Fast Food Chains: 3rd World Versus Developed Countries

I find it weird that fast food chains open in third world countries first and faster than Developed Countries.

This week's headline news in the Food industry featured 2 major announcements:

• Dunkin Donuts announced it will open in UK! ( Read more)

     While comparing to Middle East there is around 300+ chains of Dunkin Donuts! With              UAE, 74 stores and Riyadh city (KSA) up to 30 stores.

• Burger King just opened its first branch in Paris! ( Read More) 

      Whereas  in Middle East it has expanded to over 250 chains ! ( Source: Burger King ME Website)

Photo Courtesy: Telegraphy - Burger King Paris

What does this mean?

A Superfood Breakfast: Goji Berries with Warm Quinoa

Guest Post from Christele - Nutritionist & Blogger at Health 'n' Horizons

Hello everyone! My name is Christele, I’m a nutritionist, a mom, a lover of real food, and a blogger over at Health ‘n’ Horizons! I am so excited to be guest posting for Pearl's Powder today. Hope you all like some real satisfying food for breakfast cause I’ll be discussing superfoods, particularly goji berries.

I will also be sharing a warm breakfast recipe for those cold winter mornings (and if you live in a warm climate, don’t worry, a cold version* is as good, if not better).

What are Superfoods?
Goji berries are what some may consider a superfood.

The Camel Burger: Humps or no Humps?

Anyone up for camel meat?  You bored from chicken or beef?

I am sure Burger lovers who are always searching for the "perfect burger" would include this burger in their endeavour!

The Arabic restaurant Local House in UAE slid this camel patty into the hollow pocket of a khameer, traditional, pita-shaped leavened bread studded with sesame seeds, as a response for local demand for camel meat.

Sharing this picture from a friend who tried the " Camel Burger" in Dubai, UAE....
hmm anyone tried it? What do you think about the taste?

Courtesy of Hussein Dajani, Dubai

UNESCO 2013 Intangible Heritage List for Food & Diets

UNESCO Enlists Japanese Cooking as a Heritage, Mediterranean Diet Not Lebanese

One of UNESCO's three heritage missions, Intangible Cultural Heritage focuses on intangible aspects of culture such as festivals, performing arts and traditional arts, crafts and foods that are transmitted from generation to generation. ( Full Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity). This year, UNESCO enlisted the below diets, cuisines, and dishes:

• The United Nation's cultural organisation has added traditional Japanese food to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list for this year of 2013.  It is the second cuisines enlisted after the French cuisine back in 2012.
  Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year.
  It is hoped the accolade will help preserve Washoku - the name used to describe all types of Japanese dishes such as sushi - as traditional dietary habits die out in the country due to the invasion of fast food and the loss of traditional cooking.Previously, only French cooking had been distinguished as a national culinary tradition.
  Washoku gives Japanese a feeling of social cohesion, it’s of low-calorie and healthy.

One the dishes I had was Saengseonkkaseu (생선까스 fish katsu) is a Korean fish cutlet modeled on the Japanese dish. 

Another is Teriyaki (照り焼き): can be beef, chicken or fish!

The Top of the Crate

In our countries, we have created terms that discriminate, not just people, but also food!
Like " Choose from the top of the . fruit/vegetable Crate"... Assuming that the bottom or inside should always be thrown cause it would be bad !
It is a food culture that throws away food even when there is a slight bruise.
Food waste is indeed a problem created by our mindsets and cultural norms.

علامات التميييز العنصري للأكل في بلادنا وجود تعبير " وجه الصحّارة" ...طيب داخل الصحارة...يعني ما بتسوى ؟

Food for thought...

Invictus: a Poem that Inspired a Leader

I really haven't been sharing Poems recently as I was blogging more about food. ( Shared Poems)
But, I am sharing today a very special poem that has affected my life and I discovered it when I was reading about Nelson Mandela's biography back in 2010, amid personal struggles.

The Poem 'Invictus' (meaning Unconquered, Undefeated) by William Henley, and the Leader Nelson Mandela (R.I.P Madiba) was inspired by the poem, and had it written on a scrap of paper on his prison cell while he was incarcerated for 27 years on Robben Island.

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,                              

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Christmas Tree: The foodie way

Photo sent by Mrs. Christiane Chahine, a Lebanese Expatriate living in Riyadh

As the christmas season started, a staff from a very famous super market (french brand) decided to celebrate christmas publicly in Riyadh!
Or at least do his own Christams tree from onions and garlics...

Many other trees were seen in many supermarkets also made from vegetables. I guess this staff sparked an inspiration for a christmas spirit!

Cooked with Delicious and Good Intentions

We, the millennials, the tech savvys and social media addicts, are a nation of aspiring cooks! At least that's what most of us write on our Twitter bios, share on Pinterest boards, and post as Instagram photos, yet-honestly-we barely have time for cooking daily... Nevertheless, most of us rely on social media to choose food, whether through restaurants' reviews, recipe's blogs, or friends' comments about products. But our social media profiles can go beyond just sharing individual food photos, recipes and reviews. Social media has been rising as a crucial aspect in the communication between consumers and the food brands on one hand, and between consumers and health care practitioners on the other... 
How do food companies and food experts deal with social media?Well, that is what I explored and wrote about in Cloud961 issue number 5.

Download full issue here

Zero Calorie Meals and Zero Guilt

Steam: The Zero Calorie London Restaurant

A pop-up restaurant in London's Covent Garden is promising diners a 'calorie-neutral' meal in which guests will tuck into steam-cooked scallops, chorizo and beef fillet, but leave the restaurant having burned off every calorie. How is this even possible?

Between courses, guests will take part in stretching classes to aid digestion, sit on vibrating seat pads to increase calorie burn, and engage in full-on dining workouts to burn off the calorie count of dishes
Yes, dine and work out at the same time!

Here is someone who experienced dining there from Marie Claire!

This is how it goes:

Taken from Luxo.com

Read More about its unique way.