Italian madness

Its a world full of CANDY [Part 2 - Gummy and soft Candies]

Hello My Food-Loving Friends ~

In the Last Part We talked about Indian Candies ~
Here's we're gonna do a study about all those chewy Gummy and soft Candies which nowadays everyone loves!  Lets try naming all the Gummy Candies we know!
Gummy Bears , Chewy Gums , Jellies , Marshmallows or even Candy Canes or the chewy dentures you get at markets.
Ahh, I don't think this much is enough !
Lets look up more information on jelly candies!

Here are some gummy Candies ~




According to what i gained through hours of research over the internet, 

A gummy bear is a small, rubbery-textured candy, similar to a jelly baby in some English-speaking countries. The candy is roughly 2 centimetres (0.79 inches) long and shaped in the form of a bear. The gummy bear is one of many gummies, popular gelatin-based candies that come in a variety of shapes and colors.
Jelly Baby is also a type of Gummy Candy! It is in the shape of a Baby ~

Each jelly baby now has an individual name and shape, colour and flavour: 
Brilliant (red - strawberry), Bubbles (yellow - lemon), Baby Bonny (pink - raspberry), Boofuls (green - lime), Bigheart (purple - blackcurrant) and Bumper (orange). 
The introduction of different shapes and names was an innovation, approximately 1989, prior to which all colours of jelly baby were a uniform shape.
 In 2007, Jelly babies changed to include only natural colours and ingredients.Like most other gummi sweets, they contain gelatin. Jelly babies manufactured in the United Kingdom tend to be dusted in starch which is left over from the manufacturing process where it is used to aid release from the mould. Jelly babies of Australian manufacture generally lack this coating.

Haha!... So imma Brilliant and BigHeart?

The success of gummi bears has crossed many gummi animals and objects: rings, worms, frogs, snakes, hamburgers, cherries, sharks, penguins, hippos, lobsters, octopuses, apples, peaches, oranges, and even Ampelmännchen, Smurfs and spiders. Manufacturers offer sizes from the standard candy size, and smaller, to bears that weigh several kilograms

Gummi Candies are made from a mixture of sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavouring, food colouring, citric acid, and gelatin. However, recipes are different ~ such as organic candy,in order to suit it for vegetarians or those following religious dietary laws.

HOW IS GUMMY CANDY MADE?

The hot, liquid mixture is poured into starch molds and allowed to cool overnight. Once the mixture has set, the candies can be removed from the mold and packaged. The molds are open on top, so only the bear's front is formed while the back remains flat. The original design for each type of candy is carved into plaster by an artist, then duplicated by a machine and used to create the starch molds for the production line.

Gummy bears made with either bovine [Ox , Buffalo , Cow etc]  or porcine gelatine [its is produced from animal fat] are not suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Those with porcine gelatine also do not conform to kashrut or halal dietary laws. In its factory in Turkey, Haribo produces halal bears and other sweets which are made with bovine gelatine. Also, some gummy bears are made with pectin or starch instead of gelatin, making them suitable for vegetarians.

Large sour gummy bears are larger and flatter than gummi bears, have a softer texture, and include fumaric acid or other acid ingredients to produce a sour flavor. Some manufacturers produce sour bears with a different texture, based on starch instead of gelatin. Typically, starch produces a shorter (cleaner bite, less chewy) texture than gelatin.

Ask Me =w= Imma Gummy Candy Fan here ~

Here in India , we do get Gummy Bears that are actually without gelatin and they have been made with some other substitute content in place of Gelatin~

So This is How Gummy Candies are made :D
They get the shiny coating because of the gelatin in them ~

Now Lets see What MarshMallows are and what are they made of ~
Personally they have been my favorite out of all Candies since my childhood..... 
Even though i am a Vegetarian , I had been advised to have egg once in a year due to my health issues as a child. So I am kinda okay with eating sweets with processed egg in them.

WHAT IS MARSHMALLOW?
Marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar and/or corn syrup, water, and gelatin, whipped to a spongy consistency, molded into small cylindrical pieces, and coated with cornstarch. Some marshmallow recipes call for eggs. This confection is the modern version of a medicinal confection made from Althaea officinalis, the marshmallow plant.

 Here's a picture of what Althaea officinalis , the marshmallow plant looks like!

So Marshmallow was first existing as a Medicinal substance since it had a gummy extract in the Plant Althaea officinalis , which was earlier used as a cure for sore throats.

And The root of this plant has been used since Egyptian antiquity in a honey-sweetened confection useful in the treatment of sore throat. The later French version of the recipe, called pâte de guimauve [Meaning PASTE ], included an egg white meringue and was often flavored with rose water.

And I kinda studied the process too ... This is how it goes ~

The use of marshmallow to make a sweet dates back to ancient Egypt, where the recipe called for extracting sap from the plant and mixing it with nuts and honey. Another pre-modern recipe uses the pith of the marshmallow plant, rather than the sap. The stem was peeled back to reveal the soft and spongy pith, which was boiled in sugar syrup and dried to produce a soft, chewy confection. Confectioners in early 19th century France made the innovation of whipping up the marshmallow sap and sweetening it, to make a confection similar to modern marshmallow. The confection was made locally, however, by the owners of small sweet shops. They would extract the sap from the mallow plant's root, and whip it themselves. The candy was very popular, but its manufacture was labour-intensive. In the late 19th century, French manufacturers thought of using egg whites or gelatin, combined with modified corn starch, to create the chewy base. This avoided the labour-intensive extraction process, but it did require industrial methods to combine the gelatin and corn starch in the right way.

CONTENTS OF A MARSHMALLOW
Marshmallows, like most sweets, are sweetened with sucrose. They are currently prepared by the aeration of mixtures of sucrose and proteins to a final density of about 0.5 g/ml. The thickness of the mixture, due to the proteins, gelatin or egg albumin, prevents collapse of the air-filled cells

The modern marshmallow candy is made from corn syrup, dextrose, gelatine, and egg albumen. A mixture of these ingredients is heated to around 240° F (115° C), whipped to twice or three times its original volume, and flavoured.
Finished marshmallow ranges in consistency from chewy to semi-liquid. The firmer candy is shaped into the traditional bite-sized “pillows” dusted with rice flour or powdered sugar before packaging; these are sometimes used as a garnish in cooking and are popularly toasted on sticks over open fires. More elastic marshmallow is often coated with chocolate. The softest marshmallow is used as a base for icings, fudges, and puddings, and as a topping for ice cream.

So.. That is How a MarshMallow is made into the cute and fluffy little candies we stuff into our mouth ~
Interesting right?

Also... Do you guys know?

Marshmallows are roasted and eaten many times when in a camp ~ this especially happens in the United States :D
My cousins used to tell me a lot about how they used to Have marshmallows roasted in their campfire ~

Also ~ marshmallows are eaten completely dipped in chocolates ~ like this
It looks so freaking yummy that i feel like eating up my screen... but *sigh* .. 

Here are some Marshmallow Sticks :D

And some Denture Candies !!!

Some Gummy Bears ~

A WHOLE BUNCH OF GUMMY CANDIES !!!!

Well... i guess this is enough for the post ~ Also .. I have great news to tell :D
The Candy section would be a weekly update from now on and it wont have any end !
It would be like a section of my regular posts here ~

It feels so nice when we learn something new right?

When i start earning on my own ~ i would love to go on a food tour !

And hopefully , my blog would be alive till then XDDD

Whaha see you guys later :D

Keep Loving food :)

[PICTURE AND INFORMATION USED FOR RESEARCH IS NOT ENTIRELY MINE... CREDITS TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS]

Its a world full of CANDY [Part1 - Indian Candies]

Hello My Food Loving Friends ~

This Entry is all about Candies . . . . . I know normally people don't research about stupid things like this but since this is a food blog ~ and I am a Candy Lover...
You all can expect a study on Candies from me XD

So .. Lets begin with
What Exactly are Candies? Like How do you define them?

Well .. the internet says

A sweet food made with sugar or syrup combined with fruit, chocolate, or nuts.

And I define it .. as something that is Yummy and chewy and it comes in different colors shapes and sizes!
And you can chew it on and on when you're bored , when you're studying , when you're writing ... reading , jogging , and so on.

But ... Has anyone tried Searching about how many types of Candies exist in the world?
I just asked my cousin ... All that i heard from her was Gummy Bears and Gobstoppers :P
Not just done .... There are A LOT of Candies that still need to be named !
Even our Great Grandfathers ate candies! Try figuring them out. . . . . .  .
Candies are actually of many types !!!

To all my friends who are from India and reading this~ Do you all remember this "Shrikhand Goli" that the Grocers used to Sell for Rs 1 or 50 paise each?
Those are also CANDIES!!!

Here.. Take a look at them :D

They don't only look but also taste really yummy !

So I did a research on the web and found out that the ingredients of this Candy :D

A Type of sweet drops made from Sugar, gelatin, citric acid & its specialty being use of pure Saffron & Cardamom. Shrikhand is a special sweet in Maharashtrian cuisine. Even though real Shirkhand is not an ingredient; the synthesis of its ingredients perfectly match with its taste and hence, as mentioned above has reached the peak of popularity. The drops are round shaped having saffron color.

So this was the very famous Shrikhand Goli that my parents and my grandparents have always been talking about whenever I ask them about the candies they ate during their childhood.

Hmm.. Another Candy that my grandparents keep telling me about is peppermints and Orange and Lemon Drops Candy ~

Again ... Do you all remember the grocer below selling these for 1 Rupee or 2 Rs ?

Hmm.. According to what i asked my Mom about this . . . . . this candy is comprised of Sugar coating and mint .
Peppermints are available all over the world Not just India .. But I took peppermints in Indian Candies as I studied about what Candies my Grandparents and Parents used to eat when they were young

Coming to Lemon and Orange drops ~ These are Candies that are still sold in shopsand also in supermarkets !

Sugar boiled sweet drops having orange flavor or even Lemon Flavor and are sour in taste. 

Do you remember eating these? These still exist ! But in different flavors and under different brand names too.

Now.. Do u remember these ? I do .... I think most of us 90's born kids do !
Many times you all must have seen commercials on TV  and read the comics of the Famous Ram And Shyam and their how they beat up the bad guys using their only power a.k.a Poppins.

I'm a 90's born kid too XD .... These candies are very memorable to me ~





It reminds me of when i was in the 4th grade ~ i used to save up money and go get a bunch of these candies from the grocer's show in my building compound.
When I was still younger ~ i remember how i cried out loud while going out for shopping with my Mum just because i wanted her to buy me Poppins!
Ah~ memories . . . . . .  well ... These candies are also sugar boiled candies with different flavors in it !


In the following years ... there are more candies coming up and there are other types of candies taking over these ~ Mostly in a biscuit type form ... or else in a Jelly Candy form which we will further be knowing about.

That's all for Part 1 ~ imma come back with Part 2 soon ~ about More types of Candies ! :D

Byeeee

Roadside Walk ~ Street Food #1 my experience

Hello Everyone ~

We all love to eat and we know how food makes us happy. Each one of us must have definitely had an incident in their lives when they were walking across the street and were having street food.
Street Food or Fast Food is a must to taste wherever we go cause every place has different types of street food ! You get to know more about that place as well!
Umm .. Talking about cities , most of them have similar kinds of street food ..  at least here in India [i don't know bout other countries] but small towns or hillstations have amazing food i must say!

Okay So .. I remembered one of the street food episode of when i was really young. I was 5 or 6 probably , and was walking in a marketplace with my Dad. Obviously a kid who is hungry would cry , so my Dad bought me a bunch of Roasted Cashew Nuts. First salt was added to them and then they were roasted in a huge pan till they turned brown. I still remember how cheap and yummy they were ... In Indian currency they were around `5 to `10?



(c) to owner
Here's an image to give you an idea of how it really looks.

Another important thing you would find in coastal areas! That would also be considered as street food!
Coconuts and Coconut water!
Coconut water is mainly for the coastal areas but there must've been some or the other time when you must've seen some person in your town or city stop by a corner and sipping cool coconut water.
Coconut water again is a different experience ~



(c) to owner

LET US NOT FORGET THE MOST IMPORTANT SNACK OF THE RAINY SEASONS!!
Our Beloved Roasted Corn known as "Bhutta" to most of us Indian youngsters.
This stuff is sold everywhere and you will always see a man holding this plastic or a wooden fan in his hand and roasting corn on a small pile of charcoal and fanning it . Roasted Corn tastes the best when you apply Red Chilli powder or smear lemon around it and sprinkle a mixture of red chilli powder and salt!!!


(c) to owner


Another Street Food Item famous during the monsoons is the warm Pakodas or Bhajiya!
According to what most of the cooking encyclopaedia say a Pakora/ Pakoda can be defined as 'a round cake made of pulse fried in ghee (butter / oil). So a pakoda or a bhajiya is generally eaten with a mint chutney , [Chutney is a side dish , basically like a dip, the chutney here is made out of mint]. Some people who do not prefer to eat it with chutney always ask for tomato ketchup.

(c) to owner

Another Street food that is famous among the indians is roasted / boiled groundnuts. Well , not many of us like groundnuts but eating boiled ones that come out of shells is an entirely different experience.
Groundnut sellers are not seen everywhere but in some lucky nook or corner you might come across a groundnut seller with roasted or boiled groundnuts on his cart. Pretty cheap in price , I dont really know about the current rates though but as a kid these were sold about  for a very cheap price.
Unfortunately , I do not have picture sources for this but sooner or later if I manage to get some i will definitely post it.


This is collectively my experience of street food limited to a certain number because i want to write about more but i would be doing them in chapters. So i end chapter #1 now and dear my friends, Keep Loving Food and of course , my blog .

An Awesome Discovery In a corner of the street

Umm ~ This Episode was from one of our Family trips ~ when we had gone to Ooty in South India for a trip during the winter months ...i think November. It was a very hill station on a High Altitude .. so it was brr.. cold .

We walked around a lot and went for sightseeing ~ and naturally by evening we were so hungry ...
The Lunch served at a restaurant we had gone to was not satisfactory .. the service was slow and plus there was scarcity of some food items > <
So we came back near the same place ~ and found a place ... a small Cafe like hotel... which was very inviting. Papa said to me that this place is one of the best places to have our evening tea and snacks. So we agreed and went inside.
We looked at the menu and wondered what we would possibly order on such a gloomy day.



My Dad had been to many of his office trips so he knows what to order and all , so he suggested me to get a White Sauce Pasta and Then He Asked my Bro to get a Burger and My Mom , a Sandwich.
We were so Hungry that we could do nothing but just follow the instructions blindly.

And... Probably this was one of those times where you don't regret on what you have ordered for eating.
IT  WAS SIMPLY AMAZING! Perfection beamed out from the ordered stuff !!!!
Sadly .. i was a bit too young to own a slightly expensive cellphone .. so this is what i could click

This is what My Pasta looked Like :D ~ it had basil leaves in them too ~ and also Zucchini.

And also there was Cheese Garlic Break that came along with it ~ 

The presentation was really simple ... BUT , the thing that matters to me the most is Taste !
The taste was AMAZING!
Like.. COMPLETELY Italian taste !



Also ~ here are the pictures of my the Burger my Brother had ordered and the Veg Sandwich my Mom Ordered there ~
I had a bite of each and .. I cant describe how wonderful they were!
I always had a feeling that small towns have really awesome Cafe's

Later after this snack ~ i decided to get some Iced Lemon Tea as it was a really humid day on the day we had gone there ~
And i was Surprised to taste this Iced tea... It was different than all of the branded ones and it tasted YUMMY !!!
Later on , I came to know that it was actually made by the people of the Cafe ~ and i was really really really happy when I came out of the cafe~


So... My Final Ratings ~

FOOD: 


COMPLETELY A 5 Star Rating :) I have NEVER had felt this full before!


LOCATION:


It Is Located in the middle of a Tiny Busy Street and there Are chances of it having been unnoticed by the pedestrians or travelers passing by ~


PRICES:

Slightly expensive~ but COMPLETELY WORTH IT!

Day #1 - Mama's Recipe

Hmm i don't exactly remember when this had happened but i'm sure this was around Feb end and somewhere around the beginning of March when i had a small week's break after my exams 3rd year high school.
My brother and I ... both of us had absolutely nothing to do and were bored so we asked Mama if she could make something nice to eat.
Mama thought of something nice to make ... finally after having thought about it for about 15 minutes she came up with an idea .. Since we had about 4 Bananas left in the house and nobody was hungry enough to eat it XD  She decided to make Banana Bread by not using Banana directly since my brother hates  Bananas.

Hmm.. we waited for about 10 minutes and the result was Fab




So ~ Here goes the recipe ~

Ingredients
500  grams · Flour
4  large · Ripe Bananas
1  cup · Sugar
50  ml · cooking Oil
1 ½  tsp · Baking Soda
10  tsp · Buttermilk
½  cup · Crushed walnuts
10  grams · Yeast

Directions
1- Take 1 cup of boiling water & mix 4 teaspoons of sugar. Pour this mixture on the 10gm of yeast.. Then cover it and allow it to rise for 10mins.
2 -Blend buttermilk along with sugar & oil in a mixing bowl
3- Sift baking powder and flour together & blend it in the mixture previously prepared mixture
4- Knead the mixture softly without forming lumps .
5- Grease the bread mould n pour the mixture inside.
6- Preheat the oven at 350°F / 200°C
7- Keep the mixture in a warm place so that rises
8 -Then bake it for about 40mins and when it cools down , slice it and enjoy it with honey :D

Hello And Welcome

Hello Everyone ~

Greetings ~
I would be known by my username here ~ The purpose of making this blog is... my love towards food.
Many times .. People find it kind of ... weird or ...u know? Strange .. when i take pics of Food in front of everyone.
Well  Food , Tabemono , Nouritture , Eten , comida , Khaana , Pet puja  [since i am an Indian] .... Whatever you guys know it by ~ ...is what we eat everyday ...aren't i right?
Hmm... What i thought was ... why don't we make food Interesting By knowing more bout it through pictures , reviews and recipes  .... [i recently took interest in cooking XDD soo... not working upon it much]

I shall Be Reviewing some of my favorite dishes i have had at various places with ..or even without pictures .. So my blog will also be a travelogue kind of thing :D
I am looking forward for you to join me on this journey exploring food :D YAYYYY

Thank You Everyone :D