Living maturely

This link from one of my fave blog Trendland, is about interior design. The images show the type of of person who may live in the space downtown Manhattan ...it is incredibly classic and so mature almost perfect. It just cought my attention.

http://trendland.net/2010/10/16/nema-workshop-architecture/#more-52602

Madonna did Mui Mui

Well done COMMERCIALY !

Gary Chang's 24 living combinations

A Hong Kong architect Gary Chang creates 24 rooms combination in his 344 sq. ft which is barely 32 m2 living space. I could imagine myself living in it. I am the queen of efficiency and functionality when it come to living space. I have live in all sizes of space from 30 m2 to 250 m2 in the last 6 years.

We have a small cozy apartment as a base. Jarg and I spend about 50% of our time on the road and are often being relocated between couple to few years at a time. It is definitely easy to maintain. This tiny place is a true inspiration!

Yes you can do - Crispy Pork Belly

Pork Belly dishes have become quite a trend these days. We are not afraid of eating this luscious meat. Jarg used to turn his face when I mention my wish of cooking Pork Belly. Ever since I introduced him to BBQ Crispy Pork in China Town, his new taste bud developed. I successfully converted him which means I can cook this meat at home and don't have to eat it alone, yippy! This recipe is one of Jarg's favorites today. He would even request it time to time.

This time I am sharing with you a dish which I kind of borrow from different recipes combine the memory of my Grand Mother's caramelized Crispy Pork Crackling which we used to snack on when we were kids. It is Thai-Chinese joint venture like my ancestors. The dish requires 3 different methods of cooking: boil, fry and caramelize. The cooking process will reduce the very large amount of fat. So you need not to feel guilty about it. At the end you will have crackling and soft & crunchy meat with slightly spiced sweet and salty with touch of tangy.

Some ingredients such Palm Sugar and Black Vinegar can be purchase in Asian market. Please add them to you shopping list next time you visit Asian shop. It's useful to have these two in your kitchen cabinet.
I admit, it is time consuming in preparing this dish. You may do the first step of boiling in advance. I guarantee - you will LOVE it. It is worth your time spending in the kitchen...perhaps having a nice glass of sherry while you are cooking this wonderful dish and enjoy the process. This recipe was put together with true passion...xxx

Caramelized Crispy Pork Belly

Ca. 4 persons

Ingredients

Ca. 500 grams Pork Belly about 1-1 ½ cm thick each

1 tablespoon White Vinegar

Water enough to cover plus 2 cm over pork belly

Sauce

3 Tablespoons chopped Scallion/Spring Onion

1 ½ Table spoons shredded Ginger

1 Teaspoon chopped Garlic

3-4 Dried Chili Pepper

1 Red Chili Pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips for garnish

3 tablespoons Palm Sugar

1 tablespoon Fish Sauce

2 tablespoons light Soy Sauce

1 shot glass dry Sherry or Chinese Cooking Wine

1 Teaspoon Chinese Black Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar

Instruction:

Prepare the Pork: boil and fry

1.       In medium sauce pan, add water, vinegar and pork belly over medium-high heat.

2.      Let it boil and reduce the heat to medium. Take out white scum/foam with mesh spoon. Continue cooking for about 40 minutes. This will get rid of strong pork flavor and tenderize the meat and skin.

3.      Take off the heat and the pot cool down for at least 30 minutes. Take out pork belly and let it drain. You can prepare this step a day or so in Advance – wrap the pork and refrigerate.

4.      Cut the cooked pork belly into 3 cm  pieces

5.      Heat non stick pan on medium heat, add pork belly on single layer and let it fry in its own fat until crispy and brown and turn. This process can take up to 10-12 minutes depend on the thickness of the pork belly.

6.      After both sides are brown and crisp, take out and put on paper towel to absorb the extra fat.

Caramelized the pork belly

1.      Using the same pan and oil from frying. Pour out the fat leave about 2 tablespoons for the sauce. Over medium heat, add dried Chili and cooking for 1 minute then takeout the chili. 

2.      Add Scallion and Garlic. Fry it for about 3-4 minutes.

3.      Add Ginger, Palm Sugar, Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Vinegar and Sherry then reduce heat to low-medium. Let the sauce cook and thicken for about 5-6 minutes. Check flavor – Sweet and Salty and add adjust.

4.      Add Crispy Pork Belly and fried Chili to the sauce and mix well until all pieces are coated with sauce.

5.      Put Caramelized Crispy Pork Belly to serving plate and top with Red Chili.

Serving Suggestion

Serve with steamed Jasmine Rice and Steamed Vegetables such Broccoli and Carrots for a complete one dish meal.

Video from Stephen Colluci Makes Almond Brioche

 From NY Magazine - Grub street- NY on 2010/05

A Yum!

Mango goes Dinner

My local supermarket was offering fantastic sales on organic mango and avocado. I took this rare opportunity to fill the fruit basket. The Mangoes were in a perfect stage between young & ripe. My mouth was watering for Mango Salad…beautiful memory of home…Thailand. After tasting a piece I decided to do a nice dinner salad as my craving had grown.

The mango was still firm and lightly crisp. The flavor was fruitful sweet and sour. As a main dinner course I want add chicken breast. Here we go Mango Salad – the East meets West version and of course with touch of Thai flavor.

Note:

When you purchase the mango make sure it fresh and firm – test by lightly squeeze the fruit. It should not be red or orange –that can be ripe. The measurement of the ingredients for salad sauce may need adjustment, depends upon the tanginess of fresh mango. I suggest you taste it before you start. Keep in mind the combination of 3 flavors – sweet, sour and salty (triple S) to guide you. If you do your shopping at an Asian shop you may have selection of products from Southeast Asia. They can be very sour that depends upon the kind of mango you buy. Please ask the sales person. If your mango is quite sour then reduce the amount of mango you use and adjust the flavor of your salad sauce unless you love very tangy flavor.

Steamed Chicken Mango Salad

For 4 persons 

Ingredients:

For steamed Chicken

1 large Chicken Breast – room temperature

1 fresh lemon grass use only white part, cut into 3-4 cm pieces

½ medium Onion or some green part of Scallions or Spring Onions

Sea Salt

4-5 cups Water to steam the chicken

For Salad

1 ½ to 2 Cups of fresh Mango cut into strips

1 large Carrot cut into strips then soak in cold water for ca 10 minutes, drain. (This makes it crisp)

1 medium Cucumber cut into strips then soak in cold water for ca 10 minutes, drain. (This makes it crisp)

2 large Shallots lengthily sliced

3 Scallions or Spring Onions sliced

3 tablespoons chopped Coriander

1 small Red Sweet Pepper cut into thin strips

1 Red Chili Pepper seeded and thinly sliced

3 cups chopped Arugula Salad

½ cup Roasted Cashew nuts

Salad Sauce

¼ cup fruity Olive Oil

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 ½ to 2 tablespoon of Raw Sugar

1 to 1 ½ Tablespoon of Fish Sauce

Liquid Honey

Sea Salt

Fresh ground Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Adjust the amount of Sweet, Sour and Salty according to Mango flavor

Instruction

1.      Heat all ingredients for Steamed Chicken in a small sauce except Chicken Breast until almost boil.

2.      Add Chicken Breast and reduce the heat to low-medium. Let it simmer for ca. 10 minutes or cook through.

3.      Take the sauce pan of the heat and let it sits for ca.12-15 minutes.

4.      Take Chicken Breast out from steamed liquid. Let it cool to room temperature. Reserve liquid to drink after the meal.

5.      Shred Chicken Breast with hands. Make sure the piece it is not too big or too small. You should be able to have a nice bite of chicken breast.

6.      In large salad bowl put shredded Chicken Breast and all vegetables and herbs except chopped Arugula.

7.      In a small bowl mix all ingredients for Salad Sauce and mix well.

8.      Pour small amount of Salad Sauce at a time over the salad mix, gently turning the salad several times. Taste and add more sauce or certain flavor as needed. Think of Sweet, Sour and Salty.

9.      Using large plates, spread chopped Arugula equally in each plate. In center place Steam Chicken and Mango Salad and top with Roasted Cashew Nuts. Please divide salad juice on each plate.

Serving suggestion:

Serve hot liquid from steamed chicken in 4 tea cups after salad. Accompany with the salad with small bowl of Jasmine Rice to complete a wonderful light dinner or Lunch. It is enough for 8 servings as an appetizer. 

Back in Blog

I was absent from I taste the world for over a months...got tied up in different time consuming issues. Nevertheless it did not stopping me from experiment around the kitchen and visiting several art exhibitions and openings.
Jarg and I have been traveling back and forth between Germany and Belgium. Two things I truly enjoy doing in Belgium are eating and shopping at fresh market. Belgium is known in Europe to have good food, chocolate and good beer. One beautiful city we were, was Brugge - a world heritage. Yes we went 3 times and very time we have to make a stop at the best chocolate shop in the world calls The Chocolate Line. Apparently they claim that title in 2009 and it's worth waiting in que! We managed in to try out 75% of their pralines in 3 visits and already looking forward for the next visit coming soon!

I 

Brugge canal

We have seen about 10 exhibitions and were at the Preview of Art Cologne. There were some interesting exhibition and projects. Art Cologne this years was great specially the Open Space area - that was great fun and lively but the flavor of the fair was way too local ... too many galleries from Cologne and Germany. It lost its international flair - I wonder if it has to do with the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajokull volcano - please do not ask me to pronounce that again.

 

Attractive mustache girls

Home in beautiful Dusseldorf- a view from K21 Museum 

I did some experiment cooking Steamed Wild Salmon on Basil Peas Puree - that was very lovely and light. I will put together the recipe for you soon. It was fresh, simple and very fine. I also made Coq au Vin according to Julia Child on top fork mashed boiled potatoes. That was to die for....

At K21 is an installation of a talent Polish artist Monika Sosnowska - Ohne Titel, 2010. She did a spiral stair case coming down from the top floor of the museum - a really beautiful work. She was known from last Venice Biennale representing Polish pavilion.

A new gallery open in town Springmann.Varol first exhibition from a young French photographer, activist, and artist JR - Women are Heroes. It was a fresh wind in the city. Interestingly that the audience for the opening evening were everyone but art crowd. Dusseldorf is the home of most important art academy in Germany where many influential artists lived and have lived. I heard a great success from the opening and wishing it continues on.

 

The gallerists: Selim Varol and Henrik Springman.

 

the sharp PR girl Hye-Won Yoon

 Jarg has a wonderful an exhibition at Freeman Gallery in Aardenburg, Holland chaussures du monde - click here for images of work. It was difficult to take pictures with reflection.

in picture- Alex Weidenbaum- Gallerist, Jarg, and Jo - art lover!

That is for now - just short report and I am back to blog !

Lee McQueen his last Alexander McQueen

From New York Time Style Magazine - Click and see

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/alexander-mcqueens-final-show/

Live From Fashion Week: Vivienne Westwood's Red Label A/W 2010 London Fashion Week | Live From Fashion Week

She is still living it up - FUN that is my comment to her A/W 2010/11 collection 

Live From Fashion Week: Vivienne Westwood's Red Label A/W 2010 London Fashion Week | Live From Fashion Week

Why do I like raw sugar?

It is the  variety of flavor. I use all kind of raw sugar. Palm sugar for Thai cooking & desert making, organic cane sugar and demerara for beverage, muscovado to sprinkle over creps or making caramel sauce and so on.
I found a great book Sweet by Mani Niall from DaCapo Press 2008 through The Global Gourmet. It explains well about my collection of sweet substances in my pantry and to answer Jarg and some friends questions. 

All About Raw Sugar

by Mani Niall
Raw sugars are in fact boiled a few times to remove impurities, so the name is a little confusing—if it is cooked, how can it be raw? However, the relatively lesser amount of processing used allows these sugars to retain molasses, which includes the minerals and vitamins that are refined out of white granulated sugar.

Clockwise from center: dark muscovado, panela,
organic cane sugar, palm sugar,
demerara, light muscovado, turbinado

 

 

 

 

 

Fair Trade Sugar

Many foods (coffee, sugar, and tea, among others) are produced in third-world countries with inexpensive labor, and unfortunately, all too often, the workers do not sufficiently benefit from the profits. Some producers are working under fair trade guidelines, whereby the labor force is paid fairly for its work in an effort to alleviate poverty and improve quality of life. Efforts are also made to keep the product sustainable.
Wholesome Sweeteners is such a company. I love cooking with their third party-certified organic and fair trade sugars, for their high quality and for the company's commitment to their production team. They work with plantations in Costa Rica and Mauritius, but nowhere has there been such a direct and tangible difference in the lives of their team as in the African Republic of Malawi. According to company spokesperson Pauline McKee, "The impact of the quarterly premium they receive from our sugar sales go directly to funding community projects. They now have a freshwater well for both residential and irrigational use, land set aside from cane growing for their own farming, and a health clinic. Working with the Malawians is a joy and an honor, and it really puts life into perspective."

Evaporated Cane Juice and Organic Sugar

This term evaporated cane juice was approved by the Federal Drug Authority to clarify the difference between this sugar and white granulated sugar, which it resembles in appearance and sweetness level. Evaporated cane juice is crystallized sugar, minus the final refining stages, which allows it to retain a small amount of molasses and gives the crystals their light tan color. Most organic sugar (sugar raised under organic agricultural guidelines without pesticides) is evaporated cane juice, and vice versa. You can substitute evaporated cane juice (or organic sugar) for granulated sugar in your recipes without any changes. It is commonly used in the natural foods industry to manufacture baked goods.

Sucanat

Because it has its own proprietary manufacturing process, Sucanat (its name created from the words sugarcane natural) belongs in its own category, but I include it here because it is the least processed of all sugars. Its proprietary processing method of dehydration and aeration was developed by Dr. Max-Henri Beguin in the 1950s. Sucanat, processed from organic Costa Rican sugarcane, is the least processed of dry sugars, maintaining trace amounts of potassium, calcium, and magnesium and other vitamins and minerals, but that doesn't make it a nutritional superfood.
Sucanat is granular, not crystallized. Sucanat does not dissolve as readily as crystallized sugar, so a butter-Sucanat mixture will stay gritty and the resultant baked good will be speckled in recipes that call for such creaming. This may be a small tradeoff for some bakers. Many sources say that it can be used as a substitute for brown sugar, but Sucanat is much drier, so in most recipes I don't recommend swapping it for brown sugar.
Sucanat lends its molasses-rich flavor to cookies, bars, fruit crisps, and cobblers.

Turbinado

A light brown sugar with detectably coarse crystals and a light toffee flavor, turbinado is "turbinated" from steaming evaporated cane juice. It is considered a raw sugar, and one brand is named Sugar in the Raw, which is made in Maui and is a vestige of the once-booming Hawaiian sugarcane economy.
Turbinado is versatile and accommodating in all manner of cooking and baking. In butter-based doughs and batters, it creams more smoothly than demerara. But it stays crunchy when sprinkled as a topping for cookies, cobblers, and crisps. For its toffee flavor and ease of melting (its moderate-size crystals melt into larger pools than does granulated sugar), it is the best sugar for topping crème brûlée.

The Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company on Maui produces a variety of raw sugars, including turbinado. Their Premium Hawaiian Turbinado is the result of slow boiling, producing a crunchy crystal of deep ambercolored sugar, rich with molasses flavors. Asked about further details about their turbinado, they demurred, referring to such matters as being proprietary secrets.
Annually, about 500,000 tons of bagasse (discarded cane fiber) is used to generate steam for electricity. This supplies all the power necessary to run the plant; the surplus energy provides up to 10 percent of the power for the entire island.

Moist Brown Sugars

In the second stage of sugar processing, a centrifuge is used to remove as much, or as little, molasses as the manufacturer chooses. In brown sugars made by the traditional methods, such as demerara and muscovado, the molasses is left in, and then the sugar is crystallized via dehydration. During this process, the molasses remains intact, as in first-stage sugars, yet these sugars become fairly dry. These brown sugars are less sweet than white sugar, because the molasses is somewhat bitter.

Demerara

A crunchy, sparkly, caramel-hued crystal sugar, demerara is renowned for its textural and visual qualities. It is named for the Demerara River in today's Guyana, a former British (and Dutch) colony, but most of today's demerara comes from Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. If you are presented with a sugar bowl in a fine restaurant in Europe, chances are that it will be filled with demerara. Stirred into hot coffee or tea, its caramel flavor is released.
Demerara sugar is ideal for decorating baked goods, as it will not melt in the heat of the oven. It adds a delicious crunch to the surface of muffins, cookies, scones, and other pastries.

Muscovado

Rich, dark, and aromatic, muscovado sugar is available in both light and dark varieties. This moist, flavorful sugar has a hint of butterscotch. It is also known as Barbados sugar and dark molasses sugar.
Use muscovado sugar whenever you want to upgrade your recipes that call for standard light or dark brown sugar-try it on your morning oatmeal, and you may never use anything else. It is incomparable in gingerbread.
On the shelves of the best specialty food shops, you are likely to find sugar products under the India Tree label—amber-colored light and seriously dark muscovado, rough-textured demerara, and golden baker's sugar that is as pale as tropical sand. India Tree owner Gretchen Goehrend credits professional chefs for unleashing the unrivaled flavors of these sweeteners in their cooking.
Goehrend says, "Both Nancy Silverton and Alice Medrich told me these sugars are elegant just as they are-much like any ingredient they scour the globe for. With something this good, there is no need for other flavors or spices, not even vanilla. They couldn't believe they ignored these sugars for years and now find them indispensable in their baking."

Light and Dark Brown Sugars

Supermarket light and dark brown sugars can be made by a highly mechanized variation on the traditional method, which is how muscovado sugar is still made, whereby raw sugar is centrifuged to remove the molasses and attain the desired sugar color. However, many brands, especially beet sugars, make their brown sugars by another process. The sugar is completely refined to the white granulated stage, then molasses is sprayed back on in amounts to create either light or dark sugar. The molasses used for this is always the cane sugar variety, as beet sugar molasses is considered unfit for human consumption. Choose a brand that you like (look at the label for "pure cane sugar," if you prefer it) and stick with it.
Brown sugar is called for in many all-American baked goods. Light and dark are interchangeable, depending on the desired amount of molasses flavor. Brown sugar must be packed firmly into a metal measuring cup to get a level measure.

from Sweet!: From Agave to Turbinado, Home Baking with Every Kind of Natural Sugar and Sweeten 

Quark Cheesecake cups

I was craving for cheese cake at the same time being aware how rich the calories actually are in the regular cheese cake. As I always do, is to experiment with new ingredients. In Germany there are plentiful recipes for cheese cake BUT they do not have the twang or the New York flavor I was longing. This is my version of adaptation of New York and German style cheese cake without crust. you can make it in cute little munchkin cups or in spring cake form - you need to butter the cake form before put in the cake mix. I prefer the cute version as it is more elegant and personal.

Quark Cheesecake cups
for 4 munchkin cups

Ingredients:

2 eggs - room temparature

1 1/2 cups Quark or Yogurt cheese – see below

1/2 cup Raw Sugar

2 Tbsp Whole Milk or Double Cream

2 tsp Vanilla extract

Lemon Juice of Half Organic Lemon

Grated Lemon Zest of 1 Lemon

Very small pinch of Sea Salt

Topping

Frozen mixed Berried or

mixed fresh fruits

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 170 c
2. Whisk eggs. Using a spoon, mix in Quark, Whole Milk or Double Cream, Sugar, Lemon Juice, Grated Lemon Zest, Small Pinch of Sea Salt and vanilla.
3. Pour mixture into 4 Munchkin dishes. Bake until the mixture is set in the middle, about 1 hour. Let it cool.
4. Serve chilled and top with Frozen Berries or mixed fresh fruits

How to make Yogurt Cheese

I am  using this lovely healthy and low fat fresh cheese in substitute for cream cheese, curd and quark when I am in the location where I cannot find any of the above ingredients. All you have to do it plan in advance and have patient. It can be kept for couple weeks in air tight container in the fridge.

Yogurt Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

Large tub of Plain Yogurt – regular or low fat – important that DOSE NOT CONTAIN GELATINE.

Measurement: 1 cup of yogurt make ½ cup of cheese

Equipments

Colander

Cheese cloth

Glass bowl

Instruction:

1. Line the Colander with Cheese Cloth. Put the prepared Colander over the Glass Bowl then pour Yogurt in it to drain
2. Fold the rest of cheese cloth over the yogurt to cover to form a ball
3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate  and let it drain over night about 18-24 hours till it forms a ball of cheese

Using tip: you can use this cheese in cooking Indian curries also a good substitute for Cream Cheese or Quark (German soft cheese) and many other dishes both sweet and savory.

Teach every child about food.

 Jamie Oliver on

Teach every child about food at TED.com 

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamie_oliver.html

I hope that "I taste the world" can help some of you about eating well and enjoy food.

Banana Apple Bread Pudding with Yogurt and Honey sauce

The other day was very cold and I did not feel like cooking something major. Even though I was craving for a nice warm healthy savory dinner. There was still some leftover Ratatouille, a basket of mix stale breads and grated mozzarella cheese. We also had nice fresh salad leaves we bought on the same day...not everything we had was old. 

I put together a casserole with cooked pasta and ratatouille by adding some black Provencal olives, anchovies and a bit of tomato sauce. I mixed them all up and topped with grated mozzarella cheese and baked it at 170 degree Celsius for ca 30 minutes. That was the main course and we had green salad with fantastic extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. For desert I used up all the stale bread we had – small baguettes, corn bread and sour dough bread to make a bread pudding and jazzed it up with banana and apple to give me a healthy feeling. I served this lovely warm desert with nice light yogurt sauce. A liter tub of thick yogurt is a regular resident in my fridge.

This Bread Pudding recipe can use any mixture of stale bread you or your neighbor has. It is easy to make and it tastes really good. We also breakfast with this sweet leftover. A YUM indeed!

Banana Apple Bread Pudding with Yogurt and Honey sauce

Ingredients:

4-5 cups of stale bread – tear into pieces

3 large Eggs at room temperature

2 cups Milk

½ cup melted Butter

1 cup Raw Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

½ teaspoon ground Cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground Nutmeg

Pinch of Sea Salt

1 Ripe Banana, mashed

2 small Apple, chopped

Chopped nuts - Optional (Walnut, Pecan or Almond)

Sauce

2 cup of Thick Yogurt such Greek – can substitute with thick creamy regular Plain Yogurt

1/3 cup Honey – runny

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instruction:

Bread Pudding

Heat the oven at 180 Celsius degree

1.       Beat the egg vigorously with hand whisk until it turn pale yellow about 3-4 minute

2.      Add Raw Sugar, Melted Butter, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, salt into eggs and continue beating until it well blend

3.      Add milk into the egg mixture and mix well

4.      Add bread into the pudding mixture. Stir well and let it sits for 30 minutes or until the bread pieces absorb

5.      Add chopped Apples, mashed banana and nuts if use and mix well

6.      Grease the baking pan or dish with butter and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Until the Bread Pudding is nice and brown and fluffy

Sauce

1.       In a bowl mix Yogurt, Honey and Cinnamon well with whisk

2.      Cover with plastic wrap and keep cool in refrigerate until ready to use

Serving tip: it tastes best when serve warm with sauce.

Chandelier Creative and Commonwealth Fashion Week Diner

 I love this dinner setting ... please click in to see how beautiful it is:

http://cyanatrendland.com/?s=Chandelier+Creative+and+Commonwealth+Fashion+Week+Diner&x=40&y=5&=Go

LFW - London Fashion Week

London is one of the most key cities when it comes to benchmark the fashion world. For those fashion curious audience I am putting a link where  you can check the update, overview and daily catwalks during LFW AW 2010/2011

http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/catwalkreport.aspx?seasonid=19&seasonday=2010-2-19&day=1..

Enjoy and tell me what you find!

I heart

After all these years I still looovvvveee Marithé and François Girbaud.

Shake your Day!

How can we manage 5 veggies and fruits a days without any stress! Jårg and I came up with a theory- how to manage our daily nutrition intake a few years ago. I admit we slack off sometime and we feel the different. 

We shake it … yes we shake anything that can be eaten raw. Creating everyday a new shake cocktail is fun to get up every morning. You can actually replace the caffeine with the shake. It wakes you right up. Because the nutritious value of the shake is amazingly high. It is full with vitamins and minerals as well as very low calories and fat. We drink it as breakfast of lunch when we are home.

 What are we shaking –

First you need a good blender or hand mixer - we prefer blender … our basic ingredients are the combinations from at least 4-5 selections of fresh squeezed orange juice, lemon juice, apple, carrot, tomato, banana, kiwi, ginger, cucumber and tea made from Rooibos. Then come special guests such Boston salad, red leaves, parsley, Fennel, cooked/raw beet root, celery, broccoli, rocket salad, cauliflower and whatever fruits and vegetables in the season that you can eat raw.

The most important is to have enough liquid and not too much. It can be any fresh juice, mineral water or natural tea made from fruit or Rooibos.

You can add plain yogurt, buttermilk or honey to this energize shake. When I had my wisdom tooth pulled the other week. This was my saver for one week. Drops of olive oil or seed oil give addition digestive value.