South Asian cuisine has offered to the world many culinary masterpieces of hot spicy food, among them masala chai has a significant place. Strangely enough, yet after extra spicy food Asian people take not “neutral” drinks to extinguish the burning tongue, but the so-called “spiced tea” – masala chai. Healthy, nourishing and tasty, in India masala chai has left behind other world-widespread beverage – coffee.

There are many variants of making this magnificent beverage, still its main ingredients are milk, tea leaves, spices, water and some sweetener. The main point is to keep the tea leaves in the boiling or just boiled water long enough until all the components absorb the tea leaves’ aroma. But don’t draw the tea too long, otherwise it becomes bitter.
Thai Spicy Food

Chinese cuisine with its over 5000 years history numbers a lot of various ingredients. The most widespread are eggplant, lettuce, rice, winter melon, dried fungus, mushrooms and garlic; the most sinister ones – snakes and dog meat. Fortunately today beef and pork are more common at the butcher’s and restaurants. Chinese spicy food has many adherents all over the world. Chinese restaurants and snack-bars, famous for their spicy food, are numerous both in Europe and in America, competing with national cuisine.

Chinese spices, partly native, partly borrowed from other countries, have many medical advantages. Thus ginger has a good influence on the digestive system and garlic which is used completely, including flowers and stems, lowers blood fats and kills cancer. Sichuan peppercorns, named after the province they are cultivated, are also an important part of Chinese spicy food cookbook.

Actually Sichuan is considered China’s spiciest province. Its delicious cuisine is extremely rich for hot spicy food dishes. The main spice in Sichuanese restaurants is chili – powdered, dried, stewed and fried, – served both as seasoning and as garnish. The popular Sichuan dishes like Steamed Yellow Croaker and Fish-Flavored Pork are extra spicy and make you feel yourself a fire-spitting dragon. Even a standard hotpot, having deep roots in Sichuan, is a tongue-torching meal. However Sichuan Cuisine, which origins are traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties,is famous not only for its spicy food seasonings, but also for its cooking techniques like dry braise, saute, Hui and PAO.

With its tendency to fiery spices Chinese spicy food seems to send you a challenge. Those who accepted it, compare Chinese spicy dishes with drugs – once having tasted it you will never forget the effect, willing to experience it again and again. Although, unlike drugs, spicy food is very healthy. So don’t miss the opportunity to visit a Chinese restaurant or to get some special recipes and to give a Chinese spicy food party!

Today restaurants and snack-bars offer a great number of hot spicy food. As the president of McDonald’s North America Ralph Alvarez says: “Spicy has become mainstream”, because even fast food restaurants, known for their conservatism, cook spicy food dishes like Spicy Premium Chicken Sandwich. According to the research, the average percentage of dishes described in menus as “spicy” increases about 23% a year. The quantity of spicy products, as well as the popularity of extra spicy food recipes, is growing steadily.

Spicy meal has Asian origins, where it was brought to perfection. Chinese, Malaysian and Indian cuisines have a wide variety of world-famous dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala, Tom-yam soup and Laksa. Chicken Tikka Masala is common spicy food of spice-lovers. Its origins is disputed, but most probably it was invented in British India as an adaptation of traditional local food. Chicken Tikka Masala is made from baked chicken chunks and curry sauce which consists of various spices, cream and tomatoes. The chunks are marinated in generously spiced yogurt and baked in tandoor – a cylindrical clay oven used in India. Chicken Tikka Masala is extremely popular in Britain, considered as a national dish.

As to spicy food soups, Laksa is distinguished by its popularity all over the world. Its name has Sanskrit origins and is translated as “many” concerning the number of Laksa components which are numerous. There are two variants of the dish – Curry Laksa – noddles in a coconut curry soup, and Assam Laksa, in which noddles are served in a sour fish soup. Laksa is the spiciest dish of Malaysian cuisine, especially its Assam variation.

Considering all the spicy food pros and cons, the researchers concluded that it has a lot of medical advantages, for instance Tom-yam soup is not only a tasty spicy food dish, but also has an antibacterial effect. The scientists found out that, thanks to its ingredients like lemon grass and galangal root, Tom-yam soup can prevent tumors in the digestive tract. Other healthy spices of Tom-yam soup are garlic, kaffir leaf and red chili which is particularly rich for beta-carotene. All this explains the great success of Tom-yam soup and other spicy food in the world.

Many people choose to entertain important corporate or personal occasions at restaurants in a relaxed atmosphere away from home to make the event a memorable one.
Alex Brennan-Martin, co-owner of Brennan’s of Houston, an establishment that draws 20% of its revenue from private events says, they cannot compete in the business only on price, but there are other important factors, ie:

Room service
Restaurateurs find it important to offer private rooms for special events, such as corporate dinner or an anniversary celebration. Generally, it is an exclusive space with a lounge area, a couple of couches, coffee tables and a stand-up bar.
According to Private Dining Director Daniela Ortiz of Naha in Chicago, and Jeanne Cretella, who owns Stone House at Stirling Ridge in Warren, and Liberty House Restaurant in Jersey City, N.J., are of same opinion that it is important to have room to relax, reserved in a way that will benefit the operation.

Oxford University researchers found that drinking alcohol causes around 13 per cent of a range of cancers in women, with the risk increasing from just one glass a day. The researchers examined survey answers to the ‘Million Women Study’ and published the results in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The study revealed that in the UK, around 7,000 cases of cancer in women are caused by them drinking just one alcoholic drink a day. Around 5,000 of these cases are related to breast cancer, but others are cancers of the rectum, liver, mouth and throat. If women consume two drinks a day, the risk of developing cancer is doubled.

Women by drinking one small glass of wine a day can increase their risk of developing certain forms of cancer. ie., one drink, calculated as a small 125ml glass of wine, the risk of cancer is increased by by 12 per cent up to the age of 75, and cancer of the larynx by 22 per cent.

More than one million women in the UK were involved in this study, and over seven years there were 68,775 cases of cancer recorded. According to Dr Naomi Allen, Cancer Epidemiologist at the University of Oxford and lead author, the study looked specifically at women who consumed low to moderate levels of alcohol – ie. three drinks a day or fewer.

Each drink was calculated by Researchers to be 10g of alcohol. It is considered in UK, the standard measure of alcohol is 8g but a 10g equivalent would be a small glass (125ml) of 10% ABV (alcohol by volume) wine or a 330ml bottle of beer at 4% ABV.

These findings reveal even the relatively low levels of drinking – about one or two glasses of alcohol every day – women can increase the risk of developing cancer of the breast, liver and rectum. And in smokers, cancers of the mouth and throat. According to Sara Hiom, Director of Health Information at Cancer Research UK, it is important that women are well informed to decide on how much alcohol they should intake, because the more they cut down on alcohol, the more they can reduce cancer risk.

Dr Sarah Cant, Policy Manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says according to this study for women over 50 even drinking moderate amounts of any type of alcohol can have many health problems , including a greater chance of developing breast cancer. Because 80 per cent of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women aged over 50.

Research also found that obese adolescent were at the same risk of an early death as someone with a 10 a day plus habit. Betty McBride, Policy & Communications Director at the British Heart Foundation is of the opinion that Government needs to tackle this obesity crisis as it has previously done with smoking, or else the risk could be high with the younger generation growing up with more health problems.

The study, by the Office for National Statistics, show middle class drinkers are more likely to indulge in “heavy” drinking. People drink more than it is good for them, as manufacturers have developed stronger wines and beers and pubs and restaurants serve larger measures and supermarkets offer cut-price deals.

According to UK guidelines, women should not drink more than one or two UK units a day and men, not more than three or four.

Research has also estimated that 15,000 people die annually in UK, due to their drinking, from cancer, heart disease, alcoholic liver disease, other illnesses and accidents. It is also revealed alcohol misuse costs the economy £25bn a year and around 811,000 hospital admissions are thought to be, due to drinking.

The first dish people learned to cook on fire was barbecued meat, in particular ribs. Since then myriads of barbecue rib recipes have spread all over the world, and now it is quite a problem to choose. For example, Korean beef ribs, cut into two-inch pieces and marinated in flavored barbecue sauce, or Chinese pork ribs, spicy and delicious, or barbecue pork ribs with plum sauce, or… really it is impossible decide on only one method of barbecue rib cooking.

One of the best technique of rib barbecuing is smoking. At the butcher’s you should choose a rack of ribs, because they are easier to cook than separate ones. When the ribs are unfreezed, cut off the excess fat, rinse them in cold water and wipe with cloth towels. Then remove the membrane on the inside of the rack, it makes the smoke penetrate easier through the ribs. Some cooks reserve the membrane, however, it can prevent the meat from getting imbued with delicious flavor. To remove the membrane you will need a sharp knife for peeling. Moving it from from the bone corner, remove the membrane until it can be grasped and peeled off. After that the ribs are rinsed and dried once again. To prepare them you can use either a pre-heated smoker or a rub, if the recipe prescribes it. The duration of smoking is 4 hours and more, otherwise the ribs are tough and underdone which conflicts with the rules of food safety. Once the barbecue ribs are cooked, they should be cut into separate parts with the help of a sharp knife.

Smoked barbecue ribs can be also made on barbecue grill which is easily adapted for this. If you have a charcoal grill, wait until the coals have a gray ash coating. Then the coals are pulled out so that a pan of water can be placed. Evaporating water will help to distribute the smoke, and the ribs remain moist. Wrap wooden chips for smoking into aluminum foil folding up the edges to make parcels. The parcels should be pierced and placed on the hot coals. When all the preparations are finished, the barbecue meat is placed above the pan of water, the hood is closed. Now you just need to check from time to time the amount of water in the pan and the barbecue thermometer to know when the ribs are done. The same barbecue method can be applied to a gas grill, prepared in a proper way

Someone says that the country of origin of birthday cakes was Greece, others – German, and of course there are people who suppose that it was the Roman Empire. Well, there is such a great diversity that it seems hard for me to choose. And probably it doesn’t really matter who started such a delicious tradition. Just choose among the great number of recipes and bake your special gift!

Whether we are young or old, women or men, we all adore these cakes. Probably it is also a tradition to which we get used during our childhood, but still it is one of the best things that left us from our light-hearted time. Though some people don’t want to use candles on their birthday cakes, just remember the time when it was the main thing during the party. By the way, those who refuse candles in order not to reveal their age, miss such a great opportunity as making a wish. A wish which of course will come true!

Nowadays birthday cakes are really fantastic! Everyone can find something in accordance with her preferences. Birthday cakes in the form of a dinosaur or a princess, a ball or a boxer ring. Everything is possible!

First of all, I offer you to look through different pictures of birthday cakes in the Internet, so you will be able to decide what you really want and even can show the picture of this “masterpiece” in the place where you are going to order a cake.

There is no limitation for birthday party ideas and you should decorate a table and all the food in accordance with your theme. The other very interesting birthday party idea is to prepare a special game during which your little guests should find the important prize. Let it be just like a game “Looking for Treasure”. Leave some tips which will help them to find it. And of course this main prize is a birthday cake!

The history of Chinese food is an interesting one which dates back to 400,000 years; to the era of the Peking Man which started using fire for cooking. Some historians claim that Chinese cuisine was established during the Chinese stone age when people began to produce noodle and to cultivate rice.

Each Chinese dynasty introduced some new innovations, ie. the Zhou dynasty is responsible for the appearance of well-known Chinese food tradition as chopsticks, and the Qing Dynasty is associated with most of today’s Chinese food popular dishes. During the Tang dynasty, stir-frying (a famous Chinese food cooking technique) was created to conserve the fuel.

story specialists, Chinese cuisine has never been so widespread as it is today. They believe that the preparation of food is an art and not simply a craft. The art of cooking Chinese food can include dishes and food preparation techniques which are difficult to develop and may require the expertise of a chef with lots of experience.

Chinese food history experts think there are two basic philosophies that had the biggest effect on Chinese food – Confucianism and Taoism which influence the entire Chinese culture. Both these philosophies have influenced the way that the Chinese people cook and the way that they enjoy their food.

After Confucius standards of etiquette food is cut into small pieces before being served, and there should be no knives on the table. This is a custom that is definitely unique to the Chinese culture. Confucius also emphasized the importance of the texture and color of a dish, and taught that food must be prepared and eaten with harmony.

Taoism focused on such important concepts as healing powers of food and its healthiness; they search for foods that will increase their health and longevity. In this way, Chinese discovered using ginger as a garnish and a good remedy for upset stomach and cold.