Other sugars, somewhat later, are imported
from India or from Persia, and still others are
home-grown. Peddlers make sugar candies
for children, selling them on sticks in the form
of humans, birds and other animals. The use
of sugars from beets does not come until
hundreds of years later and probably from
Arab countries as late as the Tang dynasty.
Today, all sweeteners are used in every
Asian country, some more than others, and
some use lots more than others do. Most
use sweeteners for snacks between meals.
These days, the intake of sugars for candy,
cakes and soft drinks is increasing yearly,
and by leaps and bounds. In Malaysia,
for example, there are reports of up to 30
percent of total calories coming from sugars.
Westerners think Asian sweets either too
sweet or virtually unavailable. How wrong
they are on both counts. While they look to
the end of a meal for their sweets, they hardly
know about other usage in other parts of the
meal and between meals. Restaurateurs
should use sweets as Asians do, and feature
them in their soup and snack categories.
Candied apples are one of the most famous
of Chinese sweets; so are candied potatoes.
The other day, I had a delicious dish of candied eggplant and potatoes. They had
cut the latter in interesting shapes and could
have been a hot seller. I also had a sweet
soup loaded with goji berries (once called
wolfberries) that looked beautiful and tasted
even better. Any fresh fruit or vegetable
made this way could win the hearts, minds
and taste buds of their clientele.
Restaurant chefs should feature candied
rice dumpling soup, baked bananas, boiled
fruits alone or with sweet potatoes, tangy
pineapple sticks and so much more. They are
missing the profit bandwagon without these
items, and missing it again by not serving
sweet teas before, during and after their
meals. I suggest they feature apple teas,
blueberry teas, pomegranate teas and teas
and tisanes from other fruits and vegetables.
Add hibiscus teas, those made with lemon
balm, rose hips, ginger and more to items
that bring in big bucks and a bigger clientele.
Many of these are high in plant estrogens
and could not be healthier. So healthy they
are, that they will increase bottom dollars – a
healthy business behavior, for sure.
What follows are a few recipes to try; then
ask your chef to create their own, push
their use by photographing them, getting
a dietitian to provide nutrition information
about them, and more. Use these and other
sweet foods to help your customers develop
healthier sweet intakes. |
