Bottoms Up

Beginning gently with barbecue comparisons, Pollan lulls readers (practically to sleep) with expectations of garnering knowledge (not bias) throughout his book Cooked.  Continuing with the villainization of corn was slightly bombastic, albeit trite and unoriginal - but lines were drawn when bread baked by a machine, in home or otherwise, was enlisted as a daughter of the Industrial Food Revolution.  These tools that ensnare us with their impressively speedy results; and heaven knows that if it comes quickly, someone's going to pay the price somehow.  Now, we are treated to the horrors of pasteurizing away bacteria.  Scientific study means nothing compared to pockets of pop science, where people thrive on fermentation.  At least Pollan did not find appeal in 300 year old breadfruit, but even so, I don't believe flash-frozen foods are quite a detriment.
Moreover, its not bacteria vs. processed foods.  Perhaps neither are the best option.

Move aside, Luddite Pollan.

My post-Pasteurian world thrives not on bacteria and rabies, but on vaccines and processes that exist to protect - within reason and with balance.  But if Pollan wants to give rabies a try, maybe we'll get an interesting book on that experience!  Who knows, maybe food tastes different if its all topped with foam.    

Spotted Dick, Pearl Necklaces and No Regrets

We all have those pleasures, those things we learn to appreciate when they occur, but love them all the more for the missing.  As a friend and I went home for Fall Break, I was once again given the joy of eating food, real food as I know it.  Minestrone, Bourbon Chicken, White Chocolate-Apricot Scones, an adventure making Latkes, Almond-Date Scones, Colonial Bread, Molasses Cookies, Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookes, Homemade Chocolate Layer Cake, Pancakes, Blueberry-Pumpkin Pancakes, all of the food that we could fit into 4 days - and I regret it none.  Moreover, the family bonds that I cherish so dearly, are only strengthened as I remember how much time we spend uniting in our kitchen.  "Sneaking" raw cookie dough before my mother discovers the family thieving, late night coffee and tea tastings, recipe experiments, dueling matches with recyclable materials, all the things that make my family a cohesive unit (with a little sarcasm and commentary thrown to add a little flavor).
 

“‘A loaf of bread,’ the Walrus said, ‘is what we chiefly need...’”

"I am proud to be an American.  Because an American can eat anything on the face of this earth as long as he has two pieces of bread."  ~ Bill Cosby

"How can a nation be great if their bread tastes like kleenex?"  ~ Julia Child

"The Sky is the daily bread of the eyes."  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"With bread all sorrows are less"  ~ Sanch Panza, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

"There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."  ~ Mahatma Gandhi 

“Acorns were good until bread was found.”  ~ Francis Bacon

“Without bread all is misery.”   ~ William Cobbett

     These are just a few sayings, adages, axioms, and quotes about bread.  Clearly there is an abundance - and all seem to illuminate that bread eases sorrows and pain, heightens beauty, and even in accordance with a Russian proverb, can aid in the realization of paradise.  Bread can hold tradition, fulfill a religious custom, and bring people together.  

     It seems that so many varying societies have a "bread" - the "teff" as we experienced at our Ethiopian TSD, "naan" as is customary in Middle-Eastern and some Asian regions, and bread that is widespread throughout Europe and thus America.  Yet, for all the foods we no longer consume (corn pone, obscure pies and puddings, grits merely out of tradition, etc), bread is consistently a food humanity has consumed and enjoys consuming.  
     Perhaps this has something to do with the great diversity afforded by the intricacies of bread and bread-making.  I must admit that the thought of a bread "crumb" so soft it is "practically a custard" is incredibly enticing.  So enticing that I put the book (Tartine Bread) on hold at my home library so I can peruse it over break.  
But not-so-enticing is this concept that bacteria forms the bread.  While this isn't truly a foreign concept, it became much more real when Pollan quoted Chad Robertson's preference to mix the dough by hand so that more bacteria would be added to the dough.  
    I shuddered inside.
Albeit, bacteria is natural, healthy even!  In actuality, bacteria and the fermenting process are a necessity.  Never before had squirrels' hiding of food seemed to have a purpose other than storage.  Elementary school education and songs of a grey squirrel swishing its bushy tail have failed me - never in those fall afternoons of glitter-gluing acorns was I told that the purpose of squirrels burying acorns was to ferment them so as to be edible. 
  Just as these furry creatures know to hide their food so it is edible, so we too should handle our food.  As I think about all the bread I have consumed, there is a definite taste difference in the bread made by hand, the bread made at home in a bread-maker, and the bread that comes from a factory.  
  So I suppose the greatest illustration of our food disconnect is that I somehow still picture the French loaf I purchased from the WalMart bakery to be made in the back by someone in white, with a chef's hat, making this bread.  This is the image I want to have of the bread I consume, and yet, I have to admit that is probably not the reality.  
But regardless of whether I purchase bread or make it - bread isn't going anywhere, so I guess I'm not terribly worried.  It will always be around to chase my sorrows away!

Avoid those who don’t like bread and children. ~ Swiss Proverb

Do you like weed(s)?

The entire concept of hunting, gathering and foraging as Pollan discussed extensively in the final section of The Omnivore's Dilemma: Personal - The Forest, is alluring in daily life.  But as this article does give practical tips for those wanting to implement such into daily routine, it also references this as a trend that has been picked-up by restaurants and chefs.  This struck a chord.  For all the pride and contentment I would have by serving a meal to my family that included a dandelion salad and berries from plants near my residence, I must say I would most likely feel rather indignant to go to an upscale restaurant and be served weeds.   This mentality that foraging for food is acceptable when it makes me a "model citizen" but is unacceptable when I am anticipating a "gourmet" dinner is a little unsettling, and I am not yet sure what it means as far as our connection to food in a real sense, rather than just a sense that placates our conscience for a few moments.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120308153539.htm

TSDs are going around...

This past weekend, I journeyed at the crack of dawn to App State, home of the Apple-Cart and Apple flavored hookah alike.  My purpose was not recreational, but rather to present the opportunities afforded by TSDs (Try Something Different) in Honors programs.  During the presentation, I realized how much more engaged our audience was in our presentation than in others we had seen; and perhaps this was due in part to the fact that my fellow presenters and I were relaxed and enjoyed making jokes.  Or perhaps its due to the fact that food truly does bring people together!  Tomorrow night will be a great example, and I am truly looking forward to our Ethiopian adventure.  American is really quite the melting pot, and tomorrow night, I am going to enjoy my Western diet for all of its diversity!

Come Together

Regardless of whether life imitates art or art imitates life, I know that my life is being influenced by this class.  For while I have always contemplated what I put into my body, I think the fact that I know I will be discussing these choices in theory (and not in an intimidating way as if I was in a Food-aholics Anonymous or WW groupie or some such micromanaging "help group") makes me truly consider making good choices.  This class has led to positive thought-processes and deeper contemplation.
And as Pollan provokes us to eat together, that is something that we Honors students especially push to the wayside.  Not necessarily to our detriment in physical health directly, but perhaps to our emotional distress and stress levels, which will ultimately influence our physical state.  There is something supremely beneficial in sharing food with a friend.  In the midst of insanity and commotion, a friend and I sat and brought our contributions to dinner (the caf was never a consideration), and I realized that this is one of the first meals I have eaten with someone when I didn't have to rush off to somewhere.  And as I reflected on the fact that sharing an avocado and yogurt (there may have been some Reese's Pieces involved in there someone, but even E.T. found those to be a bonding food) and sitting not at a table, but in a quiet place, was one of the healthiest choices one can make at this point in life.  So for all of our adages about flowers and tables - I think the truest rule we need, is that there aren't rules (other than hugs not drugs - thats a legitimate rule), there are merely choices that you need to make in the moment.  And sometimes, it is to eat alone in solace.  Other times, its to sit on a dorm bed piled with pillows and blankets eating some whole foods and some pop-culture foods and just relax.  And I suppose that is my ultimate rule, be reasonable, and do what you need - whether for your physical health, emotional health, mental health, or whatever health you necessitate!

"Better than they should be"

This past Tuesday I had the extreme honor of visiting the Cleveland County Fair.  Our group included a Spaniard, a Frenchwoman, two South Americans, a Northerner, an Arkansan, and one (essentially) North Carolinian native.  To say that we were quite a spectacular conglomeration of cultural diversity would not even explain half of the amusement that came from our group.  I already tend to feel a smidge out of my element in traditionally southern experiences (though fairs in and of themselves are not a new experience, southern fairs are in fact different than northern ones), the TA's with whom we ventured were completely shocked and ecstatic.  They came ready with cash to try all the fried foods (that they later promised to work off in the gym for 3 hours and by not consuming any sweets or fried foods for at least a week in attempts to restore their physical well-being).  Between the four of them, they consumed: fries, cheese fries, hush puppies, chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick, and 6 fried Oreos.  Their faces upon seeing the enormous turkey legs walking around were priceless (and if I stop to think about how those turkey legs got that big in the first place, my face is probably fairly similar).  But nothing makes one stop and reconsider the foods your culture promotes more than the fact that they are foods 4 differing societies would never contemplate normalizing!  I didn't think twice about splitting an ice cream topped, apple dumpling fried to yummy perfection, fair food.  Or about the sugar in the orangeade I drank.  Consuming these did not stop me from eating sweets in the subsequent days and I certainly did not spend my life in the gym with remorse.  But the TA's did indeed admit that the foods were good and that the Oreos were "better than they should be" and they truly shouldn't be "allowed to be this good" (though the heart-attack that they felt looming over them post-consumption still didn't seem to dampen their enthusiasm).  But the south is quite notorious for deep frying every blessed thing (even Kool-aid) and this fact was not lost on our friends who questioned whether or not "fried water" would appear next year.  Such excitement and fun that comes with watching others consume the foods you are thankful are not a regular part of your diet, until you realize that there are foods far too similar that we do indeed eat with far too much frequency.  C'est la vie, at least here in America!