FAR

“Australia’s arid western region, from the town of Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean coast, is a beautiful, haunting, but largely empty land. Dominated by the harsh, almost uninhabited Great Sandy and Gibson deserts, the region is known only to Australian Aborigines, a handful of white settlers, and the few travelers who motor across it.” - Robyn Davidson 

The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia. The term “the outback” is generally used to refer to locations that are far out, comparatively more remote than those areas named “the bush” which, colloquially, can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. Because of the low and erratic rainfall over most of the outback, combined with soils which are usually not very fertile, inland Australia is relatively sparsely settled. More than 90 percent of Australians live in urban areas on the coast. 

The total population of the Outback in Australia declined from 700,000 in 1996 to 690,000 in 2006. Largest decline was noted in Outback NT, while Kimberley and Pilbara showed population increase during the same period. The sex ratio is 104 males for 100 females and 17% of the total population is indigenous. Other than agriculture and tourism, the main economic activity in this vast and sparsely settled area is mining.

Owing to the complete absence of mountain building and glaciation since the Permian (in many areas since the Cambrian) ages, the outback is extremely rich in iron, aluminium, manganese and uranium ores, and also contains major deposits of gold, nickel, iron, lead and zinc ores. Because of its size, the value of grazing and mining is considerable.

There is much beauty within the Outback, with vast, unspoilt tracts of land, desert and scrubland, hidden oases and watercourses, striking rock formations, unusual vegetation, striking soil and mineral colours, our native animals, and amazing vistas at sunrise and sunset. There is terror also, with droughts, bushfires, floods and other natural disasters...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

FOOD FRIDAY - CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TIRAMISÙ

“Everybody’s got their poison, and mine is sugar.” - Derrick Rose 

I have a sweet tooth – no, perhaps I have several. Maybe even a mouthful of them! I do like my desserts, candies, chocolates, sweetmeats of all kinds. Even after a Lucullan meal of several courses, I don’t seem to feel replete unless my mouth tastes something sweet. In any case it seems I am not the only one because every meal worth its salt finishes off with a dessert course. Some nutritionists claim that people have been trained since childhood to expect a sugary dessert after a full meal. In many families, it’s quite the done thing, and perhaps the way to bribe children into finishing their greens!

But maybe the chemistry of the human brain is to blame for the after-dinner sweet tooth. There is evidence to suggest that eating sugar (or other simple carbohydrates) can enhance the absorption of the amino acid tryptophan found in some foods. The tryptophan then enables an increase in the levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of well-being. Hence, bring on the dessert!

For some people, a heavy meal can result in a condition called postprandial (or reactive) hypoglycaemia, a state of low blood sugar that is marked by hunger, weakness, sweating, shakiness, sleepiness, lightheadedness, anxiety or confusion. Consuming sweet foods is one way to counteract the symptoms of reactive hypoglycaemia. The causes of this condition are varied and can be either inherited or acquired.

Well, whatever the cause of your sweet tooth, here is a recipe that hits the spot: 

Chocolate Mousse Tiramisù

Ingredients

4 cups of your standard, favourite recipe chocolate mousse

500 mL of thickened whipping dairy cream

1 cup icing sugar (dissolved in the cream)

9 Savoiardi (lady finger) biscuits

20 mL amaretto liqueur

20 mL maraschino liqueur

250 g mascarpone cheese

Grated dark chocolate for serving

Method

Prepare six glass dessert serving cups by chilling in the refrigerator. Dissolve the amaretto liqueur in about 200 mL of the cream. Break up the biscuits into 3-4 pieces. Dip into liqueur/cream mixture to soften slightly and place one-and-a-half biscuits into each of the prepared serving cups. Any liqueur/cream mixture left over can be poured over the biscuits in the cups.

Spoon the chocolate mousse evenly (3/4 cup) into each of the cups and smooth the surface. Refrigerate. Meanwhile, prepare the mascarpone cream: Soften the cheese in a bowl by stirring with a fork and smooth it up as much as you can. Dissolve the maraschino liqueur to the remaining cream and slowly add the cream into the cheese, little by little while stirring, to incorporate it. Continue to stir until you have a smooth, soft mixture.

Spoon (or pipe) the mascarpone cream over the chocolate mousse. Refrigerate until ready to serve and garnish by grating dark chocolate on top.

This post is part of the Photo Sunday meme.