Food and Health Room

[Londoner]

In Duhok markets, most of cheese are from cow milk. This one is like dried mozarella.

How interesting? I have never heard of cow cheese in my time in my place, South of Erbil. We had cows, as a matter of fact each family of our village had cows. They used cow milk to make yoghurt or butter.

[Londoner]

Your grand-daughter sounds an absolute delight

You are very kind.

[Anthea]

Not really fasting because 8 of those fasting hours you will spend asleep

Exactly, and that's the reason why these hours of fast are the best.

[Anthea]

How interesting? I have never heard of cow cheese in my time in my place, South of Erbil. We had cows, as a matter of fact each family of our village had cows. They used cow milk to make yoghurt or butter.

Does that mean you had cheese made from sheep's or goat's milk?

Or did you not have cheese when you were young?

[Piling]

In Duhok markets, most of cheese are from cow milk. This one is like dried mozarella.

How interesting? I have never heard of cow cheese in my time in my place, South of Erbil. We had cows, as a matter of fact each family of our village had cows. They used cow milk to make yoghurt or butter.

Most of that cheese comes from Turkey, as quite all the dairy. And quite all the food.

[Anthea]

Most of that cheese comes from Turkey, as quite all the dairy. And quite all the food.

I did not know Kurdistan relied on Turkey for so much

I expect YOU wish that the cheese came from France

[Piling]

OMG, I am craving for French cheeses, especially this one :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brie


I come from that region, so this cheese is an institution in familial meals.

[Londoner]

How interesting? I have never heard of cow cheese in my time in my place, South of Erbil. We had cows, as a matter of fact each family of our village had cows. They used cow milk to make yoghurt or butter.

Does that mean you had cheese made from sheep's or goat's milk?

Or did you not have cheese when you were young?

Yes, every one was making cheese from sheep's milk. But I was more font of whey, cheese by-product. I still remember the test.

[Londoner]

In Duhok markets, most of cheese are from cow milk. This one is like dried mozarella.

How interesting? I have never heard of cow cheese in my time in my place, South of Erbil. We had cows, as a matter of fact each family of our village had cows. They used cow milk to make yoghurt or butter.

Most of that cheese comes from Turkey, as quite all the dairy. And quite all the food.

That explains it. it is imported cheese.

[Anthea]

OMG, I am craving for French cheeses, especially this one :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brie

I come from that region, so this cheese is an institution in familial meals.

Not having a wide selection of cheese must be good for your diet - I know that many of the calories I consume come from my love of cheese

[Anthea]

Yes, every one was making cheese from sheep's milk. But I was more font of whey, cheese by-product. I still remember the test.

Fresh, homemade food always tastes better

[Anthea]

How Australia is stubbing out smoking

Australia was the first country in the world to introduce mandatory plain packaging for tobacco products - and the UK will have followed suit by May this year. But will any country copy Australia's plan to keep increasing taxes until a packet of cigarettes costs AUD$40 (£24)?

It's not easy being a smoker in Australia.

The smoking bans started inside - in workplaces, bars and restaurants - and moved out.

"Smokers would congregate on footpaths and near public transport creating clouds of smoke - what we call 'smoking hotspots'," says Mark Driver, Sydney's Park and Recreation Planner.

"Now, smoking is prohibited within 10m (33ft) of a playground, within 4m (13ft) of the entrance to a public building, at rail platforms, taxi ranks and bus stops."

Those are the rules in new South Wales, but they are mirrored in many other states. Smoking is banned on many beaches, and most Australian states have now banned cigarettes in jail. All states ban smoking in vehicles if children are present.

Fines vary, but in some places you may be fined $2,000 (£1,210) if you smoke in the wrong place. And even if you don't, you'll be paying more than each year by 2020, if you smoke just one $40 pack a week.

It's already five years since Australia became the first place in the world to make plain cigarette packaging compulsory. Tobacco-advertising has long been banned, and now branding has too.

The boxes are a drab, dark brown colour (deemed the ugliest in the world by a team of Australian researchers), they carry no logos, and graphic health warnings cover most of the front of the box.

"You see this gigantic, see-and-never-forget kind of image of throat cancer - a hole in the neck, or what a stroke looks like with a brain sliced open," Chapman explains.

"Some smokers say they don't even look at it, but there has been research which shows that with the people who engage in those avoidance strategies, it's actually a predictor of them quitting later on."

All this came on top of anti-smoking campaigns that have been driving down smoking rates in Australia since the 1970s.

"It's a toxic, poisonous mix of substances, including ammonia, the bleach in toilet cleaner; acetone, the chemical in nail polish remover; benzene, found in paint stripper; and hydrogen cyanide, used in rat poison," went one advertisement. "And smoking delivers it straight to your body."

"The evidence shows that these hard-hitting, graphic ads that really show the harms of smoking are some of the most effective," says Scott Walsberger, head of tobacco control at Cancer Council NSW.

But other campaigns have also tried a gentler approach, emphasising how quickly a smoker's health starts to improve once he or she has quit.



It was this approach that was taken by the creators of an interactive, behavioural change app called My Quit Buddy, launched in 2012.

Offering tips for giving up, daily motivational messages, distractions to overcome cravings, and a place to share success stories and celebrate milestones, it has now been downloaded more than 400,000 times in Australia alone.

My Perfect Country

In a world where a lot is going wrong, there is also a lot going right. So, what if you could build a country with policies that actually worked, by homing in on ideas from around the world that have been truly successful?

"It shows people that just by even quitting for five days, you can start to see changes - you'll have more money in your wallet, your skin becomes clearer," says Paul Den, one of My Quit Buddy's creators.

"And the community forum shows people that they're not alone - people generally trust other people more than they trust the government."

The cumulative effect of these policies is that smoking rates for adults have almost halved since 1980, says Henrietta Moore, of the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College, London, and are now at about 13%, compared to a global average of about 20%. There has also been a decrease of almost 23% in the rate of hospital admissions caused by smoking.

Simone Dennis, an associate professor at Australian National University, says a culture of shame surrounding smoking has begun to emerge, and that itself has become a smoking deterrent.

Take, for example, the policy of confining smokers to areas where they will not create a public nuisance.

"If you think about smoking in public, those tend to be spaces that no-one wants to hang out in anyway," she says.

"So smokers feel marginalised because they can't be citizens in public spaces any more, because they're restricted to these kind of 'dirty spaces.'"

Smoking is disgusting

Innocent people should not have to breath in other people's health harming fumes

Tobacco in Australia

The government has committed to reduce the number of adults smoking on a daily basis to 10% by 2018

Plain-packaging rules insist that 75% of the front of a cigarette pack is covered by a health warning, and 90% of the back

Tobacco taxes rose 25% in 2010, and are now rising 12.5% every year

The Tasmanian parliament has discussed a bill that would ban smoking for those born after 2000

Australia has not gone as far as Bhutan, and reportedly also Turkmenistan, which have banned the sale of tobacco products

These days, smoking is often taken up by people who are on the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder, she points out, "and that adds a burden of shame to people who might already be marginalised".

If it's the poor who are now the most likely to smoke, it's hard to see how they will ever afford the AUD$40 pack of cigarettes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38733502

[Piling]

Today is Yorkshire pudding day and Nutella day.

I don't like Nutella, but I can try to make Yorkshire puddings.Look at the recipes, it does not seem hard to cook.

[Anthea]

Today is Yorkshire pudding day and Nutella day.

I don't like Nutella, but I can try to make Yorkshire puddings.Look at the recipes, it does not seem hard to cook.

WOW I used to LOVE Nutella

Then I stopped eating chocolate

I could go to the pub and have a full roast dinner with Yorkshire puddings

No wine or other form of alcohol

[Piling]

Today is Frozen Yogurt Day.

SERIOUSLY ???? FROZEN yogurt ? Never heard a such thing.

I imagine Kurds' reaction if I ask why they don't freeze their beloved yogurt.