Q–I baked blueberry muffins with Jiffy Muffin Mix and they were good, but on the box it says ”imitation blueberries.” What in the world are imitation blueberries?
A–Ruth Stone of the Chelsea Milling Co.`s customer relations department tells us that the blueberries in the mix actually are little bits of apples that are flavored and colored to look and taste like blueberries.
Why does Jiffy do this? Two reasons are given. ”An apple,” says Stone,
”is a very nutritious and healthful food, and we chose that from which to make our blueberries for that reason. Also, natural blueberries have very little flavor.”
If apples are substituted for blueberries because Jiffy thinks they`re more nutritious, they can stop doing so right now because they`re not any more nutritious than blueberries. As for the second reason, if natural blueberries have little flavor, why are the bits of apples flavored and colored to look and taste like blueberries?
Stone informs us that muffin mixes containing actual blueberries always contain artificial flavoring and usually coloring to ”beef up” the taste of the blueberries.
Jiffy probably chose to use apple bits over beefed-up blueberries because it was financially advantageous to do so.
Q–Some Teflon-coated pots and pans run into real money. Can they be recoated or repaired by the manufacturer?
A–While it`s technically possible to recoat cookware, it`s not economical to do so. Richard Westerman, a technical manager with Du Pont, advises us that such an operation would be highly customized, requiring removal of the handles and accessories, plus the old nonstick coating. The major cookware manufacturers are highly automated and not prepared for such an undertaking.
If you have a special piece you would like to have repaired, however, there are some small companies that will quote you a price. One of them is R.J. Chase Co. Inc., P.O. Box 248, 400 Tara Court, Union City, Calif. 94587.
Q–When I was growing up in India, I used to have a glass of buttermilk with my lunch every day. It was homemade and was a thin, watery liquid. Every day homemade yogurt was churned, and the butter was taken out. Left over was the buttermilk. It was considered very healthy to drink. The buttermilk I find here is thick and different. How is it made, and what is its nutritional value?
A–The old way of making buttermilk was to take cream, agitate it, and remove the semi-solid mass of butter that formed. What remained was buttermilk, a liquid that varied from thin to thick.
Most cultured buttermilk you buy in the store today is not a by-product of buttermaking, nor does it even have actual contact with butter. What they do instead is inject bacteria into skim or sometimes whole milk, which produces a buttery flavor. It is then churned, at which time it`s often sprayed with tiny droplets of milk fat so the end product will look like classic buttermilk.
Buttermilk obtained from the actual churning of cream is widely used in baking and can be obtained in dry form.
Modern buttermilk is as nutritious as regular milk, and because of the souring and churning process is easier to digest.
If you have a question for Sonja Heinze, write to her at the Food Guide, The Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
