Holy Canoli, It’s Ravioli!

Pack your plates with these plump and perfect little pastas and dig in while we tell the tale of how ravioli became a worldwide phenom. Go back, way back, to Medieval times, when Europe and Middle Eastern chefs were preparing pasta stuffed with sweet goodies like honey, nuts and cinnamon, or savory fillings such as meat, pepper and saffron. According to the Oxford Companion to Food, the earliest records of Italian ravioli appear in the 14th century preserved letters of Francesco di Marco, who described it as “stuffed with pounded pork, eggs, cheese, parsley, and sugar; while in Lent a filling of herbs, cheese, and spices is used.” In the 15th century, this recipe for ravioli emerged: “Get a pound and a half of old cheese and a little new creamy cheese, a pound of pork belly or loin of veal that should be boiled until well cooked, then grind it up well; get well ground fragrant herbs, pepper, cloves, ginger and saffron, adding in a well ground breast of capon, and mix in all of this together; make a thin dough and wrap nut-sized amounts of the mixture in it; set these ravioli to cook in the fat broth of a capon or of some other good meat, with a little saffron, and let them boil for half an hour; then dish them out, garnishing them with a mixture of grated cheese and good spices." (foodtimeline.org) The city of Cremona claims to have created ravioli, but Genoa insists it’s theirs, dating back to the dialect word for the pasta, rabiole, which means "something of little value" and supposedly came from the practice of thrifty sailors who stuffed any and all leftovers into pasta to be used for another meal (Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink).Elsewhere around the world, Chinese won tons, Russia pel’meni, Tibet momo and Jewish kreplachs were on a parallel path.   Today’s chefs are just as rabid about their ravioli. For instance, pumpkin ravioli has enticed everyone from this year’s Pillsbury Bake Off winner (ingredients include canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, cream cheese, butter, flour and crescent dough, topped off with salted caramel whipped cream) to Wolfgang Puck, who uses 5 oz. of unsalted butter, a pound of fresh pumpkin, 2 cups of heavy cream, bay leaf, sage, thyme, eggs and spinach pasta dough in his creation. Experienced chef, food writer and creator of the Culinary Master Class website, Leslie Bilderback, will have you craving a forkful of her favorite recipe, described thusly: “The sweet creamy texture of roasted squash is so perfectly paired with browned butter and sage; the two flavors melt together in my mouth like butter. To top it off, these ravioli are finished with a crumbling of an amoretti cookie, a stroke of genius that I can only attribute to a culinary savant. Whoever you are, I am not worthy!” Savory versions, such as ravioli made with porcini mushrooms and white truffle oil, are equally prized by the hungry but discriminating diner. Top quality olive oil, infused with white truffles, provides an earthy flavor, while porcini mushrooms have a chewy texture and a strong, sweet and meaty taste. US Foods has just launched 3 new Chef's Line stuffed pastas.

Talking Transfat Without Talking Total Nutrition Is Confusing To The Customer

Is all this talk about Fat getting to you? Polyunsaturated fat, Monounsaturated fat, Trans fat and saturated fat…. Frankly it can be over whelming, not to mention very confusing. In fact, it can be so confusing that many sales people don’t even want to bring the topic up with a customer. Just sell them the same old oil and let it go at that.

Here is a brief FAT’s breakdown for those of you that are interested in learning more about Dietary FAT and the relationship FAT has to Heart Disease:

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is influenced by a number of factors…… Diet being one. Fat intake and the TYPE of fat ingested also influences CVD. The reduction of Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Trans Fat, and Cholesterol is another one. Research indicates that the type of fat may be as important as the quantity of fat consumed in reducing Cardiovascular disease, (CVD).

• Cholesterol is primarily made up of two main proteins…… or LIPOPROTEINS…..LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN, (LDL), AND HIGH DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN, (HDL).

• High levels of LDL have been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease, (CHD). This is caused by the cholesterol depositing on the artery walls. HDL on the other hand has been found to be beneficial because it appears to remove serum cholesterol from the blood stream and return it to the liver for breakdown and excretion.

Basic Fat Chart

FAT LDL (BAD) HDL (GOOD) RATIO
CHOLESTEROL CHOLESTEROL LDL TO HDL
SATURATES INCREASES (+) INCREASES (+) NO CHANGE

MONOUNSATURATES DECREASES (-) INCREASES (+) IMPROVES

POLYUNSATURATES DECREASES (-) DECREASES (-) NO CHANGE

TRANS INCREASES (+) DECREASES (-) WORSENS

Explanation of Chart:

• Generally diets high in Saturated fats will increase total cholesterol as well ad LDL and HDL Cholesterol, (see chart above).

• Polyunsaturated fats will lower both the serum cholesterol as well as both LDL and HDL cholesterol.

• Monounsaturated fats help lower total serum cholesterol, decreases LDL but will increase HDL. This improves the ration between the LDL and HDL which is a positive.

• AND, several studies have shown that Trans fats increase LDL and lower the HDL thus worsening the ratio between the two.

SO, what does this mean to you the Customer ???????????

It should help you select No Trans Fat identity preserved oils.

Remember

• Look at the TOTAL NUTRITIONAL VALUE of the oil, not just the TRANS FATS.

• Products such as Frymax has a very low Linolenic acid level, (generally less than 1%), This low a level of linolenic acid tends to lead to shorter fry life.

Compare the saturated levels and trans fat levels.

Low linolenic acid SOY oils will have a Saturated fat level around 11 to 12 %, where as Optimax has a Saturated fat level in the 7 – 7.5%.

THUS the low linolenic acid SOY oils have approximately a 57% greater SATURATED FAT LEVEL. OPTIMAX wins!

Optimax® Multi-Purpose Cooking Oil



Optimax®
Enduring, Pure and Healthy
Optimax Multi-Purpose Cooking Oil is a High Oleic premium canola oil. It is obtained from a specially bred canola seed that creates an oil and shortening product with long fry life and 0% trans fatty acid per serving. In addition to frying, Optimax can be used as sauté oil or as an ingredient in salad dressings and marinades.

 Optimax Multi-Purpose Cooking Oil has up to 20% more fry life and 0 Trans Fat per serving! With Optimax, you no longer have to sacrifice food quality, fryer performance, and taste to serve your customers a healthy meal. Optimax can also be filtered at room temperature, is allergen free, and is 50% lower in saturated fats than traditional cooking oils. Optimax delivers