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My Basket is where you find helpful information, tips and advices I gathered and learned throughout my undertakings and adventures in learning French cuisine, that are worth sharing.  Mostly about produce, meats, dairies, spices in the ingredients of my recipes.

Chicken is the meat derived from chickens. Poulet in French and manok in Tagalog. Chicken is the most common type of poultry on earth, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture throughout the world. It is a source of food, consuming both meat and eggs. Typically, the muscle tissue (breast, legs, thigh, etc), liver, heart, and gizzard are processed for food. Chicken feet are commonly eaten, especially in French and Chinese cuisine.

Chicken is referred to as “white meat” along with other light-colored meats, often the contrast of “red meats”. Nowadays, for health consideration, “white meat” is synonymous with “lean meat”, considering the fat content in meats. Even fish and seafood, including fatty and dark-fleshed fishes such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna, are also called “white meat”. In gastronomy, “red meat” is darker-colored meat which is red when raw and not white when cooked. “Red meat” include the meat of most adult mammals, except the meats of young mammals such as veal and lamb are considered “white meat”.

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Tomato – (Tuh-MAY-toh or Tuh-MAH-to) Pronunciation doesn’t matter when it comes to this fabulous nutritious fruit known as a vegetable. Lycopersicum esculentum in principle, tomate in French and kamatis in Tagalog. Tomatoes come in a variety of sizes, colors, and textures. Tiny currant tomatoes—red or yellow—are best eaten right off the vine or used as garnish. Cherry tomatoes—white, pink, pale yellow, bright orange, deep red, or green—are ideal raw in salads and salsas or grilled on skewers. Larger cherry tomatoes with a low percentage of water make delicious dried tomatoes. Plum tomatoes work well for sauces, soups, stews, jams, and chutneys, and, because of their dense flesh, for drying. Heirloom varieties, currently in its renaissance, are ideal for slicing as well as for salsas, sauces, soups and best for stuffing, although they often need draining or longer cooking because of their high water content.

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