Shakespeare and sekespare cookies

Sekespare Cookies

Food Diary (November 17, 2011)

Breakfast: Rolled oats with plums and flax seeds

Lunch: Eggplant in soya oyster sauce and rice

Dinner: Carrot soup, toast

Baking/sweets: Sekespare Cookies

Shakespeare spelt his name many different ways. One article notes 20 different spellings, however sekespare is not one of them. Sekespare, which is a Turkish cookie, has nothing to do with Shakespeare. Sekespare is no ordinary cookie though, even if it is made from ordinary standard ingredients. The cookies are soaked in syrup, just like baklavas. 

Making sekespares requires basic knowledge of syrups. Since I rarely make syrups I got it wrong. I took it too far and the syrup darkened. The consistency also did not seem right as the cookies refused to absorb them, they were being stubborn. So my sekespares were syrup coated rather than syrup soaked. But still very delicious. In spite of not being able to perfect the cookies myself I am still presenting the recipe here in case you want to try it.

Eggplant in soya oyster sauce and rice

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: masak-masak

Pavlova

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: Vancouver Sun

Very interesting research. A study has found that the contrast of a plate or bowl with what's placed inside it can affect our eating habits. It was found that low colour contrast between dinnerware and food such as vanilla ice cream in a white dish significantly increases the likelihood of people over-serving themselves. On the other hand serving vanilla ice cream in a dark dish minimizes risk of over-eating.

The explanation for this goes back to the Delboeuf illusion that was discovered more than 150 years ago. According to the Delboeuf illusion, if there are two circles of the same size next to each other and if the two circles are surrounded by larger circles of uneven sizes people will think that the inner circles are of different sizes. This explains why people, including nutritionists, consistently over-serve themselves when given larger dinnerware.

"If you want to reduce the amount of unhealthy food you eat, you want to choose a plate that really contrasts with it; if you plan to eat healthy food and want to eat more, you want to choose a plate with a lower contrast," says van Ittersum, an associate professor of marketing at Georgia Institute of Technology.

The researchers also found that a table or tablecloth similar in colour to the dinnerware significantly diminished over-serving tendencies. I think at this point it can start to get over complicated since too many findings can cause confusion.  

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