My Science School

The Agra petha, made of ash gourd (white pumpkin), is probably the Indian sweet with the fewest ingredients. Even-popular, the petha is believed to have originated when Shah Jahan ordered his cook to make a sweet as white as the Taj Mahal. The chef, experimenting at short notice, probably found it easiest to dunk white ash gourd in sugar syrup. The result was the soft but firm and sweet jujube-like petha. While the original recipe contained just sugar, water and pumpkin, modern recipes include additives for colour and flavour. Cherry, orange-pineapple, khus khus, paan and even chocolate are some of the flavours in which pethas are available today.

We have a rich, varied and, if prepared the traditional way, even healthy repertoire of sweets.

 

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Relatively more recent in origin is the Mysore pak. In the 1930s, chef Kakasura Madappa concocted a mixture of sugar, gram flour and ghee, seasoned with cardamom powder. He intended to serve it as a liquid desert to the King of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar. But by the time the king finished his meal, the syrupy dish had cooled down and solidified. The king loved the dish and the world was gifted Mysore pak.

It is testimony to the ingenuity and talent of the Wodeyar chef Kakasura Madappa, that the Mysore pak is still so popular! It is available almost anywhere you go, but you have to make a trip to the Guru Sweet Mart shop in Mysore, which is run by Mdappa’s descendants, to get the original recipe of Mysore pak and take a bite into its amazing history!

 

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Another sweet we’ve been eating since the Vedic times is the laddoo (or laddu/ luddoo). Interestingly, laddoos started out as medicine. In 4 B.C., Sushruta, a revered Indian physician and surgeon, combined sesame seeds, jiggery and peanuts as an antiseptic for patients who had undergone surgery. Ayurvedic texts contain dozens of recipes for medicinal laddoos, including methi and sonth (ginger) laddoos. And then we have coconut laddoos, chickpea flour laddoos, boondi laddoos, millet laddoos, puffed rice laddoos and wheat laddoos, among numerous others. The sweetener was primarily jiggery until sugar became affordable.

The Balaji Temple in Tirupati started offering Laddus as an offering to the God as early as August 2nd, 1715! That makes this famous offering over 300 years old!

Another landmark event in the history of laddu is the fact that the famous Tirupati laddu has acquired the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The purpose of issuing the GI tag is to preserve collective community rights.

This was a controversial move as some people felt that the Tirupati laddu was a money spinner for the temple and was not made by the local community. However, the courts decided to grant the GI tag in early 2014 and the naysayers lost.

The argument that a GI tag on the Tirupati laddu is an example of commercialisation of divine affairs and would inspire other temples to follow the Tirupati example, and thus lead to “irrevocable damage to the values of society”, was rejected!

 

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However, malpua is believed to be the oldest-known indigenous Indian sweet. In fact, it is one of the first offerings to the residing deity at the Jagannath Temple in Odisha. Referenced in the Rigveda as ‘apupa’, in ancient times, malpuas were flat cakes made of barley flour, deep fried in ghee and dipped in honey before eating. As time passed, rice and wheat replaced barley. The Mughals added eggs to the recipe. Modern recipes include mashed ripe bananas and pineapples in the batter and may use cream and dry fruits as toppings. The basic method of preparation, however, has remained largely unchanged.

Today, the malpua is popular and is a must have during festivals like Holi, Diwali and the Ramadan.

 

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The gulab jamun – at least as popular as the rasgulla, if not more – is the default sweetmeat for almost every occasion. Among the several theories about its origin, one attributes it to a cooking accident in emperor Shah Jahan’s kitchen. Another trace it to Persia, where dried and fresh milk are mixed into flour and shaped into balls. The balls are deep fried and dunked in rosewater syrup, lending the dish its name. The basic Indian version uses cardamom- and saffron-flavoured syrup and finely chopped dry fruits as garnishing. Sometimes, the balls are dusted with sugar before they’re fried, turning them into black “kala jamuns”. The Kumbakonam dry jamun is similar, with a crisp crust. The ledikeni, first prepared for Lady Canning in Bengal, uses light-fried cottage cheese rather than milk. Another variant, pantua, uses smaller cottage cheese balls stuffed with sugar crystals.

 

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Popular myth has it that upon his return from a nine-day vacation, Lord Jagannath had to bribe Goddess Lakshmi to gain entry into the Jagannath Puri temple – his own home. He used the sweet khira mohana as bribe. According to folklore, the temple kept khira mohana’s recipe a secret. But one of the priests, disturbed at the amount of milk being thrown away by the villagers of Phala, taught them to curdle milk and prepare the sweet. Soon, that tiny village on the outskirts of Bhubhaneshwar became a mandatory stop for everyone passing through Odisha. A local confectioner named Bikalananda Kar perfected the technique of steaming the cottage cheese balls and allowing them to swell in sugar syrup. This version travelled to West Bengal, where Nobin Chandra Das adapted it. The recipe soon became popular everywhere, spawning famous variations such as rasmalai, cham cham and Kamala bhog.

 

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How it all began?

According to a few food historians, the earliest known cotton candy dates back to 15th Century Italy, where sculptures were made from spun sugar, a predecessor of cotton candy. This was done by melting sugar and spinning thin strands using forks. Spun-sugar sculptures were popular among the noble classes in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The technique behind the production of spun-sugar was tricky and labour-intensive, and hence it was reserved only for special occasions.

The invention of modern-day cotton candy (also known as cotton floss) is attributed to Americana dentist William Morrison. He invented and patented the electric candy machine and created cotton candy with the help of confectioner John C. Wharton. This candy machine gained popularity at the St. Louis World’s Fair, Missouri, the U.S., in 1904, where Morrison and Wharton sold over 68,600 cotton candy servings packed in wooden boxes and marketed it as ‘fairy floss’.

In the year 1921, Joseph Lascaux, another American dentist invented a similar machine, and chose to call the sugar treat “cotton candy”. Over the years, the process of making the candy became easier.

Science behind the fluffiness

Do you know how the fluffy texture of the sugar candy arises? The chemical composition of sugar allows the candy to gain the airy, cloud-like form. The candy machine melts the sugar and reduces it to syrup. This syrup spins in the machine with strong force and is cooled rapidly. This doesn’t give the sugar molecules enough time to crystallise, resulting in the formation of thin and long strands. The colours and flavours of one’s choice can be added while the sugar spins in the machine.

Beware of moisture!

Th structure of cotton candy and its shelf depends on the humidity. Moisture in the air can make the cotton candy to clump into a dense ball. This is because the candy is composed of hygroscopic sugar (a substance that absorbs moisture from the air). It is therefore better to enjoy the cotton candy right after it is made.

In order to store the candy, plastic packaging is often used to prevent exposure to moisture.

Colours and flavours

Cotton candy without any colouring agent is white-coloured. The most commonly available colours are pink, blue, yellow and purple. Today the cotton candy is available in several quirky flavours such as bubble gum, mango, salted caramel, strawberry, peanut butter, mint, cherry and coconut. In the recent past, cotton candies are also being prepared in creative forms. There are cotton candy burritos, ice-creams, frappuccinos, milkshakes, burgers and cupcakes.

 

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This is an old Irish custom of celebrating New Year’s Day, which was also known as the Day of the Buttered Bread. It is not popular among the people of Ireland today. According to food anthropologists, until the 20th Century, buttered bread was either placed on the doorstep for passers-by or thrown at the door and taken back to be consumed. Butter and bread were luxurious products during that period and this tradition was a symbol of banishing hunger and welcoming plenitude.

Usually sold in flattened rounds, it is often served toasted with butter along with a cup of tea in the afternoon. The dough is sweeter than sandwich bread, but not as rich as cake, and the sultanas and raisins add flavour and texture to the final product.

 

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Vasilopita is a cake cut in Greek households on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck for the year ahead. This sponge cake is made with flour, almonds, yeast, sugar and milk. A coin or a trinket is usually hidden within the cake and the person who gets the slice with it is believed to be blessed with good luck for the upcoming year.

This age old tradition commenced in the fourth century, when Saint Basil the Great, who was a bishop, wanted to distribute money to the poor in his Diocese. He wanted to preserve their dignity, so as not to look like charity, he commissioned some women to bake sweetened bread, in which he arranged to place gold coins. Thus the families in cutting the bread to nourish themselves, were pleasantly surprised to find the coins.

The Vasilopita is a beautiful tradition, and a custom which should not be neglected by Greek Orthodox Christians. It is such a wonderful way to begin each New Year.

 

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Germany and its neighbour Austria’s Sylvesterabend (Saint Sylvester’s Day) celebrations coincide with New Year’s. Glucksschwein or marzipan pig is a popular traditional confection distributed among family and friends during the New Year’s Eve feast. This treat, made with sugar and almond paste, is a tradition meant for good fortune. Schwein gehabt is German for “having a pig”, an expression to state that someone is lucky. The tradition is believed to have its roots in the medieval period, when a farmer who bred a lot of pigs was considered fortunate.

Some Glücksschweinchen or good luck piggies come with a little clover on them. Legend has it; Eve took a four-leaf clover out of the Garden of Eden. So when you find one, you have found yourself a little piece of paradise.

 

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Cotechino con lenticchie (sausage with lentil stew) is an inseparable part of Italian New Year celebrations. According to traditional beliefs, lentils represent money and good fortune, and pork (in the form of sausages) is a symbol of prosperity and richness and is believed to bring good luck.

You may be wondering why Lentils are used in this Traditional Italian dish? Lentils are seen as coin-shaped legumes which has a relation to wealth. It is therefore believed that Lentils are symbolic for this tradition and so it is always served with Cotechino or Zampone at Midnight New Years Eve to bring you prosperity & wealth in the New Year.

Lentils can be purchased from almost any Supermarket or Delicatessen and come in dry form or in tins depending on your preferred cooking style.

 

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Pomegranates represent fortune, fertility, abundance and good luck in Turkey. Though pomegranates are a vital part of their cuisine, on New Year’s Eve the fruit is usually smashed against the ground. This is mostly done at the doorstep. It is believed that the more the seeds that burst out, the more good fortune one will acquire. This practice is based on the legend that one fruit bears multiple seeds and has the ability to become many trees in the future. This tradition is also followed in the neighbouring country Armenia.

Each autumn, when pomegranates are at their best, you will see stalls spring up all over Turkey selling fresh juice in markets and on street corners. Pomegranates are grown throughout Turkey, especially in coastal regions around the Aegean and Mediterranean and tourist resorts like Dalyan and Side. Many properties in Turkey have pomegranate bushes in their gardens, the Turks believing the harvest will bring luck to their family home. Pomegranates are also incorporated in many Turkish dishes. The kernels are often found in salads, and a sweet and popular pomegranate molasses (syrup) is widely used by chefs to marinate meat or incorporated into sauces.

 

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In Japan, people eat soba noodles (thin noodles made with buckwheat) at midnight with their loved ones, as they bid farewell to the old year and welcome the next year. The noodles, thin and long, are believed to represent long life. The noodles are, therefore, slurped whole instead of being bitten. The Japanese also follow another tradition known as the mochitsuki, where families gather to pound mocha (Japanese rice cakes). The cakes are then eaten as a desert after the meal.

The most basic soba dish is mori soba in which boiled, cold soba noodles are eaten with a soya based dipping sauce (tsuyu). Many soba dishes are eaten throughout the year, while others are only available seasonally.

Like pasta, soba noodles are available in dried form in supermarkets, but they taste best if freshly made by hand from flour and water. Soba making has long been a popular hands-on activity for domestic and international travelers. The activity is offered by many craft villages and travel tour companies.

 

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Known as the New Year soup, Tteokguk is a soup made with meat stock and rice cakes. The white tteok (rice cakes) used in the soup symbolizes purity and is seen as a symbol of a fresh start. Though the origin of the soup is unknown, one of the first mentions of the dish dates back to a 19th Century cookbook. Due to the high price of rice, the soup was reserved only for special occasions such as the New Year and birthdays. New Year is seen as an important event as Korean consider themselves a year older every New Year. The day, therefore, marks the “Korean birthday” for most of them.

The broth is generally made by simmering the main protein (beef, chicken, pork, pheasant, seafood) in a ganjang-seasoned stock. The stock is then strained to clarify the broth, and long cylinder-shaped garaetteok are thin-sliced diagonally and boiled in the clear broth. Garnish is added before serving; the garnish may vary by region and personal taste, but usual staples are pan-fried julienned egg yolks and whites, gim and spring onions.[4]A drizzle of sesame oil is common just prior to serving the teokguk.

 

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In Spain, the locals welcome the New Year by eating 12 grapes, one by one, for every toll of the clock bell. It is considered a symbol of luck if all the 12 grapes are consumed on time. In order to finish all the grapes, some even peel and de-seed them for easier consumption. According to popular legend, the grapes represent the months of the year and sweet grapes indicate a happy month whereas a sour one indicates a rough month. This tradition is also adopted in several Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico.

The twelve grapes date back from at least 1895 but became established in 1909. In December of that year, some alicantese vine growers popularized this custom to better sell huge numbers of grapes from an excellent harvest. According to the tradition, eating the twelve grapes leads to a year of good luck and prosperity. In some areas, it is believed that it wards away witches and general evil, although this "magic" is treated like an old heritage, and in modern days it's viewed as a cultural tradition to welcome the new year.

 

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