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Saturday, December 10, 2011

A Food Lover's Walk Through Wellington, New Zealand

!±8± A Food Lover's Walk Through Wellington, New Zealand

An island nation in the south-western Pacific Ocean, New Zealand was one of the last countries on Earth to be inhabited by humans. As such, it still retains much of the unique flora and fauna that draw people to New Zealand. Walking through the cities and trekking through the countryside are great ways to get to know the individual aspects of each area. But if you prefer a more gentile experience rather than camping in the wilds, and like your dinner served to you instead of catching it for yourself, why not do a guided culinary walk through the capital city of Wellington?

Wellington is the third most populous city and is located on the south-western tip of the northern island of New Zealand. Walking around the city with a knowledgeable tour leader will show introduce you to the ins and outs of the culinary capital of the country, which has more restaurants per capita than New York City.

Coffee - Wellington is the coffee headquarters of New Zealand. Walking just a few steps from any inner-city boutique hotel will lead you to one of the many coffee houses where you can get your fix. One of the first stops in the morning on any guided walk through Wellington's culinary scene, should be at Mojo, located at Shed 13, 37 Customhouse Quay. This coffee house and roastery is arguably the centre of New Zealand's coffee scene and is housed in a 'Historic Places Trust - Category One' registered building. It provides artisan-roasted beans to a variety of other cafes and restaurants in Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch as well.

Chocolate - In New Zealand, walking from location to location may be the best way to see the culinary sights while allowing you to indulge at each individual stop. This is especially the case in Wellington when you join a chocolate-based guided walk around the city's chocolatiers! One of the best stops for chocolate lovers is the L'affaire au Chocolat located at 464 Adelaide Road, Berhampore. Here you can watch chocolatier Jo Coffey expertly craft the chocolates and you can even have a tasting session while learning about the history of chocolate and the process involved in taking the cocoa bean from the tree to your hand.

Michelin Starred Dining - To round out your day of guided New Zealand walking in Wellington, your tour leader should make you reservations at one of the city's most exclusive restaurants, Zibibbo, located at 25 - 29 Taranaki Street. The restaurant was opened in 2000 by Adam Newell, one of only two Michelin starred chefs in New Zealand. Once you arrive, you will be treated to exceptional service and an array of Spanish inspired dishes with wine pairings. If you really enjoy yourself and want something even more special, you can also book in for a cookery master class, where you will learn to make a three-course meal with Newell himself.

A Food Lover's Walk Through Wellington, New Zealand

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Coffee History, Grinders and Mills

!±8± Coffee History, Grinders and Mills

Coffee is a very popular caffeine-based drink prepared from roasted seeds, usually called coffee beans. It was first discovered in the 19th century in the Ethiopia highlands. It then spread to Yemen and Egypt. Soon enough, it became popular throughout the world.

Coffee plant is native to Southern Asia and subtropical Africa. It belongs to a genus of 10 species of flowering plants. Coffee is a small tree or evergreen shrub that can grow about 5 meters long and 6 centimeters wide. It produces a cluster of fragrant and white flowers that bloom simultaneously.

Coffee is commonly propagated by seeds. The usual method of planting coffee is to place 20 seeds in each hole at the beginning of the rainy season. Coffee is frequently intercropped with food harvests like beans, rice or corn during the first few years of cultivations.

There are two main cultivated species of coffee plants - Coffee Arabica and Coffee Canephora. Arabica coffee is more suitable than Robusta because Robusta coffee tends to taste more bitter. The cultivation of Arabica coffee accounts to about three quarters of coffee cultivations globally.

Most of the Arabica coffee beans originated from Eastern Africa, Latin America, Asia or Arabia. Robusta coffee beans, on the other hand, are grown in Central and Western Africa, all over Southeast Asia and in some parts of Brazil.

Coffee beans are brewed or grounded in making coffee. Roasting the grounded coffee beans can be done at home, in a roastery or in the grocery store. Coffee beans can be grounded in many ways. It can be steeped, pressured or boiled. The earliest method of brewing coffee was boiling. In fact, Turkish coffee uses this method.

Coffee grinders and coffee mills are two advanced means of making coffee nowadays. It comes in different models, and some of these are discussed below.

The Ascaso M.101 Anthracite Grinder Color Coffee provides commercial quality grinding with more than 9lbs of production per hour. It has a 700 rpm motor, optional electronic timer, built-in MRS or Micrometric Regulation System, and 250 watts of power. The large 600 gram hopper of this coffee grinder helps position the nozzle, for simple pouring of the grounded coffee.

The Black and Decker SmartGrind Deluxe Bean Burr Mill features removable beans and a coffee container. It crushes beans rather than grinding it to preserve the aroma and flavor of the coffee. The bean container can hold more than 20 cups of coffee. The settings can be adjusted to make espressos, medium drips and coarse percolators.

The Bosch Blade Coffee Grinder is easy to operate, even by left-handers. Its housing is made of durable shock-resistant plastic. It can also be used for grinding shelled nuts and certain types of spices. The slant basket and special beater blade system produce consistent and uniform grinding.

The Bodum C-Mill Blade Coffee Grinder has a very precise and strong motor. The C-Mill blade is not only used in grinding coffee, it can also be used in grinding shelled nuts and other types of spices. It has a convenient cord storage, and safety on and off switch.

Coffee History, Grinders and Mills

Purchasing Ooma Phones

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Coffee Bean Roaster

!±8± Coffee Bean Roaster

The coffee bean roaster is fast becoming a "must have" in today's kitchens. The flavor and freshness of coffee is at its best when it is roasted in small batches at home.

Roasted coffee is very susceptible to oxygen damage when it sits on store shelves and in café bins for days or weeks at a time. It spells disaster for specialty coffee beans creating stale, flavorless coffee.

Today, the coffee bean roaster is a coffee enthusiasts dream, bringing the freshness and quality of roasting fresh gourmet coffee at home. It is the beginning of a new era in coffee history and a major step in the return of great tasting coffee.

You'll be surprised to learn how easy and fast it is to roast your own specialty coffee beans at home. Once you experience the flavor of fresh gourmet coffee like this you'll want to share it with everyone you know.

There are basically two types of home coffee bean roasters: fluid bed roasters and electric, radiant heat drum roasters.

Fluid bed roasters work like hot air popcorn poppers. They have a glass-roasting chamber so you can watch as the coffee beans are roasted and stop at the desired roast. These are good for beginners and a great way to get started in home roasting.

The radiant heat drum roaster is more like the professional coffee roasters use. These do not allow you to watch as the beans are roasted so you have to roast by smell or sound.

How about having a roasting party with friends or the family? Home roasting is a lot of fun. You can try some of the best coffees in the world and roast them just the way you like them. What's even more fun and tasty is creating your own custom blends.

So if you haven't tried home roasting, get ready for an amazing treat. Your coffee drinking experience will never be the same once you taste the fresh gourmet coffee you made with your home coffee bean roaster. "Enjoy"