It is beyond doubt that pizza is one of the most popular fast food items all across the globe. It doesn’t matter what age group you belong to, today every one of us loves to have it. In fact, many of us have even tried a hand in preparing it at our own convenience. However, it would be quite interesting if one has ample information about the various culinary schools and programs that can train and enable one to be dexterous in cooking varieties of food including pizza.

Nevertheless, before we proceed, it is pertinent to know concisely about the history of pizza. Many researchers talks regarding Neolithic Age evidences while speaking about the pizza’s origin. In the history of pizza, Italy is considered to be the hub of bringing in all sorts of variations in the early mound of flour that later shaped into a flavored concoction affectionately known as ‘pizza’. It was considered to be a peasant’s meal in Italy for centuries. But unfortunately it is not easy to say who invented the first pizza. Perhaps, we can also find the early stages of its modification even in Greek manuscripts and in Persian writings. Many food historians even believe that pizza like dishes were also served by peoples lived in the Mediterranean regions including the Egyptians and the Greeks.

However, the popularity of Pizza spread to other parts of the world, especially to the United States, England and Spain, after World War II. After conquering major territories of Italy, many U.S and European soldiers had the taste of Pizza for the very first time. In fact, it was the deep inclination towards pizza that made immigrants from Italy sell their Pizzas in their American stores for the very first time, but it was the soldiers who returned from Italy with a hunger for the saucy delight that pulled the taste of Pizzas out to the nearby Italian neighborhoods and in the main stream of every city’s day to day life all over the continent. The square “Sicilian Pizza” which is now well recognized was the forerunner of well-promoted “Party Pizza” is an American invention. And, today we celebrate the February 9 as an international Pizza Day.

Today on an average, almost every citizen of the United States and Canada eat 23 pounds of pizza each year. Adding to this, Cheese and Pepperoni is among the most favorite combinations, especially with the younger set. Apart from this, if we talk in terms of present context the concept and popularity of pizza has taken many forms such as Ice Cream Pizza, Mexican Pizza, Candy Pizza and many more.

Cooking pizza is an art, and to learn in the best possible way, enrolling into the culinary programs offered by any of the top culinary colleges is important. A good college always makes an inquisitive and hard-working student ready for both traditional and unconventional culinary challenges, and of course, in making pizza. The world class culinary schools have top notch facilities for assisting in gaining refined culinary knowledge and getting placed under famous brand names. All that one has to do is innovate and apply the culinary skills in preparing various food items, including the pizza.

It is really hard to deny the fact that wine is a wonderful accompaniment to almost any meal. Today many people actually enjoy a glass of wine along with dinner, although unfortunately there are many of those who are really not well aware of how to select a wine for their meal. In most of the cases, you may find an individual having one wine that he or she likes and drinks it with everything.

It may sound easy for you, but by drinking any wine an individual misses out delightful experience, because each wine balance different food item in a special or unusual way. As a result, it is important to understand to understand that drinking and selecting wine for a meal does count. You must note that a proper selection of wine for a meal can open up a whole new culinary experience for you.

Generally, the basic rule of thumb, which many people or every beginner know, is that red wine goes with red meat and white wine goes well white meat. This idea is not always true. Being stringent with the rule can take out all the joy of choosing a good wine you truly enjoy. Rather you counterpart the taste of a wine with the color of the meat a better idea would be to counterpart the concentration of the wine along with the intensity of the meat. As an example a deep or thoroughly-bodied red wine can easily do well with lamb chops or a juicy steak. If you or your guest is having lighter meals than a selection of a white wine could also be a better idea. Ultimately, the important point to understand is that the intensity of flavoring in your meal is best complemented by a wine with an equally intense taste.

Another good thing that you must consider before selecting the wine for a meal is to think about the dish you are thinking about ordering or cooking. In fact, a small consideration regarding the way it is cooked or the various spices that are added can help make a proper selection. This small consideration can easily help you choose a wine that can complement to those elements or contrasts and ends up with far more intense flavors and tastes.

Apart from this, another way of determining the perfect wine for a meal can be by tasting the taste of the wine, rather than its color. Usually a wine has two very different types of tastes, mainly the acidity level of the wine, and the sweetness level of the wine. As a result, it is always better to choose a wine that matches the sweetness in the food. For instance, fruit and cheese are two types of food that are often paired with wine. So, the best thing that you can do is that when you have fruit or meal, which contains high levels of both sugar and acid, pair it with a sweet wine that has a high acidity level.

On the other side, if you have food that is heavily spiced a wine that has a low sweetness rating but a higher acidity level can surely a better selection.
Matching wine with food is not an exact science, but just by following few important and basic principles you can be well on track to discover that perfect match.

Tavern on the Green – world famous restaurant is situated in Central Park on the Upper West Side of New York City. It was initially built in the year 1870 with a plan designed by Calvert Vaux. It was later turned into a restaurant after a renovation in 1934 by Robert Moses (New York City’s Commissioner of Parks). The restaurant’ lease was taken over by Warner LeRoy in 1974. It was again reopened after spending $10 million in redecoration in the year 1976. The day it was opened on August 31, 1976, the refreshed Tavern on the Green was in full swing to take New York by storm. Its eclectic menus, decorative whimsy along with all-around playfulness dazzled the city with avalanche of surprises. Tavern on the Green, soon became one of New York’s hottest dining destinations.

It took no time to become a prime location for celebrities who started to gather in the restaurant to make their presence for their professional reasons. The restaurant’s setting, size and radiant charm compelled many people to make it a hot destination for prestigious events. Still, it is New York’s most preferred location for organizing prestigious events, such as Broadway show openings, international film premieres, charity and political functions.

LeRoys run the Tavern successfully under his leadership till his death in 2001. It was then managed by his daughter, Jennifer Oz LeRoy. It became second highest-grossing independently-owned restaurant of the United States in 2007 with gross revenues of $38 million through more than 500,000 visitors.

Tavern on the Green remained first choice of many leading American celebrities for hosting their wedding receptions. Robert Olen Butler (Pulitzer Prize winning author) and Walter Hill (film director) are name of few famous celebrities who selected Tavern as their wedding venue. Tavern on the Green was also famous for frequent visits of prominent musicians, actors, writers and politicians. Actress Grace Kelly, New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia is the name of few regular patrons.

Tavern’s beauty and charm can only be realized by a practical visit. Although, there are several dining rooms, but the most popular is the Crystal Room. It features windows where one can watch pleasant view of adjacent garden in Central Park. Its unique and lucrative royal appearance has attracted large number of people and is still magnetizing people.

Are you looking for some of the interesting facts about food or culinary? If your answer is yes, then here are some of the most amusing facts you must know. Share these facts and impress your friends.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is a Chinese food item. Marco Polo the famous explorer when returned to Italy, from China in the year 1295, he actually brought a well known recipe called “Milk Ice” among many other things. However, later Europeans substituted cream for the milk, and voila. Since then, ice cream has been a major hit.

Generally, the United States actually consumes on an average 48 pints of ice cream per person, per year. This is usually more than any other country in the world.

On an average, it takes 50 licks to polish off a single-scoop ice cream cone.

Pizza

The word pizza was originally spelt as “pitsa”.

Most pizza is ordered during the weather forecast or TV programs. Adding to this, the delivery folks also report that women, perhaps not surprisingly, are better tippers!

Generally, Americans consume or eat almost 350 slices of pizza each second.

Chilies

The color of a chili is no indication of its spiciness, but what matters is its size. Generally, it is important to note that the smaller the chilie pepper, the hotter it is.

Near about 140 varieties of chilies peppers are alone grown in Mexico alone.

Chilies play a very important role in making foods safer. They help in reducing the harmful bacteria on foods.

Potato

The potato is one of the most important non-cereal crops in the world, and considered as the fourth most important crop overall.

Irish were the first to eat potato. They were first introduced to Britain and Ireland in the late 1500s. It didn’t get popular immediately; many people actually held potato responsible for diseases as it was not talked about in the Bible.

Chips made of potato were first invented by a North American Indian named as George Crum

In the United States, if we compare the price between a pound of potato chips and potato, generally prices of potato chips is almost two hundred times extra than potatoes.

Miscellaneous

The flavor that is commonly associated with bubble gum all across the world is a mixture of wintergreen, vanilla and cassia, a form of cinnamon.

Cheddar is the most consumed and widely purchased cheese in the world.

Research shows that dark chocolate very similar to the red wine actually contains considerable amounts of flavonoid phenolics which in turn may be very helpful in lowering the risk of heart disease.

Today these foods are so common that it is really hard to imagine life without it. However, when these interesting facts were first brought into notice, it was considered as a myth, but slowly it turns out to be real. This list is just to give you an idea about some of the most important trivia that is related to about food and culinary items.

Imagine yourself in a room full of tempting food, jellies, chocolates, pastries, cakes, pizzas and much more mouth watering dishes. Slurp… I know by now you are too tempted to get to the market and buy yourself a nice, juicy burger, coke and an ice cream tub or are ready to order a pizza, rather than reading.

Just for a moment think of the chefs who stay in the kitchen all day long that is loaded with scrumptious cuisines giving out such enticing and alluring aromas. It must be really tough for them to resist the delicacies they prepare for their customers. One the other hand, if they start tasting every dish they prepare it will be extremely tough for them to sustain good health.

It is said, ‘People judge a book by its cover’, and the same applies to a cook too. A healthy and fit chef ascertains us that he is health conscious and knows all about good and rich cooking. This might not prove true in all cases; some guys do not have such luck. There are many professional chefs are surrounded by buttery carbohydrates, rich sauces, creamy puddings and fine succulent meat but are thin like a Cornish wafer.

The roly-poly chefs that we were accustomed to once, are replaced by much more disciplined, controlled and healthy chefs. There was a time when a thin chef was not trusted but today the scenario has totally changed. The more lean and fit a chef is the more energetic he will be. A chef should be prepared to bounce around the kitchen in order to do everything just right.

Being a chef, it is important to taste every dish and every dessert prepared to ensure it is delicious. In doing so the fats keep on settling on the stomach, in turn making you fat. To avoid this, it is better to take small mouthfuls in intervals. Small meals ensure better metabolism. Some chefs believe in drip free food and indulge in raw fresh fruits, raw vegetables and much water. They also avoid any sort of meal in between lunch and dinner. Lastly, a good 20 minutes walk each day. In case you do feel hungry at night, eat a bowl of cereal.

A chef is however known for his skills in cooking and preparing meal yet his physical appearance and nutritional habits also play an important role. Not only does it attract more customers for him but is also important for his own good.

Nutrition is also an important aspect of cooking delicious foods. And chefs are not an exception to this rule. While pursuing their education in the culinary arts, one of the subjects that these aspiring chefs study is Nutrition. Here, they learn about the amount of nutritive elements present in each ingredient – and how to analyze and determine which foods have how much nutritive value.

No doubt, this knowledge goes a long way in helping these chefs create delicacies that are not only tasty but also healthy for their customers.

Bobby Flay is a NYC native who has become one of the most successful chefs today. He had a passion for cooking since he was just 17 years old. From then on his career seemed to nothing but rise.

Bobby Flay was cooking in the Joe Allen Restaurant when Allen noticed his culinary talent and was so much impressed that he paid for Bobby’s training at French Culinary Institute. He graduated in 1993 and started working for Jonathan Waxman in NYC. With him he learned to love the flavors of American South-western cooking. He was later on hired by Jerome Kretchmer and made Bobby his partner and executive chef of Mesa Grill.

With his talents and passion for cooking Bobby has gained a celebrity status. He is praised not only for his cooking or culinary abilities but also for other various reasons. In addition to cooking bobby started hosting a television show. He has starred in six cooking TV shows on Food Network and three of them – Boy meets Grill, Iron Chef America and Throwdown!, are still on air. His great time managing skills and expertise at cooking has made him own and design six top-notch restaurants too. If you think this is it then think again as Bobby Flay is not done yet. He has written eight well acclaimed cookbooks too. The guy has earned an Emmy award for his shows and also became a food correspondent for CBS on The Early Show. Phew!!

At present he owns five very renowned restaurants, Bar Americain in NYC – serving regional American delicacies; Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City, New Jersey – is a classic steakhouse; Mesa Grill Bahamas of Paradise Island- offers American Southwestern; Mesa Grill Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace- serves American Southwestern and Mesa Grill NYC- also serves American Southwestern.

Bobby has earned a lot in his career and has become an icon for many of the aspiring individuals who are aiming for a career in cooking. When he was asked about his food philosophy, he said, “It’s gotta be bold, zesty, and always fun".

His work, books and shows have always impressed and inspired people. When asked what or who inspired him, he replied, it was Wolfgang Puck who made savory food but his preparations were whimsical and fun too, and Jonathan Waxman was the first chef who defined and explained him what was meant by good food. His latest career move is an upcoming show called as Grill It, which will air on Food Network, showcasing newbies who will come on the show to share their grilling recipes.

Airline meals have always been the center of attention for all kinds of reasons – especially for their quality. Earlier, the quality was hailed to be unpalatable. But now, with changing times, the quality of airline meals has improved.

Airline meals have always been looked at with suspicion. ‘Cardboard Potatoes’ and ‘Mystery Meat’ are some of the funny names people gave to the food items served on the fights. This however explains the condition of the food offered to the travelers. Today Airline catering business is growing at a fast pace and has become a million-dollar industry. With each day the number of people travelling by air is increasing, however if airline industry experience any downswing the first area that faces the budget cuts is the ‘Airline Foods and Beverages.’

Decades back when the Airline Industry began to spread its wings, the food served was a hot multi-course meal that was actually cooked on the flights and travelers used to be seated at the dining tables to have their food. As time progressed, traffic in Airline Traveling increased and this led to the preparation of large amount of food. It was then decided to pre-prepare the meal and warm it when required. The food was only reassembled by this time.

Today, the tickets bought on the budget airlines do not include snacks and drinks on its purchase, not even drinking water. They have to be bought if required. However, the long-haul flights always include meals, like breakfast – snack – lunch – snack – dinner – snack. Generally, the standard full course meal served on Airplanes begin with appetizers with a bag of nuts or pretzels. After that, a tray full of salad along with the main course is handed out. The main course meal includes: Seafood and Meat for non-vegetarians and Vegetables, Pasta, Potato Rolls and Rice with Butter for vegetarians; and Asian Pickles and Custard and / or Fresh Fruits for Dessert. The meal is ended with tea and coffee as required along with crackers and cheese. The breakfast given out to the travelers constitutes Bread, Eggs, Potatoes or Bacon and Pastries.

The variety of food is based on the tickets purchased by the passenger. Meals for Business Class and Economy Class are separate. The food is served in supreme quality Cutlery and Bone China to the first class or the business class travelers.

However, there are many Airlines that serve excellent food and beverages to their Economy class passengers too, like Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, as well as Thai Airlines. Airlines such as Singapore Airlines provide their Business class travelers with five-star meals and Air New Zealand offers Wine with their meals. The quality of food has remarkably improved and has become the major attraction of the trade. The higher the price of the ticket the better the meals are served and with much variety.

To understand what or rather who Vegans are, one must know the meaning of Veganism. Veganism is a form of vegetarian diet that excludes eggs, meat, dairy products, or any other kind of ingredient derived from animals. Therefore, a person following such a diet is said to be Vegan.

There are vegans who even deny food that is processed through animal products, most commonly, white sugar and a few wines. They even discard the products made of animals such as leather, wool or fur. Strong discussions are still on, on considering whether certain products such as Honey are vegan or not.

Nowadays, our diet is loaded with animal- derived products and ingredients. Most of the times we don’t realize how much we are dependent on such food items. In that case renouncing such food items from our daily diet is a tough challenge. Thus, it is very important to know what can be had as a vegan diet.

Vegan diet thus constitutes of grains, legumes, beans, fruits and vegetables. There is huge variety of dishes that can be prepared using these foods items. There are substitutes too that are available in the market so that you can be a vegan and still can gorge on hot dogs, mayonnaise, cheese and ice creams.

If you are on the way to become a vegan then you can either directly stop the eating the above mentioned food products or you can even be a vegetarian first and then later on skip eggs and dairy products, which ever suits you best.

There are a number of factors within a ‘vegetarian’ diet which can or cannot be consumed by certain kinds of vegans. Lets have a quick look at these factors below:

• A Vegan is allowed to eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish, dairy products, poultry, and eggs.
• A Lacto-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and dairy products. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish, poultry, and eggs.
• An Ovo-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and eggs. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish, poultry, and dairy products.
• A Lactoovo-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds, eggs and dairy products. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish and poultry.
• A Semi-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds, eggs, shellfish, fish and poultry and dairy products. He eschews meat.

So, based on this, one can see that even within vegetarians and vegans, there are many different things that one can and cannot eat. At the end of the day it is a personal choice made by one depending on the philosophy one believes in. Also, many a times, such food choices are made by people for health reasons.

It is a widely known fact that organic food costs us a little extra as compared to the intensively farmed and heavily sprayed chemical food. It can always be considered as a better option as compared to the farm grown food. It has more minerals, vitamins, enzymes and most importantly tastes better than the farm produced food. It is devoid of any kind of pesticides, insecticides fertilizers other artificial additives, colorings, flavorings and preservatives that are toxic for the human body. However, in recent times the cost of organic food has grown more than the normally available food in the shops. There are many reasons for this increase in price and can be easily explained by focusing on certain important factors.

The production of these types of foods or products is very limited and thus does not satiate the demand. In addition, the total cost involved in the production process of organic foods are also higher due to greater labor inputs on small and less quantity or output units. After the initial process of harvesting, processing, transportation and marketing of comparatively small or large volume of organic food ultimately results in comparatively higher price of the final food item.

This clearly indicates that due to the less amount of organically food grown, the demand and the cost in the market are divided over a final small quantity of output produced by these farms. Besides this, many of these food products are not chemically enhanced and their growth is not hormone induced. They take a longer amount of time (compared to the typical food products available in the market) to actually grow and become worthy of being sold. Ultimately their growth cycle is larger and their costs are divided over a smaller number of outputs.

Nevertheless, in past few years with the growing awareness and increasing demand for organic food and its products, sincere steps have been taken by the government. Steps have been implemented and in many places strategy to execute new methodologies and technological innovations are in already in process to reduce the costs required to produce, process, distribute, and market the organic products.

The various other factors that play an important role in the high value of the organic food are:

• Environmental protection and enhancement
• High standards for the animal welfare

All these hidden factors have influenced the price of the organic food products and resulted in making them rate higher than their traditional counterparts.

If you are considering a career in the culinary arts, organic food is a great way to treat those who consume your food well.

To understand Meals, Ready-to-Eat better let’s imagine you prepared a meal and then kept it in a roasting hot warehouse. Later on you dropped it from an airplane and rolled it on mud and left it open for vermin and bugs. Now, thinking of eating this food after three years. Tell you what if it is MRE (Meals, Ready-to-Eat), nothing will happen to it. After years of deep intense research and thoughtful product development MRE or Meals, Ready-to-Eat has evolved as an excellent operational ration all over the world.

The US military has become the finest-fed fighting force of the present times. In early 1980s, the military officials were fed with canned meals and Combat Individual or C ration and eventually these got replaced by much more standardized operational ration called the MRE. With advancing time the operational rations are required to be more adequate in terms of nutrition and health and yet should be highly mobile and flexibly packaged for combat situations. Meals, Ready-to-Eat, is an answer to such a call. The organized food facility is replaced by MRE operational ration which is then fed to the Marines and Soldiers. 

However, these MRE courses were not quite pleasant and palatable. The meal did fulfill the body requirements of nutrients and sustain the health keeping the soldiers fit yet, it earned a lot of bad names too, for instance, "Mr. E" ( like mystery), "Meals, Rarely Edible", "Meals Rejected by Everyone", "Meals Rejected by the Enemy", "Meal, Ready to Excrete", "Morsels, Regurgitated, Eviscerated", and "Materials Resembling Edibles". The individual meals also got some funny names, like the frankfurters that came in sealed packets of four were called "the four fingers of death".

With time the quality of MRE has definitely improved but the nicknames the food earned still are popular. It is also popularly known as "Three Lies for the Price of One"; which means it isn’t a Meal, isn’t Ready, and no one can Eat it.

MRE also had a low level of dietary fiber in it. It caused constipation and thus was also referred as "Meals Refusing to Exit", or "Meals Refusing to Excrete", and even as "Massive Rectal Expulsions". Although the ration did contain a higher than the standard vegetable content which can facilitate excretion.

In 2007, three gourmet chefs were called to taste the 18 packets of MRE meal. On a scale from 1 to 10 they rated MRE as 5.7. Since then steps are taken in order to improve the quality of the food. Year 2009 saw the introduction of food items like corn bread and buffalo chicken. By the year 2010 much improvement is on its way.