Ramadan 2010 is just around the corner, its first day starting on 11 August until 9 September. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and marks the first revelation of the Quran, Islam’s holy scripture, to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.

From the first light until sunset, we fast by abstaining from food, drink and intimate relations. We also try to avoid anger and verbal conflicts, negative thoughts and sinful actions. Ramadan is a month of worship full of prosperity, spirituality and forgiveness.

We are honoured to invite you all to discuss here all traditional delicacies that are usually prepared during the auspicious month of Ramadan at Iftar, often called “buka puasa”, which means “to open the fast”.

The principle of breaking fast is very advisable that we eat food that is easily digested, so it does not upset our stomach that has been resting for so long. High calorific value and fluid food will help recover our stamina and substitute for a lot of wasted fluid from our body during the day.

Eating dates (“kurma”) and drinking a sip of water can be the first two things we can do when breaking fast. Besides the health benefit, both are able to immediately recover the weak condition of our body. Another old-time favourite food and drink that we all love is braised banana with palm sugar and coconut gravy (“kolak pisang”)

”Kolak pisang” is a local dessert that we should all be familiar with throughout Indonesia’s vast archipelago. Some hotels, cafes and restaurants put this sweet dessert on their everyday menu list. To make it ourselves, it only requires a few easy and simple steps. Will this be one of your favourites during this Ramadan season? What is your favourite Ramadan 2010 food?

8 picks, 8 correct, 8 tentacles. Paul the Oracle Octopus is clearly the biggest winner of the World Cup 2010 after recording a perfect prognostication record. Since then, Paul has been an international celebrity of the highest order now, everyone wants a piece of him – both literally and figuratively.

The world hails Paul, most importantly because of him, Spain has won the World Soccer Cup in South Africa! This is more than just a huge world-wide event. In Spain, the streets are empty while the games are played, while the bars with big screen TVs are full.

If you are a soccer fan, you probably are not sitting in the middle of a street, but you are most likely watching with friends. What could be more appropriate than serving Spanish tapas while watching such big events being played? Do you love watching soccer and eating something nice and easy at the same time?

Tapas in Spanish cuisine is the name of a wide variety of appetisers, or snacks. They may be cold, such as mixed olives and cheese or warm, such as chopitos, which are battered, fried baby squid.

Calamares fritos or fried squid is a very popular appetiser or tapa in Spain. Many people know it by its Italian name Calamari. These lightly breaded and fried rings will disappear as soon as you put them on the table.

They are not hard nor expensive to make at all, can be found in any supermarket, and are super easy to cook – especially if you buy them already cleaned and ready to slice! Our next blog we will look into making this tapa using our recommended approach. So, stay tune everyone

To save your gas bills by reducing the consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), we highly recommend the use of our innovative product called Cooking Mama Pot in cooking this recipe.

INGREDIENTS FOR CONTENTS:

• 250 grams mung beans / green beans, soaked in water for 2 hours
• 500 ml water
• 100 grams palm sugar
• 200 ml thick coconut milk
• White sugar
• 2 pandan leaves
• Kraft cheese, grated

HOW TO MAKE:

1. Pour water into Cooking Mama Pot – the Cooking Pot.
2. Add the mung beans.
3. Place Cooking Mama Pot – the Cooking Pot on the stove and cook over high heat for 10 minutes to boil. Add palm sugar, pandan and coconut milk. Stir evenly and add sugar if not sweet enough.
4. Turn off the stove and transfer Cooking Mama Pot – the Cooking Pot into Cooking Mama Pot – the Heating Pot, leave it lid-covered for 60 minutes.
5. Serve in bowls. Sprinkle some grated cheese at the top, ready for consumption.

A well designed kitchen can add significant value to your restaurant however there are always pitfalls and we highly recommend you that designing a restaurant kitchen is best left to the professionals like us.

If you are going to build or renovate a restaurant kitchen, your general kitchen contractor will need a set of construction documents, often referred to as “working drawings”. These documents are drawn on a CAD system and encompass space plans, layouts, elevations, schedules and details. Some drafted drawings can be provided upfront by restaurant owners, however if there is not one yet, we can always assist based on a mutual agreement.

Getting the layout right and accurate is imperative to restaurant kitchen design. No matter what your budget, area size and style, every kitchen layout should be designed around what experts call the ‘Golden Triangle’. This involves grouping together the equipments and work areas that are most important to you:

1. Food preparation (e.g. fridge / freezer, microwave, other refrigeration)
2. Cooking and serving (e.g. oven, cooktop / hob / kwali range, exhaust hood)
3. Washing up (e.g. sink bowl, grease trap, dishwasher)

The three work areas mentioned above must be close to each other, positioned at three sides of the triangle, creating a friendly working environment. To be ideal, these activity zones should not be more than three metres apart, so you can move easily between them. Each activity zone needs to include working table(s) / worktop(s) and appliances required for that activity, the zone will also require storage space for the related equipments, utensils, etc.

One of the most common design layouts used by restaurants is ‘Gallery’. Gallery style is featured in many commercial kitchens, as it provides two opposing working and storage areas, ideal for providing open plan area whereby there can be multiple chefs working close simultaneously.

A well-executed commercial kitchen design requires step-by-step planning and patience including equipments & facilities. Successful projects do not just happen by accident, they depend on an orderly planning process.

Our commitment to your success is most important to us. We work closely with you to create and implement the most optimal design for your restaurant kitchen. Client satisfaction is our top priority – Contact Our Ellane Kitchen Engineers today who are dedicated to satisfying you as our valuable client. That’s why our clients come back to us again and again for new restaurant ventures and re-modelling projects.

When it comes to floor cleaning – whether hard, concrete floor or timber, wooden floor, there are basically two ways – wet or dry.

Using a dry regular broom or mop simply launches dust particles into the air. Cleaning with a vacuum cleaner is feasible but the head of the cleaner can scratch the floor and it cannot remove scuff marks or spills.

Cleaning the floor using water will certainly suppress the dust particles, but care has to be taken to ensure that any excess water is removed, otherwise it may stumble you easily or even the water may soak in and destroy the floor over time. Cleaning wet floor can be done using a mop or damp cloth on all fours. If a mop is used it will almost certainly leave too much water on the surface and cleaning on all fours is best avoided at all costs!

Now introducing another, new way. Our iEasy Mop is a cleaning revolution that uses just enough water to control dust but nowhere near enough to leave puddles. In fact you can easily control the amount of wetness in the mop head, spinning out as much water as you wish. The mop with only little remaining water will barely dampen a piece of kitchen paper, let-alone your floor.

So iEasy Mop is damp enough to clean any hard floor dry-to-walk-on, and dry enough to leave no excess water to trip you over. In addition the micro-fibre mop head is antibacterial by removing 99.9% of germs, and it simply uses plain tap water with no detergent or harsh chemical necessary. In use, iEasy Mop is very light and manoeuvrable and can be used by all of us.

Let’s together use iEasy Mop to clean our floors – it is the easiest, simplest and most importantly most hygienic cleaning solution – and don’t forget say goodbye to traditional cleaning on all fours and those unwanted bacteria and germs.

Designing your kitchen to suit your home and lifestyle that reflects your personality is challenging as you want it to be as perfect as possible. A kitchen is an area used for food preparation and cooking. Your kitchen is not just a place for cooking and washing up, it’s a social centre, a shared room for your family and friends to experiment different kinds of food and often, is the heart of your home.

These days, modern kitchen functions not only as a communal place for cooking or preparing food but it may also be used for dining and entertaining. A successful kitchen renovation will reinforce this and complement your individual needs and lifestyle.

When you are renovating a kitchen, there are various factors that come into play, including cost, area size, usage, style, finishes, positioning, and the list goes on and on. Because the cost of the renovation will depend on your choice of materials and finishes, it is sometimes best to have a rough idea first of how much money you wish to invest and which materials you are looking to include.

While it may be tempting to save money by using your existing kitchen appliances, you would not buy a new car with a second-hand engine. Your kitchen appliances are the engine of your kitchen, therefore you need to carefully think through when deciding whether or not you need new appliances, kitchen set, utensils, etc. in your newly renovated kitchen.

If you are thinking about designing or renovating your kitchen, whether from scratch custom built or adding some finishing touches, manufactured and ready for you to install, then you have come to the right place. You can trust us in exploring the diverse range of cost saving, innovative ideas, functional products and stylish accessories, so you can get started building your own kitchen.

We can do the hard work for you by creating your perfect kitchen with the assistance of our impressive helpful planning guide, full of advice to help you plan, design, order and install from none to a complete and contemporary kitchen.

Talk to one of our Ellane Kitchen Sales Engineers today and we would be happy to assist you with your kitchen building and renovation. Happy renovating!

Bali remains at the forefront of the tourism industry in Indonesia, recently receiving the award for the best Spa destination in the world to add to its previous list of world tourism and hospitality awards. To cater to the growing number of tourists a whole host of new hotels have recently opened with more expected to be completed later this year and in 2010.

Food, Hotel & Tourism Bali will once again be held alongside the famous Salon Culinaire organised by the Bali Culinary Professionals. Bali’s best young chefs will once again test their culinary expertise in a exciting mix of competitions.

Over 5,000 square meters of exhibition space will be filled by thousands of enthusiastic visitors and exhibitors representing Food and Beverage (F&B) equipment suppliers and products during the three-day Food, Hotel & Tourism Bali 2010 exhibition from 11 to 13 March 2010.

Headquartered at the Bali International Convention Center (BICC) at Nusa Dua, Bali, FHT Bali 2010 promotes all things connected to hotel and restaurant operations. This includes state-of-the-art kitchen equipments, room accessories, guest supplies, imported and local food products, software and hardware computer systems and the raw materials used in the preparation of F&B products.

Every day during the show a series of chef’s competitions will be conducted by Bali’s Salon Culinaire. On display will be wedding cakes, bread shows, fruit and vegetable carving, ice carving, creative table set up, fine dining menu competitions and an entire range of cooking competitions.

How to find us

• Exhibition: FHT Bali 2010
• When: 11 – 13 March 2010, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
• Where: Nusa Dua, Bali
• Building: Bali International Convention Center (BICC)
• Booth Location: Hall B Stand No. 49 (B49)

To visit our booth, you can simply download, fill in and print your own E-Registration ticket. We are looking forward to seeing you all there

This competition is supported by Bali Culinary Professionals and Department of Culture & Tourism, Republic of Indonesia.

Organic food has become a hot topic among all of us these days especially for us who lives in a developing country like Indonesia. We heard more and more people talking about eating organic food and the health benefits that we can get out of it. The food we consume everyday is important to our daily life and as we are getting older, our body needs the right kinds of food to ensure our well being are properly maintained physically and mentally.

Many people purchase organic food because they believe it has more benefits and is healthier than conventionally grown food. The advantages of organic food have been a hot topic for more than a decade now but it wasn’t until relatively recently that these benefits were supported by more than just hearsay.

Nutritional Benefits

According to research studies by scientists, it has been proven that organic foods, including fruit, vegetables and milk, may be more nutritious than non-organic produce. Organic foods have higher levels of many disease-fighting antioxidants and essential vitamins that are highly beneficial for our bodies, including Vitamin C. “On average, our research found higher vitamin C, higher mineral levels and higher phytonutrients – plant compounds which can be effective against cancer.”

Nicer & Better Taste

Yes, organic foods do taste better than conventionally produced foods. Many studies have found levels of specific vitamins, flavonoids or antioxidants in organic foods to be higher than the levels found in conventional foods. Many of the antioxidants are poly-phenols, flavonoids and other volatile compounds, which are responsible for a high proportion of the flavours in the foods we eat. The greater the amount of these protective compounds, the greater the flavours, hence tastier and more appetising.

Healthier Environment

Last but not least, organic food and farming reach far beyond our own health and well-being. Organic food is safer for our entire planet – our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and generation after generation, will be able to live longer in a much healthier environment. Scientific studies are beginning to show that that eating organic food results in lower levels of pervasive chemicals in humans, hence preserving humankind civilisation even longer.

With antioxidants that prevent heart disease, cancers, anti-inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, should we start eating organic foods from now on?