tomatoes

It’s time for something more light-hearted and fun to lift our spirits, and what better way than with a few fun foodie facts! 

Courtesy of CheatSheet, bet you didn’t know all five of these:

Just like cheese and wine or bread and butter, meat and pasta is a match made in heaven – what can be more delicious than strands of pasta covered in your favourite tomato or cream-based meat sauce?! Just thinking about Carbonara Alfredo or Ragù Napoletano has us craving what must surely be Italy’s greatest export – and yes, the pasta did originate in Italy, despite a misconception that it was first eaten in China.

Saturday, 9 February, is World Pizza Day and if you’re like the majority of us, when you hear the word ‘pizza’ you probably start salivating. Surely one of the world’s most ubiquitous and much-loved foods, pizza is to modern day pop culture what cucumber sandwiches must have been to the Victorians in the 1800s.

The notion of computer processing speed doubling every 18 months is known as Moore’s Law, and it’s just one indication of how technology changes at an exponential rate. For most of history, man would die in a world that looked pretty much the same as the one he was born into, but that’s no longer the case – just think about your own life right now, your life pre-Facebook, pre-Twitter, pre-smart phones.

Even the greatest chefs need a helping hand from time to time, and thanks to Epicurious – a digital brand for consumers interested in food and cooking related topics and started by Condé Nast in 1995 – here are some of the best things you can do to be a better cook right now.

A condiment by definition is ‘a substance used to enhance the flavour of food’ – imagine how bland and boring our meals (lives!) would be without them. But as much as we love them, and as much as they make most dishes taste more fabulous, they’re not always best for our health, because often they’re laden with sodium or sugar. If you want to retain flavour, but also want to make healthier choices, read on for striking the best balance.

BBQ Marinade vs Home-Made

We all know that protein is essential to our bodies – it plays a myriad of roles from providing cell structure and strength, to aiding our immune system. The building blocks of protein are called amino acids and there are 22 specific types inherent to the process – 13 of these are produced by the body, nine are not and they must be sourced from the foods we eat. While plant-based foods will provide some of these amino acids, it is only animal-based protein that provide all nine in one go.