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Pine Nuts: Ingredients and Special Features of The Precious Nuts

Pine nuts are considered very healthy and are an integral part of Mediterranean cuisine. Here you can find out where the seeds come from and what makes them so special.

Pine nuts are a diverse source of nutrients

The delicious pine nuts have a nut-like aroma and provide us with all kinds of important and healthy nutrients.

Among other things, they contain large amounts of the trace element selenium. This substance supports our immune system and protects our body from so-called “free radicals”.

Almost half of the soft kernels consist of fats – but these are exclusively polyunsaturated fatty acids. Unlike saturated fat, they help lower cholesterol levels to healthy levels.

The fats are also responsible for the kernels spoiling faster. They go rancid and change their taste. But the same applies here: Don’t let the best-before date fool you. Just make sure that you keep the seeds tightly sealed in a cool, dry place and eat them quickly. Your senses of taste and smell will help you tell if the seeds have gone bad.

Origin of the pine nuts

As the name suggests, the kernels are extracted from the pine tree. This conifer is widespread in the Mediterranean region, including France, Italy and Turkey. The kernels grow in the cones and are obtained in a complex process. The pines are not cultivated on a large scale, but grow wild. Mostly on uneven ground, so access is difficult. The trees grow up to thirty meters high and only after about twenty years do they bear cones with pine nuts. The kernels then mature in the cones for about three years. They can be harvested from October.

This is done by hand: so-called pineros climb the trees to knock off the cones. They are dried over the winter before the pods can be removed the following year. This is where the valuable pine nuts are located.

Because of the complex process, pine nuts are of course not cheap. There is also an Asian variant of a related tree, the Korean pine, which is often significantly cheaper. However, not only the environmental aspect speaks against them due to the long transport routes. Taste impairments have often been found to occur after consumption and leave a metallic taste for a long time.

So if you want to refine your diet with pine nuts, be sure to pay attention to the origin of the nuts. So you can be sure that you avoid long transport routes and receive safe food.

Pine nuts refine pesto and salads

You can eat the delicious pine nuts with almost anything. In Mediterranean cuisine, for example, you can find them roasted in salads or soups, in vegetable pans or with pasta dishes. They taste particularly good in classic pesto. You can already achieve a big effect with small amounts of the seeds and prepare a great meal.

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Are Raisins Healthy? Ingredients of The Dried Grapes

Raisins are ubiquitous in muesli and trail mix – but are they healthy?

Raisins are nothing more than dried grapes: the grapes are harvested when ripe and hung up to dry until they hardly contain any water. There are different varieties, from the light sultanas to the small, dark currants.

Rock fruits like raisins are often recommended as healthy snack alternatives to sweets. In the following sections you will learn whether raisins are really healthy.

Are Raisins Healthy? These are their ingredients

Like all dried fruits, raisins mainly contain: Sugar – a full 60 percent. Therefore, it is already clear that raisins are only healthy as long as you eat them in moderation. The advantage over other sweets, however, is that the sugar from raisins does not get into your blood as quickly because raisins contain a lot of fiber (four to five percent). That means: raisins fill you up longer than other sweet snacks and make you less prone to cravings.

Above all, raisins are healthy because they contain valuable minerals and vitamins. The proportion of these nutrients is particularly high:
B vitamins: The B vitamins from B1 to B12 are irreplaceable in our body, especially for the numerous metabolic processes. Raisins contain several B vitamins, specifically B1, B3, B5, and B6.
Potassium: This mineral is especially important for muscles. Raisins contain 780 milligrams of potassium per 100 grams, which is about 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance.
Iron: Iron fulfills important tasks in the body, in particular it ensures that the cells are sufficiently supplied with oxygen. We need to consume around ten to 15 milligrams of iron every day – 100 grams of raisins already contain around 20 percent of this. Important: Your body can only absorb this large amount of iron together with vitamin C. Since raisins contain very little vitamin C, you should eat them with something containing vitamin C. How about a delicious couscous salad with peppers, raisins and a lemon dressing, for example?
By the way: Unlike fresh grapes or wine, raisins contain hardly any of the notorious secondary plant substance resveratrol, which is found in grapes and is said to have a cell-protecting effect in our body, among other things.

Are Raisins Healthy? Quality matters

Raisins have a long shelf life thanks to their sugar content – but sultanas in particular are often sulphurised. The sulphurisation should make them even more durable and ensure that the raisins do not discolour.

Attention: A sulphurization must only be declared on the packaging as soon as ten milligrams of sulphites or more are used for one kilo of raisins. You can only completely avoid sulphites if you explicitly buy unsulphured fruit. But what is the problem with sulfites? On the one hand some people do not tolerate them well, on the other hand they reduce the vitamin B1 content of the raisins.

With organic raisins, you have the best chance that they are unsulphured. By choosing to use raisins made from organically grown grapes, you also avoid using pesticides. Since grapes are susceptible to many germs and fungi, they are often heavily treated with pesticides in conventional cultivation.

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Food

Dijon Mustard: Ingredients and Characteristics of French Mustard

Dijon mustard is considered one of the finest mustards of all. The city of Dijon, where it was made in the 13th century, gives it its name. Here you can find out everything you need to know about the spicy table mustard.

Dijon Mustard: That’s what makes it so special

The designation “Dijon mustard” is not a protected designation of origin, but it is a seal of quality that stands for a specific manufacturing process and selected ingredients. The fine mustard from Burgundy is particularly spicy and aromatic – this is due to the fact that only brown and black mustard seeds are used in production, which are much hotter than the light ones. This pungency is released through the mustard oils when ground up.

In addition to the choice of mustard seeds, there are a few other special features. On the one hand, the grains are not de-oiled, which means that the spiciness in the mustard is retained. On the other hand, the shells are removed so that only the fine cores of the mustard seeds remain in the end product. This gives the Dijon mustard its typical light color. Instead of vinegar, the French classic uses verjuice, i.e. the juice of unripe grapes.

Dijon Mustard: The Manufacturing Process

Dijon mustard consists of just a few ingredients: brown and black mustard seeds, verjuice (sour grape juice), water, salt and spices. After cleaning, the dark grains are mixed with water, verjuice and spices in the mash tank. Only in the second step are the mustard seeds finely ground – this makes the end product more aromatic.

After a second grinding process, the mustard seed shells are removed in the so-called tamiseuse, a centrifugal sieve. The coarse skins get caught in the sieve, while the fine cores of the mustard seeds are thrown out. To be considered Dijon mustard, there must be no more than two percent husks.

Dijon mustard goes particularly well with this

Due to its intense taste, Dijon mustard is particularly suitable for flavoring sauces, marinades and dressings. It is an indispensable ingredient in the traditional production of mayonnaise.

In France it is often used to refine salads, meat and fish dishes and is often combined with tarragon. But French mustard also goes well with vegetables or soups – for example as an ingredient in a spicy asparagus sauce.

Since the mustard seeds are not de-oiled during production, Dijon mustard contains slightly more fat than other types of mustard. This means that it can be heated up well and is suitable for cooking or frying.

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Camelina Oil: Ingredients, Effect and Application

Camelina oil is not very well known in German cuisine and is often confused with linseed oil. Here you can find out what the healthy oil is all about and why you should integrate it into your diet more often.

What is camelina oil?

Camelina oil is extracted from the seeds of camelina, a plant of the cruciferous family. It is often confused with linseed oil, which, on the other hand, is made from the linseed of another plant, the common linseed or flax.

However, the oils of the plants have a lot in common: both do not keep for long in cold-pressed form and should not be heated. Stored in light-protected bottles in the refrigerator, they should last up to two months.

The big advantage – of both linseed oil and camelina oil: The plants are cultivated in Germany, so both types of oil are available from regional cultivation. For the best quality, you should buy the oil in organic quality.

How healthy is camelina oil?

Camelina oil consists of 50 to 60 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids. These have a positive effect on cholesterol levels and can thus prevent cardiovascular diseases as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Like linseed oil, camelina oil is particularly rich in alpha-linolenic acid, which belongs to the group of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are an essential component of a balanced diet. For example, they fulfill important functions in hormone production, the function of nerves, muscles and eyes or the structure of cell membranes.

Like many other oils, camelina oil is also rich in vitamin E, which protects our body cells as an antioxidant against free radicals, has a positive effect on lipid metabolism and is involved in controlling the gonads. In contrast to linseed oil, which consists of 60 to 70 percent linolenic acid, camelina oil has a significantly lower proportion of around 30 to 40 percent.

Camelina oil: How to use it in the kitchen

Due to the relatively high content of omega-3 fatty acids, you should not heat camelina oil. The heat destroys the healthy fatty acids and can even convert them into harmful trans fats. Camelina oil is therefore not suitable for frying, cooking or baking.

However, you can use it for dressings or dips, for example, or occasionally add a teaspoon of the oil to the finished meal to ensure you regularly consume omega-3 fatty acids. Camelina oil can be a good source of the important fatty acid, especially in a vegetarian or vegan diet.

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Maca and Maca Powder: High Nutritional Value and Valuable Ingredients

Maca is considered the herbal secret weapon from the Andes of Peru. Since the time of the Incas, a type of cress has been growing in the high mountains, which forms a round root tuber. And this is exactly what is supposed to work wonders.

The tuber is said to be extremely nutritious, full of vitamins and minerals, rich in proteins and, when dried, have a very long shelf life. For that alone, maca root could have earned the title of superfood. But it is said to be able to do even more: the resilience of the cress species is transferred to the eater, so to speak. Maca powder has a revitalizing effect, strengthens the immune system, helps against depression and chronic fatigue. In addition, the miracle tuber is said to be the “Viagra of nature”, a herbal aphrodisiac that increases potency and fertility in men and libido in women. So much for the advertising promises made by the manufacturers of Maca powder, capsules and other products.

But is all of this really true? And what about the life cycle assessment of Andean cress? Utopia has followed in the footsteps of the ancient Incas and their “miracle roots”.

origin and botany

The Maca plant (Lepidium meyenii) is a cress species from the cruciferous family (Brassicaceae). It also grows at altitudes of over 4000 meters in inhospitable conditions. The plant is very undemanding in terms of soil, fertilization and irrigation. The annual herbaceous plant forms pinnate leaves about 20 cm long and a white to red, sometimes black, tuber. The leaves taste like the local garden cress and are often eaten in salads.

In Europe, however, maca powder from the ground root is almost exclusively available. The root is reminiscent of radish and tastes similar when fresh. However, the mustard oils are lost through drying or cooking, and the root then tastes nutty-sweet. The Maca plant is found wild in the Andes but has been cultivated as a crop for over 2000 years. With the Incas and in modern-day Peru, it is a staple food, just like potatoes are with us. Nevertheless, Maca is also used in the regions of origin as a medicinal plant and to increase fertility.

Recipes and Other Uses of Maca Root

Maca is a normal crop in Peru, and even a main part of the diet in the high mountains of the Andes. No wonder, hardly anything else grows at 4000 meters. The root tuber is harvested, washed and dried for a longer shelf life. Peruvians have been cooking the fresh or dried tubers with salt water for centuries, either in soups or vegetables. Or they grind the dry roots into maca powder. This powder tastes sweet and is therefore consumed as a sweet porridge, as a kind of pudding, as a hot drink or fermented as maca beer.

The healing effect and increase in fertility through Maca is only a pleasant, albeit intended, side effect of this diet. Unfortunately, there are very few recipes for cooking at home in this country – but simply let yourself be inspired by the Peruvians and mix the powder in hot milk or use it instead of conventional flour for baking.

Incidentally, the maca roots in the Andes are also fed to livestock, which benefit from the nutrient-rich tubers. In Europe, Maca is mainly known as a powder or in capsules. The root is considered here less as a food than as an aphrodisiac and herbal sexual enhancer.

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