One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
Virginia Woolf
An anonymous author of the 5th century always used to say: there are many important things in life, the first one is eating, and I don’t know the others.
Carl William Brown
All sorrows are less with bread.
Miguel de Cervantes
There is no love sincerer than the love of food.
George Bernard Shaw
Humor keeps us alive. Humor and food. Don’t forget food. You can go a week without laughing.
Joss Whedon
In every diet a certain kind of sexual and food isotopy is always present!
Carl William Brown
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, a style of cooking of particular region, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastronomy is called a gastronome, while a gastronomist is one who unites theory and practice in the study of gastronomy. Practical gastronomy is associated with the practice and study of the preparation, production, and service of the various foods and beverages, from countries around the world. Theoretical gastronomy supports practical gastronomy.
It is related with a system and process approach, focused on recipes and cookery books. Food gastronomy is connected with food and beverages and their genesis. Technical gastronomy underpins practical gastronomy, introducing a rigorous approach to evaluation of gastronomic topics. Etymologically, the word “gastronomy” is derived from Ancient Greek (gastér, “stomach”, and nómos “laws that govern”), and therefore literally means “the art or law of regulating the stomach”. The term is purposely all-encompassing: it subsumes all of cooking technique, nutritional facts, food science, and everything that has to do with palatability plus applications of taste and smell as human ingestion of foodstuffs goes
Food is an essential part of everyone’s lives. It gives us the energy and nutrients to grow and develop, be healthy and active, to move, work, play, think and learn. The body needs a variety of the following 5 nutrients: protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals from the food we eat to stay healthy and productive.
Protein: is needed to build, maintain and repair muscle, blood, skin and bones and other tissues and organs in the body. Foods rich in protein include meat, eggs, dairy and fish.
Carbohydrate: provides the body with its main source of energy. Carbohydrates can be classified into two kinds; starches and sugars. Food rich in starches include rice, maize, wheat and potatoes
and food rich in sugars include fruit, honey, sweets and chocolate bars.
Fat: this is the body’s secondary source of energy. Fat actually provides more energy/calories per gram than any other nutrient, but is more difficult to burn. Food rich in fats are oils, butter, lard, milk, cheese and some meat.
Vitamins and Minerals: vitamins and minerals are needed in very small amounts and are sometimes called micronutrients, but are essential for good health. They control many functions and processes in the body, and in the case of minerals also help build body tissue such as bones (calcium) and blood (iron).
In addition to the above nutrients Fibre and Water are also essential for a good healthy diet.
To stay healthy we not only need all of the above 5 nutrients in our diet but we also need them in the correct quantities, this is what we mean by a balanced diet. The consequences of not having a balanced diet are numerous: if you do not eat enough protein, you will not be able to grow properly; if you do not eat enough energy containing foods (eg carbohydrates and fat), you will feel very tired; and if you eat too much energy containing foods you will become overweight. Many people in the developed world eat too much of some types of food, for example a lot of saturated fats, and become overweight. Obesity is becoming a big problem in the developed world.
One third of all Americans are obese. Being obese has serious health implications including increasing your chances of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, having a stroke or getting a number of forms of cancer. In the developing world, on the other hand, many people suffer from: Hunger, or under-nutrition, whereby they do not have enough food or malnutrition, which means ‘badly nourished’ and is as much about what you eat as how much. Malnutrition is characterised by inadequate intake of protein, energy and/or micronutrients and by frequent infection and disease. FoodAid is a great opportunity for you all to learn more about these issues and to help the hungry and malnourished overseas
When you think of other cultures, there are usually 3 things that define them: what they wear; how they speak, and what they eat. An individual or group’s food culture is more than just what they eat for dinner, more than a single, iconic dish. Food culture is a complex mishmash of history, geography, climate and social values that go into what food is served, when, where and by whom. It’s an important way of preserving and transmitting the culture as a whole. Food is an essential commodity as well as social and cultural heritage. Food influences people’s health as well as other production systems including agriculture, waste, water, transport and social justice and it is a planning prism for land, water, energy, transport and eco-system services.
Innovation and knowledge creation across agro-food related sectors and food value chains became a necessity for regional stakeholders that search for new production and business opportunities. New emerging processes create new relevant contexts for regional development paths and challenges for policy-makers. Policy-makers, influenced by modern consumer lifestyles, socio-economic megatrends, business needs and new technologies, face a number of issues related to the development and implementation of relevant policy measures and instruments. Gastronomy and cooking have become gradually important as well for our gastronomic heritage and educational aspects. That means recognising the importance of food and gastronomy as artistic and cultural expression and fundamental pillars of family and social relationships.
Find out more visiting these links:
Good food for your diet (With Videos)
Vegetarian food diets (With Videos)
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/easy
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes
International and Italian recipes
Italian recipes, fashion and travels
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/1947/everyday-cooking/quick-and-easy/
http://www.sjana.com/blogs/lifestyle/food-for-the-soul
Cooking traditions in Lombardy, Italy
Food and beverage news