caravia/cooking

Kusmi Tea is one of my passions. Anastasia is my favorite, black tea scented with orange and spices...

I believed I was first with this discovery!! A great cooking site!! But my dear friend Tapwater J, tapwaterj.stumbleupon.com [tapwaterj.stumbleupon.com] beat me on this!
I am happy to share with him!

Trendy chocolate manufactured by the owners of the magazine Wired. Beta versions and fair trade, but only available online or in the factory.

Exciting work, to achieve peace and dialogue through food and cooking together:

"Take two chefs, one Israeli and one Palestinian, and you have the recipe for a groundbreaking TV drama that is helping to break down barriers in the Middle East. Donald Macintyre reports

Friday, 4 July 2008
Orna Pitusi, left, an Israeli, and Clara Khoury, a Palestinian, star as two television chefs in the drama series 'Good Intentions', which tackles head-on the conflict in their homeland

Orna Pitusi, left, an Israeli, and Clara Khoury, a Palestinian, star as two television chefs in the drama series 'Good Intentions', which tackles head-on the conflict in their homeland
There's a moment when one of the two strong women at the centre of Good Intentions, a ground-breaking television drama series showing at prime-time on Israel's Channel Two, leaves a voicemail for the other, who is preparing to drop her son off at the induction camp for the first day of his compulsory army service. "I only wanted to wish you good luck for your son," she says. "I hope he will be safe."

That would be unremarkable. Except that the woman making the call is Amal, a Palestinian from Ramallah whose brother is paralysed from the waist down after being shot by an Israeli army patrol; has just passed through a hated military checkpoint on her way home from work; and is struggling to protect her own daughter from the perils and pressures of life under Israeli occupation.

Both women are chefs recruited for the series' show within a show, a TV cookery programme with the - in the sceptical eyes of the unnamed channel's bosses - outlandish idea of being co-presented by an Israeli and Palestinian. The developing bond between them is strengthened by the implacable opposition each faces from among her nationalistic friends and family. Tami's husband, who once shot an unarmed Palestinian during his army service, is angry and embarrassed at her cooking in public with the enemy; the woman she runs a restaurant with, whose husband was killed on military service, leaves for a rival concern in protest at her doing the show; and her son says that by working with a Palestinian she "weakens me as a soldier".

Wonderful site about Turkish cuisine, from the sultans kitchen to the popular dishes eaten by peasants and workers.

"Turkish Cuisine in the 11th Century

Reşat Genç

The great 11th century Turkish writers Yusuf Has Hacib** and Kaşgarlı Mahud*** gave us very detailed information on Turkish cuisine, as they did on almost every subject. Of the two, Yusuf gave most of his attention to the preparation of feasts, and what should be served at such feasts; he also addressed Turkish table etiquette in the 11th century among young and old. As for Kaşgarlı, he introduces us to 11th century Turkish cuisine from the aspects both of space as well as its material culture, and also provides information, sometimes very detailed, on various dishes and their preparation. From this standpoint, though what comes to mind at the mention of Turkish cuisine is the foods and drinks that lend it its richness, I deemed it more appropriate to give some brief information on table etiquette and the 11th century kitchen utensils, and then move on to the subject of food.

a) The Kitchen and its Implements: It is well known that in the 11th century, in the Karahan and Selçuk palaces in particular, various Turkish rulers and lords had kitchens run by master chefs, as well as wine houses run by special administrators. In addition, every Turkish home, like those of today, had an area set up as a kitchen, which was called and aşlık, meaning a place where food was made. However in time this Turkish name was abandoned; the modern word mutfak is derived from the Arabic matbah."