Sunday, April 18, 2010

Europe Travel Site

Europe is so lovely, thus I wanted to post the photos I took during my visit. There were nice scenery, wonderful autumn trees, beautiful houses, grand basilicas and a cool climate with lots of sunshine.

However, after having been to other countries, and other continents at that, I have come to appreciate the beauty of our country as well, the Philippines.

Europe is now generally defined by geographers as the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, with its boundaries marked by large bodies of water to the north, west and south; Europe's limits to the far east are usually taken to be the Urals, the Ural River, and the Caspian Sea; to the southeast, the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Sometimes, the word 'Europe' is used in a geopolitically-limiting way to refer only to the European Union or, even more exclusively, a culturally-defined core. On the other hand, the Council of Europe has 47 member countries, and only 27 member states are in the EU. In addition, people living in insular areas such as Ireland, the United Kingdom, the North Atlantic and Mediterranean islands and also in Scandinavia may routinely refer to "continental" or "mainland" Europe simply as Europe or "the Continent".

The use of the term "Europe" has developed gradually throughout history. In antiquity, the Greek historian Herodotus mentioned that the world had been divided by unknown persons into the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Libya (Africa), with the Nile and the river Phasis forming their boundaries — though he also states that some considered the River Don, rather than the Phasis, as the boundary between Europe and Asia. Flavius Josephus and the Book of Jubilees described the continents as the lands given by Noah to his three sons; Europe was defined as between the Pillars of Hercules at Cadiz, separating it from Africa, and the Don, separating it from Asia. This division – as much cultural as geographical – was used until the Late Middle Ages, when it was challenged by the Age of Discovery. The problem of redefining Europe was finally resolved in 1730 when, instead of waterways, the Swedish geographer and cartographer Von Strahlenberg proposed the Ural Mountains as the most significant eastern boundary, a suggestion that found favour in Russia and throughout Europe.

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma-Manych Depression), and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and other bodies of water to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea and connected waterways to the southeast. Yet the borders for Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are somewhat arbitrary, as the term continent can refer to a cultural and political distinction or a physiographic one.

Europe is the world's second-smallest continent by surface area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometers or 2% of the Earth's surface and about 6.8% of its land area. Of Europe's approximately 50 states, Russia is the largest by both area and population, while the Vatican City is the smallest. Europe is the third most populous continent after Asia and Africa, with a population of 731 million or about 11% of the world's population; however, according to the United Nations (medium estimate), Europe's share may fall to about 7% by 2050. In 1900, Europe's share of the world's population was 25%.

Europe, in particular Ancient Greece, is the birthplace of Western culture. It played a predominant role in global affairs from the 16th century onwards, especially after the beginning of colonialism. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European nations controlled at various times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania, and large portions of Asia. Both World Wars were ignited in Central Europe, greatly contributing to a decline in European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the United States and Soviet Union took prominence. During the Cold War Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in the East. European integration led to the formation of the Council of Europe and the European Union in Western Europe, both of which have been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Source: Wikipedia

Monday, April 12, 2010

Gelato vs Ice Cream, Gelato Craving

I am at this very moment devouring my second bowl of ice cream. I suddenly remembered gelato in Italy.

Gelato, plural gelati, is Italy's regional variant of ice cream. As such, gelato is made with some of the same ingredients as most other frozen dairy desserts. Milk, cream, various sugars, flavoring including fruit and nut purees and air are the main ingredients.

Gelato differs from ice cream in that it has a lower fat content, typically 3.5% for gelato versus 10-12% for ice-cream. Gelato has a higher sugar content, 24% for gelato versus approximately 14% for ice cream. Non-fat milk is added as a solid. The sugar content in gelato is precisely balanced with the water content to act as an anti-freeze, that is to prevent the product from freezing solid. The types of sugar used are sucrose, and dextrose and invert-sugar to control the apparent sweetness. Typically, gelato and Italian sorbet contain a stabilizing base. Egg yolks are used in yellow custard based gelato flavors, including zabaione and creme caramel.

The mixture for gelato is typically made using a hot process, which includes pasteurization. White base is heated to 85°C. Heating the mix to 90°C is essential for chocolate gelato, which is traditionally flavored with cocoa powder. Yellow custard base, which contains egg yolks, is heated to 65°C. The gelato mix needs to age for several hours after pasteurization is complete in order for the milk proteins to hydrate or bind with the water in the mix. This hydration reduces the size of the ice crystals making a smoother texture in the final product. A non-traditional cold mix process is popular among some gelato makers in the US.

Unlike commercial ice cream in the US which is frozen in a continuous assembly line freezer, gelato is frozen very quickly in individual small batches in a batch freezer. The batch freezer incorporates air or overage into the mix as it freezes. Unlike U.S. style ice cream which can have an overage of up to 50%, gelato generally has between 20% and 35% overage. This results in a denser product with more intense flavor than U.S. style ice cream. U.S. style ice cream, with a higher fat content, can be stored in a freezer for months. Premium artisan gelato holds its peak flavor and texture (from delicate ice crystals) for only several days, even when it is stored carefully at the proper temperature.

A good test for consumers to judge the quality of the product at any gelato stand is to ask for a taste of lemon sorbet. If it tastes of fresh lemon, chances are the rest of the products in the shop are also made with fresh ingredients.

Gelato is typically flavored with fresh fruit purees, cocoa and/or nut pastes. If other ingredients such as chocolate flakes, nuts, small confections, cookies, or biscuits are added, they are added after the gelato is frozen. Gelato made with fresh fruit sugar and water and without dairy ingredients is known as sorbet.

Some people have the misconception that the word "gelato" is related to "gelatin" and that the latter is an ingredient. Traditional gelato recipes do not call for it and most gelato is not made with gelatin. In Italian, "gelato" literally means "frozen."

Source: Wikipedia