Snack Foods Association

Middle East

Finding The Perfect Beans And Roast For Your Coffee Maker

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So you need a cup of coffee to get you going in the morning, and you are probably quite happy to drink whatever brews the cappuccino machines in the office are dispensing. If it’s hot, it smells like coffee and it gives you the necessary head rush to start your day, that’s all you need.

So it may astonish you to realise exactly how many different types and origins of coffee there are out there. Some people devote their entire careers to coffee tasting to find the perfect mix of beans to create just the right taste. These professional tasters are called cuppers and really know their coffee.

Centered on the equator, a band twenty five degrees to the north and south houses the seventy countries where coffee beans are grown. From South America and the Caribbean, to Africa and the Middle East, this strip around the centre of the globe provides just the right conditions for coffee plantations to thrive. Each country, and sometimes each area within the same country, produces beans with their own special characteristics to produce distinctive flavors.

The two main divisions of coffee beans are Arabica and Robusta. Robusta is the more potent of the two, with double the amount of caffeine. The Arabica beans have more taste and a pleasing fragrance, making them suitable for superior quality blends.

The Arabica bean is split again into two categories. The higher quality Milds, are grown at over three thousand feet, the perfect altitude for coffee growth. Brazils, not surprisingly a product of Brazil, are grown in larger quantities, at lower altitudes, on the many large plantations of the area.

When seeking the perfect coffee, most people choose ready roasted beans, although it is possible to buy the soft, green beans and roast them yourself. There are a number of categories of roast, from the light or cinnamon roast, which is strong and acidic, to the dark or city roast, a less bitter sweeter category, often used for espresso. In between is the medium or American roast, the standard used for everyday drinking and extremely popular.

Two other varieties of European roast are the full bodied French roast, and the very dark Italian roast, used in speciality espressos. Both of these are dark roasts and so the resulting brews are less acidic and sweeter than your average cup. The longer roasting process allows the sugars in the bean to caramelize and much of the bitter caffeine to burn away.

So next time you reach for a cup of the strong stuff to wake you up in the morning, take a minute to find out what goes into your coffee makers. Maybe consider what you really want in a coffee and spend some time looking for your perfect roast.

Learn about pregnancy caffeine and caffeine blood pressure at the Negative Effects Of Caffeine site.

The Many Tastes of Venetian Recipes

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Traditional Venetian recipes are unique from the rest of Italy and reflect many different neighboring cultures. The foods are delicious and there are some certain recipes that stand out as being classics in Venice.

Venetian recipes often revolve around fish, which is natural given its coastal location.

Risotto with fish is a perfect example, and there are so many delicious ways to serve it. These rice dishes can be made with fish as well as other kinds of seafood, such as shrimp, mussels, prawns or even lobster. For something a little bit different, try risotto al nero di seppia which is risotto with cuttlefish ink. It’s a deep black color that you almost never seen in cuisine.

In many Venetian recipes, the fish is either fried in oil or grilled. As an appetizer or snack, you should try the sardine in saor which is a cold dish with sardines, onion, pine nuts, raisins and a dressing of oil and vinegar. It’s sweet, sour and salted all at once.

For something a little different, but still with great Venetian history, try the baccala. It’s a dried and salted codfish that was introduced to the area in the 1400s when Venetian seamen were wrecked on Norway’s Lofoten Island. They loved the fish and brought it back with them, though the specific recipes have changed over time to suit Venetian tastes.

There is more to Venetian food than just fish. With such close associations to the Middle East, you can find many meals with other meats and cheeses as well. Fegato alla veneziana is a sour and spicy dish made with liver, onions and oil and vinegar. Local vegetables are frequently used, such as artichokes, radishes and peas. Rice with peas (risi e bisi) is a well-known Venetian recipe.

If you are going out to eat, you might enjoy cicchetti which is really a term for a wide mix of finger foods that you can enjoy casually at a wine bar or local restaurant. Grilled breads, meatballs cold cuts and vegetables all make excellent cicchetti.

Venetian sandwiches are known as tramezzino, and can be found all across Italy with many variations. The base is soft white bread and mayonnaise, but the fillings can include ingredients like tomatoes, mozzarella, tuna, olives, ham, eggs, mushrooms or artichokes.

When you visit Venice, you must try at least a few of these traditional Venetian recipes while you are in the city.

How To Grow Coffee Beans

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Your cup of steaming hot coffee every morning isn’t something as easily prepared as you might think. Creating coffee needs more than just putting hot water and stirring sugar into it. It doesn’t even come in instant granules that we are so used to.

The coffee that we drink actually comes from the coffee plants that are cultivated in various parts of the globe. Brazil is the number one coffee producer in the world with a market share of about 30-35 percent. Most countries that produce coffee are from South and Central America and the Middle East. Some Asian countries like Indonesia and India also have coffee plantations.

Coffee plants are evergreen plants that are grown in specific situations. They need specific amounts of water, air and land in order for the flavor to be achieved. It involves a lot of back-breaking work and is pretty labor-intensive. This is perhaps why it is so hard to grow them.

Plants are sown as seedlings in what coffee-growers call nursery beds. The land needs to be well aerated since it should have a healthy amount of oxygen in the roots in order to grow well. After about 8-12 months, the seedlings are then replanted to the coffee fields where there are wet and fertilized holes.

As mentioned before, specific conditions must be kept true in order to cultivate a good coffee bean. Sunlight shouldn’t shine directly. In fact, diffused light is best. Moisture should also be kept constant with frequent and regular watering. The soil should also be fertilized and kept healthy by removing weeds and protecting them from pests.

When planted, it takes a long time before it can mature. The coffee grower needs to wait for about 5 years before his first crop.

What the trees look like Coffee trees are big and broad with dark green leaves. The flower, which resembles jasmine, is where the coffee granules are gotten. That is why harvest time are timed at the period when these flowers blossom. The fruits are also great sources of the coffee beans. The cherries or the berries will begin to come out about 6-8 months after.

It is a must that these fruits are harvested immediately as they can ripen easily- within 10 – 14 days. Manual harvesting is still preferred even if it takes a longer time. This is because the picker needs to keep the good beans apart from the bad ones.

The long wait is however very profitable for the coffee grower. One tree can produce about two pounds of beans, which is around 2000 coffee beans. After the harvest, the coffee beans are then processed. They are dried and then roasted. These coffee beans are then ready to be sold on the market where they will be grounded before being served.

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