Chinese Food used to be exotic in itself but with takeaways everywhere this isn’t the case nowadays. If you want really exotic food though, China is the place to come, and there’s nowhere better to start your tasting experiences than right in the heart of the nation’s capital. Beijing’s Wangfujing Dajie is a popular shopping street for visitors. It can be found just East of Tiananmen Square and is easily reached by taxi or the efficient metro system.

During the daytime, you will find some exotic foods on display in Snack Street, a side alley off to the west side of Wangfujing Dajie. For a more interesting atmosphere, go in the evening. A whole series of stalls set up each day at the north end of the pedestrian section. It’s more fun to walk up and down these, taking photos and trying as many items as you feel brave enough to try.

So, what’s on offer?

To name just a few …

Squid: If you are a fan of Calamari then you will know that squid is in fact very tasty. It should never be cooked for too long else it does become a bit rubbery. Scorpion: Yes, the real thing, with the nasty tail clear to see. Don’t worry about the poison; cooking breaks this down. Scorpions are a warming food and good for when the weather changes to cold, or to correct an imbalance in your system. Cicada: The large and noisy bugs look frightening and completely unpalatable. Only the truly brave will eat this down, though there really is nothing to fear. I suspect that these are a recent addition to the menagerie as no-one seems able to explain the supposed benefit of eating Cicada. Starfish: You have seen them on the beach. Now you can see them on sticks. I know which I prefer. Again, purely for novelty, as far as I can tell. Seahorse: Strangely, the shape of the seahorses tail has given rise to the belief that eating seahorses assists with men’s sexual prowess. Strange – but here’s your chance to find out.

Wangfujing Snacks are exotic but not distressing. You will not see dogs or cats, nor any other ‘cute’ animals. Most of what you see has been eaten in China for generations, often in the belief that there are health benefits. You can treat the experience as a bit of fun.

If you do want to try gou rou (dog meat) then find a Korean restaurant. There are plenty to choose from. They are easily distinguished by the extractor fans sitting over each table. The meat is served ready for your BBQ and is hard to distinguish from any other red meat. It is a warming food and therefore not typically eaten in summer.

Whatever you get up to in Beijing, don’t forget to go to Wangfujing Dajie and check out the exotic food. You don’t have to eat it all but you should take lots of photos whenever you do, and impress your friends and family back home.

By: Ian Ford

About the Author:

Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress

There is a food crisis sweeping the globe. This crisis is caused by rising food prices, rising prices of synthetic fertilizer, poor food distribution and adverse weather conditions in areas of high food production. Residents in poor nations who subsist mostly upon unprocessed foods are being hit the hardest, but effects can be felt in highly developed nations such as the United States. The price of fresh produce is increasing quickly. Tomatoes, in particular have experienced price increases over the past few years.

One way to help decrease the effects of food price increases and be self-supporting in the event of a catastrophic food shortage is to start a kitchen garden, or vegetable garden. There are ways that producing your own food can be much more costly, but it is possible to raise food cost-effectively. Preparing the garden, using resistant varieties and natural fertilizer will help you grow more produce than you thought you could produce!

Preparing the Garden

The key to preparing a garden that will produce fruits and vegetables in a cost effective manner is quality preparation before planting. A garden of 15 feet by 15 feet can provide enough produce for a family of four to eat while in season, plus produce enough for canning.

Soil Preparation

For plants to grow well, they need to have good soil. If building a new garden, prepare the area by mixing a compost/topsoil blend with your existing soil. While this might seem like a large expense in the beginning, it will pay off in the long run because you will not spend as much money on soil amendments in the future.

Garden Fencing

If you live in an area with deer and rodent problems, put up a minimum ten foot tall fence that is angled slightly outward. If possible, bury the fence at least 18 inches into the ground. A fence is the cheapest, and easiest method of large pest control.

Water Source

Drip irrigation is the most cost-effective, time-conservative type of plant watering. Drip irrigation puts the water where the plant needs it. It is less wasteful than regular sprinklers because it waters only near the plant. It also helps some weed prevention because bare soil with lots of weed seeds is not watered-thus preventing some sprouting issues. If drip irrigation is cost-prohibitive, install hose hookup points around the garden so that you can easily hand-water the plants.

Selecting the Plants

After the garden plot is prepared, select plants that are well adapted to your growing climate. If your goal is affordable produce, this is essential.

Disease Resistance

Heirloom vegetables are yummy. Disease resistant vegetables are cost-effective because you will spend less money on pest control mechanisms. Whenever possible, buy varieties that are resistant to common insects, viruses, bacterial and fungal problems in your area.

Companion Plants

Select plants that help each other. Planting tomatoes next to cabbage works well because the same insects are not attracted to each. A colorful border of marigolds helps keep many pests away and adds color to the garden. Planting peas next to plants requiring a lot of nitrogen, such as corn, provides natural fertilizer. Onions and leeks are good companions for potatoes because the onions are not tasty to potato bugs.

Following these helpful steps will allow you to produce literally tons of food to feed your family and preserve for the winter, or for use if food prices rise beyond your reach.

By: Christopher A. Williams

About the Author:

food gardening

From the time the first coca beans were harvested by the Mayans, there has been the belief that chocolate has a euphoric impact on the body’s senses. The conquistadores saw the Emperor Montezuma of the Aztecs consuming a large quantity of cocoa in the form of a beverage called chocolatl before entering his harem. The invading Spaniards spread the Emperor’s belief that cocoa was an aphrodisiac and brought it to Europe. This belief was also shared by one of history’s most famous lovers, Giacomo Casanova.

Since then, the use of chocolate as part of the mating ritual has been firmly established. . More recently it has been shown that not only does chocolate increase the sexual appetite but also produces a sense of elation similar to an orgasm.

It has only been in recent times that scientists have unravelled chocolate’s psychotropic properties and the effects it has on us. Chocolate has been found to contain modest amounts of the stimulants caffeine and theo-bromine, (much less than in coffee or tea) Chocolate is also known to generate increased levels of serotonin, a chemical naturally produced by the brain, which is known to reduce anxiety. Serotonin is most commonly associated with the effects of marijuana or getting ’stoned’ (you would have to eat 25lbs of dark chocolate at once to achieve the same effect).

Neither of these properties by themselves provides the connection between eating chocolates and heightened sexual pleasure. It is in fact the rush of endorphins produced by eating chocolates, particularly dark chocolates, which is most similar to the bliss associated with a healthy sexual relationship. Chocolate also contains phenyl-ethylamine which is known to stimulate the release of dopamine into the pleasure centers commonly associated with an orgasm.

In addition to this scientific evidence, a great deal of behavioral research has been done to study the sexual behavior of women who eat a lot of chocolate and those who don’t. The conclusion of this is that women who consume large quantities of chocolate have more satisfying sex lives. However the reverse correlation could also be assumed where women with satisfying sex lives tend to eat more chocolate.

Despite the fact that the relationship between sex and chocolate can’t be proven with 100% certainty, the scientific evidence combined with behavioral studies provides a compelling argument for cocoa’s impact on our sexual drive – it is convincing enough for chocolate to have become a part of my daily diet!

I recommend that you buy chocolate with a high cocoa content which taste better and do not contain extra sugars and oils like candy bars found in most shops. My personal favorite, Neuhaus chocolates, is an example of where you can get dark chocolate with a high cocoa content and a resulting surfeit of pleasure. To paraphrase the Song of Solomon, ‘Stay me with flagons and comfort me with chocolates, for I am sick with love’.

By: Shalin Popat

About the Author:

Website content