coop/ko͞op,ko͝op/
nounnoun:
coop; plural noun:
coops- a cage or pen for confining poultry.
"a chicken coop"
| synonyms: | pen, run, cage, hutch, enclosure, pound, lockup; More |
A
chicken coop or
hen house is a small house where, typically, female
chickens or other
fowl are kept safe and secure. There are nest boxes found inside the hen houses for egg-laying, and perches on which the birds can sleep.
A chicken coop usually has an indoor area where the chickens can sleep and nest, as well as a fenced-in outdoor area where chickens will feed and spend the majority of the day (which is typically made from
chicken wire). The coop should be cleaned after every two weeks, and the straw shifted every day, similar to a
litter box. At night, the coop should be locked with all the birds inside of it, so that they are protected from predators. Both the inside and outdoor floors of a chicken coop are often strewn with a loose material such as
straw or wood chips to deal with chicken droppings and to provide ventilation.
Purpose
The purpose of a chicken coop is to protect chickens from bad weather - heat, cold, wind and rain and secure them from predators-especially foxes and cats. One method to protect chickens is to put an isolation material between two layers of wood or bricks. As too much heat can prove to be fatal, windows should be oriented in such a way as to prevent overheating, and proper ventilation measures should be taken to prevent infectious bronchitis and overheating as well. The hens can be released outside by daylight but should be locked in a coop at night.
Housing controversies
A henhouse atffixed to an 'A-frame' enclosure
An easily movable henhouse or
chicken tractor (without wheels) for a small number of hens
An
Eglu backyard henhouse
There is a long-standing controversy over the basic need for a chicken coop. One philosophy, known as the "fresh air school" is that chickens are mostly hardy but can be brought low by confinement, poor air quality and darkness, hence the need for a highly ventilated or open-sided coop with conditions more like the outdoors, even in winter.
[1] However, others who keep chickens believe they are prone to illness in outdoor weather and need a controlled-environment coop. This has led to two housing designs for chickens: fresh-air houses with wide openings and nothing more than wire mesh between chickens and the weather (even in Northern winters), or closed houses with doors, windows and hatches which can shut off most ventilation.
[2] Regardless of design, experts agree that proper ventilation of the chicken coop is crucial for the health and well-being of the birds. Poorly ventilated chicken coops can lead to heat stress or stroke, and to the build-up of toxic fumes within the coop.
pastaˈpästə/
noun- a dish originally from Italy consisting of dough made from durum wheat and water, extruded or stamped into various shapes and typically cooked in boiling water.
Origin: late 19th century: from Italian, literally ‘paste’.
Pasta (Italian pronunciation:
[ˈpasta]) is a
staple food[1] of traditional
Italian cuisine, with the first reference dating to 1154 in
Sicily.
[2] Also commonly used to refer to the variety of
dishes made with it,
pasta is a type of
noodle typically made from an
unleavened dough of a
durum wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or various shapes, then cooked by
boiling or
baking. Some pastas are made using
rice flour or
legumes like
black beans or
lentils in place of wheat flour to yield a different taste and texture, or for those who need to avoid products containing
gluten.
[3][4]Pastas may be divided into two broad categories: dried (
pasta secca) and fresh (
pasta fresca). Most dried pasta is produced commercially via an
extrusion process, although it can be produced at home. Fresh pasta is traditionally produced by hand, sometimes with the aid of simple machines.
[5] Fresh pastas available in grocery stores are produced commercially by large-scale machines.
Both dried and fresh pastas come in a number of shapes and varieties, with 310 specific forms known by over 1300 documented names.
[6] In Italy, the names of specific pasta shapes or types often vary by locale. For example, the pasta form
cavatelli is known by 28 different names depending upon the town and region. Common forms of pasta include long and short shapes, tubes, flat shapes or sheets, miniature shapes for soup, those meant to be filled or stuffed, and specialty or decorative shapes.
[7]As a category in
Italian cuisine, both fresh and dried pastas are classically used in one of three kinds of prepared dishes: as
pasta asciutta (or
pastasciutta), cooked pasta is plated and served with a complementary side sauce or condiment; a second classification of pasta dishes is
pasta in brodo, in which the pasta is part of a
soup-type dish. A third category is
pasta al forno, in which the pasta is incorporated into a dish that is subsequently baked in the oven.
[8] Pasta dishes are generally simple, but individual dishes vary in preparation. Some pasta dishes are served as a small
first course or for light lunches, such as
pasta salads. Other dishes may be portioned larger and used for dinner.
Pasta sauces similarly may vary in taste, color and texture.
[9]In terms of
nutrition, cooked plain pasta is 31%
carbohydrates (mostly
starch), 6% protein, and low in fat, with moderate amounts of
manganese, but pasta generally has low
micronutrient content. Pasta may be
enriched or fortified, or made from
whole grains.
Etymology
First attested in English in 1874, the word "pasta" comes from
Italian pasta, in turn from
Latin pasta latinisation of the
Greek παστά (
pasta) "barley
porridge".
History
Making pasta; illustration from the 15th century edition of
Tacuinum Sanitatis, a Latin translation of the
Arabic work
Taqwīm al-sihha by
Ibn Butlan.
[10]In the 1st century AD writings of
Horace,
lagana (singular:
laganum) were fine sheets of fried dough
[11] and were an everyday foodstuff.
[url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#cite_note-FOOTNOTEServentiSabban200215–16-12][12][/url] Writing in the 2nd century
Athenaeus of Naucratis provides a recipe for
lagana which he attributes to the 1st century Chrysippus of Tyana: sheets of dough made of wheat flour and the juice of crushed lettuce, then flavoured with spices and deep-fried in oil.
[url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#cite_note-FOOTNOTEServentiSabban200215–16-12][12][/url] An early 5th century cookbook describes a dish called
lagana that consisted of layers of dough with meat stuffing, an ancestor of modern-day
lasagna.
[url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#cite_note-FOOTNOTEServentiSabban200215–16-12][12][/url]However, the method of cooking these sheets of dough does not correspond to our modern definition of either a fresh or dry pasta product, which only had similar basic ingredients and perhaps the shape.
[url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#cite_note-FOOTNOTEServentiSabban200215–16-12][12][/url] The first concrete information concerning pasta products in Italy dates from the 13th or 14th century.
[13]Historians have noted several lexical milestones relevant to pasta, none of which changes these basic characteristics. For example, the works of the 2nd century AD Greek physician
Galen mention
itrion, homogeneous compounds made of flour and water.
[14] The
Jerusalem Talmud records that
itrium, a kind of boiled dough,
[14] was common in
Palestine from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD.
[15] A dictionary compiled by the 9th century Arab physician and lexicographer Isho bar Ali
[16] defines
itriyya, the Arabic cognate, as string-like shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking. The geographical text of
Muhammad al-Idrisi, compiled for the Norman King of Sicily
Roger II in 1154 mentions
itriyya manufactured and exported from Norman Sicily:
West of Termini there is a delightful settlement called Trabia.[17] Its ever-flowing streams propel a number of mills. Here there are huge buildings in the countryside where they make vast quantities of itriyya which is exported everywhere: to Calabria, to Muslim and Christian countries. Very many shiploads are sent.[18]
One form of
itriyya with a long history is
laganum (plural
lagana), which in Latin refers to a thin sheet of dough,
[url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#cite_note-FOOTNOTEServentiSabban200215–16-12][12][/url] and gives rise to Italian
lasagna.
Boy with Spaghetti by Julius Moser, c. 1808
Typical products shop in
Napleswith pasta on display
In
North Africa, a food similar to pasta, known as
couscous, has been eaten for centuries. However, it lacks the distinguishing malleable nature of pasta, couscous being more akin to droplets of dough. At first, dry pasta was a luxury item in Italy because of high labor costs; durum wheat semolina had to be kneaded for a long time.
There is a legend of
Marco Polo importing pasta from
China[19] which originated with the
Macaroni Journal, published by an association of food industries with the goal of promoting pasta in the
United States.
[20]Rustichello da Pisa writes in his
Travels that Marco Polo described a food similar to "lagana".
Jeffrey Steingartenasserts that
Arabs introduced pasta in the
Emirate of Sicily in the ninth century, mentioning also that traces of pasta have been found in ancient Greece and that
Jane Grigson believed the Marco Polo story to have originated in the 1920s or 30s in an advertisement for a Canadian spaghetti company.
[21]In Greek mythology, it is believed that the god Hephaestus invented a device that made strings of dough. This was the earliest reference to a pasta maker.
[22]In the 14th and 15th centuries, dried pasta became popular for its easy storage. This allowed people to store pasta on ships when exploring the New World.
[23] A century later, pasta was present around the globe during the voyages of discovery.
[24]The invention of the first tomato sauces dates from the late 18th century: the first written record of pasta with tomato sauce can be found in the 1790 cookbook
L'Apicio Moderno by
Roman chef Francesco Leonardi.
[25]Before tomato sauce was introduced, pasta was eaten dry with the fingers; the liquid sauce demanded the use of a fork.
[23]History of manufacturing
At the beginning of the
17th century,
Naples had rudimentary machines for producing pasta, later establishing the
kneading machine and press, making pasta manufacturing cost-effective.
[26] In 1740, a license for the first pasta factory was issued in
Venice.
[26] During the 1800s,
water mills and
stone grinders were used to separate semolina from the bran, initiating expansion of the pasta market.
[26] In 1859, Joseph Topits (1824−1876) founded the first pasta factory of
Hungary in the city of
Pest, which worked with steam machines; it was one of the first pasta factories of Central Europe.
[url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta#cite_note-tésztáklexikona-27][27][/url] By 1867,
Buitoni Company in
Sansepolcro,
Tuscany became an established pasta manufacturer.
[28] During the early 1900s, artificial drying and
extrusionprocesses enabled greater variety of pasta preparation and larger volumes for export, beginning a period called "The Industry of Pasta".
[26][29] In 1884, the Zátka Brothers’s plant in Boršov nad Vltavou was founded and this was the first Pasta factory of Bohemia.
[30]Evolution
Using tomato sauce to give pasta its flavour was revolutionary, since it was originally eaten plain. The consumption of pasta has changed over time; while once a small, simple item, it is now often eaten in much larger portions and as part of complex, sophisticated dishes. Factors such as low prices and ease of cooking contribute to the growing popularity of this staple item.
[31]In modern times
The art of pasta making and the devotion to the food as a whole has evolved since pasta was first conceptualized. It is estimated that Italians eat over 60 pounds (27 kg) of pasta per person, per year, easily beating Americans, who eat about 20 pounds (9.1 kg) per person.
[32] Pasta is so beloved in Italy that individual consumption exceeds the average production of wheat of the country; thus Italy frequently imports wheat for pasta making. In contemporary society pasta is ubiquitous and individuals can find a variety of types in local supermarkets. With the worldwide demand for this staple food, pasta is now largely mass-produced in factories and only a tiny proportion is crafted by hand.
[32]Pasta was originally solely a part of Italian and European cuisine. With an increase in popularity on a worldwide scale, pasta has crossed international borders and is now a popular form of fast food and a staple in North America and elsewhere. This is due to the great amount of Italian immigration into Canada and the United States around the beginning of the 20th century. Similarly, an immense immigration of Italians into South Africa ensured that
spaghetti with meatballs became an essential part of South African cuisine.
[33]Ingredients
Pasta made from
durum wheat
Since at least the time of
Cato's
De Agri Cultura, basic pasta dough has been made mostly of wheat flour or
semolina,
[6] with
durum wheat used predominantly in the South of Italy and soft wheat in the North. Regionally other grains have been used, including those from barley, buckwheat, rye, rice, and maize, as well as chestnut and chickpea flours.
To address needs of people affected by
gluten-related disorders (such as
coeliac disease,
non-celiac gluten sensitivity and
wheat allergy sufferers),
[34] some recipes use rice or
maize for making pasta. Grain flours may also be supplemented with cooked
potatoes.
[35][36]Other additions to the basic flour-liquid mixture may include vegetable purees such as spinach or tomato, mushrooms, cheeses, herbs, spices and other seasonings. While pastas are, most typically, made from unleavened doughs, the use of yeast-raised doughs are also known for at least nine different pasta forms.
[6]Additives in dried, commercially sold pasta include vitamins and minerals that are lost from the durum wheat endosperm during milling. They are added back to the semolina flour once it is ground.
Micronutrients added may include
niacin (vitamin B3),
riboflavin (vitamin B2),
folate,
thiamine (vitamin B1), and
ferrous iron.
[37]My Pasta Mates
