"ferment" news and stories

National Geographic, of all places, has put together a helpful glossary of the newest in vineyard standards and and farming practices. We all know about organic wine, but what about wines that, say, pair well with your astrological sign? We've summarized a few for you here:

• Biodynamic wine - Is grown using biodynamic agriculture, which means that farmers pay close attention to the holistic properties of the soil, and the relationship that is established between the soil, plants, and animals. Farmers also use astrological signs as a guide to planting and harvesting. Sound hokey? Maybe, but you can bet wine made from a biodynamic grape has been tended to with the utmost in TLC.
  

• Low-sulfite wine - Sulfites occur naturally in wine, but winemakers usually add more to prevent spoilage and oxidation. Some organic wine, as regulated by the USDA, cannot contain added sulfites, to the relief of people who are allergic. These wines tend to contain about 10 and 20 parts per million of sulfite, compared to conventional wines with 80 to 120 ppm or higher.
  

• LIVE/Salmon Safe wine - LIVE stands for Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Oregon's initiative to limit the use of chemical pesticides on its farms. Salmon Safe works with LIVE to ensure that chemical runoff isn't affecting nearby salmon. If you buy wine with either of these labels, it means an independent contractor has inspected the vineyards and assured that they were compliant with rigorous standards.
  

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I've heard rumors that Slashfood used to have an "Ingredient Spotlight" post, but it got lost in the shuffle. Well, never fear, Slashfoodies: it's back.

For my debut post, I'm going to go really crazy and choose...tofu. Okay, stop groaning. I know what you're thinking.

But give it a chance. Tofu is like that nerdy kid in freshman year of high school who wore his pants too high and his shirts too low, and still brought his lunch in those insulated, brightly-colored bags with the matching thermoses when the cool kids were brown-bagging it. You made fun of him all year, but when you came back to school in sophomore year, something had changed. He was...different. He held his head higher, he walked up straighter, and he was wearing khakis and polos. And if you titled your head and squinted your eyes just right, he was almost...cute.

That's like tofu. Despite its pale, jiggly appearance and its dorky past, tofu has a lot to offer if you give it a chance. If you know how to use it, tofu can be the homecoming king of dinners.

The history

Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk into bean curd, similar to the way milk turns into cheese as it ferments. (I'll pause as you salivate). It usually comes in soft, firm, and extra firm/dried varieties, the only difference being that soft has the most moisture in the curds, while extra firm has the least. It can also be fermented, made sweet, fried, or frozen before packaging.

Tofu's main claim to fame is that it's really mild, so it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Its taste and creamy consistency make it a great substitute for most dairy products, a star in smoothies, and a great addition to dressings or sauces.

Now that Bulgaria has joined the European Union, some of the previously high taxes on Bulgarian goods have been eliminated. Bulgaria is known for having good wine, but it is beer that has people from other EU countries flocking to the stores to buy it now that some of the taxes have been lifted. Boza beer apparently claims to help women's breasts grow larger.

Upon hearing of its claims, your first thought might be why taxes would matter, since there are surely people who would pay anything for a product - let alone a beer - that could do that. The following thought, of course, would be about how accurate this claim is.

Boza is made from fermented wheat and/or millet and has a low alcohol content. The original recipe has been around for thousands of years and dates back to Pre-Ottoman Turkey. It has always been considered to be a very healthy drink, a "warming and strengthening beverage" with approximately 1,000 calories per liter. For comparison, milk has about 630 calories per liter.

It is unlikely that Boza actually does increase the size of women's breasts, although with the high number of calories it contains, it is certainly possible that it could cause weight gain in general if enough is consumed.

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