Lessons

I believe that you have had the opportunity to enjoy a cake called a cupcake or a cake in a cup, at a birthday, a celebration or somewhere in a candy shop. The name cupcake refers to a cake whose ingredients are measured with a cup. It is also called 1234 cake because it consists of four ingredients: one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour…

Protein denaturation is a process in which the natural properties of proteins are changed under the influence of physical and chemical agents. It can be elevated temperature, radiation, mechanical factors, salts of heavy metals or strong acids and bases. Mechanical denaturation of proteins often occurs during food preparation. For example, when making cheese or yogurt, cooking eggs, but also while making delicacies such as the famous French delicacy known as…

Yeast is a single-celled organism, and its size and other properties can be observed under a microscope. Yeasts convert starch into sugar and sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide and are used in the bakery industry to produce dough such as bread. Even the ancient Greeks used yeast to make bread. To make Greek bread, in addition to yeast, you need lukewarm water, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of…

Dissolving sugar in water is a physical characteristic of sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide whose solubility in water directly depends on temperature, where increasing temperature increases the solubility of sucrose. The addition of citric acid, i.e. lemon juice, leads to the inversion of sucrose and obtaining invert sugar, the consistency of which is more compact compared to the sucrose solution. By knowing the characteristics of sucrose, we can use it…

Yogurt is produced by the natural process of milk fermentation with the help of bacteria. Through the action of bacteria, fermentation takes place, whereby lactose, which represents milk sugar, turns into lactic acid. By heating the milk at a temperature of 41-45 degrees Celsius and adding milk bacteria whose Latin names are lactobacilius bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus. After 24 hours, the fermentation and acidification of the milk and the creation…

Natural pigments are substances in the form of droplets or crystals attached to proteins, and they are the color carriers of living organisms. The most widespread pigments are porphins, carotenoids, anthocyanins and flavones. Onions, spinach, nettles, purple cabbage, dandelion, turmeric or coffee can be used as a source of natural pigment. One of the popular activities where natural pigments are used is Easter egg dyeing-coloring and it is a traditional…

The origin of Shopska salad is Bulgarian. The salad was named after the Shopi tribe that lived near Sofia. It is made from fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and parsley, salt, oil and fatty salty cheese are added. Salad is a real refreshment, especially in the summer months because it is rich in vitamins, and the human body needs vitamins and minerals for a healthy life. Vitamins are taken into…

Pizza is a famous specialty of Italian cuisine made from thin dough on which, in addition to tomato sauce, you can put various types of cheese, meat, vegetables, spices and even fruit. We can use the knowledge of mathematics about direct proportion and decimal numbers to calculate the caloric value of pizza dough, as well as to make the dough according to the recipe. For example, one tablespoon of olive…

The meals we eat during the day should contain a certain type and amount of food, mostly cereals, then fruits and vegetables, then foods of animal origin and finally smaller amounts of mass oil and sweets. Visually, this is shown with the help of a food pyramid, which is one way of planning a well-balanced meal. The food pyramid serves as an illustration of the correct way of eating and…

Water vapor, one of the three states of water, can be used to prepare food. Steam cooking is used a lot in Chinese cuisine to prepare and cook food. For example, traditional buns called mantou, which are a type of white bread characteristic of the northern part of China, are steamed. After the dough is kneaded, it “rests”, and during that time the water is heated to boiling. The water…

Moussaka is a traditional eggplant or potato dish that is widespread in the Balkans and the Middle East. The famous Syrian Moussaka is made from eggplants stuffed with beef or mutton with tomato sauce, egg, flour and yogurt dressing, and finally baked. The recipe is usually made for four or six people. In order to prepare moussaka for twice the number of people or for half the number of people…

We cannot destroy or create energy in nature, it can be changed its form or transfer to another body – which is what the law of conservation of mass is about. Everything we eat and drink gives our body the energy it needs to function properly. That’s why we need to balance our diet and activities in order to make the best use of that energy. Calorie counting is a…

Mass is the basic characteristic and measure of the body’s inertia. The mass depends on what kind of acceleration the body will get, how and what the density of the body is. The instrument for measuring mass is called a scale, and the scale can be mechanical, electronic or digital. The basic international unit of mass is the kilogram, and the smaller units are the gram and milligram, while the…

Rice is a plant with small grain, but with great possibilities, food with a very long history and the most important food culture in the world. A Filipino proverb says: “Be like a rice plant, the more grains it produces, the lower it bows.” Rice contains B-complex vitamins. B-complex vitamins participate in chemical reactions such as the transfer of electrons and chemical groups. Vitamin B1 participates in CO2 elimination reactions…

Today, Madagascar is the largest producer and exporter of vanilla, which is one of the most expensive, popular and beloved spices in the world. The most important components of vanilla are phenolic heterosides, vanillin glucosides (vanilloside) and vanillin alcohol (vanilloside). Aldehyde-vanillin is released from the heteroside during the fermentation of the fruit and it is the main ingredient responsible for the characteristic smell and aroma. The addition of vanilla gives…

This drink was adored by the emperors, it was drunk by the nobles, but also by the common people. And because of tea, there was also a rebellion known as the “Boston Tea Party” in Boston. The history of tea is as rich as its taste. As for its chemical composition, there are also various chemical compounds, such as cyclic compounds. The main ingredients of tea are purine alkaloids -…

This is a box that the Japanese call “masu” and it is also made by folding paper, i.e. the origami technique. It is easily folded in just a few steps starting with a square shaped paper page that we can label with a. These boxes are traditionally used to measure and store rice. And if we pack rice, it is important for us to fit as much rice as possible…

Gingerbread, not too sweet, extremely tasty and pleasant aromas, neither too soft nor too hard, fresh and very popular in Germany. There are many recipes for gingerbread, but the possibilities for shapes are even greater and practically left to your imagination, and thanks to models that you can create and print yourself with the help of 3D printing. In order to get from an idea to a model, it is…

Imagine celebrating your birthday in Austria. You would surely serve Zaher cake to your guests. Sachertorte is one of the most popular Austrian chocolate treats. They usually make it in a round shape, so it is very easy to share with guests. And when we are talking about dividing the whole cake, fractions appear. How much is one half and one quarter of a cake? It is not difficult to…

Chess is a very popular game that originated in India, and the word chess itself means king. Legend has it that Indian chess wanted to reward the man who invented chess, but a mathematical problem arose there. Namely, the man asked the chessman to put one grain of grain on the first square, two on the second square, four on the third, eight on the fourth, and then 16, 32,…