The Happy Lemba

Domestication of animals is one of the features of human civilization, when our ancestors started to settle, and abandoned nomadism. They learn how to breed animals and plants, to have secure sources of food, this practices replaced in many centuries the practice of hunt and gathering. Cows were the first animals to be domesticated, together with pigs, sheep and goats. Cows were domesticated in the dawn of civilization, 10.500 years ago, in the Fertile Crescent, and in the next millennia they were introduced in Europa, Africa and east Asia, becoming an important source of meat, dairy and leather. They also were used as currency, to exchanges goods, pay taxes and ad a fixed price in the first civilization, before metal currency became popular. My reason to choose this animal is because in my native country, Argentina, cows are important in our economy and our beef has a high reputation. In most parts of my country, cows are grass-fed, and that contributes to its quality. Sustainable or...

 Carbohydrates are easy to find in many foods, potatoes, quinoa, oats, and beets. During the last years, carbohydrates had had bad press, however, humans need carbs for their organism, they are a source of energy and many food that are high in carbs also provide fiber.  On the other side, added sugars are a serious issue in nourishment. Much of the food industry rely in sugars, like cookies, sodas, sauces, candies, and pastry, it is cheaper but unhealthy. Nevertheless, there are a difference in Carbs and added sugars; while the first is something we can find naturally in food, sugars are added intentionally in products to enhance the flavor.  Today, it is recognize that eat big amounts of products with added sugars, damage our health. "Eating a diet that’s high in added sugar is bad news for your heart, according to a major 2014 study. The researchers found that eating more than the recommended amount of added sugar may increase your risk of dying from heart disease".(D...

As a future chef I consider that nutrition is an important topic in cooking. Nowadays, this discipline is taking relevance in the cuisine world, since there is a growing trend about health food and take care of our body through what we eat. Breakfast, by Daniela Constantini Personally, I am really interested about healthy diets and how we can learn to improve our meals through better recipes and techniques. I discovered that is not so difficult to enhance our diet, however, there is this idea that make our own food takes too much time and effort; a wrong idea. I am confident that this way of thought is changing, and nutrition is taking an important role today. The increasing of obesity and health issues related with bad nutrition were the red flag to draw the attention about how we eat?, and what are we eating? Having a poor diet can affect our bodies in many ways, and it is not strange the high rates of obesity and heart conditions related with the food quality we eat. Nutrition is th...

 In my country, Argentina, preserves are popular in the whole country. We called it, " escabeches ", a word derivative from the Arabic that means " stew and vinegar ". We eat them mostly as an appetizer, especially before a great " asado " (Argentinian barbecue) or just as a snack over a loaf of bread with a glass of wine or beer. Eggplant preserve is one of the most popular recipes in my country, since it is cheaper, easy to do and the ingredients are really simple and easy to get. Eggplant preserve by Edle Julve During my childhood I was not very fond of eggplant preserve, I simply did not like the flavor, or maybe my maternal grandmother did not make it very tasty. As humans, we change constantly, and nowadays it is in my top list of preserves (I like very much, cucumber and veal tongue preserve). In some way, I can say this is "my version" of eggplant preserve. I really enjoy strong tastes in food, the combination of garlic, parsley, vinegar ...

 Dragon fruit is a fruit I always wanted to try. In my former city, Tucuman (Argentina Northern area), it is impossible to get it. It is funny since this fruit belongs to South America originally. However, despite the fact my city is in a tropical region there are not crops of this fruit. I discovered its existence through internet and social media, it seems really popular in the vegetarian and vegan diets, usually it is used in smoothies. I did some research about Dragon Fruit and I found that this fruit is produced by a cactus, originally the plant is from Mesoamerica. The original name is pitaya and pitahaya , and it cames from the Taino language; it means "scaly fruit". In this century the fruit became very popular in the market, and now there are crops in Asia and other parts of the world with tropical climate; Vietnam is the main producer of dragon fruit around the world. The color of the skin can vary, there are pink, yellow and white; the flesh is always white with bl...

Onion Soup by Edle Julve Onions, that vegetable loved and hated for many. I belong to the first group, I like onions very much, because they are versatile and can be cooked in different ways. My grandmother used to say: "onions make you cry, but also make you very happy, like life itself". She liked phrases like this while she cooked.  This recipe I am going to share, belonged to her. She used to cook this soup during winter and following family tradition I make it every winter; for me It is a way to honor her memory. The flavor always bring to my memory her voice and the moments I shared with her. It is a simple and economic soup, delicious at the same time. I want to confess that I like recipes like this, because you can cook this soup for a fancy dinner and it will not cost you a lot of money.  The ingredients are easy to get. - 4 medium white onions - 3 garlic cloves - 2 medium potatoes - 1,5 lts vegetable stock - 1 cup cream (18%) - 50 ml white wine (optional) - 30 gr bu...