Herb Guide — 'Z'

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Beef is a very flavoursome meat, as long as it is well matured, but it does have the cachet of being expensive and to be used only as a treat. Partly this is due to the history of beef as a high-status ingredient. Partly it's due to the cost of the better cuts. But you have a whole animal to consider and this article takes you through the history of beef eating and gives you a recipe for both the best and one of the poorer cuts of meat.

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Lamb is one of the sweetest an most versatile of the red meats. Typically it is very tender and lends itself to a whole range of cooking methods. Here you are presented with two classic lamb-based recipes.

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Fish is the staple protein source for much of the human population. Fish is an important high-quality protein source that much of the Western diet is deficient in. In this article you will learn a little about fish as well as gaining two classic fish recipes.

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Those obsessive about wild foods will source a whole meal from the wild. But this is not the way that it's best to start with or even to keep going with wild foods. It's far better to gather a few fruit, wild greens or mushrooms and to add these to your everyday cookery. This way you get an introduction to the range of wild foods available and you begin to extend your cookery by adding wild ingredients.

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Ghana is one of the most fertile and productive of West African countries. It is also the inheritor nation of the Ga and Ashanti poeples, ancient rulers of West Africa. The cuisines of Ghana are diverse and characterized by he use of chillies, native spices and boiled eggs in the cooking. Here you will find two typical Ghanaian recipes.

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The main course is the most important part of any formal meal, with preceding courses leading up to it. Here you will learn a little more about main courses as well as how they developed in Ancient Rome. In additional a recipe for a classic Roman main course is provided.

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The traditional recipes of Wales are what might be thought of as 'peasant food' the kind of recipes made by the poor who want to make the most out of what little food they had. This, in some respects, has left Wales with a blank culinary slate where some very exciting modern foods, bringing together influences from all over the world have been created. Here I give an example of a traditional Welsh dish and an example of a recipe from the new breed of Welsh cookery...

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I know that the combination of chilli and chocolate sounds odd to modern ears. Yet this is an ancient mix used by the Aztecs and later adopted in Sicilian cuisine. What's presented here is a rich and piquant gravy that goes excellently well with game dishes.

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The Romans were the first peoples to formally add a dessert course at the end of a meal. Here you will learn a little about why we like sweet desserts and why they all, in one way or another, echo the fruit our ancestors used to eat. You will also see two recipes for classic fruit-based desserts.

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The egg is one of nature's finest storage foods, packed with protein and fats. Chickens have been domesticated several times throughout human history and they are mankind's commonest domesticated animal, raised for meat and eggs. Here you will learn a little about eggs, why they are important in cookery and how they have been used throughout the ages.