Learning How To Cook From Video Games

Not everyone has access to personal chefs, cooking classes, or even a parent that can cook well. Sometimes, you have to turn to television, books, and the like to learn how to prepare something, but those can be boring. Over the course of the past three decades, video games have become a defining part of American culture. They’ve also proven, time and again, to become a good source of knowledge on how to do things, from saving the princess to learning how to throw fireballs. Some games make a point to show the player how to cook, accurately or not. If you need to learn a recipe, these games might not be the most accurate, but they might be the most fun way to learn some simple skills.

Cooking Mama

Cooking Mama is the undisputed queen of cooking in video games. The first title, one of the earliest for the Nintendo DS that fully showed off the capabilities of Nintendo’s new and oddly dual-screened handheld (that was so distinct from it’s previous attempts at gaming, they feared to attached the “Gameboy” moniker in case it failed). In this game, the player simply follows Mama’s instructions in how to create dishes; chop these vegetables, slice this meat, mix this broth, and so forth. It’s simple minigame fun, but players can actually learn a fair amount of simplistic cooking skills from it, such as how to cut an onion. The success of the title lead to Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends, Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop, Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic, Cooking Mama: Cook Off, and Cooking Mama: World Kitchen, and the cooking free Babysitting Mama, Crafting Mama, Gardening Mama, and Camping Mama.

Mama apparently is busy woman. Who said staying … Read the rest

Could A Noodle-Making Robot Revolutionize Restaurants?

Just hope he doesn’t decide to break Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics; he looks like he could be dangerous with that one bladed arm.

Cui Runguan, a restarauntuer in China, has gotten tired of paying around $4,700 a year for an noodle cook, and figured he’d save $2,700 and pay a one-time price. Others would do the same. They’d put the noodle cook out of business, until it swings around the other way, where the few remaining noodle cooks out there are revered and attain notable positions.

How would this change in employment for a working force do it?

Robots.

Robots make everything better, don’t they? The Chef Cui robot, retailing for the Chinese equivalent of $2,000, is in full-force in China. Restaurants have already started to purchase this Ultraman-stylized robot, and while some features, such as the hypnotically-glowing eyes and general humanoid appearance are just for display, the slicing mechanism (largely akin to a windshield wiper) is where the focus is. What would be tiring for a human chef is nominal for a robot; while he may not build up lactic acid and tire, the robot may need a good oiling and maintenance every once in a while.

If anything, some people may just want to go to a restaurant where a robot is employed in the kitchen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ukNkCnNJuR8… Read the rest

How To Build A Better Burger

Burger restaurants are an unforgettable part of American culture. Whether it be the amazing local place that everyone rants and raves about, or the massive mega-chain that is known regional or nationwide, the hamburger is traditionally one general concept across the nation and the globe. Two buns and a beef hamburger patty in the middle is traditional… and rather plain. How can you make your hamburger stack up better against competitors?

Bake A Better Bun

The bun starts off pretty basic for most. This shouldn’t be the end-all, be-all of buns, though. Whole wheat is the standard upgrade, but you don’t even need to stop there. Add some sweetness akin to a King’s Hawaiian roll, or even go to a potato roll. If you want to stretch out, look at artisan or even alternatives, such as rice-based buns, lettuces, and tortillas. Redefine what the bun is.

Beef Up… or Down

It’s common knowledge that, for a beef burger, you want to go for a good ratio of meat to fat, usually averaging around 80/20. The fat adds flavors to the burger. Still, things can be mixed up, and a leaner burger is always a nice option to consider. Turkey can add some differing flavor, and veggie burgers have their place. There have been burgers made out of ground bacon, ground sausage, and even a few packed with cheese (either throughout the patty, or stuffed in the middle, ready to burst out), and jalapenos can go in as well.

Lettuce Isn’t The Only Green

Jalapenos, coleslaw, spinach, beets, peppers, even french fries; there are dozens of other produce items that can go on top of a burger, and they all stand out more than traditional lettuce. Lettuce just usually adds a cold crisp to a burger, but coleslaw adds some flavor … Read the rest

Find the Top 5 Spices for Cooking Your Way

The best thing any chef can be known for is great tasting food. Even better, when you have a signature flavor, your friends and family will come back time and again (just hope they start paying for ingredients). People will flock to your place to experience the flavors for themselves. How do you create a flavor completely unique and food choices that are different from what everyone else is serving?

What’s the Difference

The first thing you need to understand is what differentiates one spice from another. You also need to know what spices will work with the other ingredients you select. The ingredients that are important for you will depend on the type of food you have, the patrons, and the dishes you serve. The two seasonings that are important no matter what other factors exist are salt and pepper (remember, salt’s a mineral, not a spice). Taking those two as a given, here are the 5 must have spices for a few different cooking styles:

Italian

The 5 basic spices for the Italian chef are Basil, Garlic, Nutmeg, Oregano, and Parsley are must-haves. Once you’ve mastered these you can start getting creative with your lasagna and tortellini by adding coriander, vanilla and other flavor enhancing ingredients. You don’t need to drown all your pasta dishes in a tomato-based sauce, and not all Italian dishes are pasta. One great way to enjoy Italian spices is to pour them into olive oil, making a dip for bread. It’s delicious, it’s probably horrible for you in one way or another, but it’s a way to try out spices in ways you hadn’t.

Mexican

For the Mexican inspired restaurant or chef, Garlic, Cumin, Chili Powder, Mexican Oregano, and Cilantro will give you the taste you seek. Yes, there is more than … Read the rest

What To Do With A Food Portioning Scale

You might think that food portioning scales are only for restaurants, diners or cafes. The truth of the matter is that anyone can benefit from having a food portioning scale in their kitchen as one of their major kitchen gadgets. If anything, you can always pull it out to see how much small items weigh.

A food portioning scale might be used in the household by someone who is watching their diet. They may have chosen cutting down on their portions as a way to help them lose a few pounds. They might also be on a particular diet that calls for weighing each item before eating it to allow only a certain amount. The food portioning scale will help you to stay right on your mark if you need to measure the portions of the food that you are eating. One smart way of staying adherent to a diet is to produce a large amount of food you can eat over the course of a week early on, and then divy it up into equally-sized portions. Make sure to stock up on plastic containers, and only buy a food that you can handle large amounts of; something like chicken works great, as you can put any sort of seasoning on it after the fact to vary up your menu.

Once you actually start paying attention to suggested food portions, you’ll realize how much insane amounts of food you may eat without even knowing it. Restaurant portions are notorious for being incredibly large (at even a normal restaurant), and once you start factoring in “indulgence” places like Big Pie in the Sky or buffets, you’ll realize the human body just isn’t meant to deal with that much mass. When the suggested portion size for lean beef is 3oz, about the … Read the rest

Why You Should Spill Some Cash For Liquor Pourers

First off, you may be asking what a liquor pourer is. As plainly stated, it’s a device for pouring liquor, or at least doing so neatly. It’s a small attachment that you secure onto the top of a bottle of liquid, such as a bottle of vodka or olive oil. It reduces mess, promotes a consistent and easy pour, and also increases efficiency in the kitchen. Chances are if you’ve ever seen a bartender make a drink that wasn’t beer from the tap, you’ve seen these little devices in action.

Spill Stop

Many liquid pourers use a “spill stop” technology, meaning the liquid from the bottle will not come rushing out all at once. It’s a good thing for the most part, as you don’t want olive oil all over your counter, but it does slightly delay you getting to your delicious alcohol (rum being my personal choice). If that’s an issue, you might as well just take the top off and start drinking from the bottle.

These devices range in flow level so that you can decide what use you want it most for. For example, a high flow liquid pourer would be perfect for a party where the bartender needs to serve numerous drinks (or the aforementioned person needing a lot of alcohol quickly), and the low flow option would work for dripping red wine vinegar into a salad dressing.

Cost Benefits

Liquor pourers are great for anyone who is concerned about saving costs because they help to reduce the waste of spilled or over-poured liquid. Also, they form a great seal around the bottle so bugs will not get into your product, which is great for outdoor events. If the bottle contains something sweet or something that needs a tight closed seal over night, it’s wise to … Read the rest

Why Use a Pocket Thermometer

Society has so evolved that the meat you cook had to travel quite a long way before it gets even to the fridge. In that long journey comes the risk of food borne illness that increases in likelihood when food is not cooked at the right temperature. If you’ve ever bought groceries and had a long drive home, you’ve risked contamination with every degree it’s raised.

This makes the pocket thermometer a necessity if you want to safeguard your family. Many have mistakenly assumed a brown hamburger, for example, as already done and paid a stiff price with food poisoning. It is not good to entrust the safety of your family with your eyes especially when dealing with ground meat; remember, there’s a difference between “rare” and “still mooing”. With a pocket thermometer, you’ll always have one on hand, or pocket, as it were.

With every type of meat, be it poultry, pork, ground beef, or sausages, there are recommended cooking temperatures that must be reached to ensure all likely pathogens have been killed. For example, poultry has to be cooked at 165 degrees Fahrenheit, ground beef at 160, and fish at 145. Only when these recommended temperatures are reached that you can serve the food with a near-guarantee that it’s clean and ready to eat.

Food thermometers are widely available at reasonable prices.There are two main types: the instant read and leave-in probes.Both are easy to use although they seem to have slight differences in purpose. With the instant read food thermometers, the user pokes holes in the meat and reading is obtained instantly. They are quite useful for spot checking in situations where you have a lot of meet cooking at the same time. From personal experience, I can tell you that this is how supermarket delis … Read the rest