Friday, March 02, 2018

Giving thanks

A few things to be grateful for:

*  Mussels (they featured in a very nice pasta meal last night, thanks to wife)
*  Taylors wine (one of those wineries that I don't buy all that often, but when I do, they just never seem to put a foot wrong - and yes, I drank a glass last night with the mussels.)
*  Yeast.   Too many reasons to mention, apart from its role in last night's glass of wine, but here's one I didn't know til yesterday:
Both cocoa and coffee beans undergo a fermentation step after their harvest, where yeasts munch on sugars surrounding the beans. Bacteria also play a role in this process, and the yeast leaves behind flavor compounds that make it into the final coffee and chocolate. Researchers have found that cocoa beans in yeast-free fermentation are left with an acidic, off flavor, and that certain yeasts can lend coffee caramel notes.


2 comments:

  1. mussels!
    Taylors !!

    Good Grief

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  2. Mussels are my favourite mollusc. I just happened to see that John West is now selling some from Spain, which is good, as every other brand seems to now be exclusively from China, and I don't trust Chinese molluscs.

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