Tag: fruit

A thousand dollars for the most stinking fruit in the world – Italian Cuisine

So much is the rarer variety of durian, considered a delicacy in much of Southeast Asia. Its price is equivalent to three times the average salary of a local resident

It costs three times the average salary of an Indonesian: the durian, considered the most stinking fruit of the way, in the variety "J-Queen", is sold to one thousand dollars (about 875 euros), in Indonesia. And its stratospheric price is triggering a series of controversies.

This rare variety of durian is sold in a shopping center in Tasikmalaya, west of the island of Java. It is packed in transparent boxes closed with a red satin ribbon and decorated with fake flowers. On the card the price is indicated: about 14 million rupees, when the average monthly salary in Indonesia, according to data from the Ministry of Labor, is about 3.94 million rupees.

Nobody buys it (it seems that only two have been bought, since it is on sale in the Plaza Asia shopping mall), but many locals go to the supermarket just to go a selfie together with the fruit, considered a delicacy in much of Southeast Asia.

The expensive "J-Queen" variety was developed by a 32-year-old Indonesian psychologist, Aka, who claims to have created a new and rare version of the durian crossing two superior varieties from different regions of Indonesia.

The "J-Queen" tree, he says, bears fruit only once every three years and its durians have a "taste of butter and peanuts". They are not oblong in shape, like the most common varieties, but round and golden yellow. "My intention was to improve the living conditions of farmers, creating top-level durians," Aka told the Indonesian news site Tribunnews, before revealing to have durian crops throughout Java. "I have it in Kendal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Pangandaran and Gunung Tanjung, Manonjaya, Tasikmalaya."

The local farmers, however, say they have never heard of this supposedly unique variety, and confirm that the most rare and top quality Indonesian durians, the Montong and Kumbokarno varieties, they are normally sold for around 200,000 rupees, around 12.5 euros. Which for a fruit is not so bad.

How to make butter with dried fruit – Italian Cuisine

There dried fruit it lengthens life, it is certain, and for this we should eat it every day. We can, for example, munch her during working hours, especially in the cold season, as a healthy anti-stress. Or transform it in 'butter'.

Already. If the American peanut butter it has now appeared on the shelves of our supermarkets, the home version is very simple and allows us to choose the nuts we prefer: from hazelnuts (here how to choose them best) walnuts (much loved by Italians), or the most exotic macadamia nuts or Brazilian nuts.

Finally, there are of course almonds. And it is precisely with this delicious delicate and local fruit that has prepared it for us Chef Francesco Paldera, ambassador of the kitchen Puglia for the Puglia region, Italian cuisine for Ice and author of various books, including "Vegetarian Puglia". Chef Paldera currently works at the Torritto Almond Slow Food Presidium "Masseria Pilapalucci", historical structure and organic agricultural olive and almonds that rises in an agricultural landscape of singular beauty, halfway between Bari and Matera.

"If we want to prepare a really good and healthy almond butter, we have to starting from an almond cultivated with good practices agronomic and sustainable – says the Chef – as the Toritto almond Slow Food Presidium, which guarantees nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of excellence, among which the now famous aftertaste of butter which makes it ideal for confectionery and haute cuisine ".

Here is the recipe.

"Almond butter" (about 500 gr.)

Use gr. 500 of almonds with peel with no more than 12 months from the harvest. Soak in cold water and refrigerate for 24 hours. The following day, peel the almonds and blend with very little water, until a cream is obtained.

You get a fantastic emulsion that will leave to rest for 20 minutes before its consumption raw on a slice of toasted bread or on a fish grilled, vegetables or meats. Its combination will be fantastic and healthy.

To make these 'creams' of dried fruit still more buttery, you can also add or a little 'real butter, or (better!) a little' d 'oil of the same fruit, possibly raw: for example if we are preparing the 'butter' of hazelnuts, we can add a little 'hazelnut oil in the mince (delicious also the savory version, which is obtained by adding a pinch of sea salt).

"To be considered a real butter it is necessary to have at least 99.3% of fat and therefore the oils from dried fruits to become butters they must be hydrogenated… which actually becomes one chemically transformed product (and as we know hydrogenated fats are not good for health) – he explains Andrea Parodi, owner of Parodi Nutra, company that draws oil in a natural way from oil seeds and organic dried fruit, like the precious oil of Ligurian hazelnuts, and offers products gourmet Il Parodi: really delicious the 'butter' of hazelnuts. What butter, in fact, is not: it is in fact called 'Cream of hazelnuts', made with Ligurian hazelnuts that are 4,500 years old, present in the Ark of Taste of Slow Food for Biodiversity (and chocolate, in this case).

In summary: the 'butter' of dried fruit is easy to make at home, healthy and greedy. And you can also add the oil of the same dried fruit, precious both from the point of view of taste and nutrients. If you choose to buy a 'butter' ready, choose the 'creams': they are basically spreadable pastes pure, without the addition of industrial processes and hydrogenated fats.

Carola Traverso Saibante
February 2019

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Dried fruit, the fixed appointment at the party table – Italian Cuisine

Unfailing after Christmas lunch, must be chosen and consumed with some forethought. Eight walnuts are good, even after a meal. But they are very caloric: do not exaggerate with quantities

It's not really Christmas if, at the end of the meal, the classic dried fruit tray is not offered. Walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds, pistachios. Do you think you are exaggerating? In reality, with the due precautions, a bit 'of dried fruit can do well and help reduce damage from saturated fats, such as those found in meats, meats and cheeses, all great protagonists of the rich party lunches. According to a study by the Policlinico di Barcellona, published on the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the unsaturated fatty acids of oily seeds (walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, peanuts, sunflowers) have a protective effect, if consumed in the same meal, and perhaps right at the end. In particular, 8 walnuts (about 28 grams) help protect the coronaries from the negative effects of saturated fat and LDL cholesterol. Even more olive oil, as oil seeds contain more polyunsaturates. Both nuts and olive oil contribute to reducing inflammatory and oxidative reactions in the arteries, but nuts, in addition, preserve elasticity and flexibility.

Dried fruits, which to eat?

Dried fruit is part of a proper diet and has a preventive function on various diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases. But which is better to choose, especially for our Christmas lunchtime basket?

WALNUTS. We know that they contain omega-3 fatty acids that have a protective effect on the heart and help prevent atherosclerotic lesions of the walls of blood vessels. The American Food and Drug Administration, for years, recommend eating 8 a day.

HAZELNUTS. Unfortunately, many of their precious ones substances, such as vitamins A, B1, B2 and E, are lost during toasting. But the manganese containing active digestive enzymes: facilitates the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol and promotes the metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates. Hazelnuts contribute to the health of the digestive system, help intestinal transit and elimination of toxins.

ALMOND. They are rich in precious substances, such as potassium, calcium and phosphorus, which are important for the bones. I'm very recommended for vegetariansbecause they contain so many proteins, about 20 grams per pound. And they are a valid help against constipation.

PEANUTS. They are the most "thin", because they have less than 50 grams of fat per hectare, and are rich in potassium, phosphorus, calcium, proteins and iron.

PISTACHIOS. Avoid serving (and eating) those toasted and very salty. In the "natural" version, they have many virtues, including vitamin E, an antioxidant that works against free radicals and, therefore, against aging.

Eye to calories

Dried fruit has many virtues, but it remains a very caloric food: a pound of walnuts provides about 582 calories, a third of the energy an adult woman needs in a day. So, eat it without remorse but, at the octave, lay the nutcracker!