Everyday Systems

I *hate* that they said that eating organic food is elitist.

He's an arrogant blowhard. She's serving up heart attack on a plate. Bad all the way around.

Hrm, there are more than two options for how you choose to eat - it isn't high end, expensive organic produce OR massively unhealthy high calorie/fat/salt/sugar food. There is bound to be a number of middle grounds in between....

This is one of my favourite food blogs:

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/

Although it's US based so the prices and some of the items aren't applicable over here, I think it's great to be considering both health and budget (plus there's some really delicious recipes!). Perhaps more importantly, blogs like this encourage people to cook for themselves rather than relying on fast food or eating out where you can't control your calorie intake as much.

I take a middle road. I eat as much fresh as possible, but it's not always organic. I am learning to make more and more from scratch, but it's stuff like gravy, baked beans (although I do use HFCS free ketchup), ranch dressing, taco seasoning, roasted potatoes and sloppy joe sauce. I can make my own artisan bread and granola, though I've fallen out of the habit. I am contemplating making my own hummus next. If I buy prepared foods (i.e. canned, frozen or bottled or boxed) I try to make sure I can pronounce every ingredient and know what it actually is.

I think a lot of us are trying to find a way between haute cuisine and what I call dump and heat food. I think Jamie Oliver does a pretty good job of finding the middle ground, although I have to wonder what he was thinking with this week's recipe: salmon cakes.

Blithe Morning wrote: I think Jamie Oliver does a pretty good job of finding the middle ground, although I have to wonder what he was thinking with this week's recipe: salmon cakes.

Nothing wrong with a fish cake! Classic

Classic yes. But even so...

Blithe Morning wrote:
I think a lot of us are trying to find a way between haute cuisine and what I call dump and heat food. I think Jamie Oliver does a pretty good job of finding the middle ground, although I have to wonder what he was thinking with this week's recipe: salmon cakes.

That middle ground used to be the norm.

I haven't looked at Jamie's recipe, but I used to love salmon patties made with canned salmon, egg, onion and crushed saltines. Yum!

wosnes wrote:[I haven't looked at Jamie's recipe, but I used to love salmon patties made with canned salmon, egg, onion and crushed saltines. Yum!

It's similar but uses potato as the starch binder instead of saltines.

Blithe Morning wrote:I take a middle road. I eat as much fresh as possible, but it's not always organic. I am learning to make more and more from scratch, but it's stuff like gravy, baked beans (although I do use HFCS free ketchup), ranch dressing, taco seasoning, roasted potatoes and sloppy joe sauce. I can make my own artisan bread and granola, though I've fallen out of the habit. I am contemplating making my own hummus next. If I buy prepared foods (i.e. canned, frozen or bottled or boxed) I try to make sure I can pronounce every ingredient and know what it actually is.

I think a lot of us are trying to find a way between haute cuisine and what I call dump and heat food. I think Jamie Oliver does a pretty good job of finding the middle ground, although I have to wonder what he was thinking with this week's recipe: salmon cakes.

I think it's important to acknowledge that there is a middle ground. For years, I thought you either ate only healthy foods, measured out your portions, and counted calories, or you ate what you wanted without regard to how healthy it was. Since I wasn't willing to give up all unhealthy foods and do all the rest, I figured I might as well not bother. Wrong.

It's not written anywhere that you can't cook at home a few nights a week, and eat convenience food or takeout the other nights. (At least I hope it's not- that's what I've been doing for years) And if you do that, you'll be healthier than if you eat convenience food or takeout every night. You don't have to go to the extremes to benefit.

Oh, and hummus is super easy to make, at least if you have a food processor. You can start with canned chickpeas, or cook chickpeas. My biggest problem with making hummus is that tahini tends to separate in the jar. I was trying to re-integrate our tahini, and I ended up splashing the oil all over my shirt, and smelling like tahini for the rest of the day. There are worse things to smell like, though.

wosnes wrote:

Blithe Morning wrote:
I think a lot of us are trying to find a way between haute cuisine and what I call dump and heat food. I think Jamie Oliver does a pretty good job of finding the middle ground, although I have to wonder what he was thinking with this week's recipe: salmon cakes.

That middle ground used to be the norm.

I haven't looked at Jamie's recipe, but I used to love salmon patties made with canned salmon, egg, onion and crushed saltines. Yum!

I have also made this with Panko as the binder, and then put in a tube of Wasabi. Sounds strange but tastes yummy.

I'm reading a book now called The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià's elBulli a behind the scenes look at one of the most highly regarded restaurants in the world.

I read a similar behind the scenes look about a year at Cordon Bleu and enjoyed it immensely so I thought I would enjoy this one as well.

I'm not. Don't get me wrong. It's a well written book, so well written that I feel that I am actually there and that is why I don't like it. This hyper focus on haute cuisine food is really over the top. The food doesn't sound like anything I would want to eat, let alone cook (milk skin wraps anyone?). The kitchen is run on the premise there is one right way to do everything, including small things like pouring milk into a pot or unrolling a table cloth. Not that I would ever drop into elBulli should I find myself in Spain. First, it's closed now or will be shortly to become a gastronomic think tank. And second, it only serves 8,000 meals a year and 500,000 people minimum apply for reservations.

If I ever thought I might be a foodie this book makes it clear that I 'm not. Boy, am I not. I will stay firmly on the middle ground both in cooking and eating. In my world, rhubarb should be in a pie with strawberries, not turned to resemble a sea cucumber. Basil belongs in bruschetta, not freeze dried and dusted on candied mango molded into 3 dimensional leaves.

My middle class roots are showing and I'm ok with that. Good on you if you are a foodie. I can respect that. I am not a foodie and I can respect that too.

I truly believe that the people who love food the most would be as unimpressed with this approach as you are. What you're describing is snobbery and showmanship, in the guise of food service.

I found the same article on http://summertomato.com/ and she called it "excellent" - although, in my opinion, she does the same thing.

(Whole grain) Bread and pasta are baaad!
Meat is baaad!
Buying produce at the grocery store is baaad!
Eating lots of fruit (--> sugar) is baaad!

are things she implies (or even states outright) in her blog.

I mean, sure, rice, vegetarian foods, buying things at the farmer's market and eating more vegetables may be slightly better for you, but if you read her blog, you may think, "OMG, I'm eating all the above things she classified as bad! I might as well give up and go back to eating WonderBread, bagels, huge steaks and no fruits/vegetables whatsoever anymore!!"

And that would suck.

Anoulie wrote:I found the same article on http://summertomato.com/ and she called it "excellent" - although, in my opinion, she does the same thing.

(Whole grain) Bread and pasta are baaad!
Meat is baaad!
Buying produce at the grocery store is baaad!
Eating lots of fruit (--> sugar) is baaad!

are things she implies (or even states outright) in her blog.

Well, what are you supposed to eat????


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I read the article and I think he is a donkey (to put it nicely). I don't think butter is making us fat and I don't think that people who watch Paula's show cook like she does everyday. I think people watch her show and pick up a few things and try them out every now and then. Nobody's frying butter at every meal. The author made a good point too about the fact that some will frown at having bacon for breakfast on Sunday but will applaud a chef who can cook a good piece of porkbelly. Butter is a star on the Paula Deen show and foie gras shines on Top Chef. Which items can the family of five living on one income afford?

I was trying to write a post that would deal with some of the points brought up here, when something occurred to me:

In the US, it's considered elitist to eat seasonally and locally and seek out organic food. In much of the rest of the world, that is how food is grown and consumed.

In much of the rest of the world, it's considered elitist to omit entire food groups from your diet (to be vegetarian or vegan or omit grains, etc). In the US, that is (more) normal.

In the US, it's unusual to cook your meals from scratch. In most of the rest of the world, that's the norm.

I love Bourdain's show. He is a crass inndividual, but what the heck.