Nomads of the Caucasus Mountains attribute their long, vigorous lives to a natural diet, plenty of outdoor exercise – and kefir. Kefir is fermented milk, something like yogurt. Its taste ranges from mildly sour to cheeselike, depending on how long the milk ferments. It has lots of probiotics and proven anti-bacterial power.

As Kombucha tea does, kefir helps the body to metabolize foods, and also raises immunities. Studies show that drinking kefir every day regulates blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

And like Kombucha, the origins of the “mother” substance are lost in ancient history.  Legend has it that Mohammed himself gifted the nomad community with the yellowish-white kefir culture “grains,”  and taught them how to ferment milk with them. We posted about black cumin, another legendary gift from Mohammed, here.

Science says, according to Wikipedia, that kefir is a combination of  ” lactic acid bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars, and this symbiotic matrix, or (SCOBY) forms “grains” that resemble cauliflower. For this reason, a complex and highly variable community of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts can be found in these grains.”

The nomads jealously guarded kefir’s secret for centuries, but eventually the fame of the magic milk reached Russian society.

Small quantities of kefir became available, made cottage-industry fashion in a few people’s homes. Doctors prescribed it for digestive troubles and tuberculosis. In the late 19th century, Moscow physicians published studies  attesting to kefir’s medicinal properties. Convinced, the All Russian Physician’s Society determined to produce kefir on a large scale.

But “mother” grains were scarce, and the people of the Caucasus wouldn’t yield the secret.

In 1908, the Physician’s Society approached the Blandov brothers, owners of a big Moscow dairy, and asked for help in obtaining kefir grains. The Blandovs agreed to send an emissary to the Caucasus, on condition of receiving exclusive rights to manufacturing kefir. The agent was an employee of their dairy, a beautiful young woman named Irina Sakharov.

Irina traveled north and met with the ruling prince of the region. He wouldn’t give her kefir grains. Instead, he kidnapped her on her return journey home, and demanded that she marry him. But all ended well for Irina, for the men who had accompanied her from Moscow rescued her and brought the case before the prince’s father.

To avert conflict with the powers in Moscow, the king granted Irina enough grains to start large-scale manufacture of kefir. Some say it was a cup of grains, some say it was a sheepskin-full. What’s known is that the grains Irina brought home from her adventures are the mothers of just about all the kefir that’s drunk in Russia, Eastern and Western Europe, Australia and the USA today.

In 1973, Irina received official recognition and thanks for having brought kefir to Russia.

Today, commercial kefir drinks are even sold in supermarkets. But you won’t know if you’re getting just a pleasantly yogurt-like drink without real health benefits. It’s worth fermenting your own kefir at home. And it’s ridiculously easy.

How to make kefir using kefir grains

In spite of the huge mystique made around kefir, all you have to do is place a mother grain or two in the bottom of a clean glass jar and fill the jar with milk. Stir gently, with a wooden or plastic spoon, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Leave out overnight.

By morning, you’ll have thick, white kefir. It may have a little fizz, which is fine.

Pour off a glass and enjoy, or make a smoothie from it. Just don’t drink down the mother, or you’ll have to get another one! The longer you leave the milk to ferment, the thicker and more sour the kefir. The mother grains will continue growing if left in milk.

Eventually “baby” buds will break off that will continuing growing and become mothers in turn. You may find your jar crowded with grains after a while.Then you might want to distribute some among your friends. Or you may join the international kefir lovers who mail out grains, enclosed with a little milk in zip-locked bags, only for the price of shipping.

I wrote about kefir several years ago, and ever since then, have had to fend off strangers asking me for grains. I usually reply, grumpily, that I had bought my original mother via eBay for about $4 and that they can do the same.

My own kefir grains don’t reproduce much. They make one or two new mothers over a year’s time. I don’t know why. Apparently kefir grains respond individually to their particular environment: the  type of milk used, and how or where they’re stored. In someone elses’ kitchen, maybe they would make many more babies. But I’m fine with what I have. I don’t like being regarded as a source for kefir grains.

This week, a different sort of request for kefir grains appeared in my Inbox. It’s for a little girl, I read.

Something in me gave way. Alright, for a child, I’ll go through the bother of receiving a stranger into my home, explaining about kefir and how to store it in between fermentations (covered with fresh milk, in the refrigerator), and how it has to be kept cool. Kefir has its conditions for optimal life, just like any other fresh, living thing. I sighed.

Okay, I wrote back, Come over.

The little girl’s mother knocked on my door that evening. “Why does your daughter need kefir?” I asked, showing her in.

The lady turned haunted eyes to me. “Her name is Noa. She’s only a year and four months old. She has cancer. They’ve already removed her ovaries. We’re hoping to avoid chemotherapy and manage it with surgery. But she needs everything she can get to stay strong.”

I swallowed, and tears came to my eyes. An innocent little girl, with such a terrible thing. God willing, she’ll survive, but she’ll never bear children.

And I was humbled. You just never know what might come of things you do, say, or write. Maybe my post, written four years before Noa was even born, came out of my computer for no other reason than to help her in the end.

I explained the health benefits of kefir and advised how to feed Noa with it. I told her mother that while my mothers never reproduce much, hers may very well make lots of baby grains. Her face brightened.

“If I see that it really helps, and it makes more mothers, I’ll give kefir grains out to everyone in the oncology ward,” she exclaimed. “I’ll get so many mitzvas that way!”

I hope so. I hope that many little zip-locked bags containing new kefir grains will go out of Noa’s house to help other sick children.  May Noa bat Revital will have a complete healing of body and spirit. May she go on to a good life.

There’s lots of online information about kefir. Just google it and you’ll get full instructions on here to obtain grains, how to make it, and recipe.

More alternative health practices on Green Prophet:

• Bee Stings Are Sweet In Israel
• Reap Your Wild Oats
• Moroccan Love Potion

The post Kefir, legendary health milk traced back to Mohammad’s gift appeared first on Green Prophet.

Every Turkish kitchen produces dishes that began somewhere in Central Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe or the Balkans. Even with natural regional variations, there’s something characteristically Turkish in every bite you take. It’s the sweet/sour taste of pomegranate molasses, the tang of sumac, yogurt flavored with mint or dill, and Turkish pepper paste. So many flavors to intrigue and tease the palate.

The south of Turkey is especially famous for its dazzling variety of luscious foods, and Özlem Warren, food writer, teacher and blogger (www.ozlemsturkishtable.com), shows you shows you how to cook them yourself. Beginning her own family’s story, the book moves through Turkish culinary history and in particular, the world of southern Turkish cuisine.

We’re introduced to two essential Turkish condiments that appear over and over again throughout the recipes: red pepper paste and pomegranate molasses. I made the red pepper paste, and it wasn’t hard. I admit that I balked somewhat at making my own pomegranate molasses, but luckily every grocery store carries bottles of it where I live. There is a recipe for za’atar blend, which I was intrigued to see includes ground, cooked chickpeas. We love za’atar: see a version of za’atar pesto here.

Another thing you can count on in Turkish food is how healthy it is. There are infinite ways to cook vegetables and grains. People are eating more meat than formerly, but still prefer a relatively light touch of it in everyday foods. And most Turks still prefer to eat at home. You don’t hear moaning about fast-food taking the culture over, because everyone’s too busy cooking and eating foods made from scratch.

Özlem’s Turkish Table carries you through authentic recipes for soups and dips, a variety of mezze, and salads. Sections on the Turkish breakfast and savory pastries follow, segueing into chapters on vegetables, meat and poultry, grains, fish and seafood, and finally desserts. To help you build a typical Turkish meal, there’s a chapter on suggested menus.

The book is packed with attractive photographs, but it’s not a coffee-table book. It’s meant to be taken into the kitchen and cooked out of. Some recipes are quick and easy, like the mezze of sauteed carrots mixed with garlicky yogurt. Others are more elaborate, like the luscious kaytaz boregi, savory pastry squares topped with seasoned ground beef. The most time-consuming is oruk, bulgar balls filled with walnuts and ground meat. A dish for festivals.

It’s not a book for beginning cooks, but no recipe is really difficult to manage. For example, baklava might seem intimidating to make, but with filo pastry from the supermarket, a careful cook can easily produce a trayful of that exotic sweet from this book.

The instructions given are clear and easy to understand, with tips and explanations interspersed throughout to ensure the reader success. The only thing I found bothersome is the index, which is extensive and well-organized, but gives the names of some dishes only in Turkish, which assumes that readers remember their unfamiliar names. For example, what is sini oruğu? I’m mystified.

Altogether, Özlem’s Turkish Table makes a nice addition to the cookbook shelf. I’ve already promised to lend my copy to a friend married to a Turkish man – she wants to surprise him with dishes he doesn’t expect his Western wife to know. I’m confident that they’ll find a good few keepers in this book.

Özlem’s Turkish Table, 2018.
304 pages with an introduction by Ghillie Başan
ISBN 978-1-912031-94-8

Publisher: GB Publishing
Available from the author’s website (www.ozlemsturkishtable.com); GB Publishing (www.gbpublishing.co.uk/ozemsturkishtable), or via Kindle.

The post Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookbook for everyday and festivals: Our Review appeared first on Green Prophet.

These oddities may appear to be the ultimate in personal vanity, including selling gold bars in vending machines. Perhaps the ultimate vanity extreme in the UAE is a new trend for restaurants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to serve edible gold in foods ranging from hamburgers to steaks and seafood.

This bizzare foodie trend includes foods with actual gold dust sprinkled on or mixed in them are selling well to those who can afford to purchase them. Examples include 24K prime steaks or “golden” sea bream dinners running at about $90 per person. Even desserts like ice cream often come available with gold-laced flower toppings at appropriate prices.

Gold still appears to be a favored and sought after commodity in the UAE, especially in uncertain times. The opulence shown in this region, where luxury hotel suites can run as much as $25,000 per night, is often a topic for social protests; especially when construction workers and domestic servants there work in near-servile conditions for mere pittance wages
while those more fortunate live luxurious live.

In Dubai, for example, one can order a gold-laced cappuccino coffee, served in the lounge of the Burj Al Arab hotel.

From an environmental viewpoint, overbuilding and overconsumption and desalination has caused considerable damage to the already fragile ecosystem of the Arab Gulf region, which still claims to have one of the world’s largest populations of dugong aquatic mammals.

Obviously, money wasted on foodie trend opulence which serves zero health benefits could be better spent on trying to save what’s left of the region’s natural environment. The big question is who is concerned enough there to do this? 

Read more on Arab World opulence:

Gold and Armored Rolls Royce is Most Ungreen Luxury
How much gold goes into a white gold Mercedes sports coupe?
Wild Animal “Pets” still Commonplace in the Gulf

Photos of gold covered sea bream and gold laced coffee, The National

The post Gold instead of cinnamon on cappuccinos in Arab states as poverty reels on nearby appeared first on Green Prophet.

Have you met the quince? You might have come across it in a market and passed it by. It’s yellow, but not yielding like an apple. It looks like a bumpy pear. Raw, it’s inedible. What do you do with it?

The simple answer is: cook it. Quinces under heat become sweet and tender, with a divinely fruity aroma. They cook alongside other ingredients in tajines like this vegetable-based one, but the best-loved way to eat them is as jam. This recipe has all of three ingredients.

You just need an interval when you’ll be at home doing other things – time does most of the work for you.

Quince Jam Recipe

2 pounds of quinces

2 cups of sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

A dash of cinnamon

Peel the quince with a vegetable peeler and put in a large bowl and str to the sugar into the fruit and let sit for about 4 hours.

Cook over low heat about 20 minutes, until the jam thickens. Remove any white foam as it rises.

When thick and jammy-like, take off the heat and stir lemon juice in.

Store in sterilized jars or in clean, dry jars in the refrigerator.

Serve on toast, with cheese on the side. A delicious breakfast or snack. A prefect treat for kids while you read them the much-loved Edward Lear poem the Owl and the Pussycat:

More fresh fruit jams here on Green Prophet:

• Tomato Jam
• Iraqi Watermelon Rind Jam
• Home Made Strawberry Jam
• Baked Apricot Jam

The post Lebanese Quince Jam, A Sweet Winter Recipe appeared first on Green Prophet.

Israel’s dubious meat industry gets more sickening: we’ve already covered exposes of poultry fed with feces and pumped with toxic contaminants. Now it’s all about beef and how it’s frozen, treated laundry style and then resold as fresh.

The consumer watchdog TV show, Kolbotek, also exposed extreme cruelty toward cattle and sheep brought for slaughter in one of Israel’s prime slaughterhouses, Adom Adom.

Kolbotek has sent in undercover agents in the meat processing industry.  The meat and poultry in fact is “treated” with water and phosphate additives to make it appear to be fresh cut meat, in  order to sell it at higher prices.

Israeli Consumer Products Law restricts the amount of water that is added to meat to  no more than 5 percnt of the meat’s total weight. The actual amount of water, however is much more; often exceeding 15% or more.

Even if the actual water content is indicated on packages of frozen meat, high water content result in the meat being considered as  “fake” or not of a quality suitable to be marketed as fresh meat.

Due to the high prices of beef and other meat sold to Israeli consumers, the average citizen eats less beef and other high priced meat (only 15 kg  per person a year) than people living in meat consuming countries like Argentina, Australia, the US and the UK.

Israeli consumers interviewed by Kolbotek said that when it came to eating certain cuts of meat, like entricote steak for example,  they know that cuts coming from frozen meat are less attractive and do not taste the same as fresh cuts.

Water being added to both meat and fish products has been an issue that has previously been covered by Kolbotek; as well  as by Green Prophet, especially in regards to imported frozen fish products from China that are said to be  pumped full of water and chemical additives.

According to Kolbotek’s narrator, Rafi Ginat, it now appears that literally thousands of tons of frozen meat, imported from countries like Argentina, Uruguay and Australia are treated with a solution  of water and sodium triposphate, also known by the code name of STPP M212.

Sodium Triphosphate, the same additive used to improve the  appearance and taste of frozen fish, is also used in a variety of other products, including tooth paste and cleaning compounds. The meat in  question is often sold in local supermarkets as entricot steak and other higher priced “fresh” meat. This also includes higher priced poultry like pullets or “Spring Chicken”.

How the “meat laundering” process works is something that might be compared with washing clothes in a front loading washing machine.

The thawed frozen meat is put into a large revolving drum and treated in a “bath” of  water and STPP solution that gives the meat a more desirable color as well as adding weight to it. The treated meat is then packaged and sold as fresh meat at a much higher price than the frozen variety.

Kolbotek sent its investigators  to several large Israeli supermarket chain stores, including Shufersol Deal, Rami Levi; and Baladi, a large wholesale meat supply company. Meat samples were tested  for concentrations of water and chemical additives like STPP.

Meat samples were tested in local laboratories, as well as being sent  for testing in a large European laboratory for comparison with meat sold there, according to European standards.

It was found that many of the Israeli meat samples  were considerably lower in quality than those found in most European countries, which have strict laws dealing with meat cuts that are sold as fresh and not frozen.

This was particularly so for meat samples sold in the Rami Levi supermarket chain, which were found to be high in phosphates and other chemical additives.

Kolbotek interiewed Ms. Angie Gaon Eidelberg,  a former engineer with the Israeli Health Ministry’s food quality division, who told them that “fresh” meat sold in Rami Levi’s Ashdod branch was “full of water and chemicals; and was not fresh meat at all but “fake” meat being represented as fresh.

The meat also contained high levels of vitamin C additives that make the meat look more attractive. Some meat samples from sources like the Baladi meat company and from the previously mentioned Adom Adom
meat processing company were found to be acceptable but much higher in price than the “fake” samples.

In fact, cuts like entrecote steak from these acceptable sources sell for much higher prices; up to NIS 150 per kg. Rami Levi’s spokesperson told Kolbotek that they sell meat from Baladi that is of high quality; but Kolbotek’s investigation appears to prove otherwise.

The entire “meat laundering” scandal, as exposed by Kolbotek, can be seen here (in Hebrew):

The bottom line of findings by Kolbotek indicates that “there is no fresh quality meat like entrecote steaks that sell for  NIS 70 a kilogram.”

Rafi Ginat, Kolbotek’s long time narrator, ended the program by saying that ” we cannot trust even the health ministry to tell us what is fresh and what is not; we can only trust ourselves to find good quality meat.”

The fresh meat test:

He added that one of the most simple tests is to insert your finger into the muscle of a piece of meat being sold as fresh; and if the depression created in the muscle stays there afterward, the meat is thawed out and not fresh.

Read more on issues surrounding Israel’s meat industry:

Israel’s Cruel Meat Industry Exposed by Watchdog TV Show

Israeli Meat Fed With Feces and Pumped With Toxic Contaminants

The Meat You Eat May Not be What You Think

The post Meat laundering, Middle East style appeared first on Green Prophet.

Sensational food production issues in Israel are covered by Green Prophet. These issues have included exposure of cruelty in the meat industry; frozen fish from China that  are pumped with water and Chemicals, and meat being fed with feces and pumped with toxic contaminants.

It now appears that the Chinese are not only adding chemicals to food products being sold in Israel.

The  controlling interest in the country’s largest food producing company, Tnuva, has just been bought by China’s Bright Food Consortium. The Chinese company has agreed to purchase 56 percent of dairy firm Tnuva from the
private equity house Apax.

The Chinese food giant will now have control of an Israeli food company that has been an iconic household word since even before the founding of the state in 1948.

Former Mossad head, Ephraim HaLevy, voiced his reservations of the sale to a local newspaper YNet, saying:  “the company buying Tnuva is owned by the Chinese government. This is not a company owned by a private Chinese businessman.  This allows the Chinese government to do make immediate decisions as it sees fit.”

How this Chinese acquisition may affect Israel’s largest dairy and food producer still remains to be seen. It could  result in a virtual flooding of the Israel food market by Chinese food products, some of which are of dubious quality.

This brings to mind the case of the previously mentioned frozen fish products that are “pumped with water and chemicals” to make the fish  appear fresher and of better quality. Everyone knows that China’s lax laws create products that smart consumers will not want to eat. Or perhaps they will export Israel’s high quality milk products to a growing appetite for such things in China. Either way when a foreign entity has control over a local food source we think that it cannot be good for local consumers.

Consider just local issues like this: Tnuva’s Adom Adom slaughterhouse in Beit Shean (photo) is still under scrutiny following adverse publicity it received for excessive animal cruelty following the Kolboteck TV exposure.

A large food producing icon company like Tnuva has a responsibility to the public it sells its products too. This should be even more  important than the profit motives on behalf of company directors. But we guess this is why Israeli activists were protesting the issues of food and housing in the summer of 2011.

Some commenters like David Rosenberg on Haaretz says that the public unwelcome of the Chinese buy out smacks of racism. They point out:

“But then again, the peanut-flavored snack Bamba is just as Israeli, and its maker, Osem, has been controlled by Switzerland’s Nestle since 2000. Telma Corn Flakes and Blue-Band margarine have been made by the Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever since it bought their Israeli manufacturer, also in 2000.”

We wonder how activists will respond to Tnuva products now.

Read more about Israel’s food issues:
Israel’s Cruel Meat Industry Exposed by Watchdog TV Show
Israeli Meat Fed With Feces and Pumped With Toxic Contaminants
Israel’s Frozen Fish Processed in China and Pumped With Water and Chemicals

Photo of Tnuva’s Adom Adom meat packing house by Yaron Kaminsky/Haaretz

The post China buys Israel’s largest food producer putting Zionists on edge appeared first on Green Prophet.

More massive-scale animal abuse found in Israel. This time the kosher status of the company is at stake: Following news that cattle and sheep are being severely mistreated at a large kosher slaughterhouse, Israel’s Kolbotek consumer watchdog program has again revealed large scale animal abuse at the country’s leading poultry processing plant, Soglowek. The shocking finds by Kolbotek’s hidden cameras, as shown last Tuesday night on Channel 10TV, revealed truly “fowl play ” in the manner that as many as 30,000 chickens and turkeys are dealt with daily at the plant, located near Nahariya.

Although broadcasted in Hebrew, the scenes of chickens and turkeys caught in bars of their cages and left for long hours in the heat of the day without food or water are graphic for anyone as shown in the following streamer clip. Watch the video below.

Although Soglowek General Manager Phini Kamari apologized for the alleged abuse of poultry being processed at the plant, comments by prominent veterinarians like Dr. Moshe Raflowitz, Chief Veterinarian for the country’s Central Region, indicates that something terribly wrong has been occurring at the plant as to the insensitive manner that the foul have been dealt with prior to being slaughtered.

Some of the abusive treatment  includes keeping chickens and turkeys in crowded cages at the plant for as long as 19 hours without food or water, causing many of them to die before being subjected to the ritual slaughterer’s knife.

Graphic scenes show poultry caught by their heads or feet in the bars of the cages and then being beheaded by plant employees who removed them in order to clean the cages for the next batch to be brought in.

Mr. Kamari, when interviewed afterwards by Kolbotek’s Rafi Ginat, said that he “takes full responsibility to correct the situation occurring at the plant.”

This responsibility supposedly will include instructing the plant employees to be more sensitive to the suffering being caused to the animals as well as improving the manner in which the poultry are unceremoniously dumped from the cages onto the conveyor belts that carry them to their fate.

Israel’s Animal Abuse Law (1994) although condoning the slaughter of animals for food, clearlry stipulates that animals cannot be physically abused prior to their being slaughtered. In regards to poultry, this stipulation is clearly shown in Article 2A of the law.

In the aftermath of these revelations, Israel’s Chief Rabbi may sanction Soglowek by pulling the company’s kosher certificate. In any case, changes will definitely have to occur there in regards to the the manner that poultry is dealt with, prior to being “processed”.

This is the kind of abuse that Israel’s animal rights activists at 269Life have been talking about.

Read more on animal abuse and other consumer issues:
Israel’s Cruel Meat Industry Exposed by Watchdog TV Show
Fake Organic Olive Oil is Latest Food Scam in Israel
Ceramic Coated Cooking Pans May be Killing You With Color

Poultry Photos from Kolbotek video screenshot

The post See Severe Animal Abuse at Israel’s Largest Kosher Poultry Slaughterhouse (VIDEO) appeared first on Green Prophet.

I’m fresh back from a few weeks in Europe, a family reunion through Paris and Venice and Rome that doubled as a Tour de Overeating.  Our literal pig-out on sausage, pancetta, soppressata, and prosciutto was a vacation from the fabulous food in my adopted Amman, Jordan hometown, but those holiday restaurant menus started to blur.

Next trip, wouldn’t it be great to drop the chowing down a notch? Veer away from other tourists, enjoy local food with the locals?

Entrepreneur Guy Michlin had a similar thought, which he acted on by creating a foodie version of Airbnb: it’s a winning recipe. Michlin is co-founder and CEO of EatWith.com, an internet marketplace offering alternative food-sharing around the world – in people’s homes. (Michlin graduated from Hebrew University, topped that off with an Stanford MBA, and the man knows food.)

Story goes that a home-cooked meal he ate while vacationing in Crete inspired the former lawyer to ditch his job at one of Israel’s leading solar energy companies and devise a system to allow users to replicate his magical travel meal anywhere in the world.

So far, Israel is the only participating Middle Eastern country. Click on David if you want to book a Tel Aviv-style Shabbat dinner, or check out Vita and Jet for a scrumptious vegan feast in Kfar Vradim. Email Esther in Beit Arif whose husband (both pictured in the lead photo above) will whip up recipes handed down from his Yemenite mama, served up in their backyard tent (image below).

You can also dine on homemade paella from a backyard grill in Toledo, Spain or a BYOB Thai-Brazilian feast in a Sao Paolo flat.  (We’ll be seeing cooks in Bethlehem and Jerash and Beirut on board soon.)

Launched last year, EatWith offers users two options:

1)    Host your own pop-up restaurant by preparing your favorite dishes, served up in your home with a side of your  cultural perspective. In the process, meet interesting people and earn some extra income.

2)    Move a bit out of your traditional dining comfort zone and sign up as a guest.  Taste new foods and local lifestyles for fair prices, and – again – meet new people.

“Most tourists don’t get a chance to meet the locals except maybe the taxi driver, or the waiter in the restaurant,” Michlin told TechCrunch, “but EatWith aims to change this.”

Michlin started with meal offerings in Tel Aviv and Barcelona.  He added New York City and quickly expanded across the Americas and Europe. He’s received host applications from more than 80 countries.  To ensure guest safety, the company employs a strict host vetting process and holds a $1 million insurance plan should something go wrong.

Hosts set the prices (EatWith takes 15%) and define the menu and scope of any entertainment (visits to local markets, musical performances, guest speakers and cooking workshops). A few offer to come to your home as visiting chef.

Each host page includes useful information describing the host’s style and experience, number of guests allowed, and event duration.  Locations are mapped and venue amenities listed (disabled access, kid-friendliness, pets on premises, smoking policy, parking and access to mass transit).

So far, EatWith reports that the majority of guests are actually local to the hosts.  So maybe the Airbnb analogy is not the best fit. EatWith may be a more tasteful regression from Facebook, social networking the old fashioned way.

Now, would someone pass the bread?

All images from EatWith

The post Eatwith, The Airbnb for Foodies appeared first on Green Prophet.

Bacterial and viral diseases from poultry is a growing problem that affects more people worldwide than every year. Whether the disease be viral in nature, as in the case of Avian or Bird Flu; or unpleasant  intestinal bacterial infections such as salmonella. These diseases can be extremely unpleasant and even fatal to older adults and young children.

While salmonella is the most well known intestinal bacterial infection, another poultry caused disease known as Campylobacter, which also infects the stomach and intestinal tract, is on the rise in many parts of the world; and is now finding its way to the Middle East; especially where large quantities of eggs and other poultry products are consumed; especially in Israel.

An advisory issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) warns people about Campylobacter, a bacteria caused intestinal disease which like Salmonella, attacks the human digestive tract and can be very unpleasant and even fatal to senior adults and young children.

Campylobaacter symptoms include diarrhoea (frequently with blood in the feces), abdominal pain, fever, headache, nausea, and/or vomiting. These symptoms usually last three to six days; but also may lead to
complications such as bacteraemia or presence of bacteria in the blood, hepatitis, pancreatitis which cause infections of the liver and pancreas. The disease can also lead to post-infection complications such as arthritis and Neurological disorders.

Campylobacter bacteria are often found in chickens which though not actually infected, act as “carriers” for the disease. The bacteria are sensitive to high temperatures, however and can usually be destroyed by fully cooking poultry and eggs. This suggestion may not go down well with people who like to eat “sunny side up” fried eggs; but like Salmonella, avoiding partially cooked poultry and eggs is a small price to pay rather than spending all night on the toilet.

Another danger of this disease is dehydration caused by excessive diarrhoea: “The disease is more widespread than many people think. But it can be largely prevented by properly cooking poultry and eggs” says a spokesperson for Israel’s Agricultural Ministry.

Something to bear in mind next time, before ordering dishes like fried eggs or Eggs Benedict at morning brunches in Tel Aviv.

More about Poultry Related Bacteria and other diseases:

Simple Oregano keeps Chickens Disease Free

Egypt Launches Annual Anti Bird flu Campaign

Local Eggs, Industrial Eggs, and Salmonella

The post Campylobacter Intestinal Disease Rising in the Middle East appeared first on Green Prophet.

For a small vegetable, garlic sure has a big reputation. Check out why Islam promotes its consumption one clove at a time.

Garlic does not bring good luck or ward off vampires, but it can transform any meal into an aromatic and healthy culinary experience. Garlic (from the allium family) is a cousin to onions, leeks and chives, which is why it is known for its pungent punchy flavour and fragrance.

Why is garlic holy to Muslims?

Garlic is mentioned just once in the Qur’an, Islam’s divine scripture. The revelations about garlic and herbs were sent in the historical context of the Children of “Israel”, that is, the descendants of Prophet Yaqūb or Jacob. They weren’t too happy about the types of food God provided for them and so they spoke to their Prophet Moses:

‘…And [recall] when you said, “O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions.” [Moses] said, “Would you exchange what is better for what is less? Go into [any] settlement and indeed, you will have what you have asked”…’ (Qur’an, 2:61)

In the exegesis (tafsir) of this verse we learn that God reprimanded the Children of Israel for asking to exchange one type of food for something considered inferior. The lesson was to enjoy and be creative with the healthy and natural produce you have.

Thūm or Fūm: how do you say garlic in Arabic?

The classical Qur’an scholar Ibn Abbas, said that the Arabic word Fūm translated as garlic, while Ibn Mas`ud read it as Thūm (‘th’ as in thin).

Fūm (Foom) is one of those words whose pronunciation altered whereby the letter ‘fa’ was replaced with ‘tha’, although according to Ibn Kathir, another original Qur’an interpreter, Fūm is also a type of wheat used for baking bread. (Fumu-lanna means ‘bake for us’)

In Hebrew, a semitic language that pre-dates Islam, people say “shoom” for garlic.

What’s allicin?

When garlic cloves are chewed, crushed or cut, they release a sulphur-bearing compound called allicin – the chemical that gives garlic its pungent taste and smell. And it’s the allicin that is thought to be responsible for garlic’s therapeutic qualities.

Apart from the eye-watering bite, garlic reeks when eaten raw. Too much is even bad for your digestion. This is something to consider particularly when you’re meeting clients, about to get kissed or visiting God’s place of worship to pray.

Prophet Muhammad, said: “Anyone who eats garlic and onions or leeks should not come near our Mosque. The angels are harmed by what harms the sons of Adam.” [Muslim hadith]

Consideration for others and good hygiene is the message here. Garlic breath is a no-brainer so use common sense and don’t overdo it.

Origins of Garlic

Garlic grows as a “bulb” head, averaging about 2 to 3 inches in size and consists of numerous small separate cloves. Both the cloves and the entire bulb are encased in paper-like coats that can be coloured off-white or have a pinkish hue.

To remove, use a small knife to peel the skins, drop the cloves into boiling then cold water to shock them or (and this is my favourite method), bang each clove with the flat side of a knife/rolling-pin against a chopping board and pick the skins off.

Garlic is native to central Asia and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region. Garlic is grown globally, even in the United Kingdom but according to the United States Department of Agriculture (2006), China is by far the largest producer of garlic, with approximately 10.5 million tonnes grown annually, accounting for over 77% of world output. India (4.1%) and South Korea (2%) follow, with Egypt and Russia (1.6%) tied in fourth place. People tend to steer clear of Chinese garlic if possible because of unrestricted use of pesticides in China and the bleaching of their garlic.

Fresh, dried and powdered garlic are available in markets throughout the year, however, fresh varieties from the UK are in season from autumn – September –  right through to late spring – April. You can always grow your own. If you live in cold climates, plant teeth after the first frost and cover with straw. You should have lots of new garlic the following summer.

Choose a hardy variety like ‘white pearl’.

Cooking With Garlic

The papery, protective layers of “skin” over garlic are generally discarded for cooking although garlic is best roasted whole in the oven, skins and all intact.

Garlic is a wonderful seasoning to breads, soups and meat dishes. Try sourdough bread, our recipe? It can be added at the first stage to a recipe, crushed or ground to a paste and fried in a little oil. Or it can be grated at the end of cooking process to retain the maximum flavour and nutrition.

Roast whole cloves with potatoes and chicken until they’re charred and soft; for garlic bread just rub a sliced clove onto a halved baguette and drizzle in olive oil before grilling.

Health Benefits Of Garlic

Garlic’s antibacterial and antiviral properties are perhaps its most legendary feature.

If you feel a the flu virus attacking (or coronavirus) eat a raw clove or two knowing that it’ll beat the virus faster than prescribed medicine. Of course don’t munch on garlic as is—unless you’re happy with that—thinly slice it, eat it with toast or chop in halves and gulp down with water like a pill.

This vegetable has been studied not only for its benefits in controlling infection by bacteria, but also infection from other microbes including yeasts and fungi.

Our red blood cells use molecules from garlic called polysulfides to produce hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S). This in turn helps our blood vessels expand and keep our blood pressure in check.

Other benefits from just one clove a day will top your body’s supply of:

• Vitamin C – for tissue growth and repair
• Vitamin B6 – important for metabolism and immunity
• Selenium, iron, calcium and manganese minerals

There are people who are allergic to garlic so be kind and ask before cooking for others.

Note: Don’t microwave garlic as this kills its active ingredients.

More holy greens from Islam:
Plants Of The Quran: Pomegranate
Is Organic Food Really Healthier?
Black Cumin: Islam’s Miracle Cure Seed

Article updated March 2022

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