YumSugar

Beer: The Next Cancer Elixir?

YumSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:15:25 -0700

While we recently learned that Americans are drinking less beer, perhaps they should reconsider.

Recent studies show that xanthohumol, a chemical found in hops, can inhibit enzymes that trigger cancer as well as help detoxify the body of carcinogens.

In addition, other researchers at Rice University are trying to genetically engineer brewing yeast in order to create beer loaded with resveratrol, a cancer-preventing compound.

Perhaps this could help bring back America's beer drinking traditions. Would you drink beer that was genetically engineered if it had potential health benefits?

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Would You Buy Genetically Modified Food?

YumSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:00:36 -0700

A recent CBS News/New York Times poll shows that 53 percent of Americans won't buy food that has been genetically modified. I can see where folks would be concerned, and wondered what you thought? Would you purchase food that had been genetically modified? Or are you a food purist at heart?

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Genetically Altered Animals as Food?

partysugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:00:23 -0700

The government has decided to consider farmers' proposals to sell genetically altered animals as food. Although genetically engineered food is not a new concept (the process is used in agriculture to produce more crops), this is the first time that the FDA has contemplated applying the process to animals. The animals' genes would be manipulated to bring out or change certain characteristics. Faster growing fish, featherless chicken, and mad-cow-resistant cattle are examples of the types of changes that can be made.

The development is incredibly interesting and somewhat disturbing. The FDA will not always require the genetically modified food to be labeled, so consumers may not know if they are eating pork from a reduced-waste producing pig or fish that has grown in 18 months instead of three years.

What do you think of the news? Would you want to eat genetically adapted animals?

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Getting to Know Anne Burrell

partysugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:00:08 -0700

Let me introduce you to Anne Burrell. Anne's a multi-tasker with many roles in the food industry. First and foremost, she's the executive chef of a restaurant, Centro Vinoteca, in New York City. She works at the restaurant six days a week and isn't much of a home cook. In her downtime Anne competes as Mario Batali's sous chef on Iron Chef America. However, her latest role is as a hostess of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, a new show on Food Network. This Sunday (at 9:30 a.m.) Anne's coming to a kitchen near you and she's teaching you how to cook like she does in her Centro Vinoteca. Earlier this week I chatted with the former Culinary Institute of America instructor, to see what she had to say, read more.

PartySugar: With your show, what are you hoping to teach the American people?
Anne Burrell: I want to help people understand that they can do restaurant food at home. I want to take the fear factor out of cooking. Cooking is such a daunting task to a lot of people and it doesn't have to be. It's not really rocket science. Once you know the techniques, like how to understand high heat, you can do it. When you cook, you have to be entirely comfortable. Cooking is like a dog when you're nervous, it knows your nervous. A lot of people think that cooking is genetic, and they say, oh I cook because my mom cooked. But cooking isn't genetic, you have to learn how to do it first before it becomes common sense. In the restaurant, we are always looking for ways to maximize flavor and minimize effort and that's what I'm going to teach you to do.
PS: Tell me about working with Mario Batali on Iron Chef.
AB: Well this season we are not doing it, due to conflicts in Mario's schedule during filming, but we are still very much a viable team. Being on Iron Chef is every bit as stressful as it seems. I just do my best and tell myself, I'm not going to be the reason Mario loses.

PS: What's your advice to the every day, home cook?
AB: My advice, sadly it doesn't seem that exciting, is to read the recipe! Read the recipe from start to finish before you begin to cook. When I was learning how to cook, I never wanted to read the recipe, but now I see how important it is because you can start doing what I call "crap detecting" where you filter out steps. Basically, you modify the recipe to get rid of the crap. Sometimes you'll read a recipe that says, saute the onions in one pan and the mushrooms in another and later you will combine the two in the same pan, so why not eliminate those first steps? Saute them both in the same pan, and save time while making the dish more flavorful.

PS: What's your favorite kitchen tip?
AB: Use salt! Generously use salt. Taste everything as you go along. Really sitting and tasting the food is something the home cook is reluctant to do. Food should taste good, you have to control that quality.

PS: What did you have for lunch today?
AB: I had a turkey sandwich on rye toast with mayo, lettuce, and potato chips. I always put potato chips in my sandwiches because I like that crunch.

Now that you know a little bit more about Anne, will you watch her show?

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Supermarkets Shrinking

YumSugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:00:11 -0700

In a world of oversize food - genetically modified apples, super-size fries, and venti coffees - one thing may be coming up smaller: grocery stores.

According to the New York Times, grocers across the country from Safeway to Wal-Mart are turning to stores with smaller square footage. Supermarket retailers, like Jewel-Osco, who is building a smaller-format store in Chicago, are hoping to capitalize on an untapped segment of time-starved shoppers who are looking for an affordable meal to go without menu prices, or who just want to pick up a handful of grocery items.

These chains aren't shuttering the warehouse-sized predecessors, but hoping to gain market share as competition grows cutthroat. Both convenience stores and drugstores such as CVS are selling more groceries and fresher prepared foods, and British retail giant Tesco began stateside expansion last Fall.

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