ASK! about Health & Fitness

Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C. They also contain vitamin A and B, potassium, iron and phosphorus, as well as antioxidants. A medium-sized tomato also contains the same amount of fibre as a slice of wholemeal bread, with less the calories!

To enjoy their antioxidant value, cooked tomatoes are actually better, as cooking breaks down the tough cellular walls, releasing the lycopene (antioxidant in tomato) for the body’s use.

Reference:
- Herbst, Sharon Tyler, The new food lover`s companion: more than 6,700 A-to-Z entries describe foods, cooking techniques, herbs, spices, desserts, wines, and the ingredients for pleasurable dining, Hauppage, N.Y.: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., c2007.
- Graimes, Nicola, Brain foods for kids : over 100 recipes to boost your child`s intelligence, New York : Delta Trade Paperbacks, 2005.
- “Serve those greens right”, Straits Times: Mind You Body supplement, 6 Aug 08, Factiva.com, 08 Aug 08, www.factiva.com
- Encyclopedia of foods : a guide to healthy nutrition / prepared by medical and nutrition experts from Mayo Clinic, University of California Los Angeles, and Dole Food Company, San Diego, Calif. ; $aLondon : Academic, c2002.
- McGee, Harold, On food and cooking : the science and lore of the kitchen, New York : Scribner, 2004.

Posted by Ang Mei Jun,

Librarian, Adult & Young People’s Services

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Kids ASK! about Cookery

Editor Writes: I absolutely love cheese but I must confess I never wondered about the difference between the colour of milk and cheese. I have also seen some fairly white cheese for the records but of course there is a logical answer to every question that falls within the human scope of knowledge and here it is.

Cheese is often pale yellow or white. This is because milk contains a yellow pigment, which is gotten from the grass cows and goats eat. When cheese is made, the liquid part of milk is removed, leaving the solids behind. The yellow colour stays with the solids, resulting in a more yellow colour in cheese, compared to milk.

There are some cheeses though, that have added colouring into them. This website [http://pearlvalleycheese.com] has a list of cheeses and their ingredients. Bring your cursor over “Cheese FAQ” and click on “Cheese ingredients”.

Source:
Why is cheese yellow?. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from Food-Info.net Web site: http://www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fp108.htm

Check out this website http://www.cheesemaking.com, click on Recipes, on the left side, and you’ll find step-by-step pictures of how cheese is made.

If you want to read more about cheese, here are books that you can check out at our library.

For Children:

Image Retrieved from http://www.powells.com

See how it’s made: clothes, toys, shoes, food, drinks, skateboards byPenny Smith
Publisher: London : Dorling Kindersley, 2007
Call Number: J English 670 SMI

Image Retrieved from http://www.amazon.ca

From milk to cheese by Roberta Basel
Publisher: Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, 2006
Call Number: JP 664 BAS

For Adults:

Image Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/

Guide to the cheeses of the world: choosing, recognizing, tasting 1200 cheese from around the world by Roland Barthélemy
Publisher: London : Hachette Illustrated, 2005
Call Number: English 641.373 BAR

All websites are last accessed on 20 May 2008. Please refer to the terms and conditions on the homepages for use.
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Originally Answered by Verena Lee,
Librarian, Children’s Services

Posted by Felicia Chan,
Librarian, Children’s Services

ASK! about Cookery

The Chinese Lunar New Year is just next week and it’s an excellent time for family reunions and gathering of friends and loved ones.  And what’s a festive season without delicious food? Bak kwa, melon seeds, pineapple tarts, New Year cookies…just typing these food names have made my stomach grumble!

But, how many of us out there really know the significance of the most well-known dish eaten during Chinese New Year, “Yu Sheng”? And that’s the question which blogger, Johanna or thruhereyes, posed on her blog post, http://thruhereyes.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/chinese-new-year-february-6th-2008/.

Well, Johanna, here’s what Singapore Infopedia had to say about the various ingredients of “Yu Sheng” and the special sayings said during “Lo Hei”.

“Step 1: All at the table offers New Year greetings. Words: Gong xi fa cai meaning “Congratulations for your wealth” or Wan shi ru yi meaning “May all your wishes be fulfilled”.

Step 2: Fish, symbolising abundance or excess through the year, is added. Words: Nian nian you yu and You yu you sheng.

Step 3: The pomelo is added over the fish, adding both luck and auspicious value. Words: Da ji da li.

Pepper is then dashed over the ingredients in the hope of attracting more money and valuables. Words: Zhao cai jin bao.

Then oil is poured out, circling the ingredients to increase all profits 10,000 times and encouraging money to flow in from all directions. Words: Yi ben wan li and Cai yuan guang jin.

Step 4: Carrots are added to the fish indicating blessings of good luck. Words: Hong yun dang tou.

Then the shredded green radish is placed on the fish symbolising eternal youth. Words: Qing chun chang zhu.

After which the shredded white radish is added - prosperity in business and promotion at work. Words: Feng sheng shui qi and Bu bu gao sheng.

Step 5: The condiments are finally added. First, peanut crumbs are dusted on the dish symbolising a household filled with gold and silver. As an icon of longevity, peanuts also symbolise eternal youth. Words: Jin yin man wu.

Sesame seeds quickly follow symbolising a flourishing business. Words: Sheng yi xing long.

Deep-fried flour crisps in the shape of golden pillows is then added with wishes that literally the whole floor would be filled with gold. Words: Pian di huang jin.

Step 6: All toss the salad an auspicious 7 times with loud shouts of lo hei and other auspicious New Year wishes. Words: Lo hei which is Cantonese for “tossing luck”.

The ingredients mixed by pushing them toward the centre, an encouragement to push on the good luck of all at the table. ”

Source: Tan, B (2002). Yu Sheng. Retrieved January 31, 2008, from Singapore Infopedia Web site: http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_177_2004-12-30.html 

Ahhh, I sure am enlightened now about the meanings behind each ingredient in “Yu Sheng”. I hope that you are too, Johanna.

Here are some book recommendations on Chinese New Year recipes guaranteed to get your mouth watering.

The festive food of China by Deh-Ta Hsiung; photography by Will Heap
Publisher : London : Kyle Cathie, 2006Call No. : 641.5680951 HSI -[COO] 

Chinese feasts & festivals: a cookbook / recipes & illustrations by S.C. Moey
Publisher : Periplus Editions, 2005
Summary: The rich culinary tradition of China is largely inspired by a calendar year filled with joyous occasions for eating, drinking and making merry. Food, fittingly enough, plays a leading role in everything from festivals to reunions and weddings to anniversaries. The combination of flavors and symbols, such as wealth, happiness, luck, and prosperity, involved in many of these dishes are a spiritual celebration and an earthly pleasure.     
Call No. : J 641.5 MOE

Foods of China by Barbara Sheen
Publisher: Detroit, Mich. : KidHaven Press, 2006
Summary: Take a delicious trip to a fascinating and ancient country where food is woven into every aspect of life. This book takes the reader on an entertaining, enlightening, and edible tour of China. Through a look at Chinese foods, the reader learns about Chinese culture, history, geography, and folklore, all in a hands-on, fun-filled way.
Call No.: J 394.1 SHE

 
Cooking the Chinese way by Ling Yu 
Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn. : Lerner Publications Co., c2002
Summary: Introduces fundamental of Chinese cooking, including special ingredients and cooking utensils. Also provides recipes for suggested dishes.           
Call No.: Y 641.5951 YU

So whatcha waiting for? Go down to your nearest library and borrow these books to start your very own Chinese feast!

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

All websites were last accessed on 31 January 2008. Please check the websites’ homepages for the terms and conditions of use.
All book summaries were taken from book descriptions listed at www.amazon.com and www.bn.com.
All images were extracted from www.amazon.com and www.bn.com.

For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Posted by Ms Elizabeth Lee
Librarian
Children’s Services

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If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment.

ASK! about Science & Technology

Spam ® is the trademark of a type of canned pork and ham, created and produced by Geo. A. Hormel company of Austin, Minnesota, USA.

The same word, ’spam’ also refers to ‘unsolicited commercial email’, that is the junk mail we received sent to us without our consent. Such mail were named after the famous ham as it was parallel to how offensive “SPAM®” thrown at the walls of a restaurant would be for diners looking at it.

In the begining, ’spam’ was conceived from a competition held by its creators to find a catchy name for the canned pork. The convenience and shelf life of Spam made it an important food during the Second World War, when fresh meats were scarce. Spam fed many civilians and militray men.

References:

Spam
Call No.: 641.664 PAT - [COO]
A cookery book containing a brief history of Spam and its role in WWII.

Credo Reference
A NLB e-Database containing links to information from various sources, such as dictionaries and encyclopaedias. useful for getting concise information.
“spam.” Hargrave’s Communications Dictionary, Wiley. 2001. CredoReference. 12 January 2008
You can access the databases by going to www.nlb.gov.sg>eResources>eDatabases. To find out more about the NLB databases, visit our ASK guide .

Posted by Ms Ang Mei Jun

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ASK! about Health & Fitness

Do you take note of what you eat? If you are concerned about eating healthy foods, here are some websites offering nutrition advice and basic nutrition information to keep you updated:

Food & Nutrition
As many of us are aware, with changing social habits, like increasingly sendatry livestyles, and preferance for taking outside food, health problems like obesity and heart disease are on the rise. If you are concerned about whether what you eat is healthy, her are some nutrition websites you may like to refer ot for more information:

Health Promotion Board
Singapore’s HPB website contains updates and information about nutrition, mental health, exercise and smoking.

Ministry of Health
You can find latest general health updates here. Health statistics of Singapore are compiled by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and can be accessed here.

Nutrition.gov
This website offers links to US government websites that contain health and nutrition related information.

MedlinePlus
The MedlinePlus website brings together information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM, US), the National Institutes of Health (NIH, US) and other government agencies and health bodies. Apart of nutrition information, the directory of drug and supplement information is user-friendly and helpful. The Medical Encyclopaedia also simplifies cchecking up on medical facts and jargon. The website also contains charts and images for you to better understand the biology of the issues described.

British Nutrition Foundation
The BNF is “charitable organisation which raises funds from the food industry, government and a variety of other sources”. It works with the academic insititues, food industry and the government, and strives to provide scienticially sound nutrition information and advice.

National Health Services
The National Health Service (NHS) is the health agency of UK. While the website offers information and recommendations of typical health problems. While there is no nutrition category, the website is categorised by demograph and common health issues. Nutrition information can be derived from there.

World Health Organisation
The WHO website contains the information on the international statistics, research and government health initiatives, statements and guidelines released by WHO agencies.

To read about food and nutrition, look for books with call numbers 613.2 and 641.1, in the health and Young People (YP) sections of the libraries. Some books you may find are:

Basic nutrition by Lori A. Smolin, Mary B. Grosvenor
Call No.: Y q613.2 SMO

Encyclopedia of foods : a guide to healthy nutrition prepared by medical and nutrition experts from Mayo Clinic
Call No.: q613.2 ENC -[HEA]

American Dietetic Association complete food and nutrition guide by Roberta Larson Duyff
Call No.: 613.2 DUY -[HEA]

Fats, sugars, and empty calories : the fast food habit / by Autumn Libal
Call No.: Y 616.398 LIB

Posted by Ms Ang Mei Jun

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If you have a different question, please email to mailto:ask@nlb.gov.sginstead of sending a comment.

ASK! about Anything & Everything

Where can you find food reviews? Many many places, such as internet, newspapers, and even books, not to forget TV programmes.

Local Food Blogs:
Sparklette.net
The ‘princess’ of the blog is Veron, or Wanting (Chinese Pinyin). She is a working executive and web designer, but her busy schedule does not keep her away from sharing her food experiences with others. Her posts are personal and the vivid photos are themselves enough to leave your mouth watering. She even rates the food (with cute food icons to indicate the points) and list the address so that you can try it yourself. Her blog is also updated regularly so you can be sure of ‘fresh ingredients’ every week!

Veron dosen’t just eat, she reads too. She was spotted by HighBrowse for her thoughts on Mitch Albom’s ‘ For one more day’.

She bakes and she cooks
Dose’nt Doesn’t (ed: sorry for the typo) the name of the blog remind you vaguely of Ricky Martin’s music? Somehow it did for me. Another blog by a pretty young lady, Cheryl’s has put her love for writing into food. She’s certainly not your average air-headed girl, for she appreciates the many different food cultures and stories that she got to hear, and writes them out in detail for you. Cheryl is a baker herself, (Read ‘The day I baked 800 cookies’), and her blog contains useful links to her very own baking recipes.

If you like baking or enjoy baked foods, read her blog.

ieat-ishoot-ipost
Yes, the author here, Leslie Tay, eats his food, shoots them on his lens, and posts the pictures on his blog. He is (believe it!) actually a family doctor in Singapore. He puts his recommendations online so that you wouldn’t need to ‘waste your calories on yucky food’. Tay also has a rating out of 5 for the food he’s tried.

Local TV Food Programmes
Check out what food programmes MediaCorp offers on its websites:
- Suria (Malay)
- Channel 8 (Chinese)
- Channel U (Chinese)
- Channel 5 (English)

Food Guidebooks
There are travel guides, and there are food guides as well! What’s so good about reading? The guides are often handy to carry and concise. Rather than surf the website blindly, these little ‘encyclopedias’ could possibly be a faster source of information. If you are worried that they are not updated, most of them print regular publications. Also, some contain a brief history of the food they introduce. Here’s some local food guides you may be interested at the library:

Life!eats : a guide to Singapore’s best food places (Call No.: SING 647.955957 LIF)
A compilation of food and rrestaurant recommendations by the writers of the Life section of Straits Times Singapore.

Makansutra : eating lessons : the five star guide to no frills hawker food in Singapore (Call No.: SING English 647.955957 MEL)
A guide to the best eats in ISngapore, recommended by Makanmatrans, people who from all walks of life who wrote to Makansutra with their recommendations.

Eat out! : the guide to great food in central Singapore (Call No.: SING 647.955957 EAT)
Not just a good food guide, this book contains a brief description of the origins of the dish, and each recommendation comes is accompanied by the contact, payment and cost of the food. The layout is also user-friendly.

Wine & dine : Singapore`s top restaurants (Call No.: SING 647.955957 WD)
A guide for fine dining.

Enough of eating, the increasing rates of health problems like heart disease and obesity are making it important to check what we eat. Find out more about food and health.

Posted by Ms Ang Mei Jun

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Kids ASK! about Cookery

[ASK! Editor speaks]

Perhaps you would have noticed like I do that there have been many cookery classes for kids and their parents sprouting up almost everywhere these days. Or maybe you are a parent and find yourself getting caught up in the craze as well.

The idea of having little chefs is interesting, though I catch myself wondering if the place where sharp objects (like knives) and open fire are found is indeed safe for children. And really, what is drawing parents to sign up cooking classes for their children and themselves? I managed to find an article entitled Cooking - Get Your Kids Involved When You Cook on a blog, rtfobj by nbmsaq (last accessed on 18 Nov 07), where I found some possible explanations and benefits. I find myself agreeing with the author’s views that cooking is an avenue for kids to express their creativity and creates quality bonding time between the parents and the children. So it seems I’m itching to pick up that spatula now!

But before that, here are some books that you may like to pick up on recipes and ideas that you can whip up in the kitchen with your little loved ones.

Cool foods for fun fiestas : easy recipes for kids to cook by Lisa Wagner
Publisher : Edina, MN : ABDO Pub. Co., c2007
Call No. : J English 641.5 WAG

Cool cuisine for super sleepovers : easy recipes for kids to cook by Lisa Wagner
Publisher : Edina, MN : ABDO Pub. Co., c2007
Call No. : J English 641.5 WAG

Mary Poppins in the kitchen : a cookery book with a story by P.L. Travers (Drawings by Mary Shepard)
Publisher : Orlando, Fla. : Harcourt, c2006.
Call No. : J English 641.5 TRA

Children’s healthy & fun cookbook by Nicola Graimes (photography by Howard Shooter)
Publisher : London : Dorling Kindersley, 2007
Call No. : J English 641.5 GRA

Star cooks : cook book for kids
Publisher : London : Dorling Kindersley, 2006
Call No. : J English 641.5 STA

All websites are last accessed on 22 Nov 2007. Please check the websites’ homepages for the terms and conditions of use.
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Answered by Ms Loh Yuexia, Librarian, Children’s Services

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ASK! about Health & Fitness

Shell colour is due to the bird’s genes. The nutritional content of the eggs has nothing to do with the shell’s colour.

References:
1.McGee, H. On food and cooking: the science and lore of the kitchen, New
York, Scribner, 2004: pg 75.
2.Wolke, Robert L. What Einstein told his cook 2: the sequel: further
adventures in kitchen science, New York, W.W. Norton &Company, 2005: pg 90.

Answered by Ms Ang Mei Jun, Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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ASK! about Cookery

Here are some suggested cookbooks from the library with kimchi recipes that you can try at home:

Eating Korean: from barbecue to kimchi, recipes from my home by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee.
Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley, c2005.
Call No.: 641.59519 LEE -[COO]

The book of Kimchi by Chun Ja Lee.
Seoul, Korea : Korean Overseas Information Service, [1999]
Call No.: q641.616 LEE -[COO]

The kimchee cookbook : fiery flavors and cultural history of Korea’s national dish by Kim Man-Jo
S.l. : Periplus, c1999.
Call No.: 641.616 KIM -[COO]

Answered by Joycelyn Tay, Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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Post your comments, or send further questions about this or any other topic to ask@nlb.gov.sg