Let's talk about food

Schraf,I would have agreed with you until I recently read this book. You can read some interviews with Campbell on the internet, but the guy seems to have a very deep and respected background in nutrition. He was raised in Wisconsin on a dairy farm but as his research continued he has moved to eating a vegan diet. I'm giving it a try myself. If I can't entirely sustain it I still plan to have animal protein and products play a very minimal role in my diet. The cons of animal foods include greatly increased incidence of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. It really is worth checking this out as in America our diet of affluence heavy in animal and refined foods is resulting in high rates of these diseases.Title: The China study : the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted and the startling implications for diet, weight loss and long-term health / T. Colin Campbell with Thomas M. Campbell II. BookAuthor: Campbell, T. Colin, 1934-
Publisher, Date: Dallas, Tex. : BenBella Books, 2005. - Edition 1st BenBella Books ed.
ISBN: 1932100385 - Description: xviii, 417 p. : ill., 1 map ; 24 cm.to your good health,
lfen

Hey! I'm glad you enjoyed the cheese.Yes, absolutely it's expensive, but like you said, it's great for a treat. Which cheeses did they send?OTOH, folks in town tend to get so they really don't buy cheese anywhere else. I mean, they do at first, because the Whole Foods or someplace will say they have the same stuff, but it really isn't the same. What we get is better; in many cases the best in the world. We hear "I bought the same cheese at this other place but it didn't taste anywhere near as good as what I got here." all the time.Oh, and I thought you's like to know that Mail Order ships WAY more bread and baked goods than any other category of food, can you believe it?Also, did you put the loaf into the oven to heat and crisp it up?It's really important to do that; it will completely revive it.Anyway, you of course don't have to get the bread next time if you'd prefer. Just call them and let them know.If you need any help with olive oil or vinegar, let me know, as those are my particular areas of expertise.Cheers.

Oh my god, tell me about olive oil.I mean, I don't care what you say, because I know that whatever you have to say about it will expand my knowledge of it by light-years, and I cook with olive oil a lot. (Consequence of an italian mother.) Lets try this. How should I know what a good olive oil is? What does a good one taste like?

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The cons of animal foods include greatly increased incidence of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. It really is worth checking this out as in America our diet of affluence heavy in animal and refined foods is resulting in high rates of these diseases.

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Have you heard of something called "The French Paradox"?The French diet is rich in animal-derived saturated fat, they smoke a lot, and they drink a lot of wine, yet they have far less incidence of cancer and heart disease than many other cultures with much more (supposedly) healthy diets.One of the postulated factors infuencing this is anxiety about food. In the US, we have "medicalized" and "moralized" food to such an extent that many people fear it, worry over it, and have reduced it to mere fuel and medicine rather than relish it as a great pleasure.How many times have you heard of some delicious food being described as "sinful" or "decadent"?People here have so much stress and guilt over food, where a French person has very little, if any.They also don't sit on their behinds all day long and drive everywhere; they walk a LOT. They also eat much smaller portions of high-quality, full-flavored food that satisfiesNow, I agree with you regarding processed convenience foods, they are nutritionally and gustatorially bankrupt and have produced several generations of Americans who love to conume vast quantities of food but have, deadened, stunted, monosylabic palates.However, the diet I pretty much follow is one of the healthiest diets in the world; the Mediterranean diet.It includes plenty of fish and poultry and a good-sized smattering of dairy, lots and lots of grains, fruits, vegetables and olive oil, and a little bit of red meat every once in a while.I think going vegan is extreme, as evidenced by the fact that certain nutrients like B12 are very difficult to obtain unless you consume some animal products or take supplements.The need for supplementation and for closely monitoring one'd diet because it's hard to get all the nutrients one needs as a vegan kind of implies to me that humans do better with some animal products.

i have heard of the French paradox and I personally find the Mediterranean diet very appealing and it may be the one I end up able to sustain.I am fairly new to nutrition and had to return the The China Study as another library patron reserved it, so I can't check what Campbell says or if he says how the rural Chinese diet compares to the French diet. I was impressed with Campbell's depth of study but I now have to wait a while before it will be my turn with the book again.Would you agree that most meats that Americans eat have a strong con due to hormones, chemicals, and bad fat ratios resulting from the feeding of the animals?lfen

Apparently the wine is an significant factor here, specifically, red wine. Supposedly it is great for the circulation and has a lot of antioxidants, and on top of that it tastes good. It seems that those of us in places like Australia, USA, Canada, UK, etc should be drinking more red wine and less beer.Sounds like an excellent idea to me!

It's a good idea but unfortunately what I love are big malted highly hopped craft ales dark and yummy in the glass. Reading that ales have a lot more residual carbohydrates than wine probably accounts for their appealing so to my sweet tooth. Wine is okay but sadly, I personally just don't find it as appetizing as ale.lfen

I believe mushlich (spelling?) is a German word. My wife does nearly all our cooking, but likes a muhlich which I make up from mostly raw organic ingredients. I like to mix up mostly raw concoctions. I don't measure much, but simply add to taste as I go. I begin with a sizeable bowl for easy mixing (which I do with a large spoon). First in goes raw organic rolled oats which we buy at a health food outlet by the 50 lb bag as we eat a lot of rolled oats. I start with a cup or two of oats depending how much we want. From there I add whatever tastes good and is healthy. The list goes as follows:
1. about 3 or 4 tablespoons of cold pressed flax oil which I buy frozen by the quart and keep in the freezer so as not to turn rancid which it will do easily. In our freezer door compartment it does not get hard but stays very cold. (NOTE; There's a test for rancid oils. Sample a small dab and if it stings your throat, IT IS RANCID! Much of the olive oils you buy in the supermarket, even though they are valid dated, DO NOT PASS THE TEST! I also had to return some flax oil capsules which did not pass the test, though they had good dates. For that reason, I bite all oil capsules when I get them.)
Olive oil is fine too, if you can find some good coldpressed that's not rancid or if you can buy it frozen.
2. A quarter cup or so of wheat germ. (organic, of course)
3. A quarter cup or so of raw organic sunflower seeds. Do not buy sunflower seeds unless they are raw and have a rich grey color. If they are yellowish, they're worthless and not good for you.
4. Raw organic nut chips or chopped nuts can replace sunflower seeds if desired.
5. If at all possible a nice ripe (but not mushy) mango is an important ingredient, imo. This should be diced which is tricky. You first peel half of it. Why? Because they're miserably slippery and you need the other half unpeeled to hold onto it. Then with a good sharp knife you slice TO THE SEED (important) longwise first about five or six slices. Then you slice crosswise the whole length of the half so you end up with little pea size dices. Then you shave off that side to the seed, making sure your all the way to the seed, leaving half of your seed bare when you finish that half. Now you have the seed to dig your fingernails onto for a grip so you can hold it to peel the other half and do likewise. (Practice makes perfect) For a good muhlich, it's important to have everything in small parts/dices so as to get a nice blend when finished.
6. Add one diced/sliced banana. I peel it down so as far as I can and still hold the unpeeled part in left hand. Then I slice once through the middle all the way down, after which I slice it quite thinly all the way down. Then I peel the end I've held and dice it up. Again this procedure is used so as to hold onto it.
7. Add to this UNSULFURED blackstrap molasses to taste. Even if you don't like blackstrap, you'll like it in this as it, as with everything else blends the whole so you don't taste anything particular, perse. I often add some genuine maple syrup also. NO SUGAR!! Imo, if you do you will end up with something inferior in taste and unhealthy for your body. Blackstrap molasses is all the good nutritious stuff that is left after refining the sugar out of sugar cane. In America most is fed to animals to keep them healthy and we stupid humans eat the worthless nutritionless white sugar, wrecking havoc with out health and rotting our teeth.
8. A few tablespoons of plain white yogart is good.
9. A few tablespoons of UNSULFURED grated coconut is an excellent ingredient, but for health, make sure it's unsulfured and says so on the lable. Most is not. Your local health store will likely have it or can get it.
10. Berries, such as blueberrys, currants, strawberrys, etc are excellent ingredients, either frozen or preferably fresh. If you don't like to deal with the seeds, don't use currants or rasberrys. I don't mind them. Dice up the strawberrys.
11 Other fresh fruits as desired can be added but dice them up good.
12.Oat bran, rice or other grain bran is always included in my mix.
13. Tofu is good.
14. To end up with the desired slump (a term used in mixing cement for desired thickness ) you will likely need some kind of liquid. I often use Coors beer as last I heard Coors uses no nitrites. I need to check with them though to see if that still holds true. Water will work fine if it's not clorinated tap water. Milk not healthy, nor is pop, imo. Fruit juice is good so long as it's the real stuff. I sometimes use cider if I can get it without preservative nitrites. Wine is good but has the nitrites also. MIX THOROUGHLY (very important) with a large spoon. As you mix and mix and mix, it will thicken. This is when you begin to add liquid to desired slump.This gives you something delicious to try. I call it sinless desert meal It's also something you can scale down or up sizewize according to how many you're feeding. Most guests should love this, but I suggest you do one up for yourself first. There's all kinds of variations you can use to suit and finetune what you like. Remember though that you should not live to eat. You should eat to live!!Cheers and good health to all!

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The immeasurable present is forever consuming the eternal future and extending the infinite past. buzsaw

OK, we might have to get a room, because this is my favorite subject in the world, pretty much, and I can get, um, kind of worked up. Mrs. Crashfrog won't mind, will she?

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How should I know what a good olive oil is?

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Well there are a couple of things to look for that will help you when you go shopping.You don't need to ever buy anything that doesn't say "first cold pressed" and "extra virgin" on the label unless you need quarts or gallons to deep-fry something.What "first cold pressed" means is what it says; it's the first pressing of the olives, and the producer is careful to keep the temperature of the olives, the paste, and the oil under 100 degrees farenheit the entire time. You can get a more complete extraction with higher temperatures, but the flavor and aroma of the oil will be damaged."Extra virgin" means a couple of things. One part is technical, and that is that when chemically analysed, the oil has a "free oleic acid" content of .8% or lower. Oleic acid is a kind of "marker substance" that occurs naturally in olives in higher amounts as the quality of the oil goes down. The other part is subjective, and in Italy and most other counties, the oils are tasted by professional tasters to certify it as free of major defects and as having desireable positive attributes.Now, this doesn't mean that every first cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil is just as good as any other. I have tasted MANY that were OK but unremarkable, quite a lot that were pretty bad, and just a few that were truly outstanding.There are lots and lots of factors that go into what makes a good olive oil, and many of them are similar to what makes a good wine, cheese, ham, etc. The soil the trees are grown in, the variety of tree, the climate, the weather that year, the condition of the olives (are they bruised, have fly scars, etc.?) the ripeness of the olive when it's picked, the blend (or lack thereof) of olive varieties, the time it takes to get the olive to the press, the method of pressing, the method of picking, the cleanliness of the facility, if the maker filters or decants his or her oil, etc., etc., etc.There are two categories of olive oil available; mass produced and hand made.A really good mass-produced oil is Colavita, and we sell it at the Deli for a saute oil and for people who just want a really afforable oil. It's got good flavor and is made by reputable people who do a nice job on a very large scale.Now, just as you wouldn't expect a mass-produced jug wine to be as interesting and flavorful as a bottle of 20 year old vintage Burgundy from a small vinyard, Colavita, while good, is not anywhere near as explosive, subtle, complex, and lingering as a high quality, artisinaly produced olive oil. These oils are best used "raw"; in sald dressings, drizzled over vegetables, pastas and grilled food, etc. You can start your red sauce with Colavita but then, just before you take the pasta to the table, hit it with a ribbon of the good stuff.

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What does a good one taste like?

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Well, that depends!Olive oils, when you get into the really good ones, range very widely in flavor. On one end of the spectrum they are very rich, mouth-filling and buttery and ripe-olivey tasting. I describe these oils as kind of like "Marylin Monroe". Voluptuous, soft, and round, but never boring.The other end of the spectrum is, vegetal, grassy, fruity, bitter, and peppery, usually with a lighter mouthfeel. These could be likened to "Russel Crowe". In-your-face, powerful, and also complicated and nuanced.In between there are oils which split the difference; they have some of the attributes of each extreme but none of them are really strongly stated. There are others which pretty much fit into either general category but may be ligher on one kind of flavor and bigger on another.Mass produced oils, unfortunately, generally come from Morocco or Spain (regardless of what it says on the label) and are produced for quantity and blandness, to appeal to the mass market.It's one of the biggest parts of my job to know what each of our 40 or so olive oils taste like and to guide our guests through their choice by asking them questions and talking them through what they are tasting to help them with vocabulary and tasting technique.So...any more questions?When are you going to come see me at the Deli and pick out some olive oil???

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Would you agree that most meats that Americans eat have a strong con due to hormones, chemicals, and bad fat ratios resulting from the feeding of the animals?

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In general, yes.They also eat WAY, WAY too much of it.

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(NOTE; There's a test for rancid oils. Sample a small dab and if it stings your throat, IT IS RANCID! Much of the olive oils you buy in the supermarket, even though they are valid dated, DO NOT PASS THE TEST!

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No, this is a myth, I'm afraid. (Of course, some supermarkets do sell old oil, but a bite on the back of the troat is not an indicator of rancidity)Actually, certain styles of olive oil are supposed to sting the back of the throat with a peppery bite, by design.Many regional Italian oils, for example, most notably from Tuscany and almost all southern Italian oils have this quality on purpose. The Italian word for this is pizzica.Bitterness, which pizzica encompasses, is also sometimes confused with rancidity in olive oil, but it is not difficult to tell the difference.Rancid oil smells and tastes not of grass or fruit, but of old, mostly flavorless vegetable oil (like the grease container behind a fast food restaurant).Anyway, buz, you should know that those bitter, peppery flavors indicate higher levels of polyphenols compared to the mellow, smooth, mild olive oils. Polyphenols are the anti-oxidant properties present in olive oil.Not only are those polyphenols good for us, they are a natural preservative for the olive oil. This means that the mellow, smooth olive oils have a shorter shelf life than the bitter, peppery ones.

You can get the same benfit by drinking red or purple grape juice.Chocolate also hase many of the same anti-cancer substances as red wine.

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Remember though that you should not live to eat. You should eat to live!!

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I'll do both, thanks!

Schrafnator:I must admit, I was a bit intrigued and excited when I realized that you were going to discuss olive oils. And while I did find the post informative, it left me wanting for more. I know very little about olive oil, but my wife uses it quite a bit. She does a vast majority of the cooking in our house hold...not because she’s the women and should be feeding her man, but rather because she absolutely loves to cookand I am the happy and very grateful recipient of that love.Having said that, let me get back to my desire for more info regarding good olive oils. Can you list specific companies or brands of olive oil that you would recommend trying? You see, my wife also spends her summers at a biological station doing her research which means two things for me. First, for about 3-4 months I do NOT get to enjoy her cooking, and second, for about 3-4 months I am on my own when it comes to preparing food (there are, of course, other things as wellbut let’s not go thereok? ). I would love to surprise her (when she comes home for a brief stay while she attends a conference in Ann Arbor) with a bottle of really nice olive oil. Of course my intentions are two-foldand I’ll let you use your imagination as to what those two things might be (good food being only one of them). I have been told, for example, that Portuguese olive oil is really good. Of course, I was told this by a friend of ours from Portugal, so who really knows?Anyway, any additional info you willing to give up, would certainly be appreciated by me and, by the sounds of things, crashfrog as well.Thanks,
FliesOnly

Are you looking for recommendations of the best Olive Oil by taste or lubricating properties?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion