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Molecular Gastronomy, The Science of Cooking
Roland Piquepaille writes "The Art of Cooking is evolving fast in this 21st century. New food products are being designed with the help of molecular technology, genetic discoveries or space research before arriving in our kitchens. For example, here is a Pravda article which says that NASA is preparing sandwiches which will still be edible after seven years. Companies like Kraft are also using nanotechnology to create food products tailored to users' needs. This is a booming market and, according to Associated Press, dozens of universities in the U.S. are offering degrees in culinology, attracting creative students in their food and science programs."
This is good because eventually we will all want to have food that is chemically efficient for us to digest, without any of the wrong ingredients, but I question the health side of chemical/altered foods.
I was talking to a chef about a month ago who was complaining about having to put loads of oils, creams, butter and mayo in foods to achieve the taste that the consumer wants, at the expense of their health. "We're paid to kill people," was his complaint, and sadly I think he's right. This same chef was saying how it would be nice if there were alternatives to bad food, that would not jeopardize someone's health. I think that new advancements in science would be the right approach to solving the obesity problem, as long as people are protected from any negative side effects. Natural replacements seem to top this chef's list. He said that the natural foods are the very best for you, so he had little faith in chemicals or engineered food as being healthy for us.
I've stayed away from garbage food for only a short period and lost nearly 40 pounds of flubber! It's really simple, actually. Most people have a small breakfast, a bigger lunch and a huge dinner. I have a huge breakfast, a smaller lunch and a much smaller dinner (before 6pm usually). I eat from each of the four food groups every day.
This one cool salad the chef told me about is:
- Veggies (whatever you want)
- Salt & Pepper (loads of it unless you have a heart condition)
- Squeezed Lemon
The salad tastes like fish & chips with vinegar and salt, so I'm kinda tricking my body into thinking it is getting a load of grease (which all of our bodies crave, because they are stupid bags of carbon and mostly water -- and we all know how well oil and water gets along, don't we?).I stay away from oils because they can ruin your whole system, and I think they reinforce our current fatty deposits, by feeding it somehow (it's not that much of a mystery). Once a week I have fat with meat, because the chef said that new fat kills old fat. New fat apparently replaces old fat, and then doesn't congreal as quickly if it's in turn replaced a week later. That doesn't mean overdo it... just a little will do. Apparently people who have been overweight for a long time have very dense fat that must be replaced in order for them to empty fatty deposits eventually.
My portions are smaller, and I'm not always hungry. I drink as much water as I can every day too, and it helps. I drink tea & coffee, and smoke regularly. I might not be the picture of health, but I am trying.
Now if we could only get some fat and tar eating nanoprobes... then we'd really be in business.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Does this mean we might actually get some good new spices, once they start playing around with modifying existing ones somewhat gastronomically scientifically?
The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
For example, here is a Pravda article which says that NASA is preparing sandwiches which will still be edible after seven years.
In around mid 1998, I cleaned my car out and found, among the other rubbish in the back seat, an obviously forgotten McDonalds paper bag, one either me or one of my passengers had bought & forgotten about. It contained a Quarter Pounder and Fries that had been sitting there, dried out for who knows how long. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd been to McDonalds when i was doing the cleaning, so I'm guessing it had been there at least six months to a year.
The fries looked OK. they'd been kept inside the bag & never exposed to the air so no bugs had managed to crawl in. The real surprise was the quarter pounder - I unwrapped it and found a perfectly preserved edible looking and smelling burger. To look at and sniff, it was no different to a brand new fresh one, it was just rock hard and dried out.
I gave it to my niece who kicked it around for a couple of days in the back yard - it didn't look much worse for wear after that either.
Judging by the condition of that quarter pounder, I wouldn't be surprised if it would have lasted through to today if I'd kept it in the bag.
I was talking to a chef about a month ago who was complaining about having to put loads of oils, creams, butter and mayo in foods to achieve the taste that the consumer wants, at the expense of their health. "We're paid to kill people," was his complaint, and sadly I think he's right.
What a rediculous statement. It's fine to eat something unhealthy every once in awhile as long as you don't make a habit of it. Eating well 28 days a month will render whatever you do the remaining 2 or 3 days pretty much irrelevant. Avoiding being stabbed 28 days won't help you to much if you are getting stabbed 2 or 3 days a month.
If your buddy really felt that he was getting paid to kill people, he would quit so obviously he himself realizes his statement is rediculous.
This same chef was saying how it would be nice if there were alternatives to bad food, that would not jeopardize someone's health.
There are. They are called vegetables. Again, you eat plenty of vegies and you can get away with eating all sorts of nasty stuff occasionally.
Your theories on fat murdering other fat are interesting to say the least. You might want to pick up a copy of Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill by Udo Erasmus for a slightly more scientific explanation of how fats operate inside your body.
When I go out to eat, I don't worry about how healthy the food is and my cholesterol numbers kick holy ass. How do I do it? Because I don't go out to eat very much and when I eat at home I'm very, very healthy. There's no need for genetically engineered superfoods. Just eat right 95% of the time and live a little the reminaing 5%.
GMD
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i had an egg mcmuffin today which, i noted, was pulled out of a blister pack before being stuffed into a machine. it was a singularly borg-like experience
the best food is home-grown. after that, it is all down-hill. i hope we build better machines that make it possible for humans to grow their own food.
in fact, i'd be just as happy if we stopped making multi-millionaire momsanto executives, and threw all that money at proper programs to manage growth and water-tables in lands that really need it
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/fullonfood_ labindex.shtmlHeston Blumenthal of http://www.fatduck.co.uk/The Fat Duck in the UK has approached domestic food from a scientific standpoint.
Thank you for that site -- I will check it out.
There's some interesting info on his site but his book is widely considered to be an authoritative tome on fats so it's worth picking up. He does delve a little into conspiracy-theory land at times but overall it's quite informative. Anyone interested in health ought to have this book on their shelf.
I think the chef was mostly kidding but somewhat serious about how he feels about having to load nasty ingredients into recipes that call for them. How he's fighting it is by working towards better recipes that taste good, but won't hurt your body. But then again, he has to make the rich food now and then. His problem is that people will eat the rich stuff every day, not like once a week or once every two weeks.
Okay, I didn't catch the joke. It sounded to me like he was one of these people who thinks people have no responsibility for their actions and that the poor health of his patrons was entirely his fault. You were there and I wasn't so I'll trust your read on his statement.
I suppose there are some people who have to travel a lot for work and have little choice but to eat out more than they should. I'm not going to discourage chefs from trying to make foods that are healthy and delicious. I think your salad is a good example of how easy it can be. On the other hand, as someone who does eat healthy a lot, I want to have the option to eat unhealthy once in awhile. I'd be disappointed in a future in which all yummy but unhealthy foods have been eliminated and replaced with moderately-tasty but much healthier fare. If I want to splurge and pig out on something naughty, that ought to be my choice. I don't go for all these people who are trying to save us from ourselves. I'm an adult and can make my own decisions. I have enough willpower to make a guilty pleasure a rare thing. I understand there are many people who cannot, but I'd be pissed off if I had to suffer because someone else can't control themselves.
Thanks for the clarification of your post mfh.
GMD
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You may eventually get fewer humans, but I doubt it'll be in a few decades.
I lived in Congo for a while. There is peer pressure to have as many children as possible. Traditionally this has been due to two factors: 1) high infant mortality, and 2) no social security, ie. the kids take care of the parents when the parents get old.
These factors are starting to become less important now that the standard of living is increasing, but most people are still having as many children as they can.
I think it will take more than a few generations for the cultural norms to shift to smaller families.
What really makes me sad is that discussions like this always wave the health argument around, because health is not what this is about. This stuff is bad for you even if it is good: Slow Food is not about Health Food (be sure that Kraft has its departments to cover those consumer demands as well), it is about the culture of food. Apparently even McDonalds opponants cannot see anymore that there is a huge cultural sphere around the food we produce and eat. A cultural sphere that we will discard and that we will not be able to revive if we keep buying big products from big suppliers in big supermarkets, no matter how healthy that food may be.
He, a lot of the food Slow Food promotes is even risky. Raw milk soft cheeses for instance can be infected with Listeria. But, as they said in France when I tried to buy a pasteurized cheese for my pregnant wife: "C'est n'est pas la même chose" - it is not the same thing. You can't eliminate the health risk without killing the product, so as long as the risk is minimal (which it really is), please do keep making and eating it.
Slowfood mission statementMission
Through its understanding of gastronomy with relation to politics, agriculture and the environment Slow Food has become an active player in agriculture and ecology. Slow Food links pleasure and food with awareness and responsibility. The association's activities seek to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread the education of taste, and link producers of excellent foods to consumers through events and initiatives.
Defense of Biodiversity
Slow Food believes the enjoyment of excellent foods and wines should be combined with efforts to save the countless traditional cheeses, grains, vegetables, fruits, and animal breeds that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food and agribusiness. Through the Ark of Taste and Presidia projects (supported by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity), the Slow Food Award for Biodiversity and Terra Madre, Slow Food seeks to protect our invaluable food heritage.
Taste Education
In a world where the pleasures of taste are not always learned through leisurely meals around a lively table, we must make a conscious effort to explore, question and experiment. This is the aim of Slow Food's taste education initiatives. Convivia activities introduce new foods to members while Taste Workshops offer guided tastings with food experts. Our youngest eaters benefit from Slow Food in Schools and true gastronomes are trained at the University of Gastronomic Sciences.
Linking Producers and Consumers
Slow Food organizes fairs, events and farmers' markets to showcase products of excellent gastronomic quality. The huge success of the international food festival Salone del Gusto, with its cornucopia of foods to be tasted and bought, supports producers while offering up a world of delights to the public. Other events include Urban Harvest, Cheese, Slow Fish, Deutscher Käsemarkt and Aux Origines du Goût.
One has to watch this documentary about Ferran Adria to understand why the world beats a path to his door.
Wanted : A Signature.