DESCRIBE FOOD INGREDIENTS 4

Clove

                  Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. They are native to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice. Cloves are commercially harvested primarily in Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Cloves are available throughout the year.

                 Cloves are used in the cuisine of Asian, African, and the Near and Middle East countries, lending flavor to meats, curries, and marinades, as well as fruit such as apples, pears or rhubarb. Cloves may be used to give aromatic and flavor qualities to hot beverages, often combined with other ingredients such as lemon and sugar. They are a common element in spice blends such as pumpkin pie spice and speculoos spices.

                  In Mexican cuisine, cloves are best known as clavos de olor, and often accompany cumin and cinnamon. They are also used in Peruvian cuisine, in a wide variety of dishes as carapulcra and arroz con leche.

                  A major component of clove taste is imparted by the chemical eugenol, and the quantity of the spice required is typically small. It pairs well with cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, red wine and basil, as well as onion, citrus peel, star anise, or peppercorns.

History 

                  Archeologists have found cloves in a ceramic vessel in Syria, with evidence that dates the find to within a few years of 1721 BC. In the third century BC, a Chinese leader in the Han Dynasty required those who addressed him to chew cloves to freshen their breath. Cloves were traded by Muslim sailors and merchants during the Middle Ages in the profitable Indian Ocean trade, the clove trade is also mentioned by Ibn Battuta and even famous Arabian Nights characters such as Sinbad the Sailor are known to have bought and sold cloves from India.

                  Until modern times, cloves grew only on a few islands in the Moluccas (historically called the Spice Islands), including Bacan, Makian, Moti, Ternate, and Tidore. In fact, the clove tree that experts believe is the oldest in the world, named Afo, is on Ternate. The tree is between 350 and 400 years old.  Tourists are told that seedlings from this very tree were stolen by a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre in 1770, transferred to the Isle de France (Mauritius), and then later to Zanzibar, which was once the world's largest producer of cloves.

                 Until cloves were grown outside of the Maluku Islands, they were traded like oil, with an enforced limit on exportation. As the Dutch East India Company consolidated its control of the spice trade in the 17th century, they sought to gain a monopoly in cloves as they had in nutmeg. However, "unlike nutmeg and mace, which were limited to the minute Bandas, clove trees grew all over the Moluccas, and the trade in cloves was way beyond the limited policing powers of the corporation."

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove

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Basil

                    Basil  (Ocimum basilicum), also called great basil or Saint-Joseph's-wort, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is also called the "king of herbs" and the "royal herb". The name "basil" comes from Greek  (basilikón phutón), "royal/kingly plant".

                    Basil is possibly native to India, and has been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years. It was thoroughly familiar to the Greek authors Theophrastus and Dioscorides. It is a tender plant, best known as a culinary herb prominently featured in Italian cuisine, and also plays a major role in Southeast Asian cuisines of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Taiwan. Depending on the species and cultivar, the leaves may taste somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, often sweet smell.

Genovese Basil

Flavour

Fresh basil has an initial subtle peppery flavour. The taste then evolves into a slightly sweet, aromatic flavour.

When cooking with basil it should be added at the end of cooking. Heat removes the flavour and if cooked for too long can result in bitterness. 

Aroma

Basil has a strong, pungent, sweet and somewhat menthol aroma. 

Pairing

Basil pairs exquisitely with lemon, tomato and garlic. Sweet basil is an essential ingredient in Italian and Mediterranean cuisine and loves being added to pasta, pizza, creamy sauces, dressings, soups, salads and olive oil. Pair basil with chicken, beef, tomatoes, eggs, chives, dill, oregano, rosemary, thyme, pepper and sea salt.

Thai Basil 

Flavour

Thai basil is often referred to as licorice basil for the strong anise flavour it offers.

Thai basil is more robust than sweet basil so can be cooked for longer periods of time without losing flavour. This makes Thai basil perfect for soups, stir-fries and curries. 

Aroma

Slightly cinnamon scented, similarly smelling to cloves. Thai basil's scent is not as pungent as sweet basil. 

Pairing

The oil from Thai basil compliments the taste of pork well. It is very popular in many Asian dishes and adds the essential flavour to Thai curries and stir-fries that is hard to replicate with any other herb.

Growing Basil

                  The flavour of basil is directly affected by its growing conditions. You can propagate basil by seeds and by cuttings (best taken during spring and winter). To encourage bushiness of the plant flowers should continually removed.  

                  In Australia it's best to plant when the soil is warm in late Spring with harvesting expected to be from early December until mid-May. Basil does not survive well in cool weather so harvest all leaves by April. 

                   Minimum temperature for growing has to be above 13 degrees celsius for germination. Basil likes a warm temperature with sun exposure and as such is a good window sill kitchen pot plant. In a warmer climate basil may grow in winter and can become a biennial plant. 

                  Ensure that the location of your basil plant yields 6 to 8 hours of sun per day. When the plant has its first 6 or so leaves prune above the second set to encourage growth. When using leaves it is best to remove the leaves as you need them. 

                   In gardens basil is a good companion to other plants and repels white fly and aphids. It has a particular affinity to tomatoes in pots and also on plate. 

History

                   Basil is originally native to Iran, India and other tropical regions of Asia, having been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years. Folklore was that if you wanted to grow fragrant, strong basil then you should shout and swear when sowing your seeds. It was also said that if a man gave a sprig of basil to a woman she was sure to fall for him. In Haiti, shopkeepers will sprinkle basil around their shops to ward off evil. Europeans claimed that basil would wilt if anyone with an impure heart touched it. 

Health Benefits of Basil

                   Herbal uses for basil include easing the pain in childbirth as well as easing a variety of ailments including headaches, indigestion, bad breath, joint pain, fatigue and strengthening the brain. If you have a cold or flu try drinking a strong basil tea with some lemon juice, a little honey and a pinch of cinnamon and cloves.  A great tip if you’ve got a headache starting is to get some basil and rub it into your temples.  Consuming fresh basil which has high amount of vitamins A and C can be considered a cancer fighter. Various cultures consider basil to help as a natural resistant to stress and disease and also to strengthen the immune system. Basil can be used as a hair conditioning rinse and scalp tonic by rinsing basil tea through your hair after shampooing. 

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil
http://www.gourmetgarden.com/en/herb/188/basil
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Tomato

                  The tomato is the fruit of the plant Lycopersicon esculentum. (Botanically speaking, tomato is not only a fruit, but also a berry since it is formed from a single ovary.) Originally, tomato was named after the food family to which it belongs - the Solanaceae (sometimes called "solanoid" or "nightshade") family. The botanical name Solanum lycopersicum for tomatoes has now largely been replaced by the name Lycopersicon esculentum. (The genus/species name Lycopersicon esculentum is also sometimes used to refer to tomatoes.)

                   The French sometimes refer to the tomato as pomme d'amour, meaning "love apple," and in Italy, tomato is sometimes referred to as "pomodoro" or "golden apple," probably referring to tomato varieties that were yellow/orange/tangerine in color.

Regardless of its name, the tomato is a wonderfully popular and versatile food that comes in over a thousand different varieties that vary in shape, size, and color. There are small cherry tomatoes, bright yellow tomatoes, Italian pear-shaped tomatoes, and the green tomato, famous for its fried preparation in Southern American cuisine.

                    Only the fruits of this plant are eaten since the leaves often contain potentially problematic concentrations of certain alkaloids (see Individual Concerns section below). Tomatoes have fleshy internal segments filled with slippery seeds surrounded by a watery matrix. They can be red, pink, yellow, orange/tangerine, green, purple, brown, or black in color.

                    Beefsteak and beef master tomatoes are among the largest-sized varieties. Roma tomatoes are more of an intermediate size, while cherry and grape tomatoes are small and rounded. The term "heirloom tomatoes" has become somewhat confusing as it can have a variety of different meanings. In the most traditional sense, "heirloom" refers to seeds from tomato cultivars that get handed down over time from family to family. Obviously, seeds handed down in this way do not make it possible for tomato production on a very large commercial scale. Yet there are definitely "commercial heirloom" tomatoes in the marketplace (sometimes produced from cross-breeding and sometimes produced through open pollination.)

                    Although tomatoes are fruits in a botanical sense, they don't have the dessert quality sweetness of other fruits. Instead they have a subtle sweetness that is complemented by a slightly bitter and acidic taste. They are prepared and served like other vegetables, which is why they are often categorized as such, including in our A-Z List of the World's Healthiest Foods. Cooking tempers the acid and bitter qualities in tomatoes and brings out their warm, rich sweetness.

There are few food sensations that better mark the summer and early fall months than the sweet juiciness of a vine-ripened tomato. Although tomatoes are available year-round across the U.S., some of the most delicious tomato flavors come from fresh tomatoes that have been planted in late spring or early summer and ripen from July through September.

History

                  Although tomatoes are often closely associated with Italian cuisine, they are actually originally native to the western side of South America, in the region occupied by Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the western half of Bolivia. The Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador are also believed to be part of tomatoes' native area. The first type of tomato grown is thought to have more resembled the smaller-sized cherry tomato than the larger varieties.

                  The tomato does not appear to have been first cultivated in South America, however, but rather in Mexico, most likely in Aztec civilizations and probably in the form of small yellow fruits. The word "tomato" may actually originate from the Nahautl (Aztecan) word "tomatl " meaning "the swelling fruit." It wasn't until the 1500's that Spanish explorers and colonizers brought tomato seeds from Mexico back to Spain and introduced this food to European populations.

                  Although the use of tomatoes spread throughout Europe (including Italy) over the course of the 1500's, tomatoes did not enjoy full popularity then and were seen by many people as unfit to eat. Part of this "food inappropriateness" was associated with the status of the tomato plant as a nightshade plant and its potential poisonousness in this regard. (It's true, of course, that tomatoes belong to the Solanaceae or nightshade family of plants, along with potatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, and cayenne. It's also true that tomatoes contain alkaloids —substances that even in small doses can be associated with adverse reactions in sensitive individuals. But it's also true that the levels of alkaloids found in nightshade foods are well-tolerated by many individuals in diets worldwide. For more on nightshades, please see our article "What are nightshades and in which foods are they found?")

                  Today tomatoes are enjoyed worldwide—to the tune of about 130 million tons per year. The largest tomato-producing country is China (with approximately 34 million tons of production), followed by the United States, Turkey, India, and Italy.

                  In the U.S., cultivation of tomato varieties is usually determined by their final destination: (1) consumption in fresh form by consumers or (2) use in processing by manufacturers of tomato products. Tomato processors need varieties that have a greater proportion of soluble solids in order to make products like tomato paste more efficiently. Between 80-90% of all commercial tomato cultivation in the U.S. is cultivation for eventual use in processing. (Processing tomatoes are needed for the manufacturing of pasta sauces, pizza sauces, and tomato pastes. Both processing and fresh market tomatoes may be used in the production of salsa—although fresh market tomato salsas or homemade salsas—like our Fresh Tomato Salsa—are the salsas that we like best on account of their minimal processing.) California and Florida produce about two-thirds of all commercially grown fresh market tomatoes in the U.S. During the winter months, because Florida tomatoes are generally shipped to other states along the east coast of the U.S., imported Mexican tomatoes make up a high percentage of commercially grown fresh tomatoes along the west coast.

Healty Benefits

               Tomatoes are a treasure of riches when it comes to their antioxidant benefits. In terms of conventional antioxidants, tomatoes provide an excellent amount of vitamin C and beta-carotene; a very good amount of the mineral manganese; and a good amount of vitamin E. In terms of phytonutrients, tomatoes are basically off the chart, and include:

• Flavonones
  • naringenin
  • chalconaringenin
• Flavonols
  • rutin
  • kaempferol
  • quercetin
• Hydroxycinnamic acids
  • caffeic acid
  • ferulic acid
  • coumaric acid
• Carotenoids
  • lycopene
  • lutein
  • zeaxanthin
  • beta-carotene
• Glycosides
  • esculeoside A
• Fatty acid derivatives
  • 9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid

                 Specific antioxidant nutrients found in tomatoes, whole tomato extracts, and overall dietary intake of tomatoes have all been associated with antioxidant protection. Sometimes this protection comes in the form of reduced lipid peroxidation (oxygen damage to fats in cell membranes or in the bloodstream). Sometimes this protection comes in the form of better antioxidant enzyme function (for example, better function of the enzymes catalase or superoxide dismustase). Better antioxidant protection has also been shown using broad measurements of oxidative stress in different body systems. We've seen studies involving tomato and specific antioxidant protection of the bones, liver, kidneys, and bloodstream.

Tips for Preparing and Cooking

Tips for Preparing Tomatoes

Before serving, wash tomatoes under cool running water and pat dry.

                If your recipe requires seeded tomatoes, cut the fruit in half horizontally and gently squeeze out the seeds and the juice. However, we encourage you to think about the recipe and consider whether the tomato could be incorporated with seeds intact. There are simply too many valuable nutrients in the seeds that you would not want to lose unnecessarily.

                When cooking tomatoes, we recommend avoidance of aluminum cookware since the high acid content of the tomatoes may interact with the metal in the cookware. As a result, there may be migration of aluminum into the food, which may not only impart an unpleasant taste, but more importantly, may have a potentially unwanted impact on your health.

                Whenever possible, try to develop recipes that make use of the whole tomato. We've seen research showing higher lycopene content in whole tomato products. For example, when the skins of tomatoes are included in the making of the tomato paste, the lycopene and beta-carotene content of the paste is significant higher according to research studies.

Source : http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=44

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