Next time you debate the cost of a small bottle of saffron in the market, think of this: It takes 70,000 crocus flowers to produce 1 lb of dried saffron (Saffron is the dried stigma of a crocus flower, see above, pretty no?) And to harvest and process that same 1 lb of saffron, it takes 200 hours of labor. Now you get it?!
According to Monsieur Harold McGee, capsaicin, the pungent chemical secreted by cells in our beloved jalapeno and other chilis that makes everything so muy e-spicy, increases our metabolic rate, so we burn more energy aka fat!! It also might trigger the brain to say we ain’t so hungry. All in all, extra hot sauce please!
Linguine, one of our favorite pastas, means “little tongues”
Funny thing to think about when you are eating some!
When St. James (a.k.a. St. Jacques, or Santiago) went wandering on religious pilgrimages, he took with him the shell of a sea scallop — the cuplike bottom half. If he asked for food or drink to sustain him along the way, he would only accept the small amount that fit in the shell. The scallop shell has been the symbol for him ever since.
On the origin of the French name for scallops: Coquilles St. Jacques
Courtesy of the NY Times
THE GASTRONERD 