Gourmet Scientist - Grains

Pasta in (Venice) Italy

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:08:00 -0500

Spaghetti carbonara

Being in Italy, pasta is, of course, a must; but unfortunately, I'm not able to eat much of it due to digestive problems. Still, I managed to sneak small tasters from my friends. As with any food, you don't know what you're missing until you've had the real thing. Maybe it's because the pasta was handmade. Maybe it's the flour, water, or production process. Maybe it's a local factor (After reading Heston Blumenthal's In Search of Perfection, you realize that one can only replicate a dish so far due to the effects of regional differences). Whatever it was, the pasta definitely tasted softer with a nice tender chewy texture. It was not the dead hard or soggy soft of dried store bought pasta.

Sauce, as many have mentioned, was just enough to coat the pasta yet provide satisfying flavour. The pasta was not swimming in it. Simply amazing how little sauce can provide such a flavourful punch, something the Italian cuisine is often described by: using minimal fresh and high-quality ingredients for maximum flavour. Although, I do have to add, I sometimes like extra tomato sauce!

Pasta with squid ink

While in Venice, we tried one of the signature dishes: pasta coated with squid ink. The ink itself is not very flavourful, but the colour is certainly amusing, especially when you're not the person eating it. I wonder if there is any other reason for using the squid ink...

Alternative Grains

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:30:00 -0500

Clockwise (L-R): Korean mixed grains, pearl barley, bulgur

With the recent push for increasing intake of dietary fiber, I've read about the various whole grains available--couscous, quinoa, bulgur, etc--and have been quite keen on trying them. This article gave the final stimulus. I'm not sure why, but bulgur seemed to be calling out the loudest; so I went for that first. Unfortunately, the taste and texture reminds me too much of Southern American grits, which I really really do not fancy. The texture is a bit too fine, and I was hoping for something a bit more substantial as I was looking to use these grains as a type of rice/bread/carbohydrate alternative.

So next, I went for pearl barley, mainly because I found that it's beneficial for my spleen deficiency. I've had it before as it's commonly used in Asian soups and desserts, but I was planning to use it somewhat differently. It definitely takes a lot longer to cook, but thanks to my "special" rice cooker ("special" because it cooks until all the water has disappeared rather than stopping after a certain time, albeit a bit too far--i.e. burnt dry), I just pour about 4-5 times the amount of water, cook it further with additional water if needed, and leave it to soak with a little bit more water. The final product is a soft, almost rice-like texture but with a little more chew and nutty flavour. I quite like it!

And now, I've just mixed the barley with the Korean wild grains mixture (barley, millet, sweet brown rice, brown rice, job's tear, red bean, black bean, peeled mung bean, black sweet rice, corn, green pea) that I brought back from the States and have been enjoying the even chewier texture and nuttier flavour. Yum!

Nutrition: 100g serving size

	Calories (kcal)	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Protein (g)	Fiber (g)
Barley	123	0.4	28.2	2.3	3.8
Bulgur	83	0.2	18.6	3.1	4.5
Brown rice	112	0.8	23.5	2.3	1.8
White rice	130	0.3	28.5	2.7	0.4
Mixed Grains	269	2.5	53.75	7.5	7.5

Gluten-free Bread

nospam@example.com (Crystal Cheng) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:21:00 -0500

God is simply amazing! I was just thinking about having to buy bread when I found a package from Glutafin waiting by my front door. Several days ago, I had signed up for a free sample of their gluten-free wheat bread; and voila, here it was!

Me being me, I couldn't resist digging in immediately. The loaf definitely felt a bit softer, although still dense, than the brick-like ones I encountered back at Whole Foods. The texture resembled the slight chewiness of a untoasted crumpet but with a subtle nutty flavor. It was a bit dry, but it was not at all too far off from a normal wheat bread.

I am genuinely surprised. We'll see what happens after freezing and toasting. Now I wonder how the other gluten free bread taste...