Biggest cheese in the world!

Zoniana, a small town in Crete, has claimed a place in the Guinness World Records. Whoever was in Zoniana on the 31st of July had the opportunity to taste the biggest cheese in the world, the traditional kefalotiri. It is an initiative taken by the municipality celebrating the 4th Shepherd and Cheese Festival, organised by the local cultural association. 

In order to make this large cheese they Cretans used about eight tonnes of milk, having a diameter of two meters and weighing over a tonne.  

Greek Souvlaki in Vietnam

It is a fact that you can find a Greek in every corner of the world. What is not known is that you can even find Greek souvlaki in Vietnam. George Tsakoyias from Thessaloniki moved to the South-Eastern corner of Asia due to economic problems.

He resides in the coastal city of Nha Trang, and specifically on the Nguyen Thien Thu Street. It is the first souvlaki restaurant to open in Vietnam, which opened a couple of weeks ago. 

George wants to teach the Vietnamese to eat not only rise but also souvlaki and tzatziki. Due to the fact that the ingredients needed cannot be found anywhere in the country he makes everything from scratch, the traditional way. However the souvlaki is too expensive for the locals, so his customers are mainly tourists and middle class locals.

If anyone is in Vietnam and feels he wants some Greek traditional food just visit George!

The most expensive pizza

Nino Selmaj owns a pizza restaurant in New York called "Nino's Bellissima Pizza". In 2007 he had a bright idea to create the most expensive pizza. This of course has several expensive ingredients, four types of caviar, a lobster tail cut in pieces, salmon roe and  the spice wasabi, which are on top of the crem fraiche base.

This pizza is worth 1000$. The funny thing is that Nino believes that this is affordable, however I believe that many will want to try this expensive and unique pizza.  

Chinnesse eat babies

It is a fact that Chinnesse cuisine includes every living thing that exists on the planet, including scorpions, snakes and other which are 'alien' to us in the West. That was the reason why during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games many athletes and reporters from around the globe had a major problem with Chinnesse food. However they do not stop there. Chinnesse cuisine is also cannibalistic. 

The babies are always female due to the fact that people in China prefer to give birth to boys and not girls. The babies used for various food, mainly soups, come from abortions, principally they are 5-6 months old and in many cases are aborted when the child's sex is revealed. 

The babies are sold in specific restaurants and are very expensive to purchase. Chinnesse believe that these soups have an aphrodiciac affect. 

Although we, in the modern world, are open minded, I cannot accept this as a dish or that man eats man. It is one of the unatural things one sees in other countries and traditions. This 'dish' produces many ethical, sociological, religious and political problems, involving human rights violations. Maybe this practice needs to be stopped by international organisations in order to stop these killings.

Popeye was right!!!

Popeye and mothers urge us to eat our greens such as spinach in order to grow strong. Health experts have long echoed this sentiment as studies show the benefits of eating fruit and vegetables, especially the green ones. 

A new study published in the February issue of Cell Metabolism has emphasised that eating vegetables can make muscles more efficient. The researchers gave volunteers small doses of inorganic nitrate for 3 days and found that they consumed less oxygen when riding an exercise bike. Green vegetables such as spinach contain these nitrates   which consequently means that this could provide some explanation for these health benefits. 

However these nitrates have short term benefits, so more work is necessary in order to find and understand the longer term effect.  This study shows merely how a belief and a habit introduced to us by our mothers and the cartoon figure Popeye  has been now verified scientifically.

Mykonean Feta from Buenos Aires

Many refer to modern globalization and many of the products we eat or wear come from all around the world. This is no different. A company named Armar in Buenos Aires which produces white cheese, manufactures two products called "Feta Mykonos" and "Feta Juan Grande" which are sold to various shops in the city. Argentina does not import feta cheese from Greece, according to some statistics from the Greek Embassy in Buenos Aires, although feta is found regularly in many supermarkets in Argentina. 

It is known that feta cheese is also produced in Bulgaria, Turkey, India, USA, Hong Kong and Denmark. This is a major problem for the Greek Feta, which after decisions taken at the European Court no one else, except for the Greek Feta from central Greece can use the name Feta. This is a serious and global problem for Feta from Greece, especially since the other white cheese manufactured in other countries are cheaper. That is why for example most if not all the Greek and non-Greek restaurants in the UK use Turkish and Danish Feta. Unfortunately for them it is easily identified as non-Greek since the taste is totally different. 

All of these statistics are verified when we are reminded that the turnover of consumption of Feta cheese within the EU is estimated at 1 billion euros annually, while Greek exports of Feta are approximately 130 million euros.  

She gave a discount to whoever ate all their food.

A restaurant owner in Australia got annoyed with all the food she had to throw away because people simply did not eat all their food. So she tried to find a solution. The owner not only was not happy with all the extra food the customers ordered that they did not eventually eat, meaning that she got more money, she tried to stop this phenomenon. She therefore announced that whoever ate all their food will receive a 30% discount. In front of the restaurant's entrance she placed a notification stating that: 

'To contribute towards creating a more sustainable future we ask a little more from our customers than other restaurants'. For some reason I do not see this working in many countries and cultures. Most of us order more than we can eat...But, working in restaurants the past few years, I find it dreadful how we throw away so much food.

Chocolate monuments

Mirco Della Vechia, one of the most famous Italian chocolate 'craftsmen', created world monuments by using white chocolate. 

His magnificent creations are exhibited in Hong Kong. Della Vechia also holds the Guinness record for creating the biggest chocolate sculpture in the world, a copy of the Cathedral of Milan, which was 1.5m high and 2.5m in length. To achieve this record he used 5.37 tones of chocolate.

All I can say is...when can I eat one of these monuments...?!

Mediterranean diet is good for the brain

According to a study from the United States who ever eats Mediterranean food has clarity and it also minimizes the chance of suffering from mental depression, especially the elderly. Mediterranean diet, which is rich in vegetables, olive oil, fish and wine, demonstrates how beneficial it is for the brain.  

Scientists observed 3.790 people living in Chicago who were 65 and over since 1993 until today. Every three years they examined them and saw how well they kept the diet. Those who followed the diet had low levels of mental depression.

Another study found, through studying the Mediterranean diet, that it lowered the risk of developing Alzheimer.

Mediterranean diet consists of vegetables, fruit, cereals, fish, low fat milk products and unsaturated fat. Also it discourages the high consumption of saturated olives, milk, meat, chicken and refined sugar ( although I do believe many countries in the Mediterranean have incorporated many of these products in their diet, hence the souvlaki in Greece and pizza in Italy).

A fact that should interest us all is that the Mediterranean diet protects us against heart disease, cancer and diabetes.