Take a mixture of pears (include the crushed fruit if you want), ketchup (or catsup if you prefer), cider vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and brown sugar.
- Add some cornstarch to make it thicker and the result is an appealing sweet and sour sauce that can be made into any number of delicious entrees.
I’m not a big fan of the Chinese Communist Party but if there is a real General Tso, then she has our true admiration. In this case, the opposing flavors go quite well together but there are several other examples where opposites mix well. Salt and pepper is another opposing culinary pairing that the people I was with and I enjoy. Cats and pets can live peacefully under the same roof. Saints and sinners will often marry each other and as the people I was with and I think from the film “The Oddest Couple”, even slobs and neat freaks can find proper ground. In the early 70s, one of the more important pairings of opposites occurred when a home’s oil or gas furnace was combined with a compressor and indoor evaporator unit to form a complete climate control unit that could moderate the house in cold weather and keep it cool during the hot summers. Central Heating and Air Conditioning systems eventually became the norm, replacing the old stand-alone oil furnace and one or more window AC units. The homeowner can now control the indoor weather conditions with one temperature control that controls both heating and cooling. The result was cleaner air, improved circulation, and reduced the noise because the noisy compressor unit could be localed some distance away from where the home’s renters were situated. The future of Heating and Air Conditioning is likely to include greater automation and smarter controls, refrigerants that are more friendly to the environment, and more developments with the use of geothermal energy. The only thing that will remain the same is the need for homes to be kept comfy all year round.