The Bethlen Home Messenger, 1993-1994 (1-3. szám)

1994-03-01 / 2. szám

Furthermore, for example, “hot” green peppers seem to lower blood pressure and aid to lowering cholesterol level by some yet unknown means.

Here I have to bring up and underline again the fact that paprika is not only a spice to flavor foods, but dried of various varieties of peppers, add beautiful, rich color to our dishes. It is much healthier to use paprika than lots of tomatoes which add often too much acidity to our digestion.

Professor, Dr. Albert Szentgyorgyi, Scientist revealed that paprika contains nutrients essential to the body and has very high content of Vitamin C. (I was able to demonstrate in the laboratories of Indiana University during my studies, that green peppers have eventually higher Vitamin Ccontent than lemons.) Even through cooking this high Vitamin C does not get destructed if not too long or too high of temperatures are used.

Professor Dr. Szentgyorgyi was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discoveries in 1937.

“Paprika” was originally grown in America, but made its way to Hungary in the 17th century, where it became a very popular vegetable and in dried form: spice, exported laterto everywhere in the World. (The Spanish paprika is similarly famous. Very bright of color but maybe less aromatic.)

Since 1970 the green pepper gradually conquered the supermarkets. Lately a big color variety of the “paprika” is marketed in the supermarkets: red, yellow, orange, various shades of green and the latest: purple are wonderful color additions to any salad.

In Europe, people consume daily fresh peppers winter and summer in great amounts. They eat them in sandwiches, or sauté them for omelets and meats, cook them into sauces, stuff them cold or cooked, they enjoy big popularity. Since green (or other color) peppers have much higher nutritional value than lettuce, especially the Iceberg, young and old rather choose peppers than the mostly water holding lettuce.

I am raising canaries. When I bought the first one many years ago, I received a sheet of advice of the man who sold me my first bird. Among the advice was: don’t feed Iceberg lettuce to the bird. It is the same as to give only water. Rather feed celery, dark leafy vegetables such as spinach, crinkled leaf, rusty dark lettuce, endives, broccoli, carrots, etc.

In Europe they taught me to treat my birds with the seedy part of the peppers where the most vitamins are concentrated and we not knowing this fact... usually discard this part.

Thusdon’t be afraid of dried paprika and of thefresh, colorful variety of peppers!

AROMAS, FLAVORS

An interesting article was called to my attention the other day. It summarized the latest findings of the Association for Chemoreception Studies presented at a meeting in April,.1993 in Sarasota, Florida. According to their findings of research on taste, smell and trigeminal (pain) sensation, most food flavor is detected by olfactory perception, i.e. smell. If the food tastes good, it is mostly olfactory flavor registered: aromatic or “smells good”.

Olfaction declines from the fourth decade of life. Poorer olfaction often was associated with nutritional risk by the elderly. (Dentures usually blunted yet wore the flavor perception.)

Food is just not so tasty as it used to be. Some loss of appetite results in lower food intake and less enjoyment of eating. Usually sugars and higherfat content desserts are preferred by such people.

Condiments and spices are advised to be used to heighten olfactory perceptions, also instead of high salt intake, and become increasingly popular by institutional or industrial food preparations also.

The American Dietetic Association advises us to use spices and herbs instead of salts and sugars.

IS GARLIC HUNGARIAN OR INTERNATIONAL?

About twenty years ago garlic was very unpopular in our region. Since then frequent travelings ... maybe also to foreign countries... changed significantly our ways of cooking.

Foreign countries, leading with Italy, Germany, France, China, Japan and Mexico all influenced us, which started to show in preferences of ingredients in Northern cooking.

Our South was exposed much earlier to French and Spanish, also Mexican influences and knew about stronger flavors much sooner than we did. Garlic was not strange to them.

The Therapeutic Foods Nutritional Council (TFNC) educate us that garlic is not “only” used against vampires, but may protect us against heart disease, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure as clinical studies indicate.

When receiving new residents to the Bethlen Home, we always remind them that the Bethlen Home was built by Hungarian forefathers and many of the Hungarian traditions and dishes are still kept for honoring their efforts and sharing with some Hungarian residents.

Hungarian foods among the Italian, Chinese, Mexican, German is not really providing “strange” ingredients anymore.