Selected Recipe Photos

Selected Recipe Photos
Selected recipe photos across from upper left to lower right: China – Congee, Japan – Miso Soup, England – Pot Pie, Egypt – Koshari, Russia – Kombucha Tea, Incan Empire – Ceviche, Thailand – Pad Thai, Ancient Greece – Feta Cheese Pie, Ancient Israel – Raw Honey, Mali – Millet Porridge, Medieval Europe – Buttered Beer, Scandinavia – Meusli, USA Fictional Futuristic Post-Apocalyptic – Kabobs, India – Lassi, The Medieval Byzantine Empire – Yellow Fish Soup, Mongolian Empire -- Süütei Tsai and Chanasan Makh, Scandinavia – Dutch Pea Soup, India - Dosas, Medieval Byzantine Empire -- Muscat Grapes, Post-Apocalyptic Video Game – Fried Cola.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Medieval Mongol Empire aka The Greater Mongol State



Mongolian Nomad Yurt (tent/home) at Gurvanshaikhan Mountains in Gobi Gurvanshahian National Park courtesy of Adagio















Breakfast
Kefir aka Исгэлэн Тараг
Arvain Guril (fried and malted barley flour porridge and sweet cream)

Preparation Time 20 Minutes.
No marinating required.

Some Mongolians often eat porridge for breakfast, but if they are planning to leave very early on a long cold journey, they traditionally eat a full dinner for breakfast. Some Mongolians however, prefer to have a generous helping of stew for breakfast everyday. For them, porridge seems like just a snack.

Ingredients and Shopping List:
Kefir:
1 bottle of Kefir (Available at Health food Store).
Arvain Guril:
1 teaspoon of Oil or any kind. Butter probably tastes the best, and is better for you than a lot of oils. Coconut oil is an excellent choice, especially if you are trying to lose weight.
1 cup of Grape Nuts (ground down to a 1/2 cup of malted barley malt powder).
1 cup of Water
Sweet Cream to Taste
Sugar to Taste (Stevia is so much healthier than sugar).

Equipment:
Microwave
Wax paper to cover microwaving food
1 microwavable bowl

Instructions:

Crush Grape Nuts into a powder. You can use a mortar and pestle, the smooth side of a meat tenderizing hammer with Grape Nuts wrapped in a paper towel, a blender, a coffee grinder, or the back of a knife handle with the Grape Nuts in the bowl.

Add oil and water. Mix well.

Cover with wax paper and microwave for about 1 minute.

Add Sweet Cream and sweetener.

Get Kefir.

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the kefir.

Lunch
Süütei Tsai aka Сүүтэй Цай (salted tea with milk)
Chanasan Makh aka Чанасан Мах (Lamb Chops, liver and stuff, and Carrots)

Preparation Time 15 minutes to 3 hours (if using crock pot method).
No marinating traditionally required.

This is the kind of dinner that Mongolians eat for breakfast if they are going on a long cold journey.
















Süütei Tsai and Chanasan Makh, Courtesy of Tamorlan (Jens courtesy)

Ingredients and Shopping List:
Süütei Tsai:
1/2 cup of Tea or any kind. Regular tea is more traditional.
1/2 cup of Milk
Salt to taste
Chanasan Makh:
Raw Lamb Chops or any smaller cut of lamb; not a whole leg of lamb (leg of lamb is too large and expensive).
1 piece of Raw Chicken, Beef, or Calf Liver (The Mongolians use sheep liver, stomach, and heart, but you probably won't be able to buy that anywhere near your home.)
1/2 cup of Raw Chicken Gizzards and Hearts (optional)
1 can of Carrots
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
Catchup or hot sauce to taste. (-- a modern addition).

Equipment:
1 coffee cup
1 sauce pan or crock pot

Instructions:

Open the can of carrots and pour off the water. If you have a crock pot you can use fresh carrots. If you use fresh carrots, wash and clean them. Then skin them if you like them skinned. Use a vegetable skinner or knife. If you are using a crock pot, put the meat, and vegetables in the crock pot. Put in enough water to barely cover the meat and vegetables. Add salt. Put on lid. Cook on high for about three hours.

Put lamb meat, liver, and optional gizzards and heart, and carrots in the sauce pan. Cover them with water. Add salt and boil for about 15 - 30 minutes til done.

Make a 1/2 cup of tea. Add 1/2 cup of milk. Add salt

Take cooked meat and carrots out of the pan or crock pot and put them on a plate.

Get Süütei Tsai

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the liver and hearts.

Note: Like yogurt, kefir is one of the healthiest drinks in the world. It has been a part of the Mongolian diet for millenniums.

Note: Many lamb meat cuts are very fat. The leaner cuts are the arm, the lion, the shank half of the leg, and of course the leg of lamb.

Note: Mongolians usually eat mutton, not lamb, but it is difficult to buy mutton in many parts of the world. Mutton is an adult sheep, and lamb is a baby sheep. They also eat goat and marmot (a large squirrel-like animal that looks like a beaver without the big teeth).

Dinner
Budaatai Huurga aka Будаатай Хуурга (any kind of meat and rice boiled in Süütei Tsai)
Preparation Time 15 minutes, if meat is already cooked.
No marinating traditionally required.

Ingredients:
1 quart of Tea of any kind. Regular tea is more traditional.
1 quart of Milk
2 cups of Microwaveable Rice
2 cups of per-shredded coleslaw without the dressing (from the produce section of the grocery store).
3 tablespoon of Powdered Ranch Dressing Mix
Salt to Taste
Any kind of canned or raw meat. Lamb or a meat like ground up jerky is more traditional and beef is a favorite.

Equipment:
Microwave
One 4 quart microwavable bowl
One microwavable plate

Instructions:

If meat is raw, cook first. Set Aside.

Put coleslaw mix on a plate, cover with wax paper or microwave-safe lid, and microwave for about 3 minutes. Set Aside

Make one quart of tea. Put one quart of water in 4 quart microwave bowl. Microwave for about 3 minutes. Put tea bags in and let them steep for about 10 minutes until the tea is nice and dark.

Add one quart of milk.

Add powdered ranch dressing and salt. Stir.

Add veggies.

Add Meat.

Cover with wax paper of microwave-safe lid and microwave again for about 4 - 6 minutes, until warm enough to eat.

Salt to Taste.

You can drink water or kefir with this meal.

Eat.

Note: The brain food is this meal is lean meat (if it was used) or kefir (if it was drank).



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKgz3RfDP_A














http://www.mongoliatoday.com/issue/1/wisdom.html














http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8848282/13th-century-Mongolian-wreckage-discovered-off-Japanese-seabed.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87JPxQ-v4QE





















http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8187628.stm





















http://video.az.mn/video/2wWZhGfurN4/30-beauty-tips-in-4-mins/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_History_of_the_Mongol_Queens:_How_the_Daughters_of_Genghis_Khan_Rescued_His_Empire


Pingates

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Medieval Byzantine Empire; Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner








Mosaic of Justinian I and Some of His Court (Byzantine Emperor who tried to reconquer Fallen Western Rome; lived from 483 AD to 565 AD).

Breakfast
Muscat Grape Juice Spiced with Aniseed (instead of muscat wine)
Dried fruit
Bacon with Honey
Black-eyed Peas with Honey and Vinegar
Fine Mastic Biscuits

Preparation Time: 20 Minutes
No Marinating Needed


Muscat Grapes courtesy of KetaiBlogger
















Wine Goblet courtesy of OSCAL






Dried Uncooked Black-eyed Peas
















Ingredients and Shopping List:
Aniseed Spiced Grape Juice:
1 glass of Regular or Muscat Grape Juice (Muscat grape were the grapes of choice for this empire. This kind of grape juice can only be bought at home brew wine-making stores. It can't even be bought at health food stores. Its sweeter than the Concord Grape Juice available at the grocers. Muscat grapes are used today to make raisins. The healthiest grapes are grapes with seeds. Grape seeds are very healthy for the immune system).
a pinch of Crushed Aniseed (Aniseed prevents bad breath, aids digestion, and prevents flatulence that can happen when eating beans).
Dried Fruit:
1 cup of Dried Fruit of Any Kind
Bacon:
2 slices of Bacon
1 Tablespoon of Honey (Raw honey is more nutritional than regular honey but should never be fed to children under one year of age, the elderly, or those with a compromised immune system. Raw honey is available at the health food store).

Black-eyed Peas with Honey and Vinegar:
Mastic Biscuits:
1 cup of Bisquick Mix or its generic equivalent
1/4 teaspoon of Crushed Mastic, Crushed Boswellia (Frankincense) or Gum Arabic Powder (Mastic is a Byzantine spice that prevents tooth cavities. Its is available at the health food store. Boswellia and Gum Arabic Powder are cheaper substitutes that are also available at the health food store.)

Equipment:
1 Wine Goblet
Microwave
Wax paper to cover microwaving food
Microwave-safe plate
Microwave-safe bowl to cook the black-eyed peas in
Mixing bowl
Rolling pin or glass
Cutting board or plate
biscuit cutter or top of glass
Oven or toaster oven

Instructions:
Follow the instructions on the Bisquick box, but mix in the mastic at the end of the instructions. Put a little Bisquick mix on the cutting board of plate. Spread it all around. Put a little Bisquick mix all over the rolling pin. Take the dough out of the bowl, and put into a big ball. Roll into a flat circle with the rolling pin. Cut out Bisquick and put them onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 Degrees for 15 minutes according the to the Bisquick instructions.

While the biscuits are baking. Cover the bacon with wax paper and put it into the microwave for about 2 minutes and microwave until crisp to your liking. Pour honey over bacon.

Then, in a microwave-safe bowl mix the ingredients for the black-eyed peas, cover with wax paper, and microwave them for about 3 minutes.

When the biscuits are done, you can put them on the plate hot. For a more Greek flavor sprinkle olive oil onto the biscuits, for a more Roman flavor, add butter. (Most Byzantines actually said 'Hello' in Greek, from Greece, but some in Latin, from Rome, because they were their own unique hybrid of both cultures).
Add the dried fruit, the bacon, to your plate.

Pour the muscat grape juice or regular grape juice into your wine goblet. Mix in the crushed aniseeds.

Eat, and you will be transported back to Byzantium for just a few minutes.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the grape juice.

Note: Mastic is the sap from the mastic tree of the Mediterranean area. It has natural antibiotic/antiviral qualities that prevent cavities, cure some peptic ulcers and other digestive system disorders, reduce cholesterol level, and protect the liver. Mastic biscuits can be eaten to relieve upset stomach, but there is little modern research on its effect on morning sickness. It hasn't been shown to be safe for pregnant and lactating women. It was widely used and prized as one of the many valuable spice trade items in the Byzantine Empire. It is still used to make health-food gum today.

Note: Whole wheat Bisquick is healthier than white flour Bisquick, but the rich in Byzantine probably ate white flour biscuits and the poor probably ate whole wheat biscuits.

Note: For a more brain healthy version of this meal, you can include a little yogurt.

Note: The Byzantines started to eat sugar and white flour, more than the cultures before it, even though sugar and white flour were quite expensive then. This move from raw honey to sugar and brown flour to white four was a very bad food choice because the increase in the use of sugar and white flour in history, coincides with the increase of death by stroke in the brain, or heart attack; first for the rich, and then for the poor (when sugar became inexpensive and easy for the poor to get).

Lunch
Mastic Spiced Grape Juice
Chicken and Olives

Salad with Yogurt and Dill Dressing
Grouta (Wheat pudding with Carob Chips, or Raisins, and Honey)
Preparation Time: 20 Minutes - 1 Hour and 15 Minutes
No Marinating Needed

Ingredients and Shopping List:
Byzantine Spiced Grape Juice:
1 glass of Regular or Muscat Grape Juice (Muscat grape were the grapes of choice for this empire. This kind of grape juice can only be bought at home brew wine-making stores. It can't even be bought at health food stores. Its sweeter than the Concord Grape Juice available at the grocers. Muscat grapes are used today to make raisins. The healthiest grapes are grapes with seeds. Grape seeds are very healthy for the immune system).
a pinch of Crushed Mastic, Crushed Boswellia (Frankincense) or Gum Arabic Powder (Mastic is a Byzantine spice that prevents tooth cavities. It is available at the health food store. Boswellia and Gum Arabic Powder are cheaper substitutes that are also available at the health food store).
Chicken and Olives:
1 can of Chunky Italian-style Tomato Soup (or if you can't find that 1/2 can of Vegetable Soup + 1/2 can of dices tomatoes + 3 Tablespoons of Italian Dressing).
1 can of Pre-cooked Chicken
1/4 cup of Green or Black Olives, (green olives are more authentic)
Salad with Yogurt and Dill Dressing:
1 package of Pre-made Salad
1 container of Plain Yogurt
1 teaspoon of Dill, fresh or dried
Grouta:
1 cup of Brown or White Microwave Rice or if you can clean and cook them, wheat berries, or if you can cook it, pearled barley (wheat berries are available at health food store, pearled barely is available at a Kroger grocers, not Walmart).
1 cup of Ready-to-Eat Vanilla Pudding
1/4 cup of Raisins or Carob Chips (available at some Kroger grocers and health food stores)
1/4 cup of Nuts, your favorite kind
1/4 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of Honey (optional. Raw honey is more nutritional than regular honey but should never be fed to children under one year of age, the elderly, or those with a compromised immune system. Raw honey is available at the health food store).

Equipment:
1 wine goblet
1 microwaveable bowl for the Chicken and Olives
Wax paper or microwave-safe lid for microwaving food
1 cup for the dressing
1 plate for the salad
1 bowl for the pudding

Instructions:

If you are cooking the wheat berries, rice, or barley cook it first, otherwise just use the already cooked or microwave rice. White rice will take about 20 minutes to cook. Wheat berries, pearled barley, or brown rice will take about one hour. 3 cups of water to one 1 of barely. 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice.

Chill the muscat grape juice or regular grape juice about a hour before, or not (since it probably wasn't chilled in the Byzantine era.) Pour the grape juice into the goblet and the pinch of mastic to the grape juice.

Mix together in a cup the yogurt and dill.
Put the salad on a plate, and pour the dill yogurt dressing on the salad.

Mix together, in a bowl, all of the ingredients for the Chicken and Olives cover with wax paper or microwave-safe lid, and cook it in the microwave for about 4 minutes.

Put the Chicken and Olives on the plate next to the salad. Keep the wheat pudding in the bowl. Get the spiced grape juice.

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the olives and lean chicken.

Note: As the people of India use betel leaves today, the Byzantines used salad after a meal, to help with digestion, and/or settle the stomach.

Note: Mastic is the sap from the mastic tree of the Mediterranean area. It has natural antibiotic/antiviral qualities that prevent cavities, cure some peptic ulcers and other digestive system disorders, reduce cholesterol level, and protect the liver. Mastic biscuits can be eaten to relieve upset stomach, but there is little modern research on its effect on morning sickness. It hasn't been shown to be safe for pregnant and lactating women. It was widely used and prized as one of the many valuable spice trade items in the Byzantine Empire. It is still used to make health-food gum today.

Lenten* Dinner
Grape Soda Pop Spiced with Chamomile
Sweet and Sour Yellow Fish Soup
Black-eyed Peas with Honey and Vinegar (The Byzantines were not as avid record keepers as the Greeks and Romans, so it is very difficult to find a Black-eyed pea and honey-vinegar recipe that one can say with any certainty is authentically Byzantine. But history records show that they liked this dish. The best I could find was a modern Greek recipe that may be similar).
Preparation Time: 40 Minutes
20 minutes of marinating required for the Sweet and Sour Yellow Fish Soup

Caution: This meal contains chamomile, Valerian, and spikenard essential oil. Any of these alone can make you very sleepy. Don't drive or do anything that requires alertness after eating this meal.










Modern Greek-style French Yellow Fish Soup looks something like this -- Courtesy of Stu Spivack

Shopping List and Ingredients:
Soda Pop:
1 can of Grape Soda Pop preferable Zevia, the healthiest pop on the market (available at the health food store).
1 cup of Chamomile Tea
Sweet and Sour Yellow Fish Soup:
1 small any type of gurnard fish cleaned, scaled and trimmed (ask your fish clerk to do this for you)
1 small mullet fish, cleaned, scaled and trimmed (ask your fish clerk to do this for you)
1 pinch of Saffron (Optional. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, but is famous for giving food a yellow color and unique flavor. The Byzantines were the first to use this spice in food. If you decide to use saffron the strings are better than the powder because sometimes the powder if fake saffron being sold as real saffron. If you decide not to use saffron, your fish stew will be fish stew without it. It will just be sweet and sour fish stew).
3 1/2 teaspoons of Red Wine Vinegar or Pickle Juice
1/2 teaspoon of Allspice
1 Tablespoon of Honey (Raw honey is more nutritional than regular honey but should never be fed to children under one year of age, the elderly, or those with a compromised immune system. Raw honey is available at the health food store).
1/4 cup of Chopped Baby Onion Tops or Scallions
1/4 cup Mushrooms (Still not sure what kind of mushrooms the Byzantines used, please comment if you know...)
1 can of Chunky Italian-style Tomato Soup (or if you can't find that 1/2 can of Vegetable Soup + 1/2 can of dices tomatoes + 3 Tablespoons of Italian Dressing).
1/2 cup of mussels (Very Optional. This ingredient wasn't included in the authentic historic version, but it is included in modern versions. Use only if you have the cooking skill to properly handle mussels).
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Other Optional Spices: 1 capsule of Valerian and 1 drop of Spikenard essential oil (both expensive, and both not available at Walmart or King Soopers -- both will make you sleepy. Use with caution if you have a heart condition).
Black-eyed Peas with Honey and Vinegar
1 can of Black-eyed Peas
4 Tablespoons of Parsley
5 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar or Pickle Juice
3 Tablespoons of Honey (Raw honey is more nutritional than regular honey but should never be fed to children under one year of age, the elderly, or those with a compromised immune system. Raw honey is available at the health food store).
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Equipment:
1 wine goblet
Microwave
1 bowl for soup
1 bowl to mix the black-eyed peas in
1 plate to put the black-eyed peas on

Instructions:
About an hour before the meal, put the soda pop into the refrigerator, or not, since it was probably drunk warm in Byzantium. When ready to mix 1/3rd camomile tea, 2/3rds to the pop. This drink may make you sleepy.

About 20 minutes before meal, cut the gunard fish and mullet fish into 1 inch chunks and marinate in 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar or pickle juice for 20 minutes.

If you are adding mussels boil them in tomato juice, vinegar, and salt until they open. Throw away the ones that don't open. After they are well cooked add them to the rest of the ingredients in the soup. Be sure to handle them properly because these types of seafood can cause an upset stomach quicker than other kinds of foods, if poorly handled).

Rinse off the fish chunks and microwave them for about 4 minutes.

Pour the chunky Italian vegetable soup into the bowl (or the vegetable soup + the chunky tomatoes + the Italian dressing into the bowl). Add the saffron, allspice, 1 teaspoon of vinegar or pickle juice, and honey. Add scallions and mushrooms. Add the fish chunks. (Add the mussels if adding them). Cover with wax paper or microwave-safe lid and microwave for about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Mix together in a bowl all the ingredients for the black-eyed peas and honey vinegar. Microwave it for about 3 minutes.

Add the black-eyed peas to a plate. Put the bowl of fish soup on the plate. Get your spiced wine.

Eat.

*Lenten means during the season of Lent. The season of Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter when Byzantine Christians often spent their free time in fasting, self-denial, introspection, and repentance. During this season, alcohol was often replaced by soda pop.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the fish.


The Byzantines just didn't record a lot of their activities, they were more doers than recorders, so Byzantine jokes are hard to find. I only found one, instead of an entire link's worth.(Constantinople is the name Constantine the Great gave Byzantium when he moved there).

Jokes and funny stories are not what comes to mind when people think about Byzantium but even so, if you search really hard you can find some. The historian John Skylitzes writes that after a grain shortage in Constantinople the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas tried to make a handsome profit by selling the grain in the Imperial grain stores at black market prices. His greed became the butt of jokes for the people of the city. He wrote down one of them:

Once, when the Emperor had gathered his troops in a field to train them, an old man came and stood among them trying to pass as a soldier. The Emperor noticed that and said to him:

- How can you, an old man, think you can pass as one of my soldiers?

The old man responded:

- Oh, but I'm much stronger now than when I was young.

- How is that?

- Well, when I was young I needed two mules to carry one nomisma's worth of grain, now in your reign I can easily carry two nomisma's worth on my shoulders.

From:http://www.allempires.com/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26787&PID=508549




The greatness and wisdom of Byzantium is somewhat forgotten amongst the controversies of the ages. In particular, the controversies surround exactly what Byzantium should be called. Byzantine contemporaries called themselves Romans. They didn't think of themselves as a separate empire from the Roman Empire. After 308 AD, most of them thought of themselves as the Christian version of the pagan Roman Empire and after 1054 AD, they thought of themselves as the Eastern Orthodox Christian Roman Empire. (For the sake of simplicity I will be using AD instead of CE this time).

There are non-Christian powers that don't want it known that the mighty, rich, paragon of success, known as the Byzantine Empire, thought of itself as a Christian Empire. For some reason they don't want it known that a Christian empire was the envy of the entire world for about 1850 years. As result, some US citizen think that the US is the first country where Christians have been notably allowed to worship freely without persecution. But, in Byzantium they had annual parades dedicated to people freely dancing down the streets, singing only Christian praise songs, and they had church services where entire towns of 10,000 people were baptized on the same day.

In the past, there have been Christian powers that didn't want it to be known that Byzantine Empire thought that the Roman Empire never fell, it just moved, and they were what was left of it. They wanted everyone to think that Eastern Byzantium (Eastern Rome) and Western Rome were two completely separate and different countries. They wanted everyone to think that Western Rome was evil, and that's why it fell, and that Eastern Byzantium (Eastern Rome) was good, and that's why it was so rich. Well the pagan Roman Empire did only last for about 500 years, (which isn't very long for an empire); probably in part because of its greed and its cut-throat inhumanity to human beings. Eastern Rome lasted for about 1800 years.

Thus we have this nice little politically correct name for this empire, the Byzantine Empire, which they didn't call themselves. Since we can't agree to call them what they called themselves, the Roman Empire, they would probably rather have us call them the New Christian Roman Empire, or the Eastern Orthodox Christian Roman Empire, or something like that. Such names would better lead to the telling of their real story than the name of the Byzantine Empire has.

In fact, history records that, when asked, a Byzantine preferred to be called simply a Christian. On the first day after the Fall of Byzantium, Sultan Mehmed II, the Ottoman ruler who conquered Byzantium, asked the most eminent Byzantine to survive the war, the Byzantine prisoner Genniadius, "Who were the people of this crumbling city, and what exactly was their faith?" Genniadius the theologian replied, "You may not call me a Greek, because I do not believe as those ancient pagan people once believed. You might call me a Byzantine because I was born in this city, but I prefer simply to call myself, a Christian." So they thought of themselves as Christian Romans.

And, these Greek-speaking Romans (Western Romans spoke Latin), these Christian Romans of the Eastern Rome, were quite impressive, to say the least, even though they did have some counterproductive dietary quirks that they have passed down to our generation, (like a bigger sweet tooth than any other empire before them).

So this is what really happened. By 98 AD the Roman Empire was larger than ever before, and it began to have more poor citizens than ever before. It seems it had become just too large to govern. They just couldn't collect enough taxes, from conquered nations, to feed everyone they wanted to feed. In 326 AD, Constantine the Great (or Constantine I), the first Christian Roman emperor moved the capital of the Roman Empire from the Western city of Rome to the Eastern city of Byzantium, in an effort to further unite the empire. He took with him the Roman trade route connections and most of the Roman inventors, but he left behind a succession of emperors who were to govern the Westren European countries from Rome. But, without the trade routes and inventors, these emperors were unable to reinvent their economy, so they remained poor and pitiful, and by 475 AD, (149 years after the move), they lost possession of them, including Rome and Italy, to the Barbarians.

The empire had become so sprawled out that it had barely been able to hang onto some of these counties anyway. And without the trade route connections and inventors that Constantine the Great took with him, countries like Italy were not able to build up enough wealth, or ingenuity, to sustain an effective military. But the Eastern European countries like Byzantium, were quite economically viable without the trade route connections, or the new influx of inventors. So losing the trade routes and inventors made Western Rome too poor to fight off the Barbarians, while gaining the trade routes and inventors just made Byzantium (Eastern Rome) richer.

After the Fall of Western Rome, the Roman Empire (the Eastern part that was left) became smaller and easier to manage. The left behind Western European regions had fallen into the turmoil of; warring Barbarian conquerors, small unaligned rich villas, sparsely populated towns, and then warring city-states. They also consequently fell into ignorance of the Dark Ages. In the meantime, Byzantium (Eastern Rome) and its Eastern Europe countries continued to rise in peace and prosperity, under the Christianized versions of Greco-Roman classical wisdom. They became richer than the Western Roman Empire ever was, without nearly as much wild extravagant living. The quality of life there far surpassed what many had even thought to be possible.

The Renaissance Period of Western Europe set into motion, in part, as a result of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I mustering up the military might to regain some of the parts of Western Europe, that emperors, who were left behind, had lost after the capital was moved. During his Western European conquest, in 552 AD, Justinian I reconquered Dark-Ages Italy from the Ostrogoths (who were a group of Barbarians that had since become civilized). Eventually, centuries later, after the Fall of Byzantium, in 1453, the expert Greco-Roman wisdom of Byzantine scholars (who were refugees that had left for Italy right before the Fall of Byzantium) seeped back into Italy and then from Italy throughout Western Europe. During this time, throughout Western Europe, the expert wisdom and monumental marble architecture of Byzantium replaced the amateur superstitions and wooden buildings, (that sometimes collapsed while still being inhabited), of the Dark and Medieval Ages. Western Europe leaped from being a collection of illiterate multilingual masses to including a small collection of educated, Micheangelos, Leonardo de Vincis, Donettlos, Raphaels, and Dantes. Their ignorant era was over, and the prosperity of the Renaissance was upon them.

Byzantium fell in 1453, when it was sacked by the Sunni Muslim Ottoman Empire. In around 1379, Byzantium had tried to save itself from the Ottoman attack, that it saw coming, by rejoining the (Western) Catholic Church, (that they had split from in 1054 A.D.), and gaining the military assistance of its medieval Western European Crusaders. But, the Ottoman knew they were trying to do this, and before the rejoining with the Catholic Church could become politically beneficial to them, the Ottoman attacked. When the Ottoman attacked, Byzantium was weak and crumbling shadow of its former self because it still hadn't recovered from the devastating looting, pillaging, and plundering, from 1204 A.D. to 1261 A.D., by the medieval Western European Christian Crusaders of the (Western) Catholic Church. A stunning amount of the resulting loot, that represents only a small portion of the vast wealth of Byzantine, is still held today, at a Catholic church in Venice, Italy. Also, when the Ottoman attacked, Byzantium had been further weakened by from the civil war that broke out, in 1379, over their attempt to seek military aid from the Catholic Church's Crusaders (yes the very ones that had just plundered them in the the first half of the 1200's). Byzantium fell to the Ottoman after only about 57 days of war.

The massive amount of inventing stopped, and eventually the prosperity of what had been Byzantium dwindled, to what is now Southeastern Europe and Turkey, etc... (So, after the Fall in 1453, Christian were granted freedom to worship in order to keep them from successfully rejoining the Catholic Church's Crusaders and overthrowing the New Ottoman Empire, but now, in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), in modern times, Christians no longer are free to worship without express permission from the Muslim government. They are sometimes harassed, they sometime face trails and jail time, and they are sometimes beaten, just for their faith.)

But, these controversies hide the ancient wisdom of theses Christian Romans.

Started by the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, Byzantium had chariot races next to palace, in the Hippodrome of Byzantium, instead of the man-eating lion gladiator sports at the old pagan Roman Coliseum. The inhumane gladiator sports did continue in Western Rome until 536 AD, well after the Fall of Western Rome, even though they were first declared illegal in Western Rome in 399 AD. The emperor and his family attended the chariot races to be with his people, which were seen to be more like his extended family than his subjects (sort of like the Egyptian pharaohs and US President George Washington). Before the move to Byzantium, the emperor unified the empire by issuing his Edict of Milan, in 313 AD, which stopped the religious persecution of all kinds, in all of the empire, east and west. Byzantium (Eastern Rome) took a posture of being a strong peaceful nation instead of a warring nation that had to keep conquering other nations in order to keep collecting enough taxes to survive. Instead, they relied on inventions, and trade to survive. They further Christianized their calendar and holiday, ridding themselves of some of their more inhumane lore. And they simply, by many accounts, became kinder and gentler than pagan Rome, although they were still violent by modern standards. So here some wisdom from Constantine the Great:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great


Found Sunken Byzantine Ship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sFJe4J5Z68



















Byzantine Gold Coins, Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibFygagzbMg

Byzantine Gold Coins, Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ADh3JXCr0M

Byzantine Gold Coins, Part III
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTH59d9uoQw&feature=related















As far as I can tell, it seems Byzantine women were very modest, and didn't wear much make up, if they wore it at all. If you know different, please comment. There is a controversy about them covering there faces (like Muslim women) before the were conquered by the Muslims (of course being conquered by a Muslim nation the Ottoman, such controversies are likely to occur). As far as I can tell, they really didn't wear their faces covered.

They did wear their heads covered, and Western Roman women did not. They wore head coverings that looked like Catholic nun coverings to various kinds of turbans. Their purses were hidden within the folds of their ankle-length Roman-style-dresses and hardly ever showed.

http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Costume_History/romanesque.htm




pfm

Monday, August 1, 2011

India; Breakfast, Lunch, Evening Breakfast, and Dinner

Breakfast
Lassi
Peanut Chutney and Rice or Dosas

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes
No Marinating Needed

Picture of Fat Free Lassi in Mumbai courtesy of Swami Stream














Ingredients and Shopping List:
Lassi
1 cup of Plain Yogurt, whole, low-fat, or non-fat
1 cup of Ice
1 teaspoon of Truvia or Stevia

Peanut Chutney
1 cup of All Natural Peanut Butter, chunky or smooth whichever you prefer
¼ cup of Vegetable Broth
Hot Sauce to taste
1 teaspoon of Mustard
1 teaspoon of Ginger
1 teaspoon of Curry Powder (Probably not at Walmart try local grocer, health food store, or spice store).
1 cup of Microwave Rice

Equipment:
Blender
Glass for lassi
Microwave
Wax paper to cover microwaving food

Instructions:

Put the yogurt, ice, and Truvia or stevia into the blender. Blend for 2 minutes. Pour into glass, set aside. Rinse out blender. Put the peanut butter, vegetable broth, mustard, ginger, and curry into the blender. Blend for 2 minutes.

Prepare microwave rice according to the instructions. Put rice on a plate, and pour peanut chutney out of blender, onto the rice. Cover the plate with wax paper. Put the plate back into the microwave for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes.

Grab lassi.

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the lassi.

Note: If, by chance, you live somewhere near a store or restaurant that sells dosas (Indian fermented rice and lentil pancakes), dosas are healthier for the brain than rice because they are easier for the body to digest so that no blood is required to drain for the brain in order to digest dosas.

Picture of Dosas courtesy of Roland.


Note: Whole grain rice and flour is healthier than white rice and flour.

Note: If you would like to boil regular rice, please see the instructions under China, Japan, or Thai breakfast.



Lunch
Almond Milk
Palak Paneer and Rice

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes
No Marinating Needed

Pic of Palak Paneer courtesy of Leningrad at en.wikipedia


Ingredients and Shopping List:
Almond Milk:
1 glass of Almond Milk

Palak Paneer:
1 can of Spinach
1 tablespoon of powdered Hidden Ranch Dressing Mix
1 teaspoon of Curry Powder (Probably not sold at Walmart try local grocer, health food store, or spice store).
½ teaspoon of Ginger
Hot Sauce to taste
½ cup of Ricotta Cheese, in quarter-sized pieces
Microwavable Rice

Equipment:
Microwave
Wax paper to cover microwaving food
Microwave-safe bowl, medium-sized
Blender

Instructions:
Put the box of almond milk in the refrigerator about a couple of hours before you eat.

Prepare the microwave rice according to the instructions. Put the cooked rice on a plate and set it aside.

Mix in the bowl, the spinach, dressing mix, spices and hot sauce. Pour the spinach mixture into the blender. Blend for about 2 minutes. Pour the spinach mixture back into the bowl. Cover the bowl with wax paper. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Add the ricotta cheese (torn up into quarter-sized pieces), mix lightly, cover, and microwave again for about two minutes. The cheese (paneer) should be chunkier than the cheese in the picture. Put it on the plate next to the rice.

Take the almond milk out of the fridge and pour it into a glass, or plan to drink it out of the box.

Eat.

Note: the brain food in this meal are the spinach and the almonds in the almond milk.

Note: If you would like to boil regular rice, please see the instructions under China, Japan, or Thai breakfast.

Evening Breakfast
Tea
Banana Chips

Preparation Time: 5 Minutes
No Marinating Needed

Many Indian families meet together early in the evening over snacks to talk. This is called evening breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 tea bag of Tea of any kind
1 box of Dried Banana Chips

Equipment:
A way to heat the water for the tea

Instructions:
Prepare the tea. Open the banana chips.

Eat.

Dinner
Chai Tea
Curry
Ras Malai (Sweet Cheese Dumplings)

Preparation Time:15 Minutes the Night Before, and 15 Minutes the Same Day
Nor Marinating Needed

Desert needs to be made the night before. Ras malai is a festive desert that is a Indian favorite and is often served at weddings.

Picture of Ras Malai Courtesy of Secretlondon 09



Tea:
1 tea bag of Chai Tea or one cup for a box of Liquid Chai Tea

Curry:
1 can of Carrots
1 can of Sweet Potatoes or Yams
1 can of Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans
2 cups of Coconut Milk (in the Asian section at Walmart)
1 of Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon of Curry
1 teaspoon of Crushed Garlic or Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon of Onion Powder
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Ras Malai:
½ cup of Ricotta Cheese
2 teaspoons of Truvia or Stevia
1/2 can of Canned Milk
1 teaspoon of Truvia or Stevia
½ teaspoon of Cardamom (Cardamom is an Indian spice. It is probably not sold at Walmart; try local grocer, health food store, or spice store).
1 teaspoon of Almonds, slivered, chopped, or crushed
1 teaspoon of Pistachios, crushed (optional)

Note: The brain foods is garlic, onions, almonds, and garbanzo beans.

Equipment:
Medium-sized microwave safe bowl for the curry
Wax paper to cover microwaving food
1 small microwave-safe bowl for the curry sauce
1 cup for the ras malai
1 cup for the ras malai sauce

Instructions:
Make the ras malai the night before becuase it should be eaten cold.

Mix 1 teaspoon of Truvia or stevia into the ricotta cheese. It will be a little hard, but keep mixing until its all mixed up good. Then roll the mixture into smooth little ping pong sized ball. Make more balls, if you think you will eat them, just double the ras malai sauce recipe. Put it it a cup and microwave it for about 4-5 minutes. Let it cool in the cup, in the refrigerator overnight.
Put the canned milk, 1 teaspoon of Truvia or stevia, and cardamom into a cup. Stir. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Let cool in the cup in the refrigerator overnight.

When its time for dinner mix the coconut milk, soy sauce, curry, garlic powder, and onion powder into the smaller bowl. Cover with wax paper and microwave for about 3 minutes and set it aside. Open the cans of vegetables. Pour the water out of the cans. Put the vegetables in the medium sized bowl. Cover with wax paper and microwave for about 4 minutes. Put them in a serving bowl. Pour the sauce over them.

Take the ras malai dumpling and sauce out of the refrigerator. Put the cooled ras malai dumpling in a bowl. Pour the cooled ras malai sauce over the cooled cheese dumplings. Add nuts.

Make or pour chai tea.

Get the plate of curry.

Get chai tea.

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the almonds, garlic, and onions.

Note: The flavor can be more like an experienced chef if you let the flavor of the sauce soak into the vegetables. This is usually done by boiling the raw vegetables in the curry sauce, until they are cooked. As a short cut you can make the flavor of the sauce into the vegetables, if you make the curry and sauce the night before, and then let the vegetables marinate in the sauce, in the refrigerator, overnight, and then re-microwave it at dinner time, the next day.


http://www.jokesfromindia.com/












http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071103090232AAL0lLp


http://www.oceantreasures.org/videos,india-s-underwater-treasures-26863.html



















The Taj Mahal, one of the most perfect buildings in the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37l11UzbvvA&feature=fvwrel


















http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/beauty/article5767293.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Third Week Preview

India

LINK TO THE MAP OF INDIA
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/india_map.html

Nameste (I bow to your form or the spirit in me respects the spirit in you). With a population of 1 billion, India is the largest democracy in the world. It is also a land of more than 1600 languages. The official first language is Hindi, and the second official language is English, but there is a local langauge for just about every village, every collection of clans, and every nook and cranny, in every region. As for food, what is traditional in one region of India is different from what is traditional in another. But, many Indians, all over India, are vegetarians.

Even though there are about 1,000 Indian restaurants in the US, and even about 10,000 Indian restaurants in Great Britain, not much of what is eaten in India can be bought already made from a Walmart in the US, except chai tea and a few frozen dinners. Many Indian food items can't even be replaced with suitable substitutes, and not many Indian recipes are quick and easy to make, but there are a few. In order to cook Indian food, you must be prepared to use some out-of-the-ordinary spices, otherwise, it won't be Indian food. In other words you must be prepared to shop for spices in other places than Walmart, or you can't cook Indian food.

Many types of food have a spectacular health quality, such as some Japanese, Scandinavian, and Russian foods help people stay healthy even when they become very old. Some Incan foods give young people more strength and endurance. Well, many Indian foods have the spectacular health quality of helping keep the brain extremely healthy. This is because many Indian foods include some kind of fermented grain. Fermented grains are easier for the digestive system to eat, so they don't require blood to temporarily drain from the brain in order to get the food digested. So the brain gets all of the nutrition it needs more often. So, I guess that is one of the reasons why so many engineers and mathematicians come from India. Fermented grain foods often can't be bought in many areas in the US. They are also usually difficult to make, and errors can cause food poisoning. So I have not included any of them here. I thought it would just be good for you to know what is so spectacular about Indian food.

Like China, India is not just a place to find interesting and spectacular foods. India has become the home to the largest oil refinery in the world; the Reliance Petroleum Refinery in Jamnagar, Gujart, India. It produces approximately 1,240,000 barrels a day. The largest refinery in the US is the BP Texas City Refinery, in Texas City, Texas. It produces approximately 475,000 barrels a day. India is also home to the world's largest movie making industry, located in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Maharashtra, India and nicknamed Bollywood.

Breakfast --Lassi and Peanut Chutney and Rice or Dosas
Lunch -- Almond Milk and Palak Paneer (Spinach and Cheese), and Rice
Evening Breakfast -- Tea and Banana Chips
Dinner – Chai Tea, Curry, and Homemade Ras Malai (Sweet Cheese Dumplings)

Medieval Byzantine Empire
Link to the Map of the Byzantine Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Byzantine_Empire_1045.svg
The capital of Byzantine, Constantinople, was located at modern day Istanbul, Turkey

Yeia sas. (Health to You) or Salve. (Be Well). (I'm having a little trouble with these greetings because I don't know the difference between pre-medieval Greek, medieval Greek, and classical Greek, so I just used the classical version). The fledgling quiet, but ambitious, ancient Greek colony of Byzantium established a sound economy for itself by importing seafood, especially salted bonito. Bonito was like salted fish chitterlings (fish guts) from the bonito fish. But Byzantium morphed into a stunning and rich superpower when Constantine the Great moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium. They were probably more similar to the United States than any other ancient empire; the envy of all their medieval neighbors. And, they were, for the most part, the medieval Southeastern Europe, or the medieval Balkans.

The Balkans or Southeastern Europe is no longer the most famous part of the world, but during the Medieval times, this region (along with various other countries around the Mediterranean and Black Seas) was the place to where everyone with an unrealized dream wanted to immigrate. They were what has come to be known as the the Byzantine Empire. As the Byzantine Empire, they was a magical place of ambitious inventors and immigrants from all over the world all bustling together, seeking to fulfill their dreams of prosperity. It was its own synergistic hybrid mixture of Roman and Greek culture. If the Greeks were inventors, the Byzantine people were much more so. If Roman was rich, in part from their trade routes, than Byzantine became even much more rich when it inherited the Rome's spot in these trade routes.

From food to thrones they were always inventing something new, importing something new, or exporting something new. They didn't write and theorize about food as much as the Greeks did; instead they were busy inventing new foods, importing new foods, and exporting new ingredients. In spite of the fact that history didn't preserve any impressive Byzantine cookbooks, like the impressive Greek Cookbook, Hedypatheia by Archestratus, records show that they invented flavored carbonated water beverages (soda pop), it seems they invented salad, and they were probably the first to cook with nutmeg, chamomile, and Valerian.

They had the most advanced farming equipment of their time. Visiting a Byzantine farm was like visiting the future of farming for all of their neighboring countries. They also invented the most technically advanced military weapons of their time. They were the first to invent a precursor to the gun, Greek Fire. It was a weapon that could kill many enemy soldiers at once from a long range, more effectively than arrows. They invented this because, even though they had a highly discipline and fierce military, they hated the bloody messiness of up close combat. They were the only ones in ancient to to provide a throne for their king that moved way up and then back down to the floor, so that it would appear that he had magical powers.

Since the Byzantine were a peace-loving people, who hated the mess of war, their strategy for keeping their enemies away included amazing them into believing that they had magical or superior powers. And they had a lot to protect because they controlled most of the precious stones, ivory, silk, grains, spices, Asian vegetables, tea, and sugar from Asia to Europe and Africa; salt from Africa to the Middle East, Europe and India; and precious metal, nuts, perfumes, glass, and other expensive goods from Africa, Europe, and India to Asia. Controlling these imports and exports made them a country of great economic might. Their amaze-the-enemy strategy worked for about 1050 years until, (long story short,) the Ottoman Empire, a not-so-easily-amazed people, led by a new war-loving leader, (Sultan Mehmed I), broke his father's treaties and conquered Byzantium, in 1453.

Byzantine food is basically new versions of Greek food with out-of-the-ordinary spices, (some of them even still considered exotic by today's standards) and new kinds of seafood. But, the Byzantines ate more meat than the Greeks, since they were rich enough to afford it. However, they ate less meat than the non-Byzantine Romans. The focused on eating pork, poultry, and wild game, and saved the cows for plowing the fields. Their favorite sea food was botargo (fish eggs, similar to caviar). They also loved sweets, and their masses could afford sugar. They probably ate more sweets than any nation before them.

The Byzantine ate a morning meal, a midday meal, and an evening meal; like the Romans (skipping the Greek late afternoon snack). The midday and evening meals were larger than the morning meal. They ate their midday food and evening food in a specific order, but it is not clear to me if they ate the salad right before the sweets or right after the sweets, so I am just not going to try to put the meal in the correct Byzantine order. They observed numerous fast days, and often switched from wine, meat, cheese, and fried foods to soda pop and fish, instead of eating nothing at all on fast days. Sometimes they also gave up fish on fast days.

As with Indian food, if you really want to cook Byzantine food, you must be prepared to buy some unusual spices, that won't be available at Walmart. You may have to go to a health food store of spice specialty shop.

Breakfast – Muscat Grape Juice Spiced with Aniseed (instead of muscat wine), Dried fruit, Bacon, Black-eyed Peas with Honey and Vinegar, and Fine Mastic Biscuits
Lunch – Muscat Grape Juice Spiced with Mastic, Chicken and Olives, Salad with Yogurt and Dill Dressing, and Grouta (Wheat pudding with Carob Chips, or Raisins, and Honey)
Lenten Dinner – Grape Soda Pop Spiced with Chamomile, Sweet and Sour Yellow Fish Soup, Black eyed Peas with Honey and Vinegar

Medieval Mongol Empire aka The Greater Mongol State
Link to the Map of the Mongol Empire by User:Astrokey44
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mongol_Empire_map.gif

Сайн байна уу? Sain Bain uu? (How are you?) The Mongolians were nomadic shepherds, so their food is food on the go. Mongolian cooking doesn't involve complicated and time-consuming procedures. Many of their modern recipes are the same as they were centuries ago, during their medieval age. About 30% of its people, still live a nomadic lifestyle. Forget about the Mongolian Barbecue you've had before. It has nothing at all to do with how the Mongolians ever really ate. Its simply some romanticized version of what really happened. Its actually of Japanese origin. In Mongolian history, there was no large metal wok, there was no Mongolian stir-fry. There was and is a tradition of bowling stews using fire hot stones in the stew. But that practice is somewhat frowned on by the rest of the world, so I won't discuss it more right now... Comment if you would like to discuss it.

Nomadic Mongolian prefer fatty stews boiled in milk, and very little vegetables or spices; no time to grow them. These nomads live in a very cold climate where temperatures reach -40 Degrees, and are always exercising, so they tolerate this kind of diet. Modern Mongolian food is often lower in fat with vegetables added.

Like Mali, Mongolia was once one of the most powerful empires of all times. In fact, only England at its height rivaled their power. Because their most revered leader, Genghis Khan, loved prosperity and knowledge, he quickly unified more than 100 tribes into a nation. In war, he defeated his rivals, but many tribes voluntarily joined his dream to gain riches and knowledge through unity. As one nation they quit kidnapping each others wives, and quit carrying out endless vendettas, in order to gain riches, and knowledge from surrounding countries. So, between 1206 A.D. or C.E. and 1368 A. D. or C.E. they fiercely controlled most of Asia; all of China, parts of Russia, most of Eastern Europe, and Iran.

They were not salt, iron, copper, gold miners, and farmers like Malians. They were not inventors and exporters of the delicacy of Bonito fish guts like the Byzantines. They were not inventors, philosophers, and refined Olympic competitors, like the Greeks. They were they aggressive consumers of classic culture, like the conquering Romans. They were not inventors, mathematicians, builders, miners, farmers, and guardians of Ma'at (balance in all things in life), like the Egyptians. Neither were they wool exporters, punctual and sophisticated bankers, and then factory innovators like the conquering English. They were simply shepherds, nomadic and somewhat noble, but often very savage, who loved to learn about new things. Their empire protected the amazing Silk Road trade route. The Silk Road was Marco Polo's trade route.

The Mongol Empire controlled the Asian part of the trade that was controlled by the Byzantine Empire. They supplied the Byzantine Empire with precious stones, ivory, silk, grains, spices, Asian vegetables, tea, and sugar from India and Asia. I think they provided salt from Africa to India. They provided India and Asia with nuts, perfumes, glass, and other expensive goods from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India. Now, they are a comparatively poor country with about 20% of its population living in dire poverty, an established middle class, and a wealthy class. As in Mali, there is no McDonald's in Mongolia. There is a BD'd Mongolian Grill. Yes, even though its not really Mongolian.

How did they lose their wealth and fierce power? Well, the Bubonic Plague started in their region in the early 1300's. It devastated them. Unseasonal weather killed a few of their important Russian leaders, descendants of their most revered leader Genghis Khan, and about that same time, another one of their most important rulers died, their ruler of Iran. Since their methods for succession from one ruler to another was still not very sophisticated, chaos broke out along with all the disease, and they never recovered. Also, about the same time, China's native-ruled Ming Dynasty overthrew the Mongolian-ruled Yuan Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty subsequently shut China's doors to trade and learning about other nations and committed itself to a future of national seclusion, hoping that they would never again be ruled by anyone like the Mongols. With China closed all the Silk Road had to offer was disease; no more exotic and wonderful exports from Chinese inventors; no more imports to China from Africa, Arabia, and the Byzantines. So, after 162 years it was over.

Breakfast – Kefir and Arvain Guril aka Исгэлэн Тараг (fried and malted barley flour porridge and sweet cream)
Lunch – Süütei Tsai aka Сүүтэй Цай (salted tea with milk) and Chanasan Makh aka Чанасан Мах (Lamb Chops, liver and stuff, and Carrots)
Dinner – Budaatai Huurga aka Будаатай Хуурга (any kind of meat and rice boiled in Süütei Tsai)

Germany
Guten Tag. (Good Day). Who hasn't heard of Germany? But did you know that of the countries with the most inventors that hold patents, Germany is one of the highest? Did you know that Albert Einstein was from Germany?
From 1995-2007 Europe, Korea, and China have vied for the spot of #3 most patents. Since 2001, Korea overtook Europe in 2004, and China in 2007. As far as I know, the European nations counted are Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, but anyway, the Germans by far hold more patents than the other European countries.

The traditional German diet is in flux. So no one yet knows what the new traditional German diet will be, but the old traditional German diet was more like the Ancient Roman diet than any other diet. Lots of meat (deli meat and cold cuts this time), and almost the same thing for breakfast as for dinner. Sunday breakfast buffets are quite popular in Germany.

Breakfast – Coffee or Tea, Dark, Medium, or Light Rye Bread, Cold Cuts or Deli Meats, and Cheese or Marmalade or Honey, and Eggs.

Lunch – Ginger Ale, Hot Dogs and Sauerkraut, Potatoes and Asparagus with Hollandiase Sauce, and Spaghettieis for Dessert
Dinner – Ginger Ale, Pumpernickel Bread, Sausages and Cheese, and Broccoli.

Spain
Buenos Dias. (Good Day). Spanish food is not as much like Mexican food as one might think. While Mexico was once owned by the Spanish Empire, Spain was once owned by the Roman Empire. So while you might find bread soaked in something or the other from a Spanish recipe (reminiscent of Greco/Roman food), you won't find that from a Mexican recipe. And while you might eat a tamale from Mexico, I don't think you'll eat one from Spain, unless its a Mexican import. But you will find tortillas in both types of recipes. Spain went down in Roman history for its famous hams. Then it went on to become an empire in it's own right, for a while. Who hasn't heard of the great Spanish Armada?

Breakfast – Grape Juice and Migas (Sorta like a Breakfast Stuffing or Dressing)
Lunch – Grape Juice, Ensalada Murciana (Onion, Olive, and Salsa Tuna Salad)
Dinner – Grape Juice, Paella (Unmixed Spanish Stir-fry), and Peladillas (Sugared Almonds)

South Africa
Hallo. (Hello). South African is home to the oldest homo sapien fossils in the world. As a result the Khoi-san peoples are believed to be one of the oldest race of humans in the world. It is believed that, even if they came from other races that came before them, all modern races came from them. Former President Nelson Mandela is a Khoi-san. Most present day South Africans are the results of the intermarrying of war-loving Bantu tribes and the peace-loving Khoi-san peoples. Plus, many South Africans are descendants of the Dutch that settled there 1652, and various other peoples who settled there later. As a result, their food is multi-cultural.

Breakfast-- Coffee or Decaf Coffee and Patupap (Corn Meal Porridge)
Lunch – Pineapple Sherbert (Pineapple Smoothie)
Dinner-- Grape Juice, Ginger Ale, or Red Tea, Bunny Chow, and Fruit

America – Modern Day
Hello Again. These are recipes from a very popular video game.

As we know traditional US foods include things like orange juice, bacon, and eggs for breakfast, soda pop, a sandwich, and a piece of fruit for lunch, hot dogs for football games, and meat loaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes with apple pie ala mode for dinner. You can find these types of meals served at every US hosptial. But, the US is in a food crisis and the solution is acquiring new traditional foods.

Due to our new lack of exercise, because playing baseball and basket ball all afternoon has been replaced with playing video games for even longer, our traditional foods are no longer working. Twenty percent of our young adults are unfit for military duty, due to this lack of exercise, and we are already seeing more of our 40 something people die of heart attack and stroke than our 70 something people. The problem of switching is two-fold, one, many of the healthier foods that we need are not sold at Wal-mart, but at Whole Foods, and, two, many of us are unaware of what recipes use these healthier foods.

To make it simple, we need more foods with Omega 3 oils, and more nutrient dense vegetables and fruits. These oil feeds the brain and prevents heart attack and stroke, even when the exercise level is lower. These vegetables basically keep the doctor away. We can get some of the foods we need from Wal-mart like, fish, cereals made with flax seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, Omega 3 eggs, yogurt, kefir, lentils, split peas, all natural peanut butter, garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), brown rice, whole grain pasta, olives, red bell peppers, green hot chili peppers, broccoli, garlic, onions, beets, avocados, egg plant, spinach, kale, sesame seeds, fresh ginger, extra virgin olive oil, green tea, raisins, dates, apples, Truvia, sometimes spaghetti squash, canned shiitake mushrooms and even smoothies made with spirulina. But we still can't get foods like, miso paste, fresh shiitake mushrooms, kelp, all natural chicken livers, raw honey, kombucha tea, fava beans, meusli, millet for human consumption, whole grain couscous, fermented rice cakes, grass-fed meats, hummus, foods made with stevia, non-GMO canola oil, non-GMO cottage cheese, and spirulia cakes for hurricane and flood emergencies.

Many of these foods are available at Whole Foods. But, it seems that the US shopper/gamer hates shopping at more than one grocery store. They want to get everything at one store. And while it is easy to get many of these latter foods at Whole Foods, it is difficult to do all of your shopping there. Whole Foods does provide some online shopping to a few customers, it seems that the average shopper/gamer simply doesn't have access to this service.

An example of new traditional foods would be a smoothie made with stevia for breakfast, a soda pop made with stevia, a sandwich made with fish or grass-fed meat, miso soup, and a piece of fruit for lunch, and kombucha tea with a veggie loaf made with a little red, white, and blue corn, millet and red quinoa flour, sesame seeds, kale juice, olive paste, walnuts, onions, and topped with low fat cheese, an olive oil whole grain white sauce instead of gravy, mashed garlic hummus (moussed mashed garbanzo beans and garlic), green beans, and whole grain apple pie ala mode made with stevia for dinner. Such foods can fill the tummy, delight the palate, comfort, provide a lot of nutrition, not leave you ready to eat again in an hour, but add fewer calories than our more traditional meals.

Do you have any ideas for new traditional US foods?

Well, let's look at what they are serving one of the US video games. Can you guess which one?

Breakfast -- Orange Juice and Eggs Machiavellian (Bacon, Eggs, and Watermelon)
Lunch -- Grape Juice and Ratatouille
Dinner -- Soda Pop and Goopy Carbonara and Homemade Ice Cream

Sunday, July 10, 2011

USA – Fictional Futuristic Post-Apocalyptic Grand Canyon Area; Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner




Breakfast
Drinkable Yogurt or Kefir
Fried Cola (Post-apocalyptic style)
Scrambled Eggs

Preparation Time: 35 Minutes
No marinating needed.
If you play the video game where Fried Cola is on the menu, and you've never tasted Fried Cola, let it be known that most people haven't tasted Fried Cola. Its sold at carnivals in Pennsylvania, and some other seasonal carnivals around the US. Can't buy it at Wal-mart, so if you want to know how it taste in real life, you'll have to cook it yourself, or get someone in your house to cook it for you.


Picture of Pancakes courtesy of Brandon Martin-Anderson, Fried Cola is Cola Pancakes.


Ingredients and Shopping List:
1 glass of drinkable yogurt, kefir, or plain yogurt mixed 50/50 with water
Batter:
1 cup of Pancake Mix
1/4 cup of Cola Syrup (Can be ordered from the Walmart pharmacy. Comes in about 1 day. Don't have to be above 18 years of age to order. Just call or stop by the pharmacy and ask them to order it for you. Cost about 2.50 or so for a 4 ounce bottle).
1/2 cup of Cola, Zevia, regular, sugar-free, or sugar-free/caffeine-free
For Frying:
1/2 cup of Canola Oil
Syrup:
¼ cup of Pancake Syrup
¼ cup of Cola Syrup
¼ cup of Dried Cherries or Dried Fruit of Any Kind (optional)
Eggs:
2 Raw Eggs or Equal Amount of Egg Substitute
1/4 cup of Canola Oil

Equipment:
Skillet (preferably not non-stick. If non-stick you will have to get someone to show you how to cook with non-stick cookware) and stove top
1 Medium mixing bowl for the pancake mix
1 Spatula
1 Ladle
1 Spoon for stirring scrambled eggs while cooking
1 Jar for the scrambled eggs

Instructions:
Pour the ½ cup of canola oil into the skillet. Turn the heat to medium. Wait until 15 minutes until the skillet is really hot, but not quite smoking. If its smoking its too hot, turn it down and let it cook a bit. While you are waiting for the oil to heat up, mix the ½ cup of Coke or cola, plus the ¼ cup of cola syrup into pancake mix. Mix until smooth.

Pour a little pancake-sized disk of batter in the middle of the hot skillet. Wait until little bubbles start to harden in the pancake, and the edges start to look golden brown. Carefully hold the handle of the skillet, while you flip the pancake. It will be a little gooey and sticky, but with a little practice you can flip the whole pancake at one time. Wait for about one minute after flipping. Take the pancake off and put it on a plate, keep doing this until all the batter is gone. Stack the pancakes on top of one another, like a tower of pancakes. Add another ½ cup of canola oil, if the oil runs out.

While the pancakes are cooking. Mix the syrup. ¼ cup of pancake syrup, and ¼ cup of cola syrup. Add the optional fruit.

While the pancakes are cooking mix the yogurt drink.

When the last pancake is cooking, break the raw eggs, and put them into a jar. Try not to get any shells into the jar. Put the lid on the jar. Shake the jar. Pour ¼ cup of canola oil into the skillet. Pour the eggs into the skillet. Stir the eggs a little with the spoon. When they are done, take them out and put them on the plate to.

Pour the syrup mix onto the pancakes.

Get the kefir, or drinkable yogurt, or make the drinkable yogurt (if there wasn't any at your store), while waiting for the pancakes to cook.

To make drinkable yogurt, mix 50/50 water and yogurt of any kind. Pour the water in the glass first. Then pour in the yogurt and mix very well with a fork.

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal is the drinkable yogurt.

Note: Zevia is the best kind of soda pop for the brain because it is made with erythritol and stevia.

Note: Cola syrup doesn't come in a sugar-free or caffeine-free version.

Note: Cola syrup is sold at the pharmacy because it is a non-FDA sanctioned medicine for upset stomach.

Note: Whole grain pancake mix is healthier than pancake mix made from white flour.

Note: White sugar simply doesn't allow the brain to perform at optimal levels. For one reason, it leeches essential B Vitamins from the body in order to be digested. The body need B Vitamins in order to digest sugar, so when sugar enters the body without the B Vitamins attatched (and they would be attatched if they were in their natural sugar cane state), the body must rob its B Vitamin reserves in order to digest that sugar. If the reserves are high, it doesn't affect the brain as much, but if they are low, it affects the entire nervous system becuase B Vitamins are utilized heavily by all aspects of the nervous system including the brain. Stevia doesn't do this to the brain, neither does natural sugar cane.

Picture of Fried Coke Made by Experienced Chef. Photo courtesy of Stephen Witherden.
Fried Coke can also be served like a funnel cake.


Picture of Funnel Cake courtesy of Lorax.


Lunch
Water
Hard Tack
Dried Veggie Trail Mix

Preparation Time: For most people, 2 Hours or Longer
No marinating needed.
Hard tack aka Sea Biscuit is just hard crackers, made to last a long time, in difficult conditions, like little or no refrigeration etc... It's sailor's rations. Again, can't buy it at Wal-mart. If you live in Alaska or Hawaii, they are easy to buy. And other people around the US can buy them at stores that carry The Diamond Bakery's “Saloon Pilot Crackers" which is probably not carried at your Walmart. So if Walmart is the only store in your town, and you want to know how it tastes, you'll have to bake it yourself, or get someone you know to bake it for you.

The purpose of hard tack is not that it will taste good, not that it will be easy to chew, not even that it will be healthy, prevent scurvy, or help you be a better gamer; but that it will not spoil for a long time, and you can eat it instead of starving.

Picture of Hard Tack courtesy of Samuel Mellert.


Ingredients and Shopping List:
Hard Tack--
2 cups of White Flour
¾ cup of Water
1 tablespoon of Shortening

Dried Veggie Trail Mix--
1 can of Nuts of any Kind
1 cup of Shelled Sunflower Seeds
1 cup of Dried Any Kind of Squash Seeds like Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup of Sesame Seeds
1 cup of Dried Peas
1 cup of Dried Olives (you can use wet olives if you don't really need to store the veggie trail mix, since dried olives are not sold at Wal-mart)
½ cup of Chia Seeds or Freshly Ground Flax Seeds (optional since only available at some health food stores)
1 package of Wakami (a sea weed available at Walmart in the Asian Food section as sushi wraps)

Equipment:
Mixing bowl and spoon for hard tack
Mixing bowl and zip lock bags for veggie trail mix
Cookie sheet and oven

Instructions:
If you can buy the hard tack, just buy it.
If you can't buy it, pre-heat the oven to 400 Degrees. Mix the ingredients. They should mix to a cookie dough consistency. Make the dough into a big ball. Put the ball into the middle of the cookie sheet. Press the dough onto the cookie sheet, and keep thinning it out until its about ¼ inch thick all over the cookie sheet. You can roll it with a rolling pin if you like.

Bake for 1 ½ hours. Take out of the oven. Cut into 3 inch by 3 inch squares. Poke 4 sets of 4 holes with a fork. Flip to the other side. Put back into the oven. Bake for another ½ and hour.

While the hard tack is baking, fix the veggie trail mix. Mix the nuts, dried seeds, dried peas, dried olives, and sea weed in a bowl. Put it in zip log bags.

Take out of oven. Cool. Wrap and store in a cool dry place.

You can drink water with this emergency meal (or just a hiking meal for the trail mix).

Eat during a gaming or real emergency.

Note: The brain foods in this meal are olives, sesame seeds, freshly ground flax seeds, and chia seeds.

Note: For really serious hard tack you'll have to bake it again at 250 Degrees to completely dry out any moisture that might cause it to spoil, especially if you live in a humid area.

Note: A fantastic brain super food is Tecuitlat, (Aztec for rock excrement), known in English as spirulina. It can be used to improve your brain speed and stamina after a long day of gaming (or studying). It is a micro-sea weed aka micro-algae that grows naturally in Lake Texoco of Mexico. It was used like hard tack by the Aztec warriors, but it is far superior nutritionally to hard tack, as it can maintain muscles, heal wounds, and prevent scurvy. But apparently, like hard tack, it tastes awful. Nutritionally it is more like non-perishable meat fortified with Vitamin C; even though its just a humble water plant. The Aztec carried it around in cakes. Today, in the US, spirulina cakes are not available at Walmart, and even health food stores only carry it in pills or powder. It can't even be bought at a hunting/survival supply store in cakes. In the US, it is most often used to make smoothies. It can be bought in cakes in Ndjemena , Chad, Africa. It grows naturally in at Lake Chad, near there.

Picture of Aztec Drawings of Making Tecuitlat or Spirulina Cakes



Picture of Modern-day Spirulina Pills from Health Food Store.


Dinner
Local Wild Tea
Grilled Goat Bobs

Preparation Time: 15 - 30 Minutes
Marinating not required, but healthier.


Picture of Tomato and Marinated Chicken Kabobs on Hot Coals courtesy of Aali451.


Wild sage leaves, or wild mint leaves, or wild leaves from a local plant that makes tea
Chunks of any Kind of Lean Meat (if its not goat meat, we'll just pretend it's goat meat)
Chunks of Onions for cooking
Chunks of Green Bell Peppers for cooking
Red bell peppers for eating raw
Red and Green Hot Peppers for eating raw (eating them raw is optional)
Shiitake Mushrooms (available at Walmart in cans, fresh at other grocers)
Kelp aka Kombu, a sea weed, or sea veggie (optional since it probably can't be bought at Walmart, but only health food stores)

Equipment:
Enough Wooden Shish Kabob Skewered or Chop Sticks to stick the meat and veggies on
Microwave or Cooking Fire
Wax paper for covering microwaving kabobs, if microwaving

Instructions:
Pick leaves for tea. If you don't know what leaves to pick, please don't. Many poison wild foods can very easily be mistaken for safe wild foods by the unknowing eye. Just make tea out of some of the shiitake mushrooms.

Chop up the onions and green bell peppers into chunks. Pull the stem off of the mushrooms and set aside for making into tea. Shiitake mushroom stems are kind tough for eating, but they are good for making tea. Throw them away if you are not using them for making tea. Stick one chunk of meat on the skewer or chop stick, follow it by a chunk of onion, and then a chunk of green pepper, then a chunk of mushroom.

Keep doing this until all the skewers or chop sticks are full.
Microwave or cook over fire the filled skewered until done (cover with wax paper and cook about 10 - 15 minutes in microwave or 30 minutes over the fire, depending on how big the chucks are. Bigger chunks take longer to cook.

While the meat and veggies are cooking start fixing the tea.
Wash off the picked leaves, including washing off all of the bugs.
Put leaves in a coffee cup full of water and microwave for 2-3 minutes.
If making shiitake tea, put the mushroom stems into a cup full of water and microwave for 2-3 minutes.

Then the meat and veggies are almost finished cooking put, raw peppers and kelp on the plate.
Take the skewers or chopsticks out of the heat and put them on the plate.
Get the tea.

Eat.

Note: The brain food in this meal is shiitake mushrooms and kelp and lean meat.

Note: In real life shiitake mushrooms are a home remedy for food poisoning.

Picture of Shiitake Mushrooms Growing in the Wild.


Picture of Bell Peppers courtesy of Luke Viatour at www.lucnix.be

Note: In real life, raw red bell peppers and raw red and green hot peppers are the highest foods in the world in Vitamin C. Eating foods high in Vitamin C helps to ward off the effects of rough living, and helps to improve the radiation poisoning fighting effectiveness of shiitake mushrooms. Cooking the red peppers reduces the hotness, but it also reduces the nonavailability of the Vitamin C.

Picture of Red Peppers in Texas Sorted According to Hotness as Measured courtesy of the Scoville Heat Units Hotness Measuring Scale or SHU's.



Note: In real life, kelp helps prevent thyroid cancer as the result of radiation poisoning.

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For more information about this icon see How this Cookbook Blog Works or see the June 14, 2011 Entry, Hello.






http://www.onlinestrooptest.com/













http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLGj6iSZvak











"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Then President John F. Kennedy, 1961 Inaugural Address.










Hunter's Galley, One of Many US Ships Lost in Bermuda Triangle and Never Found (Some Found).

http://www.livescience.com/15177-gallery-bermuda-triangle.html


http://www.funtrivia.com/en/General/Bermuda-Triangle-18571.html







Stolen Treasure, Never Recovered
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_heist
















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