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So what are activated almonds anyway?

Richard Cornish
Richard Cornish

Super food?: Whether raw or activated, almonds are highly nutritious.
Super food?: Whether raw or activated, almonds are highly nutritious.Supplied

What are activated almonds? J. Foks

Our good friends at the Almond Board of Australia point to studies where seeds that are soaked for 12 to 24 hours begin to germinate. While dormant, seeds, including nuts, bind together the nutritional compounds the seed will need to grow into a new plant with something called phytic acid. The soaking kicks off an enzyme called phytase that breaks down the phytic acid releasing elements such as iron and zinc to be absorbed by the body. The Almond Board, however, points out that these studies have been done with legumes, not almonds, and therefore claim there’s no scientific proof for a nutritional benefit in activating one’s almonds. They also point out that phytate is an antioxidant "and may be important in protecting against cancer and ... inflammatory diseases". Some people find that soaked almonds lose a little flavour as the tannins from the skin leach into the water.

My partner argues with me that steaming food is faster than boiling it. T. Weis

Nothing better to put a spark into a relationship than a good tussle over culinary thermodynamics. Next time you’re steaming something, have a look at the veg. As the steam from the boiling water evaporates it hits the vegetables and condenses, passing the energy into the food in the form of heat. That condensation traps a very fine layer of air. This layer of water and air creates a blanket that insulates the food from the heat of the steam. The difference in cooking time in, say, a basket full of broccoli heads cooked to "done", can be as much as a minute. This is not to say "don’t steam", as steaming retains a lot more colour, flavour and nutrition. Make sure veg to be steamed are of even size, loosely packed in the basket, and are not cold, straight from the fridge.

I read your story recently about barbecues and was appalled you failed to cover American pit barbecues. L. Watterson

The word barbecue comes to us via Spanish from about the 1600s when the word barbacoa was coined from a similar-sounding Haitian word, barabicu. This was a framework of elevated wood on which to sleep, but also referred to a frame on which meat was grilled or smoked. The word entered British English shortly thereafter without the culinary connotation. From there, the word took on several different meanings and forms – both verb and noun. In the United States it developed into a variety of forms of cooking often involving long cooking periods of low temperature with the aroma of smoke or pit barbecuing. In Spanish, the word barbacoa refers to the parilla over which meat and fish are grilled over charcoal. The word regained its culinary usage in British English some time in the 20th century, according to Alan Davidson's The Oxford Companion to Food, and almost exclusively refers to grilling over wood, charcoal or gas. Australia's The Macquarie Dictionary has the barbecue as a "metal frame for cooking meat" and "may be elaborate and permanent or merely a few loose bricks with a wire grid atop them". Although I truly love American barbecues, until we are officially declared the 51st state of the USA, as a food writer I will work in the Australian context.

Letters

Mayogate has piqued interest in retro condiments with several readers sending in letters along the lines of "Whatever happened to mayonnaise made with sweetened condensed milk?" For many years industrial food manufacturer Nestle encouraged home cooks to make something called 2 Minute Mayonnaise in which a tin of sweetened condensed milk was mixed with a teaspoon of salt, a cup of vinegar and two teaspoons of mustard powder. The sickly-sweet, viscous fluid was drizzled over thousands of tonnes of iceberg lettuce during the latter decades of the 20th century until the likes of Margaret Fulton and Stephanie Alexander showed us how easy the real thing is to make.

If you have a vexing query email brainfood@richardcornish.com.au Twitter: @Foodcornish

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Richard CornishRichard Cornish writes about food, drinks and producers for Good Food.

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