Grape Is The Queen Of All Fruits

Grapes are one of the most valuable fruit that is known to revitalize our entire system. They are delicious, highly nutritious and very easily digestible.

Grapes can be eaten fresh or dried (raisins) or can be consumed as a grape juice. Although seedless grapes are highly sought after for table grapes, the absence of seeds does diminish the phytochemical content of the grape. To receive the maximum nutrients from grapes, it is recommended that the seeds are also consumed.
Many of the health benefits attributed to red/purple grapes are due to the pigments that are concentrated largely in the skin and seeds, which have about 100 times higher level than the pulp of the grape.

Grapes are rich in content with water, protien, fat, minerals (calcium, phosphorus, iron) and vitamins (Vitamin C, Vitamin A and P). Due to its rich content of sugar which is formed of glucose, they are easily absorbed in the body soon after its consumption thus supplying heat and energy within a short time.

 Health benefits are massive and can be illustrated as follows:

1. Cancer:
Grapes seem to be very good cancer fighting fruit. (They are an excellent source of health promoting flavonoids. Usually, the stronger the color of the grapes, the concentration of flavonoids are found higher.)
Grapes are also rich in ellagic acid, a potent flavonoid that helps fight cancer. Besides there is a substance found in the skin (not flesh) of grapes, called "resveratrol". Researchers reported in a study that resveratrol is converted in the body to a known anti-cancer agent that can selectively target and destroy cancer cells.
Besides, red grape skins and seeds contain recently isolated compounds shown to reduce the size of estrogen-dependent breast cancer tumors.
Still more interesting fact is that grapes acts as a preventative agent in prostrate, lung, liver, and breast cancer.

2. Heart Disease:
Grapes are abundantly useful in the treatment of heart disease as they tone up the heart and are effective in cardiac pain and palpitation of the heart. Besides grape juice is highly valuable for a person who is suffering from a heart attack which will avert serious consequences and by reducing the pain and palpitation.
Also eating fresh grapes may prevent the accumulation of harmful oxidized cholesterol as well as the development of atherosclerotic lesions. According to the study, as reported in the Journal of Nutrition (vol. 135, pp. 722-728, 2005.), naturally occurring antioxidants in fresh grapes known as polyphenols are believed to be responsible for this beneficial impact.
The flavonoid compounds found in grapes called resveratrol appear to decrease the risk of heart disease by:
-Reducing platelet clumping and harmful blood clots
-Protecting LDL cholesterol from the free radical damage that initiates LDL's artery-damaging actions
-Boosts good type of HDL cholesterol
They are also known to keep heart flexible and healthy.

3. Blood Pressure:
The intake of grapes regularly in our diet reduces the risk of hypertension.

4. Alzheimer's disease: Resveratrol, a beneficial polyphenol present in grapes reduces the levels of amyloidal-beta peptides in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Studies suggest that grapes can enhance brain health and stall the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

5. Constipation:
As grapes are a laxative food, it is valuable in relieving constipation. It tones up the stomach and intestine and relieves the most chronic cases of constipation. When fresh grapes are not available, raisins soaked in water can be used.

6. Dyspepsia:
Grapes constitute a light food that eliminates indigestion and irritation of the stomach and, is valuable in dyspepsia.

Red Wine Is Good For Our Skin

Most women like to drink a glass of red wine before the sleeping,it is right,because the red wine is good for our body and skin.

“There is overwhelming data showing the human body needs physical activity, but for some of us, getting that activity isn’t easy,” said Gerald Weissmann, editor of the journal that published the latest research.

“Resveratrol may not be a substitute for exercise, but it could slow deterioration until someone could get moving again,” he added.

To study whether resveratrol has similar effects on the body to exercise, French researchers devised an experiment in which rats experienced the weightlessness more usually associated with astronauts in space, reports the Daily Mail.

The ‘astronaut’ rats given a daily dose of resveratrol stayed in good health, the study found.

But in those kept in weightless conditions and not given resveratrol, bones became brittle and muscles wasted and weakened.
Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-coloured (black) grape varieties. The actual colour of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines.

The juice from most black grapes is greenish-white; the red colour comes from anthocyan pigments (also called anthocyanins) naturally present in the skin of the grape; exceptions are the relatively uncommon teinturier varieties, which produce a red colored juice. Much of the red-wine production process therefore involves extraction of colour and flavour components from the grape skin.

Made in China 长安一号 (Beijing) -

As mentioned in an earlier post, after several Peking Duck adventures of mine during a short work stay in Beijing, I've come to the conclusion that some of the most raved about ducks there, or for that matter even those being trashed by the media or bloggers alike such as Quanjude 全聚德 , turned out to be rather more of the same in the end. Sure Made in China 长安一号 may be often mentioned on everyone's lips as the no.1 Peking Duck in Beijing or in the world. But Dadong 大董烤鸭店 with their super-lean roast ducks naturally can't agree with this generalisation before putting up a fight. And then there are some existing establishments or late comers also in the scene. My duck served in Made in China was not entirely roasted nor sliced to perfection in the end. In fact, their sister restaurant in Macau's Beijing Kitchen 滿堂彩 made me a more crispier yet moister, flavourful duck than here and that was carved better! Which is the other way around with Jason Bonvivant's visits of the same restaurants, so it shows they must all have a consistency problem of some sorts?! This rating is therefore purely of this particular visit. May be on another day, it will fare better?

                                    Entrance

                       

Fruit Wood open oven for roasting Ducks,

as is expected in most duck shops in Beijing

 

Pu-Erh Tea -

Very good, Made in China really takes care of their connoisseur's tea selections ~ 8/10

Appetizer of Young Vegetables -

Very good for cleansing effect ~  8/10

Appetizer of White Beans -
A bit boring, don't understand it's role here ~  3/10

Open Kitchen -
..seems to be the theme in most Hyatt's I've visited. 
Here, pastry chef is making my next pancake dish.

Black Truffle and Scallions Pancake -

To be honest, I really regretted ordering this.  It is dense, has little truffle taste (and if any, it's only truffles paste).  I also wonder where the scallions went.  Totally forgettable and I should have ordered another dish to try ~  3/10

Chef Carving away on my Duck -
fresh from the fruit wood roasting oven

 

                    Duck Plate #1 / 3 -  Skin from the Belly
Nouveau style Peking Ducks, served in Macau, Hong Kong or Beijing, are often recommended to be sliced up into 3 ways.  Firstly, the crispy belly skin should be dipped into caster sugar and eaten by itself.  This was more crunchy than crispy, but quite fat.  Overall, pretty good ~  7.5/10

                              Condiments -

Cucumber, Beijing Winter Leeks, Minced Garlic, Hoisin Sauce, Sugar.

The stand out was the Hoisin Sauce, which was not overly sweet but slightly smoky

with depth.The sauce served with Peking Ducks, is sometimes what distinguishes it between it and its competitors, and this was definitely within Top 3 I've tried  ~  8/10

 

 Mandarin Crepes -

Fairly dry and floury, a little thick.  Almost like a Tortilla.
I don't mind both chewy or doughy types of crepes, but this was so dry, you can see it has curled upwards in a funny manner.  Definitely could be improved ~  5/10

 

 

Duck Plate #2 / 3 - Pure Meat & Duck Head
This is meant to be eaten alone dipped into the garlic mince and hoisin sauce, or could also be put into the wraps.  Unfortunately sigh, this was quite dry, even though this was carved from a Whole-Duck rather than from Half-a-Duck.  It was also quite bland in both duck or marination taste.  I was quite disappointed with this outcome ~  6/10

 

Duck Plate #3 /3 -  Meat from Mostly Duck Back and Part of the Thigh

This fared slightly better than above, but was still dry and didn't taste much of anything. It was also sliced way too tiny compared to every other restaurant, which exacerbates the dryness even more.  The skin wasn't very crunchy nor crispy either.  Look, I'm nit picking here, this was probably acceptable, but when touted as the top Peking Duck in the world, I think it failed to deliver.  It is certainly not within the Top 3 Ducks I've had in say Macau or Beijing or anywhere in the world.  May be Top 10 at most   ~  6.9/10

 

 

Pancake Crepe with Fillings 

 

Lovely Interior -

Pity about the Duck and the food on this visit