Witty Wednesday

Tip Tuesday

Throwback Thursday - Pizza

The History of Pizza

The common belief is that Italians invented pizza, but its origin goes back to ancient times in the Middle East. Babylonians, Israelites, Egyptians, Armenians, Greeks and Romans, and other ancient cultures ate flat, unleavened bread cooked in mud ovens. The Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians were eating the bread topped with olive oil and native spices (what is today called focaccia). But Italy's version of the dish, especially from Naples, is the one we are familiar with - with tomato, cheese, and other toppings and seasonings. Supposedly, this pizza was first created by the baker Raffaele Esposito in Naples. His creation was immediately a favorite, and Esposito was called to make a pizza for the visit of King Umberto and Queen Margherita of Italy in 1889. The first known pizza shop was the Port 'Alba in Naples, which opened in 1830 and is still open today. Pizza spread to America, England, France, and Spain but it was little-known in these countries until World War II. In occupying Italian territory, many American and European soldiers tasted pizza. In America, Italian immigrants sold pizza in their stores and the first pizzeria was opened in 1905 by Gennuardo Lombardi at 53 1/3 Spring Street in New York City. The origin of the word pizza is uncertain. It is Italian for 'pie' and may have come from Latin pix 'pitch' or Greek pitta. [http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/e02.html]

Witty Wednesday

Throwback Thursday

 

 

THE HISTORY OF ADEGA RESTAURANTS

 

The story of Adega – which translated means ‘the cellar’ – began in the late ‘90s when founder Luis Ferreira identified a gap in the Johannesburg market place. Back then there were few good eateries which allowed for Portuguese people to gather and enjoy Portuguese fare and traditional hospitality. Being in another line of business entirely. Luis opened the first “Adega do Monge” translated as “the cellar of the monk” in Kensington, east of Johannesburg. And so the Adega Logo was born, showing a happy monk indulging in good wine.

Witty Wednesday

Tip Tuesday

Throwback Thursday - Chocolates

Tip Tuesday

Milu Monday - Baked Chicken with Olives and Sherry

Baked Chicken with Olives and Sherry

Galinha com Azeitonas e Muscatel

Serves

 6

Ingredients

1                              chicken

Pinch                     salt

Pinch                     freshly ground black pepper

30ml                      butter

1                              onion, peeled or chopped

4                              cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2                              carrots, peeled and finely chopped

4                              fresh chilies, finely chopped

15ml                      olive oil

100g                       black olives

50ml                      dry sherry

10ml                      dried thyme

1                              bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C

Wash the chicken inside and out.  Cut into large portions and place in a roasting pan.

Mix salt, pepper and butter to make a paste.  Rub the chicken pieces with the paste on both sides and roast for about 10minutes.

Meanwhile sauté the onion, garlic, carrots and chilies in the olive oil in a saucepan until the onion is soft. 
Add the olives, sherry, thyme and parsley.  Cook for 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven and cover with the sauce.
Cover the roasting pan with foil, return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.

Serving Suggestion

Serve the round chips and Portuguese Salad 

 

Throwback Thursday - Beer

The History of Beer

Ale is one of the oldest beverages humans have produced, dating back to at least the 5th millennium BC and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. As almost any cereal containing certain sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeasts in the air, it is possible that beer-like beverages were independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture had domesticated cereal. Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced about 7,000 years ago in what is today Iran, and is one of the first-known biological engineering tasks to utilize the process of fermentation. In Mesopotamia, the oldest evidence of beer is believed to be a 6,000-year-old Sumerian tablet depicting people drinking a beverage through reed straws from a communal bowl. A 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread.

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