F&h for september living made easy & fruits and vegetables 24 august 2015 (1)

into their training regime; and in London’s trendy Brick Lane, Anjum introduces city workers to Bengali Fish curry. Demystifying spices and cooking techniques, this is a tour illustrating the diversity of Indian cooking in the UK combined with authentic recipes for delicious and easy to make dishes.

Keralan Anjum Anand meets Lynn, a charity worker from Liverpool. Lynn is no stranger to the kitchen (she cooks for her local hospital, but she has set her sights on having a stall in Liverpool's biggest farmers market in a bid to raise money for the charity and would love to cook Indian food.

Gujerati Anjum Anand meets Michael (known as Scottie to his friends) Scott, the captain of Stoneygate, one of Leicester's oldest rugby clubs. Every month, the team has a takeaway curry. Anjum convinces Scottie to join her in the kitchen so she can show him how simple it is to cook an Indian meal for the players.

Bengali In London, Anjum Anand meets James Moody, a self-confessed foodie who loves throwing dinner parties for his friends. James enjoys Indian food but is daunted by the prospect of cooking it and apprehensive about the numerous components he believes the dishes require.

Punjabi

Living Made Easy

C

hef and food writer Anjum Anand (Market Kitchen) returns with a brand new series of Indian Food Made Easy. Anjum travels to different Indian communities to discover their culinary roots and traditions – from the Gujaratis in

2. food&health . September 2015

Leicester, and the Kashmiris in Birmingham to the Punjabis in Scotland and the Bengalis in East London. In each episode, Anjum introduces a guest to a different type of Indian cooking and, using skills and knowledge gained from her visits, demonstrates how preparing

wholesome, authentic Indian food can be healthy, quick and most importantly of all, easy. In Yorkshire she creates a sumptuous Kashmiri treat as a contrast to traditional English afternoon tea; she shows the Leicester Tigers Rugby Club how to incorporate Gujarati food

Anjum Anand travels to Edinburgh to meet Wendy Barrie. Wendy is a champion of Scottish food and a local culinary celebrity, thanks to her popular cookery demonstrations.

Wendy's traditional Scottish food is always a hit, but she has decided to go on a voyage of gastronomic discovery and cook Indian food for the first time.

Goan Again in London, Anjum Anand meets Jonathan Readman, who married his wife Lorraine (who comes from Goa) two years ago.

Jonathan confesses to Anjum he has only managed to cook for Lorraine twice and every Sunday he enjoys a

Goan feast lovingly prepared by his mother-in-law, Clara.

Kashmiri Anjum travels to the multicultural town of Bradford in the north of England to meet Jessica, who is no stranger to cooking for the masses.

She is a volunteer chef on board a classic steam train that wends its way through the stunning Yorkshire Dales.

.

food&health September 2015

.3

Genome In 2010, an Italian-led consortium announced they had decoded the complete genome of the apple in collaboration with horticultural genomicists at Washington State University,[13] using the Golden delicious variety.[14] It had about 57,000 genes, the highest number of any plant genome studied to date[15] and more genes than the human genome (about 30,000).[16] This new understanding of the apple genome will help scientists in identifying genes and gene variants that contribute to resistance to disease and drought, and other desirable characteristics.

other than berries, including nuts, as late as the 17th century.[28] For instance, in Greek mythology, the Greek hero Heracles, as a part of his Twelve Labours, was required to travel to the Garden of the Hesperides and pick the golden apples off the Tree of Life growing at its center.

Cultivars There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples.[38] Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the same rootstock.[39] Different cultivars are available for temperate and subtropical climates. The UK's National Fruit Collection, which is the responsibility of the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, includes a collection of over 2,000 varieties of apple tree in Kent.

History The center of diversity of the genus Malus is in eastern Turkey. The apple tree was perhaps the earliest tree to be cultivated,[18] and its fruits have been improved through selection over thousands of years. Alexander the Great is credited with finding dwarfed apples in Kazakhstan in 328 BCE;[5] those he brought back to Macedonia might have been the progenitors of dwarfing root stocks.

Winter apples, picked in late autumn and stored just above freezing, have been an important food in Asia and Europe for millennia.[18]

Apple T

he apple tree (Malus domestica) is a deciduous tree in the rose family best known for its sweet, pomaceous fruit, the apple. It is cultivated worldwide as a fruit tree, and is the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found today. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, and were brought to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek and European Christian traditions.

4. food&health . September 2015

Botanical information The apple is a deciduous tree, generally standing 1.8 to 4.6 m (6 to 15 ft) tall in cultivation and up to 39 ft (12 m) in the wild.[4] When cultivated, the size, shape and branch density are determined by rootstock selection and trimming method.

The leaves are alternately arranged dark green-colored simple ovals with serrated margins and slightly downy undersides.

Wild ancestors The original wild ancestor of Malus domestica was Malus sieversii, found growing wild in the mountains of

Central Asia in southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Xinjiang, China.[5][9] Cultivation of the species, most likely beginning on the forested flanks of the Tian Shan mountains, progressed over a long period of time and permitted secondary introgression of genes from other species into the openpollinated seeds. Significant exchange with Malus sylvestris, the crabapple, resulted in current populations of apples being more related to crabapples than to the more morphologically similar progenitor Malus sieversii. In strains without recent admixture the contribution of the latter predominates.

the Book of Genesis is not identified, popular Christian tradition has held that it was an apple that Eve coaxed Adam to share with her.[35] The origin of the popular identification with a fruit unknown in the Middle East in biblical times is found in confusion between the Latin words mālum (an apple) and mălum (an evil), each of which is normally written malum.

Cultivation Breeding: In the wild, apples grow readily from seeds. However, like most perennial fruits, apples are ordinarily propagated asexually by

Christian mythology

Cultural aspects

Adam and Eve by Albrecht Dürer (1507), showcasing the apple as a symbol of sin.

Germanic paganism

Though the forbidden fruit of Eden in

In Norse mythology, the goddess Iðunn is portrayed in the Prose Edda (written in the 13th century

by Snorri Sturluson) as providing apples to the gods that give them eternal youthfulness.

English scholar H. R. Ellis Davidson links apples to religious practices in Germanic paganism, from which Norse paganism developed.

Greek mythology Heracles with the apple of Hesperides Apples appear in many religious traditions, often as a mystical or forbidden fruit. One of the problems identifying apples in religion, mythology and folktales is that the word "apple" was used as a generic term for all (foreign) fruit,

Red and green apples in India

.

food&health September 2015

.5

commercial orchards pursue an aggressive program of chemical sprays to maintain high fruit quality, tree health, and high yields. A trend in orchard management is the use of organic methods. These ban the use of some pesticides, though some older pesticides are allowed.

Production About 63 million tonnes of apples were grown worldwide in 2012, with China producing almost half of this total. The United States is the second-leading producer, with more than 6% of world production. The largest exporters of apples in 2009 were China, U.S., Turkey, Poland, Italy, Iran, and India while the biggest importers in the same year were Russia, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands.[ Nutrition

season, apple growers often utilize pollinators to carry pollen. Honey bees are most commonly used.

There are four to seven pollination groups in apples, depending on climate: 1. Group A – Early flowering, 1 to 3 May in England (Gravenstein, Red Astrachan) 2. Group B – 4 to 7 May (Idared, McIntosh)

An apple tree in Germany grafting. This is because seedling apples are an example of "extreme heterozygotes", in that rather than inheriting DNA from their parents to create a new apple with those characteristics, they are instead significantly different from their parents.[45] Triploid varieties have an additional reproductive barrier in that 3 sets of chromosomes cannot be divided evenly during meiosis, yielding unequal segregation of the chromosomes (aneuploids).

Pollination Apples are self-incompatible; they must cross-pollinate to develop fruit. During the flowering each

6. food&health . September 2015

3. Group C – Mid-season flowering, 8 to 11 May (Granny Smith, Cox's Orange Pippin) 4. Group D – Mid/late season flowering, 12 to 15 May (Golden Delicious, Calville blanc d'hiver) 5. Group E – Late flowering, 16 to 18 May (Braeburn, Reinette d'Orléans) 6. Group F – 19 to 23 May (Suntan) 7. Group H – 24 to 28 May (CourtPendu Gris - also called CourtPendu plat) One cultivar can be pollinated by a compatible cultivar from the same group or close (A with A, or A with B, but not A with C or D).

Maturation and harvest Cultivars vary in their yield and the

ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the same rootstock. Some cultivars, if left unpruned, will grow very large, which allows them to bear much more fruit, but makes harvesting very difficult. Depending on the tree density (number of trees planted per unit surface area), mature trees typically bear 40–200 kg (88–441 lb) of apples each year, though productivity can be close to zero in poor years. Apples are harvested using three-point ladders that are designed to fit amongst the branches. Trees grafted on dwarfing rootstocks will bear about 10–80 kg (22–176 lb) of fruit per year.

Storage Commercially, apples can be stored for some months in controlledatmosphere chambers to delay ethylene-induced ripening. Apples are commonly stored in chambers with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and high air filtration. This prevents ethylene concentrations from rising to higher amounts and preventing ripening from occurring too quickly.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a typical apple serving weighs 242 grams and contains 126 calories with significant dietary fiber and modest vitamin C content, with otherwise a generally low content of essential nutrients (table, right).

Organic production Organic apples are commonly produced in the United States.

Organic production is difficult in Europe, though a few orchards have done so with commercial success,[71] using disease-resistant cultivars.

Allergy One form of apple allergy, often found in northern Europe, is called birch-apple syndrome, and is found in people who are also allergic to birch pollen.

Toxicity of seeds The seeds of apples contain small amounts of amygdalin, a sugar and cyanide compound known as a cyanogenic glycoside. Ingesting small amounts of apple seeds will cause no ill effects, but in extremely large doses can cause adverse reactions.

Phytochemicals Apple peels contain various phytochemicals with unknown nutritional value,[66] including quercetin, epicatechin, and procyanidin B2.

Human consumption Apples are often eaten raw. The whole fruit including the skin is suitable for human consumption except for the seeds, which may affect some consumers.[citation needed] The core is often not eaten and is discarded.

Pests and diseases Apple trees are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial diseases and insect pests. Many

.

food&health September 2015

.7

different species. In England the demand for regular strawberry farming had increased by the mid-1500s. The combination of Strawberries and cream was created

by Thomas Wolsey in the court of King Henry VIII.[5] Instructions for growing and harvesting strawberries showed up in writing in 1578. By the end of the 1500s three European species had been cited; F. vesca, F. moschata, and F. viridis. The garden strawberry was transplanted from the forests and then the plants would be propagated asexually by cutting off the runners.

Cultivation Strawberry cultivars vary widely in size, color, flavor, shape, degree of fertility, season of ripening, liability to disease and constitution of plant.

[7] Some vary in foliage, and some vary materially in the relative development of their sexual organs.

In most cases, the flowers appear hermaphroditic in structure, but function as either male or female.[8] For purposes of commercial production, plants are propagated from runners and, in general, distributed as either bare root plants or plugs.

Cultivation follows one of two general models—annual plasticulture,[9] or a perennial system of matted rows or mounds.

[10] Greenhouses produce a

Strawberry T

he garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; Fragaria Ă— ananassa)[1] is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus Fragaria (collectively known as the strawberries).

It is cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The fruit (which is not a botanical berry, but an aggregate accessory fruit) is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is consumed in large quantities, either fresh or in such prepared foods as preserves, fruit juice, pies, ice creams, milkshakes, and chocolates.

8. food&health . September 2015

History The first garden strawberry was grown in Brittany, France during the late 18th century.[3] Prior to this, wild strawberries and cultivated selections from wild strawberry species were the common source of the fruit.

The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use. The French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 1300s. Charles V, France's king from 1364 to 1380, had

small amount of strawberries during the off season.

Manuring and harvesting Most strawberry plants are now fed with artificial fertilizers, both before and after harvesting, and often before planting in plasticulture.[19] To maintain top quality, berries are harvested at least every other day. The berries are picked with the caps still attached and with at least half an inch of stem left.

Strawberries need to remain on the plant to fully ripen because they do not continue to ripen after being picked. Rotted and overripe berries are removed to minimize insect and disease problems. The berries do not get washed until just before consumption. They are covered in a shallow pan and refrigerated when storing.

Pests Around 200 species of pests are known to attack strawberries both directly and indirectly.[24] These pests include slugs, moths, fruit flies, chafers, strawberry root weevils, strawberry thrips, strawberry sap beetles, strawberry crown moth, mites, aphids, and others.[24][25] The caterpillars of a number of species of Lepidoptera feed on strawberry plants.

1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden. In the early 1400s western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts. The strawberry is found in Italian, Flemish, German art, and English miniatures.[citation needed] The entire strawberry plant was used to treat depressive illnesses.

By the 1500s references of cultivation of the strawberry became more common. People began using it for its supposed medicinal properties and botanists began naming the

.

food&health September 2015

.9

Fragrance Chemicals present in the fragrance of strawberries include: methyl acetate (E)-2-hexen-1-ol (E)-2-hexenal (E)-2-pentenal (E,E)-2,4-hexadienal (Z)-2-hexenyl acetate (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate 1-hexanol 2-heptanol 2-heptanone 2-methyl butanoic acid 2-methylbutyl acetate Diseases

Uses

Strawberry plants can fall victim to a number of diseases.[26] The leaves may be infected by powdery mildew, leaf spot (caused by the fungus Sphaerella fragariae), leaf blight (caused by the fungus Phomopsis obscurans), and by a variety of slime molds.

In addition to being consumed fresh, strawberries can be frozen, made into preserves,[40] as well as dried and used in prepared foods, such as cereal bars.[41] Strawberries and strawberry flavorings are a popular addition to dairy products, such as strawberryflavored milk, strawberry ice cream, strawberry milkshakes, strawberry smoothies and strawberry yogurts.

Strawberries and cream is a popular dessert during the British summer, famously consumed at the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

[5] In Sweden, strawberries are a traditional dessert served on Midsummer Eve. Depending on area, strawberry pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, or strawberry shortcake are also popular. In Greece, strawberries are usually sprinkled with sugar and then dipped in Metaxa, a famous brandy, and served as a dessert. In Italy, strawberries have been used for various desserts and as a popular flavoring for gelato

The crown and roots may fall victim to red stele, verticillium wilt, black root rot, and nematodes.[26] The fruits are subject to damage from gray mold, rhizopus rot, and leather rot.[26] To prevent root-rotting, strawberries should be planted every four to five years in a new bed, at a different site.

Domestic cultivation Strawberries are popular and rewarding plants to grow in the domestic environment, be it for consumption or exhibition purposes, almost anywhere in the world. The best time to plant is in late summer or spring. Plant in full sun or dappled shade, and in somewhat sandy soil.

The addition of manure and a balanced fertilizer aids strong growth. Alternatively they can be planted in pots or special planters using compost. Fibre mats placed under each plant will protect fruits from touching the ground, and will act as a weed barrier.

10. food&health . September 2015

alpha-terpineol amyl acetate amyl butyrate benzaldehyde benzyl acetate butyl acetate butyl butyrate butyl hexanoate

Genetics

decyl butyrate

Strawberries have complex octaploid genetics (8 sets of chromosomes),[57] a trait favoring DNA extractions. Strawberries have been sequenced to display 7,096 genes.

d-limonene

Allergy

ethyl 2-methylbutanoate

Some people experience an anaphylactoid reaction to eating strawberries.[59] The most common form of this reaction is oral allergy syndrome, but symptoms may also mimic hay fever or include dermatitis or hives, and, in severe cases, may cause breathing problems.[60] Proteomic studies indicate that the allergen may be tied to a protein for the red anthocyanin biosynthesis expressed in strawberry ripening, named Fra a1 (Fragaria allergen1).

[61] Homologous proteins are found in birch pollen and apple, suggesting that people may develop crossreactivity to all three species.

butyric acid octanoic acid decyl acetate

ethyl 3-methylbutanoate ethyl acetate ethyl benzoate ethyl butyrate ethyl decanoate ethyl decanoate

Nutrients

ethyl hexanoate

One serving (100 g; see Table) of strawberries contains approximately 33 kilocalories, is an excellent source of vitamin C, a good source of manganese, and provides several other vitamins and dietary minerals in lesser amounts.

ethyl octanoate ethyl pentanoate ethyl propanoate ethyl-2-hexenoate

.

food&health September 2015

. 11

germination, carrot seedlings show a distinct demarcation between the taproot and the stem. The latter is thicker and lacks lateral roots.

At the upper end of the stem is the seed leaf. The first true leaf appears about 10–15 days after germination.

Subsequent leaves, produced from the stem nodes, are alternating (with a single leaf attached to a node, and the leaves growing in alternate directions) and compound, and arranged in a spiral. The leaf blades are pinnate. As the plant grows, the bases of the seed leaves are pushed apart. The stem, located just above the ground, is compressed and the internodes are not distinct. When the seed stalk elongates, the tip of the stem narrows and becomes pointed, extends upward, and becomes a highly branched inflorescence. The stems grow to 60–200 cm (20–80 in) tall.

Carrot T

he carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist.

It has a crisp texture when fresh. The most commonly eaten part of a carrot is a taproot, although the greens are sometimes eaten as well.

It is a domesticated form of the wild carrot Daucus carota, native to Europe and southwestern Asia.

The domestic carrot has been selectively bred for its greatly enlarged and more palatable, less woody-textured edible taproot. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that world production of carrots and turnips.

12. food&health . September 2015

Etymology The word is first recorded in English around 1530 and was borrowed from Middle French carotte,[1] itself from Late Latin carōta, from Greek καρωτόν karōton, originally from the Indo-European root *ker(horn), due to its horn-like shape).

History The wild ancestors of the carrot are likely to have come from Persia (regions of which are now Iran and Afghanistan), which remain the centre of diversity of Daucus

Chemistry Polyacetylenes can be found in Apiaceae vegetables like carrots where they show cytotoxic activities.

[16][17] Falcarinol and falcarindiol (cis-heptadeca-1,9-diene-4,6diyne-3,8-diol)[18] are such compounds. This latter compound shows antifungal activity towards Mycocentrospora acerina and Cladosporium cladosporioides.[18] Falcarindiol is the main compound responsible for bitterness in carrots.

Nutrition The carrot gets its characteristic, bright orange colour from β-carotene, and lesser amounts of α-carotene, γ-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin.[22] α- and β-carotenes are partly metabolized into vitamin A,[23][24] providing more than 100% of the Daily Value (DV) per 100 g serving of carrots (right table).

carota, the wild carrot. A naturally occurring subspecies of the wild carrot, Daucus carota subsp. sativus, has been selectively bred over the centuries to reduce bitterness, increase sweetness and minimise the woody core. This has produced the familiar garden vegetable.

Description Daucus carota is a biennial plant that grows a rosette of leaves in the spring and summer, while building up the stout taproot that stores large amounts of sugars for the plant to flower in the second year. Soon after

.

food&health September 2015

. 13

Carrots are also a good source of vitamin K (13% DV) and vitamin B6 (11% DV), but otherwise have modest content of other essential nutrients (right table).

Methods of consumption and uses Carrots can be eaten in a variety of ways. Only 3 percent of the β-carotene in raw carrots is released during digestion: this can be improved to 39% by pulping, cooking and adding cooking oil.[28] Alternatively they may be chopped and boiled, fried or steamed, and cooked in soups and stews, as well as baby and pet foods. A wellknown dish is carrots julienne.[29] Together with onion and celery, carrots are one of the primary vegetables used in a mirepoix to make various broths.

The greens are edible as a leaf vegetable, but are only occasionally eaten by humans;[31] some sources suggest that the greens contain toxic alkaloids.[32][33] When used for this purpose, they are harvested young in high-density plantings, before significant root development, and typically used stir-fried, or in salads.[31] Some people are allergic to carrots. In a 2010 study on the prevalence of food allergies in Europe, 3.6 percent of young adults showed some degree of sensitivity to carrots.[34] Because the major carrot allergen, the protein Dauc c 1.0104, is cross-reactive with homologues in birch pollen (Bet v 1) and mugwort pollen (Art v 1), most carrot allergy sufferers are also allergic to pollen from these plants.

[35]

14. food&health . September 2015

In India carrots are used in a variety of ways, as salads or as vegetables added to spicy rice or dal dishes. A popular variation in north India is the Gajar Ka Halwa carrot dessert, which has carrots grated and cooked in milk until the whole mixture is solid, after which nuts and butter are added.[36] Carrot salads are usually made with grated carrots with a seasoning of mustard seeds and green chillies popped in hot oil.

Carrots can also be cut in thin strips and added to rice, can form part of a dish of mixed roast vegetables or can be blended with tamarind to make chutney.[37] Since the late 1980s, baby carrots or mini-carrots (carrots that have been peeled and cut into uniform cylinders) have been a popular ready-to-eat snack food available in many supermarkets.[38] Carrots are puréed and used as baby food, dehydrated to make chips, flakes, and powder, and thinly sliced and deep-fried, like potato chips.

Companion plant Carrots are useful companion plants for gardeners. The pungent odour of onions, leeks and chives help repel the carrot root fly,[40] and other vegetables that team well with carrots include lettuce, tomatoes and radishes, as well as the herbs rosemary and sage.[41] Carrots thrive in the presence of caraway, coriander, chamomile, marigold and Swan River daisy.

Cultivation Carrots are grown from seed and take around four months to mature. They grow best in full sun but tolerate some shade.[43] The optimum growth temperature is between 16 and 21 °C (61 and 70 °F).

[44] The ideal soil is deep, loose and well-drained, sandy or loamy and with a pH of 6.3 to 6.8.[40] Fertiliser should be applied according to soil type and the crop requires low levels of nitrogen, moderate phosphate

and high potash. Rich soils should be avoided, as these will cause the roots to become hairy and misshapen.[45] Irrigation should be applied when needed to keep the soil moist and the crop should be thinned as necessary and kept weed free.Cultivars Carrot cultivars can be grouped into two broad classes, eastern carrots and western carrots.[50] A number of novelty cultivars have been bred for particular characteristics.

The city of Holtville, California, promotes itself as "Carrot Capital of the World", and holds an annual festival devoted entirely to the carrot.[51] "Eastern" (a European and American continent reference) carrots were domesticated in Persia (probably in the lands of modern-day Iran and Afghanistan within West Asia) during the 10th century, or possibly earlier. Specimens of the "eastern" carrot that survive to the present day are commonly purple or yellow, and often have branched roots. The purple colour common in these carrots comes from anthocyanin pigments.

Storage Carrots can be stored for several months in the refrigerator or over winter in a moist, cool place. For long term storage, unwashed carrots can be placed in a bucket between layers of sand, a 50/50 mix of sand and wood shavings, or in soil. A temperature range of 32 to 40 °F (0 to 5 °C) is best.

.

food&health September 2015

. 15