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High-tech melktert

// November 16th, 2011 // No Comments » // Food, Tech

Earlier this year, around September 2011, I attended the Compubrand Brand Summit in partnership with Microsoft.

One of the presentations by Microsoft’s Alexandre Michelin (Executive producer MSN EMEA) really grabbed my attention. He stated that, “Brands needs to reinvent themselves in this new digital world and find new ways to re-engage consumers in order to enhance brand loyalty, otherwise, consumers will desert them.” Which is particularly true and very challenging.

That aside, he played a video clip of Microsoft’s productivity future vision. A high-tech representation of how technology could transform the way we get things done at school, at work, and in the home over the next 5 to 10 years. That video was released back in 2009.

Productivity Future Vision (2009)

Fast forward to 2011 and Microsoft has just released the latest edition of this futuristic view, with a surprising addition. South Africa features with views of OR Tambo International airport, Johannesburg and melktert. Yes, you read correctly, melktert.

Melktert, for the uninitiated, is loosely translated as milk tart in Afrikaans, and is a traditional South African dessert. It is a sweet pastry crust containing a creamy filling made from milk, flour, sugar and eggs. The ratio of milk to egg is higher than in a traditional European custard tart or Chinese egg tart, resulting in a lighter texture and a stronger milk flavour.

Skip forward to time code 05:31 and behold high-tech melktert. Not exactly melktert made by small nanoprobes, but rather an interactive recipe with video and some cool infographics depicting the ingredients and method of cooking.

This is certainly not new. iPad apps such as Epicurious and Jamie’s recipes already offer some of these features. However, if we have this kind of technology at our disposal now, I get extremely excited about what the future may hold.

High-tech melktert Productivity future vision 2011

It’s that time of the year again – but it doesn’t have to be

// May 20th, 2011 // No Comments » // Food, News

It’s that time of the year again – Winter. It’s cold. It is too dark in the mornings and evenings to hit the road or gym. Cravings for comfort food abound. This of course means only one thing – we go into hibernation mode and we pack on a bit of padding. Come summer time, we wonder what happened. Clothes don’t seem to fit properly (must have been that last cinnamon doughnut) and the general lack of energy makes it a slog to get back on that dusty treadmill.

We know that South Africans are a proud nation, but according to a national health survey by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), we are also very much in denial when it comes to perceptions of how overweight, unfit and unhealthy we are.

61% of South Africans surveyed are overweight, obese or morbidly obese (29% are men and 56% are women). In a regional breakdown, the survey reveals that Cape Town is the worst affected with 72%, followed by Pretoria (68%), Johannesburg (59%) and Durban (52%). The survey also found that South Africans believe they are healthy, even when they are obese. Only 47% recognise that a lifestyle change is critical to weight loss.

I think we do all know that there is no such thing as a miracle diet. That said, you’d be hard pressed not to admit that you at least once dreamt about that miracle pill, shake (drinking and body sculpting machine), seaweed wrap or whatever “new and improved” technique you see on the shopping channel that could cut away the bulge once and for all.

It takes hard work, dedication, exercise, a healthy eating plan and the right kind of supplements – basically a lifestyle change to whip you in to shape.

There are those, such as cosmetic doctor Maureen Allem from the Skin & Body Renewal clinic, that claim one should add another component to the mix – a hormone called hCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin).

She says the latest research into weight loss has revealed that a low daily injected dose of a hCG, combined with a customised ultra-low calorie (500 – 600) diet, will result in the loss of abnormal, unhealthy fat, leaving essential fat and muscle intact. If the prescribed weight loss program is strictly adhered to, about 350 grams of fat can be lost each day which translates into 10 – 12 kilograms a month.

While it appears that the use of the hCG shots is still unproven (read LATimes, Mayo clinic and here), the low calorie intake seems to be the biggest contributor to the rapid weight-loss.

That said however, it seems that the Skin & Body Renewal clinic wants to put their money where their mouth is, or rather put their money where your fat was. They recently launched a competition called The Slender Challenge. They are looking for 20 overweight people to compete to see who can lose the most kilos in 12 weeks. Each one will be given a weight loss programme valued at R10 000.

The winner will receive a 3-D Body Renewal Package from Skin & Body Renewal, valued at R25 000, which is designed to reduce more inches and sculpt the body. Online spot prizes, valued at R25 000, will be awarded to blog followers throughout the competition.

The competition will run from July through to September 2011. Visit the Slender Challenge if you are interested in entering. Closing date is 6 June 2011

I’m interested to see how this pans out. Now where are my kettlebells?

6 years later

// September 12th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Blog Stuff, Food, Interesting

Grandma’s pancake recipe

// April 5th, 2010 // 7 Comments » // Food

This recipe has been in our family for ages, and while it’s a fairly basic one, it’s practically fool-proof.

As a kid, I especially remember the rainy days, confined to the house and slowly running out of fun things to do. Just as cabin fever would set in, mom would gather the kids and start baking pancakes.

As the scent of cinnamon sugar lingered through the house and our tummies duly filled, we would actually wish for more days of rain.

So without further ado, here’s the recipe for fool-proof pancakes.

Ingredients
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 250ml milk
• 50g butter

Method
1. Sift the dry ingredients, flour baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Mix the eggs and milk together and combine with the dry ingredients.
3. Whisk the batter until all the lumps disappear, it should be the same consistency as thin cream.
4. Melt the butter in a pan (or nuke it briefly in the microwave).
5. Spoon 2 tbsp of the butter it into the batter and whisk it in, then use the rest to oil your pan (even non-stick pans need a little when making pancakes).
6. Heat a bit of water in a pot and place a plate with the pot’s lid on top. The steam will heat the plate and keep the finished pancakes hot.
7. Get your pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you’re using the correct amount of batter.
8. Ladle the batter into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the pan, roll it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter.
9. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a spatula. Flip the pancake over and cook the other side for only a few seconds. Now simply slide the pancake out of the pan onto the heated plate.
10. Stack the pancakes on top of each other, remember to sprinkle your mixture of cinnamon sugar between each layer.

Serve
To serve, sprinkle each pancake with some freshly squeezed lemon juice and the cinnamon sugar mixture and simply roll them up. Of course you could go completely overboard decadent by adding any topping of your choice, think whipped cream, maple or golden syrup, slices of banana, chocolate flakes (Aero, Flake or Crunchy works well). Enjoy!

Can I still eat this?

// April 1st, 2009 // 5 Comments » // Food

Picture this. You’re eating your favourite chocolate bar. Just as you take your next bite, a big piece breaks off and falls to the floor. What do you do? Shout something like “five-second rule“, pick it up and pop that sucker in your mouth or do you toss it?

Unfortunately those of us keen to pick it up without thinking twice about the possibility of contamination are in for a bit of a surprise. An episode of MythBusters (and a scientific study) indicated that even a 2 second exposure carries a risk of collecting bacteria.

Food falling on the floor is one thing. What about that pizza you left out overnight, is it still safe to eat? According to the website StillTasty.com it might be a bad idea to eat that too.

The website is very informative with shelf life information on various food groups (opened and unopened) and answers a fridge-load full of questions ranging from the best ways to defrost food to all you need to know about expiry dates.

Very interesting stuff.