chocolate Museum. It was closed. What a shame! Our disappointment didn’t last long… so many shops to see. It was almost lunch time, we looked around hungry, almost hunting for food. Shortly after, in an alleyway, a nice wooden entrance caught our attention. I was the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, an ancient Chocolatier making Modica chocolate since 1880.

I was overwhelmed

We stopped at the entrance almost drooling, we felt the excitement of the pilgrim along with the fervor of our stomachs. Opening the door a sublime fragrance hit us, I saw an ancient mill and the metate for making Modica chocolate “a freddo”; images and articles about Modica chocolate all over the place. We were completely mesmerized. At the counter, we were presented numerous flavours- Pistachio, chili, vanilla, citrus peel, almond, sea salt and the list goes on.

Modica chocolate is just unique

Leaving aside for a moment the perfectly matching choice of flavours, what struck me the most was the texture and fragrance of cacao. I had never tried anything like that, that burst of rustic aroma of cacao, the crunchy sensation of cane sugar on the bite and a hint of extra secret ingredients. It all boils down to the ancient recipe of making Modica chocolate- cold-working process and no added cacao butter. This unique recipe presents chocolate in its most rustic but elegant way. Although it is raw, the level between bitterness and tanginess is perfectly balanced by the granular cane sugar. It in a way turned my world of chocolate upside down from the silly smooth melting-in-mouth chocolate into a raw, robust but almost manly sensation.

Modica chocolate catapulted me back in time

While I was enjoying the Modica chocolate, the shopkeeper explained the history of the recipe. We were instantly catapulted all the way back to the 16th century, when the Spainards brought cacao beans to Europe. They brought back the ancient recipe of chocolate-making from the Aztecs. Wow! I felt re-living history through that small bite of Modica chocolate. It was the moment to choose which flavour which drew me back to reality.

When you are shopping at an Italian grocery, have you ever got confused with the many varieties of tomatoes? If yes, read this before choosing your tomatoes. Yes, Italians are very particular on tomatoes, as on food in general. Here I am going to tell you about the Italian way of tomatoes.

The ‘Red’ on Italian flag is tomato

Tomato is one of the most important ingredients in the Italian kitchen. How important is it? Just look at the colours of the Italian flag- green for basilico (basil), white as formaggio (cheese) and red like pomodoro (tomato). A famous dish-caprese with basil, mozzarella and tomato is one of the patriotic dishes.

A bit of history

In the beginning, when tomatoes were brought to Europe in the 16th century, the first reaction of the people was refusal. They considered these small round berries, belonging to the solanaceae family, poisonous. Yet, tomatoes were sought for ornamental purposes among aristocrats. Not until the late 17th century, people began to eat tomatoes. Over hundred years, different tomato varieties were created, either naturally or by cross-breeding in the soil of Italy. This process helped spread tomatoes throughout Italy for important uses as dried tomatoes, pizza tomatoes, sauce tomatoes and all storage tomatoes.

The Sicilian kitchen

Now we know tomato has been in the most signature dishes in Italian cuisine, but do you know Sicilians are quite hard core about their passata (tomato sauce)? Traditionally, Sicilians are making passata for the whole family in their backyard or in the garage every summer. You may wonder why not in the kitchen? Well, it is an operation too elaborate and the passata is for the whole year long. After a whole day of passata-making, the mamma is finally satisfied with the stash of passata for the whole family all year round. With such a credential, from whom we can learn a better lesson about tomatoes?

Here are the rules

Italians are very particular about the use of ingredients. After living in Sicily for 6 years, I have learned the Sicilian way. There are 5 main ways of eating tomatoes in Sicily- insalata (salad), passata (tomato puree), salsa fresca (fresh sauce), panino (sandwich) and spuntino (snacks).

1. Insalata & Bruschetta

On summery days, having insalata di pomodoro (tomato salad) gives you the best appetite. For making an insalata, nothing is more satisfying than using Cuore di bue and riccio since they are pulpy, soft, juicy and sweet. The simple authentic Sicilian way is just to cut the tomatoes in big wedges, lavish on salt to let the tomato juice release, be extra generous with olive oil, oregano and add a clove of chopped garlic or stripped fresh red onion. You can have this insalata every day during summer. If you want to be through and complete the “ green-white-red flag” you also add one or two mozzarellas..

If you want to make bruschetta, tomato salad on toasted Italian bread. You just have to cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Yes, size matters. Wanna make it complete? Add some cheese/mozzarella. The rule does not change.

2. Passata

As I have explained, making passata is something sacred in Sicily. No pasta, no meal. Of course, it stays for the whole year in the Sicilian kitchen until the next season. Who dares to mess up? Since the Sicilians are very particular on ingredients, let’s talk about tomatoes.

The general rule is all tomatoes are good for making passata but traditionally San marzano or Tomato (allungato) and Tomato (grappolo) are preferred for making passata. These types of tomatoes are less seeds and more pulpy which give a velvety passata. However, the current trend in the market is “passata di ciliegino” (cherry passata) for its taste, potentially sweeter. For a home-made recipe, we stick with the tradition. Once the passata is made, many recipes will call for this stash all year round.

3. Salsa fresca

Salsa fresca is another way to cook the tomato. It is simpler and quicker. Still, tomato allungato like San marzano is preferred since it has less juice than the other tomato which makes it easier to manage the moisture of the pasta. But there is another recipe which calls for cherry tomatoes ciliegino, Pasta alla carrettiera. Alla carrettiera means on the cart, just the name tells you ‘What a rush!’ we are in. It is a perfect recipe for people who are in a rush to enjoy a nice dish of tomato pasta.

4. Spuntino

Spuntino means snack in Italian. It does not have to be raw but it has to be quick and fit for bites. Tomato ciliegino, datterino or even pixel/ piccadilly are fit for this. You may dress it quickly with olive oil, oregano and salt, grate a bit of parmesan cheese, and have it on a cracker. Or, cut the cherry tomatoes and grill them with olive oil and serve it with cheese and bread or dip them into mayonnaise or soft cheese.

5. Panino

Panino is another iconic term in Italy. Literally, it is a sandwich in Italian but not all sandwiches are panini. Yes, panino is small bread like focaccia and ciabatta, not just any 2 sliced bread. Also, panino is grilled on the outside. Now, it is clear what amounts to a panino and what does not. We can move on to the ingredients. The tomato used for panino is usually tondo liscio, the smooth round one because it matches with the shape of cut mozzarella. Yes, the shape matters.
You can see clearly from Insalata Caprese – basil, mozzarella and tomato.

Now you know the 5 general uses of tomatoes in Italy. It is time to buy some tomatoes and enjoy them in the Italian way, or even Sicilian way.

Buon appetito!

Passata di pomodoro (Tomato puree) is one of the traditional home-made preserves. It is among those prepared, together with peeled tomatoes, especially in the southern regions, where its widespread daily use has made it the queen of preserves, made even more special by its unmistakable Mediterranean flavor. Preparing the tomato puree is very simple, there are actually different ways to make it as well as different types of tomatoes for puree. We show you our method, the Sicilian way, one of the simplest and most classic to obtain a perfect, velvety and flavourful preserves, for your sauces and passata-based preparations. A fabulous sauce, capable of retaining all the flavor of tomatoes as if they were just picked. If you’ve always wondered how to make passata di pomodoro (tomato puree) at home, today we will show you the secrets!

Time to prepare: 20 mins
Cooking time: 50 mins
Serving: 2 bottles

Ingredients:
2 kg Tomato (Allungato)
A pinch of Salt

1. Clean and halve the tomatoes
2. Squeeze out the juice and seeds to render the passata more pulpy
3. Cook the tomato in a pot for 30 minutes with low flame
4. Keep stirring during the cooking and until the tomato starts to be soft
5. Add a pinch of salt and wait for a few minutes
6. Pass some tomato at a time with a vegetable mill, with a mesh between fine and medium
7. Collect the passata in a pot and boil again for 20 minutes before bottling
8. Transfer to glass bottle as soon as cooking is done
9. Cover all the bottles with blanket for self-pasteurization with its heat

Buon Appetito

Terroir- the taste of a place
“Terroir” in French or ‘Terreno” in Italian means ‘the taste of a place’ which is a popular term mostly known for wine. But it is not just wine, even olive oil, coffee, chocolate, tomato, heritage wheat, tea, etc have a strong expression of terroir when they are artisanal natural products. The crop grown in a given terroir exhibits the characteristics of the soil, the climate and the variety.

Honey expresses the most distinct terroir
If you are a specialist in terroir, artisanal honey is one of the natural products you cannot miss. Bees are working directly with the land where the role of the beekeepers are their health carers at most. No one can ever control where and from what plant the bees are getting their pollen from. The true artisanal honey is heavily subject to harvest and the weather because the vegetation like wildflowers can vary greatly according to the climate of the year.

Sicily has a diverse terroir
Sicily is a Mediterranean island with the tallest active volcano in Europe. It is hard to imagine how diverse the climate and landscape is in Sicily. Let me give you an example. Having a 3,300-metre high active volcano, we can enjoy a good range of fruits from subtropical climate like banana and mango to temperate climate, like apples and nuts within an-hour drive. Now, you can imagine how rich the vegetation is in Sicily and how much diversity the bees can enjoy.

Tasting honey is fun
Different honey has different flavour profiles, smell and colour. It is not only important to taste the artisanal honey to appreciate the hard work of the bees and the beekeeper, it is also fun to learn about the subtle but distinctive difference of the artisanal honey.

Taste the honey, taste the terroir
We have 5 different types of organic honey harvested in different zones in Sicily- Organic wildflower honey (Mount Peloritani), Organic wildflower honey (Mount Etna), Organic wildflower honey (Mount Erei), Organic chestnut honey and Organic eucalyptus honey. They all represent a distinctive terroir. In general, each type of honey shows a specific feature of the terroir. But in recent years, due to the extreme weather, the terroir has been changing rapidly. Although the production gets more unstable each year, sometimes, there are surprises. Last year, in a mountainous zone, a wildflower honey has a particular flavour and fragrance strongly resembled sun-dried tomatoes.

On top of enjoying the health benefits of organic honey, let’s have fun with honey tasting at home.

“Your beloved avocado is bad for the environment and is often mired in economic and social problems.”

The infamous story of avocados in Mexico rings a bell to all the avocado-lovers. Water shortage, deforestation in Michoacán and drug cartel intimidation, these are the new tags to avocado, other than superfood. How true is that and should we stop eating avocados?

Avocado is super healthy
Is Avocado a fruit, vegetable or berry? What is important is that it is delicious and super healthy. On top of the vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and fiber, it is also rich in bioactive compounds like carotenoids and phenolic compounds which are neuroprotective, and cardioprotective.

It is a staple in Mexican cuisine – the butter for every sandwich, topping on a taco or just a side dish. Now, it has become the staple superfood in the world.

Trend on avocados consumption
In the last 15 years, the demand for avocados has tripled. Due to high economic incentive, Mexican farmers are growing more avocados to keep up with the global demand. 1.6 million tons of avocado come from Mexico which is more than 30% of global production. The chance is every 10 avocados you buy, there are 3 from Mexico. In the United States, their reliance on Mexico is even up to 8 avocados for every 10 purchased.

Other than the economic upside…
Indeed, this avocado boom has lifted many families from poverty in Mexico but other than that, it also has other impacts.

1,700 acres (688 hectares) of being deforested annually?
Due to the recent trend, approximately 20,000 hectares of forest in Michoacán (Mexico) are converted to agricultural use each year. It was estimated that the expansion of avocado plantation contributed to 1,700 acres (688 hectares) of deforestation annually. (A study by the University of Miami Law School states)

How bad is it?
90% of the tropical forest in Lázaro Cárdenas, Aquila y Coahuayana — municipalities in the state of Michoacán, Mexico — and one-fifth of deforestation is associated with Avocado plantation. One-fourth of avocado plantations are in Key Biological Areas (KBAs), which are defined as areas vital to the preservation of threatened species. Mexico is ranked the fifth most biodiverse country on earth with more than 450 species of mammals, 1000 birds, 330 amphibians, and 640 reptiles.

3,800 Olympic pools of water required?
Also, the massive avocado plantation needs around 9.5 billion litres of water daily to produce avocado – equivalent to 3,800 Olympic pools – requiring a massive extraction of water from Michoacán aquifers.

Can you imagine excessive water extraction from these aquifers is causing small earthquakes?
From 5 January to 15 February, 3,247 seismic movements were recorded in Uruapan municipality and surroundings, the most intensive avocado-producing area in the world. According to local authorities, avocado-related water extraction has opened up subsoil caverns that could be causing these movements.

But is avocado really the culprit?

Twenty gallons of water on a daily basis for a single tree is more than what other fruits consume. According to the global scarcity report, the avocado “requires four times more water than the production of a kilo of oranges and ten times of that of a kilo of tomato.”

Does avocado young plant need a lot of water?

First, in our experience, our avocado trees do not require so much water but I have not taken any data systematically
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Second, the thirst for water is not a problem if it could be fulfilled by the natural rainfall. In Mexico, the problem comes from the theft of water sources from the local community.

Is avocado environmentally unfriendly?
Avocado trees exist as any other trees on this planet, they serve their roles. It is the way of cultivation that is the main culprit. The massive scale of monoculture concentrated in Michoacán leads to serious deforestation of pine forest that changed the habitat which even reduced the water retention ability of the water. Imagine the amount of water in the soil is stretched even thinner by many more avocados, therefore the thirst of each avocado is more pronounced. Amount of water can never be isolated from the health of soil.

It is harming the local community
Due to the highly profitable nature of avocado, it attracts avocado ranchers to cut down forests of pine trees for their avocado plantation. It also draws the attention of the drug cartels. They basically threaten the avocado farmer to pay extortion by violence and intimidation.

Avocado is NOT the culprit
Now, it is clear that it is not avocado the culprit, it is the intensive plantation, the theft of water sources, the deforestation and the drug cartels the cause of tainting the super healthy avocado! When you do not know where your food comes from, this is how organized crime can come into the picture.

HK is no small player in avocado market
Hong Kong is one of the main importing markets of avocado, which we consume 6 avocado per head annually for our 8 million population. While in Japan, the consumption is only 1 per head and Europe 2 per head. We are on par with American consumption in which they import 7 avocados per head.

What can we, consumers, do?
None of us wants to involve in or support the organized criminal activities, so the easy way out is to know where your avocado comes from and know your farmers. A small step for consumers, a big change for the world.