By Karon Liu Food Writer Tues., Oct. 30, 2018 A rabbi walks into a restaurant carrying a blowtorch. There’s no punchline, it’s literally part of Rabbi Mendel Brogna’s job. As the head mashgiach of the Kashruth Council of Canada, Brogna’s job is to supervise the kosher status of restaurants and catering venue to ensure that the food and cooking equipment is up to the standards of the kashrut, or Jewish dietary laws. Part of that involves kashering, which involves cleansing new or used cooking equipment, typically with the use of heat, to get rid of any traces of contamination from non-kosher foods or materials. Brogna keeps a giant blowtorch attached to a propane tank in the trunk of his car ready to heat up the inside of ovens as well as pots and pans. During Passover, the busiest time for mashgiachs, the blowtorch comes extra handy to incinerate any traces of leavened bread in a kitchen since that’s forbidden during the holiday. … [Read more...] about What does it take to make a restaurant kosher? (Hint: It’s intense)
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One-of-a-kind house gave Mummy Soh, 75, a new lease of life
SINGAPORE: Despite standing a head shorter than most of her guests, Mdm Ng Swee Hiah held her audience’s attention as she glided around her garden.She pointed at her mulberry plant, proclaiming that “the leaves can be used to make tea, which is good for you”.Next, she plucked a bunch of six-petal chive flowers and thrust them under a guest’s nose. “Taste it. You can eat it raw,” insisted the 75-year-old. It tasted both sweet and garlicky. “Nice, right?” she asked.Minutes later, in her kitchen, she bossed her guests about, ordering one to peel the potatoes and another to squeeze grated coconut.These paying guests were attending one of her cooking classes at her terrace house, learning how to make chicken curry as part of Airbnb Experiences, a platform where locals get to share their hobbies or skills for a fee.Almost everything was created from scratch to make that dish, from extracting the coconut milk to plucking chilli, ginger and … [Read more...] about One-of-a-kind house gave Mummy Soh, 75, a new lease of life
Iloilo with a full plate
On one trip to Iloilo some years ago I was with a friend who was determined to sample batchoy at every restaurant that advertised itself as d’best, d’original and other similar claims. And there were many such restaurants – too many, if you ask me. So for three of the four days we were in Iloilo we had batchoy for breakfast, lunch and merienda; thankfully, dinner with friends allowed us to sample the other culinary delights of Iloilo – and fortunately, there are many. MANILA, Philippines — Happily, this time I visited with a true-blue Ilongga, one who knew half the people in town and was related to a third of them. So it was a most rewarding visit, and certainly a calorific one, but hey, when you’re in Iloilo you don’t bother with such irritants as calories. From a farm-to-table lunch to a gastronomic dinner, from paella to kielbasa, from pandesal to siopao, from galletas to butterscotch, how much can one eat in two and a half days? A lot, … [Read more...] about Iloilo with a full plate
A day in the life of a product manager at Facebook
caption This product manager didn’t have a tech background before joining Facebook — but she doesn’t let that hold her back at work. source Merlyn Deng/Facebook Facebook jobs can sometimes seem out of reach to people without a tech background. But that didn’t stop Merlyn Deng from joining the company and becoming a product manager. Business Insider interviewed Deng about what it’s like to work at Facebook. She broke down her entire daily routine, from her early-morning commute to her penchant for cooking in the evening. Deng also discussed Facebook’s culture, as well as the strategies she uses to lead her team and tackle the field of AI. Landing a job at Facebook seemed like an impossible dream to Merlyn Deng, at first. She didn’t have any experience in tech when she applied to the company. “I didn’t think I could … [Read more...] about A day in the life of a product manager at Facebook
Over 2 million people are using a ‘digital noticeboard’ to hire strangers to do extravagant tasks and errands — and they involve stormtroopers and fried chicken
source Airtasker Over 13,000 people in the UK are using a new website to get people to do the tasks they don’t have time to do. While some tasks are mundane like cooking and cleaning, they can be more bizarre. Past tasks have included dressing up as a stormtrooper to walk a bride down the aisle on her wedding day and flying to Texas to collect an engagement ring. The UK is Airtasker’s first market outside of Australia, where its Taskers earn more than $100 million AUD each year. Over 2 million people around the world – and now thousands in the UK – are using a website to get people to do the tasks they don’t have time to get around to (or never dreamed someone would do for them) – and some of them are pretty bizarre. Over 13,000 people have signed up on Airtasker since it launched in the UK on March 12, its first market outside of Australia. The … [Read more...] about Over 2 million people are using a ‘digital noticeboard’ to hire strangers to do extravagant tasks and errands — and they involve stormtroopers and fried chicken