Dragon Fruit

 

A pitaya (pronounced /pɨˈtaɪ.ə/) or pitahaya (English pronunciation: /ˌpɪtəˈhaɪ.ə/) is the fruit of several cactusspecies, most importantly of the genus Hylocereus ( sweet pitayas). These fruits are commonly known as dragon fruit – cf. Chinese huǒ lóng guǒ 火龍果/火龙果 "fire dragon fruit" and lóng zhū guǒ "dragon pearl fruit", Vietnamese thanh long (sweet dragon), Indonesian and Malaysian buah naga "dragon fruit", Lao: mark mang gohn (ໝາກມັງກອນ) "dragon fruit". Other vernacular names are strawberry pear or nanettikafruit.
If not otherwise stated, this article's content refers specifically to the pitayas of Hylocereus species, or "dragon fruit".


Distribution



The vine-like epiphytic pitaya-producing cacti of the genus Hylocereus are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. They are also cultivated in Asian countries such as Indonesia (especially in western Java), Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and more recently Bangladesh. They are also found in Okinawa, Hawaii, Israel, northern Australia and southern China.
Hylocereus blooms only at night; the large white fragrant flowers of the typical cactusflower shape are among those called "moonflower" or "Queen of the Night". Sweet pitayas have a creamy pulp and a delicate aroma. It is also grown as an Ornamental plant, used in gardens as a flowering vine, and a house plant indoors.


Credits :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya

History and types of pizza

 

 

Pizza  is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.
Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria". Pizza is one of the national foods of Italy and the Italian people.

HISTORY ABOUT PIZZA
The Ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. In Byzantine Greek, the word was spelled πίτα or pita, meaning pie. The word has now spread to Turkis
h as pide, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian as pita, Albanian as pite and Modern Hebrew pittāh.The Romans developed placenta, a sheet of flour topped with cheese and honey and flavored with bay leaves. Modern pizza originated in Italy as the Neapolitan pie with tomato. In 1889, cheese was added
King Ferdinand I (1751–1825) is said to have disguised himself as a commoner and, in clandestine fashion, visited a poor neighborhood in Naples. One story has it that he wanted to sink his teeth into a food that the queen had banned from the royal court—pizza.
In 1889, during a visit to Naples, Queen Margherita of Italy was served a pizza resembling the colors of the Italian flag, red (tomato), white (mozzarella) and green (basil). This kind of pizza has been named after the Queen as Pizza Margherita.



Types of  pizza:

• Pizza romana (in Naples): tomato, mozzarella, anchovies, oregano, oil;
• Pizza viennese: tomato, mozzarella, German sausage, oregano, oil;
• Pizza capricciosa ("capricious pizza"): mozzarella, tomato, mushrooms, artichokes, cooked ham, olives, oil (in Rome, prosciutto raw ham is used and half a hard-boiled egg is added);
• Pizza quattro stagioni ("four seasons pizza"): same ingredients for the capricciosa, but ingredients not mixed;
• Pizza quattro formaggi ("four cheese pizza"): tomatoes, mozzarella, stracchino, fontina, gorgonzola (sometimes ricotta can be swapped for one of the last three);
• Sicilian-style pizza has its toppings baked directly into the crust. ("Sicilian" pizza in the United States is typically a different variety of product, made with a thick crust characterized by a rectangular shape and topped with tomato sauce, cheese and optional toppings. Pizza Hut's "Sicilian Pizza", introduced in 1994, is not an authentic example of the style as only garlic, basil, and oregano are mixed into the crust);
• White pizza (pizza bianca) omits the tomato sauce, often substituting pesto or dairy products such as sour cream. Most commonly, especially on the East coast of the United States, the toppings consist only of mozzarella and ricotta cheese drizzled with olive oil and spices like fresh basil and garlic. In Rome, the term pizza bianca refers to a type of bread topped with olive oil, salt and, occasionally, rosemary sprigs. It is also a Roman style to bottom the white pizza with figs, the result being known as pizza e fichi (pizza with figs);
• Ripieno or calzone is a turnover-style pizza filled with several ingredients, such as ricotta, salami and mozzarella, and folded over to form a half circle before being baked. In Italian calzone literally means "large sock", while the word ripieno actually means just "filling" and does not by itself imply a form of pizza.
• Pizza Leggera or Pizza Mezzogiorno - very thin base half a centimeter at the most, size of a large pancake with only one topping ingredient such as herbs or cheese, suitable for lunch time.

Hotdogs

 

Claims about hot dog invention are difficult to assess, as stories assert the creation of the sausage, the placing of the sausage (or another kind of sausage) on bread or a bun as finger food, the popularization of the existing dish, or the application of the name "hot dog" to a sausage and bun combination most commonly used with ketchup or mustard and sometimes relish.
The word frankfurter comes from Frankfurt, Germany, where pork sausages served in a bun similar to hot dogs originated. These sausages, Frankfurter Würstchen, were known since the 13th century and given to the people on the event of imperial coronations, starting with the coronation of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor as King. Wiener refers to Vienna, Austria, whose German name is "Wien", home to a sausage made of a mixture of pork and beecf. Hamburger, whose name also derives from a German-speaking city). Johann Georg Lahner, a 18th/19th century butcher from the Bavarian city of Coburg, is said to have brought the Frankfurter Würstchen to Vienna, where he added beef to the mixture and simply called it Frankfurter. Nowadays, in German speaking countries, except Austria, hot dog sausages are called Wiener or Wiener Würstchen (Würstchen means "little sausage"), in differentiation to the original pork only mixture from Frankfurt. In Swiss German, it is called Wienerli, while in Austria the terms Frankfurter or Frankfurter Würstel are used.
Around 1870, on Coney Island, German immigrant Charles Feltman began selling sausages in rolls.
Others have supposedly invented the hot dog. The idea of a hot dog on a bun is ascribed to the wife of a German named Antonoine Feuchtwanger, who sold hot dogs on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, in 1880, because his customers kept taking the white gloves handed to them for eating without burning their hands. Anton Ludwig Feuchtwanger, a Bavarian sausage seller, is said to have served sausages in rolls at the World's Fair–either the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago or the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis^[8]–again allegedly because the white gloves he gave to customers so that they could eat his hot sausages in comfort began to disappear as souvenirs.
The association between hot dogs and baseball began as early as 1893 with Chris von der Ahe, a German immigrant who owned not only the St. Louis Browns, but also an amusement park.
Harry M Stevens Inc., founded in 1889, serviced major sports venues with hot dogs and other refreshments, making Stevens known as the "King of Sports Concessions" in the US.
In 1916, a German American employee of Feltman's named Nathan Handwerker was encouraged by celebrity clients Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante to go into business in competition with his former employer.^[ Handwerker undercut Feltman's by charging five cents for a hot dog when his former employer was charging ten^.
At an earlier time in food regulation the hot dog suspect, Handwerker made sure that men wearing surgeon's smocks were seen eating at Nathan's Famous to reassure potential customers.