Nowadays, it is fairly common to find micro-greens in your dish. These are small, tasty and healthy vegetable confetti. They make wonderful additions to many dishes in all kinds of restaurants. They have found their way into gourmet or haute cuisine cooking. They are often use as garnishes or they are added as primary ingredients. Micro-greens have indeed become a trend and they are expected to continue in their popularity in the coming years.

What are Micro-Greens?

Micro-greens are actually the first leaves that sprouted from any plant. These are the leaves that appear between the baby stage and the sprouting stage of plants. Often, they are minuet in size but perfect in form. People love micro-greens because they are more nutritious than fully grown leaves.

There are actually numerous plants that are produced for micro-greens. Some of them include broccoli, radish, amaranth, rapini, red cabbage, green cabbage, cumin, mizuna and giant mustard. All of these plants are specifically grown for micro-greens which tend to smell and taste stronger than their full-grown counterparts.

Nowadays, you will find numerous farms growing micro-greens all over the world. California, in particular, is the home to the world’s best micro-green farms. It is in these farms that you will find innovative methods adopted in order to grow the most nutritious micro-greens.

Growing and Using Micro-Greens

You can definitely grow your own micro-greens. You only need to sow the seeds you would like to grow in a flat soil or a pot with soil and take care of them. You need to collect the seedlings once the first leaves start to appear. This will take about three weeks from the time you plant the seeds. In truth, you can grow your own micro-greens anytime you want. You can even grow them inside your house during the winter. You just need to get special felt pads where you would plant and grow your seeds.

Using micro-greens in your cooking will certainly give an additional texture to your dishes. Adding these into your vegetable salad will give your salad a curious bite. You will not lack of recipes for your micro-greens. A quick search in your favorite search engine will give you hundreds of recipes.

There is an increasing demand for micro-greens. People are becoming aware of the nutritional benefits they would get from these vegetables. Fortunately, you can always grow your own micro-greens. You can even have them during winter. This way, you can spice up your dishes with delicious micro-greens.

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Drinking was always dominated by men. It’s kind of a double standard where it was perfectly okay for men to drink while the women stay at home and tend to the house. Well, that was then and this is now. I’m not saying that the double standard has disappeared completely, however, women drinking is much more socially acceptable now in modern society.

The truth is, it’s still a man’s world when it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages. In the UK, Germany and France, the disparity in genders are so far apart when it comes to drinking. Germany leads with the biggest gender gap with 61% of German women drinking alcohol, compared to some 80% of German men.

This number is not so bad compared to recent decades. Just try and search for “Wine” and “Women” on Google and you will come up with 437,000,000 search results. I believe that the popularity of wine with women are for two reasons. One, is certainly the empowerment of women today. Two, is for health reasons that red wine benefits women.

Health benefits of red wine for women

1. Health of the heart – Red wine prevents bad cholesterol while facilitating the numbers of good cholesterol in the body.

2. It fights blood clots – Fibrinogen is something that wine prevents in the body. This protein when prevented will reduce blood clots in the body.

3. Healthier and longer life – Red wine is said to contain resveratrol which is researched to increase life expectancy and an overall increase in the quality of life.

4. Lowers blood pressure – Red wine is known to lower blood pressure and fight hypertension.

The flip side
Although drinking red wine can help women in a lot of ways, moderation is still a rule of thumb. There is a flip side, a caveat if you will, from drinking a lot of red wine. Unfortunately, there are studies that linked cancer and drinking of red wine. Actually, just drinking alcoholic beverages in general is linked to an increase rate in cancer.

Aside from this, the empty calories in Red Wine can cause obesity. The American Heart Association recommends one or two glasses a day for men and one drink a day for women.

If you are really looking for a healthy alternative to red wine, then most doctors would suggest that you try exercise and adding fruits and vegetables in your diet.

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At all times, Tea is associated as a khaki-colored concoction, brewed from leaves, leaf buds, and other plant parts served before or after meals, which can be either hot or cold. But for some it’s not just a mere drink; it’s a way of life, a cultural legacy, a comfort, and an art.

In the past if you took “afternoon tea” or “high tea” it was a glance of your social standing.  Afternoon Tea was a light elegant meal served between a light lunch and late dinner, usually between 3 o’clock and 5 o’clock, and was mainly confined to the aristocracy with their leisurely lifestyle.  High Tea was a more substantial meal, including meat and/or fish, and was really an early dinner which well suited the middle and lower classes after a long day at work.

As times and lifestyles changed, the popularity of the formal afternoon tea waned, but has seen a revival in recent years as people once again enjoy its elegance. This formal pause quickly developed into a fashionable social event and spread where afternoon dances were called “tea dances.” During the 1880’s, well-to do, society women had wardrobes including long gowns, gloves and hats especially for afternoon tea. Service was highly stylized, with very specific rituals for serving the tea, usually in the drawing room between four and five o’clock. The occasion called for pleasant conversation among the prettiest table settings, providing the hostess an opportunity to show off her best china and linens and to serve her most delicate cookies and cakes.

As practice, tea party was and is rather concise, lasting 1 to 1 1/2 hours, providing just enough time for a delicious snack and plenty of conversation usually scheduled from mid to late afternoon. An afternoon tea theme may also  be used for a wedding reception, shower, or large afternoon party, as long as the starting time is between 2:00 PM and around 4:30. At a large party, coffee or even punch or iced tea may be added to the menu. Evening teas beginning after dinner are also occasionally scheduled.

At the party, everything is placed on the table .The food is prepared before the guests arrive, and is either presented into a buffet style, or by just passing plates of goodies at the table. This often includes savory, bite size sandwiches, scones or biscuits, and sweets. The only thing that needs to be served is the tea itself, allowing the hostess to have plenty of time with her guests and be relaxed and enjoy the event itself instead of running back and forth to the kitchen.

Napkins and small plates are stacked, but cups are placed on their saucers, not stacked. Each person needs a small spoon for stirring the tea, and a spreader, or butter knife for spreading a scone with clotted cream, but knives and forks for eating interfere with the ease and sociability of the event. The party is kept relatively small so that everyone can be seated around the table or in armchairs with an end table nearby for them to place their cup and saucer and other table appointments. No guests serve their own tea, instead the hostess serves everyone, adding sugar and lemon or cream as requested. At one time it was customary to first pour a little milk into the teacup.  It was thought that the fine porcelain cup may crack if the hot tea was poured directly into the empty cup.  At larger parties, friends of the hostess are asked to serve. It is still considered an honor to be asked to “pour” or serve tea at someone’s tea party.

Tea Party Preparation

If you want to make your tea party to be memorable, here are some suggestions and preparations that will help:

1. Prepare and begin with creative invitations.

2. Purchase or borrow the necessary items for your tea gatherings.

- 1 or more china teapots
- Cups and saucers may with a variety of patterns.
- Cutlery this includes teaspoons, small fork for lemon slices in a dish, serving utensils for cake, forks, and – knives for jam.
- Sugar bowl with tongs for serving sugar. Always use sugar cubes
- Milk Containers. Serve milk, not cream.

3. Choose for classical or vintage type of music.

4. Use candles to create ambiance.

5. Plan and prepare a colorful variety of petit fours, scones, sugar cookies, and of course, chocolate.

6. Set out bouquets of pink and white flowers.

7. Take Polaroid snapshots of guests to add to the fun and chatter.

8. Ask guests to dress up complete with heels, hats, and gloves

Tea for the Party

Tea are sold either in tea bags or loose tea leaves.  At one time, loose tea with its large leaves had a superior flavor as tea bags were made with broken tea leaves and siftings that produced a stronger, darker tea.  The introduction of fine quality tea bags has changed that and now the choice between loose tea leaves or tea bags is based more on personal preference.

There are wonderful assortment fine teas available today.  The three main types are: Black, Oolong or Red, and Green Tea. Assam, Ceylon, China Caravan, Darjeeling, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Keemun, Kenya, Lapsang Souchong, Nilgiri, Orange Pekoe, Rose Pouchong, Russian, and Yunnan are Black Teas.  Formosa/China Oolong and Formosa/China Pouchong are Oolong or Red Teas, and Gunpowder and Jasmine are Green TeasTea.

Caddies can be used to store both tea leaves and bags.  A small container, once lockable to prevent servants from stealing the expensive tea leaves, it keeps tea leaves fresh for up to 2 years and tea bags for approximately 6 months.

Tea Preparation:

1. Allow at least a pint of tea for each person; this is enough for three ordinary tea cups-full.

2. Fill a tea kettle with purified water and set on stove to boil.

3. Warm up your china teapot by running hot water thru it from the faucet. This will keep your tea warmer for a bit longer.

4. Add your teabags or tea-filled infuser to the teapot using 2-3 tea bags for 4 guests.

5. Pour the boiling water carefully into your teapot and wait 5 minutes, then remove teabags

6. Remember that China Teapots are best at keeping tea warm. Surround teapot with a stylish tea cozy for extra insulation.

I hope you have learned a little history of tea parties and how to throw a tea party like a champ. Enjoy your party and save a cup for me.

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I still remember how I used to take for granted and ignore learning this very important skill earlier in my career. I thought that sushi rice is simple and involves only the vinegar and the rice. In this article I will explain the fundamentals of mastering the perfect shari.

The Rice

To make the perfect shari, you must have perfectly cooked rice. Basically the water ratio for cooking rice is 1:1, which is one cup of rice and one cup of water. But depending on the type of rice that you use, the water ratio may vary. This is especially true in the case of new crop “shinmai” rice. New crop rice have higher moisture content and is usually unsuitable for sushi but professional sushi chefs sometimes make their own rice blends by mixing old “komai” and new crop “shinmai” blends. High quality rice has a good balance of starches (amylose and amylopectin) for the right stickiness needed. Do keep in mind that you will be adding vinegar later so it’s advisable to cook the rice slightly hard.

Experiment with various brands and water ratio until you get the perfect texture for the next step. One point to remember when you cook rice is to let it sit for 20~30 minutes without opening the lid when it’s done.

The Vinegar Mixing

Never make the mistake of using a metal bowl to mix your shari. The reason is that steel conducts heat fast you won’t be left with enough heat for the proper blending of the vinegar to the rice not to mention that vinegar reacts with metals and it will alter the taste of your sushi rice. Always use a sushi barrel or “hangiri” as it is called in Japanese.

For every 1.8 kilos of rice use 360 cc of prepared sushi vinegar “sushisu”. To mix, empty the cooked rice into the hangiri and use the wooden paddle to guide the vinegar around the rice evenly while you pour the sushi vinegar. Then gently push the rice apart using the wooden paddle (shamoji). Using a cutting sideways motion to evenly incorporate the vinegar; be gentle to ensure that you do not to crush the rice. Continue the cutting motion until rice clumps are not visible.

Fanning as you go (a conventional electric fan will do the job); the air helps the rice absorb the vinegar and gives the rice a polished look. Let it cool a bit before overturning the rice for the final blow.

A perfect shari is 37.5 degrees Celsius and it’s the best and most comfortable temperature to work in so try to adjust the temperature to around 40++ Celsius before transferring it into a shari container for storage.

To transfer the remaining sushi rice that you can’t scoop with your wooden paddle, use a damp cloth to wipe off the remaining sushi rice at the bottom of the hangiri and also the wooden paddle. With the damp cloth, you can remove even the last grain of rice.

The Storage

Assuming that you’re working in a sushi restaurant, you will want the sushi rice be maintained at a certain optimal temperature until closing time. The optimum temperature to work with is 37.5 degrees Celsius. Back in the old days, sushi chefs used to wrap the wooden container with straw to provide insulation.

Nowadays we have specially manufactured sushi rice containers that are made of plastic, hygienic and will provide you with the insulation needed to maintain your sushi rice temperature. Also, to minimize wastage of the sushi rice and to ease the cleaning of the container after use, try to search for a product named “rice guard”. It’s basically a piece or disposal non stick paper that moulds into your container creating a barrier between the plastic container and your sushi rice. Since the sushi rice won’t stick to the paper, every last bit of the sushi rice can be used.

Sushi Vinegar Recipe

Ingredients

Rice vinegar (komesu) - 1200cc

Sugar - 1.080 grams

Salt - 250 grams

Mirin - 1 tablespoon

Konbu - 1 small piece (around 6×6 cm)

Method

l Heat over fire and stir well.

l Once the sugar and the salt have dissolved, turn off the fire.

l Do not bring to boil.

Happy cooking,

Daisuke Tanabe

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