If you are what you eat – what does it mean when the labels lists Ethyl Nitrate as an ingredient?
I fully understand the societal concern and worry over what is in the foods we eat and the liquids we drink. Its a concern I actually share. In fact, its lead me to institute a number of changes in the groceries and produce I buy for my own family. I try never to buy fruit or vegetables out of season mostly because the produce offered when ‘out of season’ is often very bland and tasteless. I attempt to keep only the most minimal amount of so-called process foods on hand in my home. This means I spend more time cooking compared to the average working parent. No frozen pizzas, lasagnas, tv dinners, breads, canned soups or a variety of other more commonplace pre-made/packaged foods.
I do it all myself. I didn’t start off as a food ‘purist’. It started with baby foods. It just seemed far more economical than the canned jars of food. Actually the labels frightened me and fed my newborn mother paranoia. When a jar of pureed sweet potatoes contains a long list of ingredients other than ’sweet potatoes’ something is wrong and it can’t be good. Consequently, I started doing things myself. Later, when I found myself as a single parent on a very limited budget it just made more sense to make more and more of my own food.
I suppose I was luckily than most in that I learned to cook in my grandmother’s kitchen so homemade soups, stock base, sauces, quick breads/pastries were not unfamiliar concepts to me. One thing lead to another. Now am I at the point where my family prefers the bread I make to the bread one can buy. I try to bake 6 to 8 loaves of bread at a time. Its not that hard but it does consume time in awkward intervals. I usually start the yeast in the morning. It takes 15 minutes to raise, another 10 minutes to mix, then I sit the dough off to a warm corner to rise for another few hours, dump the dough out on the table kneed it for another ten minutes and stick it back in the corner to rise again for another two hours. Then I kneed it and put it into bread pans to rise for another ½ hour and start the baking process. I put multiple loaves in the oven anywhere from 30-40 minutes at a time.
What I am trying to explain is that while the process of making bread is spread out through the course of the day but the actual hands-on time required is probably the equivalent time it takes to prep for a meal. While my bread is rising, I am doing other things. I am not chained to the bowl while the bread rises. But the real difference comes in taste and quality. Even if you are eating store bought whole wheat bread with vitamins added I suspect even my white bread is healthier. There is a far more limited amount of salt than is found it your store bought bread and while there maybe honey added to sweeten my bread it is far more healthier than your corn syrup used in yours. Not to mention a whole list of scary chemicals necessary to add to store bought bread which are not found in mine. If making your own bread and leaving the vast array of chemicals from store bought version isn’t enough of a motivator; keep in mind the only recent change in my diet in the last five months is that I have only consumed the bread I a make but I still managed to magically drop six pounds. This isn’t unique and I have experienced this before back in the day when I use to commute regularly to Jamaica. I would always leave 5-6 pounds lighter than when I arrived and yet I ate constantly from the moment I got up in the morning till I went to bed at night. Dumplings, fried food, thick soups or stews and yet very little of it was store bought or processed to live years on a store shelf.
To make a commitment to eating healthier doesn’t mean tasteless. Its very doable but what it really takes is planning and time management skills. But its not just bread which needs planning and time management skills. People need to learn to take 15 minutes a week to sit down and actually plan out your meals then shop accordingly. One trick you can do is when you buy meat is immediately season it when you bring it home. Re-bag it and then freeze it so when you take it out to defrost it will be ready to use once the meat has thawed. Same goes for all non-root vegetables. Open the fridge and have all your peppers, onions, mushrooms – whatever all ready there – peeled, cut and waiting for you to prepare your culinary high dance. This takes some of the every day drudgery out of cooking. I’ll admit having a food processor helps and cuts down even further on the prep time.
I realize change is best made in small steps so if you have not canned tomatoes in season and want the best tomato sauce money can buy out of a can; buy plain old unseasoned stewed tomatoes. Dump the can into the food processor until its completely pureed, empty it in a pot, add six teaspoons of unsalted butter, add half a teaspoon of salt and one whole onion peeled but uncut. Cover the pot and simmer it for a minimum of 45 minutes and serve over your favourite pasta. You’ll be amazed at how good this simple sauce tastes and it will be far better than anything you can buy on the shelves of a grocery store. The most expensive ingredient happens to be the six tablespoons of unsalted butter and yet it is still has less salt than can be found in either a can or jar of sauce. Simple, but oh so elegant.
Want to thicken your sauce? No need for paste out of a can. Well mix one half cup of ice cold water with a tablespoon of flour then stir well into your pot and cook for another ten minutes. Or maybe you just want to add the most perfect mince meat to your sauce? When you bring home hamburger fry it with one whole onion, two cloves of garlic, one green pepper -all finely chopped. Brown it, then add a pinch of salt and a cup of water. Simmer it slowly until all the water has boiled away. Cool it and then freeze it for future use. You can even take your frozen minced and dump it in your basic sauce on low and simmer for another 30 minutes. The meat will be tender and flavourful.
When you learn to cook everyday foods yourself you don’t have to worry what a chef uses in the meals you eat out of the home (unless your eating out every day). Of course, if your sons refuse to learn to cook like mine do then it means it will be far harder for them to adjust to married life with a more ‘modern’ type of you woman. I am not big on the kind of social engineering New York state legislators are proposing. Banning the amount of salt chefs use in their kitchen seems counter-intuitive and could only be proposed by people who lack an understanding of all things culinary – let alone comprehend the principle of cooking for more than a few people at one time. We live in a time and a land of abundance and yet we pour more toxic chemicals into our body then we ever had and most of us live in ignorance of what the ingredients listed on the labels actually mean and what the short or long term ramifications of consuming vast quantities mean for our overall health. The real danger is not what is found on the menu in a restaurant but what is bought off the shelves in our local grocery store.
Its really time for a ‘whole’ food revolution and a get back to basics kind of eating. Previous generations ate real cream, cheese, butter and whole milk, consumed gravies, meat and potatoes. They didn’t worry about the quantity of fat consumed because dangerous additives weren’t in their food supply. Sugar was something added a little at a time or in one’s coffee. Even peanut butter would not rot your teeth unlike the vast quantities of sugar and salt found in the modern popular store front versions.
Me, now that I have mastered bread, I have a hankering to master making my own yogurt. Greek women do it as easily as breathing; so why can’t I? Dinner tonight for the boys – homemade panzerotti stuffed with veggies and a Greek salad on the side. Total prep and cooking time – 30 minutes.
