The Daily Bite: Bengal Tiger

http://www.flickr.com/photos/findwell/6256194678/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Matt and I found a Living Social Deal for Indian food, so naturally we jumped on it.  The deal was for the Indian Restaurant Bengal Tiger, located in Roosevelt Washington.  We ate there for lunch yesterday.  My favorite thing was definitely the Seafood Shorba.  It just had an amazing flavor.  It is a soup with fresh ginger and garlic, along with fresh cod, mussels, prawns, and calamari.  Yum.  Ola.  We also got Samosas, which were tasty.  I also love the dips and flat bread stuff they gave us at the beginning of our meal.  I have no idea what it is called though.  Matt ordered Shrimp Tikka Masala, which I thought tasted more like a Korma because it had coconut milk, but it was good.  And I had Lamb Bhuna, which was really tasty.  However, I thought it tasted better warmed up hours later.  Random.  And we had Mango Lassis.


However, my search for the perfect Mango Lassi continues.  The Bengal Tiger was good.  Really good.  But it was still not India Palace.  Amrik Singh's Mango Lassi and Coconut Chicken Korma has seriously ruined me for anything else.  And I just found out he gives out the recipes!  Tomorrow morning I'm writing him a thank you letter and requesting some recipes.

This link includes a Chicken Korma recipe: http://www.uvureview.com/2011/07/05/13822/.

Enjoy!

Why Some Like it Hot

Matt asked me the other day why some people love spicy food and others don't.  I hypothesized it had to do with where the culture was located.  The populations closer to the equator, and therefore in warmer climates, would want their food hot because it acts as a bacterial deterrent.

And I was right.  Well, at least partially right according to Why Some Like it Hot by Gary Paul Nabhan, "Chilies have chemicals in them that delay food spoilage, or at least mask the smell and taste of spoiled foods.  Furthermore, chilies make the dwellers of scorching climates sweat in a way that cools them off, a sort of poor man's air-conditioning in a fiery red pod.  And finally, chilies supply essential micronutrients and protective antioxidants" (Nabhan, 134).   Furthermore, "Spices fight the bacteria and fungi that spoil meat-based food to the point of making us sick or killing us...this is particularly true in desert and tropical climes where cooked meats rapidly spoil if left unattended or unseasoned.  Like some other spices, chilies cleanse meat of parasites and pathogens before it is cooked and eaten, and chiles contain four kinds of antioxidant capable of repelling microbes even after a dish is prepared: ascorbic acid [Vitamin C], capsaicinoids, flavinoids, and tocopherols [Vitamin E]" (Nabhan, 135).  According to a study by Sherman and Billing, "Thirty-eight spices were used less frequently in vegetable recipes than in meat recipes...[and] the amount of spices used in meat dishes in both the dry and wet tropics are sufficient to kill the particular bacteria and fungi that cause meat to spoil and meat eaters to get sick" (Nabham, 135-136).

Like so many things in life, (and science) there are probably multiple reasons for why some people prefer their food with a kick and others do not.  According to the article Global Warming, capsaicinoids cause pain accompanied by a happy rush of endorphins to counter the pain.  Thus people get addicted to the rush, or rather crave the rush (Global Warming).

I'm just glad I can handle some extra spice in my life.  I like it hot.  Which is why I married my husband.  But that is a whole other story.

Works Cited

"Global Warming." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 18 Dec. 2008. Web. 26 June 2012. http://www.economist.com/node/12792719.

Nabhan, Gary Paul. Why Some like It Hot: Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity. Washington: Island/Shearwater, 2004. Print.

Discovery Park Bike Ride

Today my cousin Sara showed me a bike path from the waterfront over to the far edge of Magnolia.  It was hard work, but the view was incredible!  I definitely want to go up there again.