Fall and Food

We all know that the third season is called autumn but it is also known as “fall”. Does is has to do with food? It actually does. The seasons turn around the food, that is, each season implies a proper time to sow the seeds, to let them grow and finally to rip the fruits that they give. Being spring almost the most appropriate season to sow and the summer the time when what we sowed grows, the autumn is the time when the fruits fall from their respective trees. The season we call fall was once referred to simply as ”harvest” to reflect the time when farmers gathered their crops for winter storage, roughly between August and November. The word harvest comes from the Old Norse word haust meaning “to gather or pluck." Astronomically, the season lasts from the end of the September until December, between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. So as we can see, what “falls” are referred to the fruits, as well as the leaves of the trees for example.

I have bigger fish to fry..

In English, when somebody says to you :
“I have a bigger fish to fry”, that person actually means “ I
have better things to do than spend my time with you”.
The real origin of this expression is
not known yet but I think that is really curious. In Spanish, we
would say “ tengo mejores cosas que hacer” but that translation
into Spanish does not convey any word related to food. I think that
the expression may has its origin in any port-village of Great
Britain where the main product to be cooked and eaten was fish, I
believe that this is the reason of the given expression, the basis of
their feeding was fried fish long time ago.
“ Fish & Chips” is also a very
common dish in United Kingdom nowadays and lots of people enjoy it
everyday on the streets of England so I invite you to try it and
think about the origin of “ I have bigger fish to fry”.

Script

Interview

-Alba:

Good morning to everyone! We’re a group of students and we’re going to ask Sarah Alice, a foreign student from Manchester, some questions.

Sarah, I have heard that Spanish people are considered to be lazy and also that people in Spain work less than in other countries in Europe, is that true?

-Sarah:

Well when I arrived, I did think this was true but after being in Seville for a few months, I can see why they don’t work as much and they have siestas because they work very very hard at university and at night time late late at night.

-Victoria:

So after being here for a few months, what is your opinion about that?

-Sarah:

Yes, I think that they deserve to have a siesta because otherwise they will be very tired so I understand why the shops aren’t open all day.

-Victoria:

Sarah, so after having finished your degree, what kind of job would you like to have?

-Sarah:

Firstly, I would like to go travelling around the world and then I would like to come and live in Spain maybe and teach English to the Spanish people.

-Isabel:

What would you do if you get a good job in Spain? Would you stay here for a living?

-Sarah:

Yes, I would definitely live in Spain but definitely after I have been travelling because it is what I want to do.

-Francisco:

You know that Spanish men are very romantic. I have some friends that want me to ask you this: Would you stay here if you find a Spanish love?

-Sarah:

Yes and no, it depends whether I was very in love but I might take him around the world travelling and then come back to Spain.

-Isabel:

Thank you so much Sarah, I hope your experience in Spain will be especial and unforgettable and if you are coming whenever for holidays or to live here, you know you will always be welcome!

-Sarah:

Thank you.

The apple of my eyes

  The expression “the apple of my eyes” is used when you want to express that the person you are referring to is a very important person to you and someone special to you. That expression also exists in Spanish but instead of using “apple” we say “girl”; the translation would be “the girl of my eyes”, meaning “la niña de mis ojos”. 

  The expression “the apple of my eyes” is an old idiom and is first mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Psalms chapter 17, verse 8, and in other verses too, talking of guarding the apple of my eye.You care that person because that person is important to you as well as that apple refers to. As I have read, in those days the apple of the eye was actually referring to the pupil / cornea part of the eye.

  Sight is always considered a precious thing and during that time was no exception. So the same way you would go to all lengths to protect and guard your eyesight is the same way you would protect and love someone you care about.

Have you ever heard the word “Pochoclo”?

What do you imagine “pochoclo” is? I am sure that everybody has ever tried them. They are best known as the famous POPCORN, now you are more familiar with this term, aren’t you?

They are originated in pre-Columbian America. When the Spanish came to America, they were greeted by natives who offered them necklaces made with them. For example, in 1510, Hernán Cortés and his men were surprised by some strange amulets carrying by the Aztec priests in the ceremonies. The ornaments were made with strings of popcorn.

This was known in the New World 6,000 years ago. The American Indian observed that only in the pan exploded the grains containing a certain amount of water. Today we know that corn should be 14 percent of water by heat to vaporize and break the shell of the grain. The result is a mass of fluffy white flowers which are also known as corn, popcorn (as I said before) or Pororo, derived from the Guarani word that means “violent noise”.

The Indians prepared them in three different ways: the first one they inserted a cob on a stick and roasted on the fire and then picked up the grains which were exploded. The second one another technique was to separate the beans and throw them directly into the fire. The third way of making popcorn was to put to the fire a big bowl of sand grain inside that, when heated, popping corn. One relevant thing is that the first machines specially designed for the manufacture of popcorn appeared in 1880.

COOK BETTER THANKS TO YOUR IPHONE!

It is amazing how the world is developing every day with new technologies. Some years ago it was impossible to imagine that you can cook interesting and delicious recipes with a mobile phone; we had only information in cookbooks or by knowing the recipe for familiar traditions.

Today I was looking for new things and applications for my iPhone and surprisingly I have found what is the most downloaded recipe application in Spanish in the world these days, the Cooking Channel. With over 660,000 downloads in the AppStore, Cooking Channel has become the best culinary applications on iPhone and iPod Touch.

Furthermore the application has gained three considerable awards:

-Technological Innovation in Madrid Fusión 2010 Madrid Awards

-Best Television Program in the mobile in the MVD Awards

-Nokia bet to Cooking Channel as a one of the best application in his launch campaign of his new terminal N8.s

Here I give you a website to see the Cooking Channel's video explanation in your computer and you will know better how can you use this new and fantastic application in your iPhone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfcdW1PCOGM

ENJOY IT!!!!!!

THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF COFFE

There is a lot of legends about the origin of coffee. Among them, the most known is the one of a certain shepherd, who saw how his herd ate something which made them acting euphorically. He tried them too, they were some seeds coloured in brown. He, then, noticed that those seeds could make him be awake all night.

Therefore, he decided to give it to his disciples in a drink to keep them awake during the pray night. This fact was known throughtout the Islamic world.
Since then it was consumed regularly by the Islamics to prolong their prayers. They soon, discovered, that the roasting of the beans retain their properties, improved the taste and gave a good aroma.

Refering to its etimology , there are doubts about the origin of the word coffee, Kahveh, Turkish word that designates the coffee fruit. Kaboueh, an Arabic word meaning strength, and Kaffa, Ethiopian name of a city are the three most shuffled meanings by experts. However, the coffee comes from the Arabic word kahwah (Caua). The term was extended through theTurkish word root served (coffee in French, Spanish and Portuguese, English coffee, caffein Italian, Hungarian Kave, Kia Fey in Chinese, and so on.

In Spain, coffee is introduced by the Bourbons and the Italian merchants, about the middle of
the eighteenth century. The first coffeehouses were locals eateries where you could taste the brew.
And, it is at the beginning of the eighteenth century, when coffee arrives in America. Are European governments, who decide to follow the example of the Dutch and in particular France, who in 1726 already had his first crop of American coffee.

It is in America where coffee developes more and better. Today, some of the best coffees in the world-such as Brazil and Colombia emblematic of the American come from the American continent.