Food: What you really need to know

Not Quite, (but technically) Fall

It is October, officially Fall in the northern hemisphere, but my zucchini plants haven’t figured this out. Long past the time when other more sensible vegetables have called it quits, the zucchini, like some vegetal Ever Ready Energizer bunny, keeps on running. I think I’ve gotten close to a hundred pounds of zucchini this season, which has pushed me in culinary directions not yet dreamed of, much less imagined. Yes, I’ve juiced zucchini.  

The zucchini is impressive. Besides being able to feed a family of four with one plant, zucchini, a member of the gourd family, is low in calories and a good source of dietary fiber. It also provides Vitamins A, C and folate. From a Chinese medicine perspective zucchini nourishes fluids but not in the sticky kind of way like the yams and squashes that are traditionally associated with fall. Zucchini is cool in nature and supports the Spleen and Stomach yin.  

There are many ways to prepare zucchini. The simplest is also one of the best – grilling. OK you grill-less apartment dwellers and suburbanites who have packed up the Weber a little early – there are alternatives. Consider the stove-top grill pan or even better, the broiler, which is basically an upside-down grill.  

Grilled Zucchini

Ingredients:

zucchini, good quality olive oil, pesto or Italian dressing,  salt and pepper

Directions:  

Half or quarter smaller zucchini lengthwise, for bigger zucchini slice about 3/8” thick cross or lengthwise. (Slices make great sandwiches and work great in zucchini parmigiana.) Brush olive oil, pesto or dressing onto the zucchini and grill for a minute or two on each side until it gets those little grill marks and is tender. Grill pan and broiler methods are basically the same. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Variations:  

From here it’s just a short step to zucchini parmigiana  - replace the fried eggplant slices with the grilled zucchini. You can also sprinkle a little cheese on top of the zucchini slices as they cook. Use grilled zucchini in sandwiches or you can roll them up with any number of fillers from prosciutto to olives and tuna.

Here’s to the excessive nature of things :)!      

 

Getting Unstuck

 

Sometimes things just get stuck. It’s approaching the end of summer and everything is slowing down. It’s all about coming to the center. Physiologically this means being able to take in and assimilate the abundance of fruits and vegetables that are at the market.

However, maybe due to the heat and the lure of the hammock or too many Coney Island hot dogs, many people experience “irregularity” in their digestive system. Diet is the always the best way of promoting the flow of digestional qi and a papaya salad is easy to prepare and effective in that non-dramatic way that we appreciate with these kinds of things.

Papaya is neutral in nature. It strengthens qi, tonifies blood and dries dampness. Papaya promotes good digestion. At about 140 calories for a half a small fruit, papaya has a great nutrient profile containing anti-oxidents like carotenes, vitamin C and flavonoids; the B vitamins, folate and pantothenic acid;  the minerals, potassium and magnesium; and fiber. Papaya also contains the digestive enzymes papain and chymopapain which reduce inflammation as well as facilitate digestion.

This recipe works with either the big papaya or the little 7” size. You can also put everything in a blender and create a smoothie similar to the watermelon cooler listed previously.

Ingredients:

Chopped and peeled papaya about ½ a 7” papaya per serving.

Freshly chopped mint  - about 1 tablespoon per papaya

A tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice

Directions:

Seed and chop papaya mix with mint and lemon or lime juice and refrigerate if you’re going to use it later.

Cooler

Ok, it's hot. I caved. I put the air conditioner on. I had been thinking that I would make it through the summer without it, but it's finally hot. Even my father turned his air conditioner on and he's 90, lived through the Great Depression and thinks air conditioning should be reserved for only  special occasions.

Cooling things to eat and drink seem to be a good idea when it gets this hot. People start thinking mint tea and the quintessential summer fruit - watermelon. These are really helpful for beating the heat and you may want to try my favorite watermelon cooler.

Watermelon is power packed with natural antioxidants. It is a great source of vitamin C, A, beta-carotene and lycopene and also contains vitamin B6, B1, magnesium, and potassium. It is sweet, but because of its high water content does not have a lot of calories for its weight. In Chinese medicine watermelon clears heat, nourishes yin and relieves mental depression – just try to be grumpy when you’re eating watermelon! Mint and lime complement the watermelon by also clearing heat and moving qi. Mix up a batch of this and watch any irritability clear out quickly !

Ingredients:

About 6-8 cups seeded, cubed watermelon
6 cups water (You can adjust this depending upon how thick you want your cooler)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (you can use less here if you want it less tart)
Several springs of mint

Directions:

Process watermelon, mint and lime juice until smooth adding as much water as your blender or food processor can hold. Add more water after processing, stir and chill. You can garnish with additional mint or lime slices if you want. You can add vodka or light rum if you want, but remember that alcohol warms things up a bit - you may have to add ice. :)

Juiced

Elixir of "What's up doc?", July 2009

Yes, I've gone over to the dark side. I got a juicer. For years I resisted getting one for a number of very good reasons. Juices are too cold energetically; juices can be calorie dense; juices don't give you any dietary fiber. I've had to treat a lot of problems caused by excessive juicing and juice fasts. Juicing aficionados  have always tended to present an almost religious devotion to the process. Finally everyone has always said that juicers are hard to clean.

But it is summer so I threw caution to the wind and went for it. Keeping with the season it was a purely emotional decision. Juicing it makes the body light.

89.99 and a short trip to Brooklyn later and I was set up with my very own Jack Lalanne delux model and a 10 pound bag of organic carrots. Carrots support the Spleen/Stomach, literally  and metaphorically rooting you. Some people categorize them as neutral some as slightly warm so their nature balances the rawness which would be considered a little hard on the digestive process. From a standard nutritional perspective, carrots are a powerhouse of nutrients: alpha and beta-carrotine, vitamins A, B1, B2 C, E, calcium, potassium, phytochemicals,  trace minerals and glutathione. There's even a World Carrot Museum. More nutrients in carrots are available if juiced or cooked due to a tough cell structure. So if you're eating them raw as  a snack chew well! Carrots have about 30 calories each making your typical 5 carrot glass around 150 calories. Yes, carrots are sweet so don't drink gallons of the stuff. A bit of carrot juice, however can stave of an attack of the Reeses Pieces. Some people even find that a carrot juice can replace that afternoon cup of coffee (not that I'm criticizing coffee). Ginger carrot juice is a good combination since the ginger is warming for the stomach and helps with digestion. Cucumber is also a good addition if you want to make your juice less sweet (though it will dull the intense color :( ).

Carrots detoxify and transform accumulations. Carrots can help you lighten up - an anti-gravity agent I'm not so sure, but yes, carrot juice can help you get rid of stuff. So don't worry, get the juicer you'll figure out where to put it. (You're closets won't know what hit them.) Oh and the Lalanne juicer - it's easy to clean.

Bowl of Cherries

Chinatown, June 2009

 Chapter 2 of the Su Wen discusses how we can be in harmony with each of the four seasons. Summer it says is characterized by abundance. The Qi of heaven and earth come together making "the ten thousand things" possible. It is a season characterized by exuberance. Summer is the season of the heart.

The stone/pit fruits which are in season now all have an affinity for the heart. We're probably most familiar with peaches, apricots, plums and cherries.

Cherries, are warm in nature and circulate blood upwards towards the head.  They are often used for memory loss. They are to be used with caution, however, by anybody with "heart heat" also known as "vexation" also known as "somebody done somebody wrong song". On the other hand cherries flambe might be just the thing for lighting a metaphorical fire. Too many cherries - not so good, though, so keep consumption under 1/2 pound a week even in therapeutic dosages.

Apricots are neutral in nature and so can actually be used for the aforementioned "heart heat". You can have about 5 a day, but should not eat them in therapeutic amounts if you have eye conditions with elevated eye pressure or muscle/tendon injuries.

Plums are also neutral and have an anti-spasmodic effect, tonifying qi and blood, increasing fluids and clearing the Liver.

Peaches are warm and open up the chest. They also lubricate the intestines, produce fluids, tonify qi and blood and eliminate accumulations. Again, don't eat too many if you have "heart heat" even though they are thought to get rid of parasites (see somebody done somebody wrong song).

All of the stone fruits have a slightly astringent nature so it good to eat them in moderation mixing them with other fruits, like watermelon for example. Watermelon can cool things off and flush things out - the cooling and flushing idea always useful when dealing with heat conditions. Also useful (perhaps at your next barbecue) is the factoid that peach wood was traditionally used for exorcism. Something to keep in mind when considering the demons and ghosts of "heart heat" past.

The Easy Way

So much potential, June 2009

My mother made the best pasta sauce in the universe. Actually she and probably all other Italian Americans would refer to it as "gravy" an entirely different entity than "sauce". Gravy has meat. Sauce, alfredo, marinara, pizziola or whatever does not. When you conjure up the picture of red delicious goodness simmering for hours on the stove -  that's gravy. Gravy prepared in the style of my mother and countless Italian mothers like her was a mysterious laborious process bordering on the mythic - and the process may have somewhat of a meditative quality, but who has the kind of time to take the better part of a day to make something for dinner. My mother may have enjoyed doing things in the most difficult way possible, but I have worked hard to overcome this aspect of my genetic make up and have come up with a pretty darn good really easy way of making a top notch gravy. 

Gravy like a lot of Italian food is pretty simple, relying on the quality of ingredients for its flavor. You'll need cans of plum tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, salt, olive oil, basil maybe some parsley, pork and beef. Now to do it the hard way you would brown several types of meat in a little olive oil. This would include meatballs, sausage, spare ribs, brasciole, and some sort of roast like meat. The whole plum tomatoes would be strained though a foley mill and put into a large pot with a handful of basil and parsley. For 4 large cans of plum tomatoes my mother would add 2 small cans of tomato paste. She would then add all the browned meat and let the pot simmer on low for several hours.

Gravy the slacker way can be pretty close to amazing as well, but you need a slightly more involved piece of hardware: the slow cooker aka the crock pot. Again for "gravy" you will need meat -  traditionally pork and beef. Here is where you can start simplifying, though. You don't need to brown a million tiny pieces of things to get a good flavor. A few pork chops and some sort of beef will work just fine. Brown the meat and put it on the bottom of the crock pot. Add tomatoes, (yes you can use crushed to save even more time)  tomato paste,  fresh basil, parsley, garlic ( a clove or two per can of tomatoes depending upon how you like garlic) and maybe a little salt and pepper. The amount of salt will vary with the kinds of tomatoes you're using. Set the cooker on low and walk away.

As you simplify, the quality of the ingredients takes on more importance. You may want to taste several brands of tomatoes to find the ones you like best. My mother would never use certain brands of tomatoes because she found them "too acidy". Her sister Flora's solution to the acidy tomato problem was to add a little baking soda. Warning: the tomatoes will foam up like some 4th grade science project. Use too much and it will turn into a 4th grade science project gone horribly wrong. Some people add sugar, but please lets not even think about that. It's best to find some good tomatoes. Whole plum ones are a little less bitter than crushed since with the whole ones you remove the seeds. The factory crusher process isn't as particular. 

Taken as a whole tomato gravy is a fairly balanced and nourishing. Tomatoes are cold, sweet and sour and tonify qi and blood. Beef is neutral and sweet, but more yang in nature also tonifying qi and blood. Pork is neutral, sweet and salty and affects the Stomach, Spleen and Kidneys. Generally considered a tonic, pork also clears the liver and removes heat. Basil and garlic are pungent, parsley sweet and bland. So you have something which is fairly substantial with some aromatics which lighten things up a bit. Oh and cooking dramatically reduces the alkaloid, solanine present in nightshades that many people try to avoid.

Spoon some of this over some polenta, pasta, rice or just dip some bread into it. Have an arugala salad on the side and you have to perfect meal for addressing chaotic qi. Gravy, it just makes things right.

So there it is - the secret family recipe.  Hopefully this is more helpful than my Aunf Flora's way of giving out recipes. She would say things like, "well you get everything, mix it together and cook it till it's done." Also don't worry vegan friends. As a card carying PETA member, I will talk about veggie options  in other posts. Chow.

Sweet

Dylan's Candy Bar 5.20.2009

It comes up a lot: sweet tooth, sweet talker, sweet dreams,  and "how sweet it is".  We often sugar coat things and the word "sweet" itself has come to mean amazing, great, awesome, nice - things like that. How then did sugar become so evil?

The answer is not straightforward. There are there are many types of sweeteners each requiring separate consideration. We must also remember that the sweet flavor is essential in our lives. In Chinese Medicine it is associated with the Spleen which is responsible for the intellect. The brain generally runs on glucose so the Spleen needs the sweet flavor to support the function of the intellect. Brain cells, neurons,  need about twice the amount of energy all the other cells in the human body. Thinking can be exhausting as glucose gets rapidly depleted by mental activity. Several studies have demonstrated the importance of dietary carbohydrates in cognitive, memory and learning abilities.The brain cannot store glucose so is dependent upon receiving a constant supply via the bloodstream. You see it's not weakness of moral character that compels us to eat Mars Bars, but a biological urgency to fuel our overactive minds.

Before you all go out and buy tickets for Wonka-land though, remember that too much sugar at one time actually interferes with cognitive function. When we overload the bloodstream with glucose our body produces insulin to store the excess, taking the glucose out of the blood stream and thus dropping the glucose supply to the brain. Stupidness ensues. One can only wonder how many political decisions of recent years were influenced by  soft drinks, chocolate chip cookies or jelly-beans.

Frequent changes in our insulin levels can unsettle our emotions and cause excess stress and excess stress elevates our insulin levels dropping the glucose available to our brains and again stupidness, including maybe the decision to ignore global warming or to invade Iraq, ensues. (Should soda be banned for all elected officials while on duty? Should we all take glucose readings before making any important personal or professional decisions? Should low carb diets be considered a threat to national security and the American family?)

Fortunately there are several ways to get the sweet flavor into our lives. We all know about fruits and vegetables like carrots and yams. Increase these and you may have less desire for the hard stuff.

Sometimes, though, life does require more. Enter sweeteners. Sweeteners however, are not all created equal. Some sweeteners even have anti-oxidents! White sugar is lowest on the anti-oxident scale, but that's not what sugar's about anyway. White sugar is considered a yin tonic and is used to treat thirst, dry cough and stomachache. It is considered neutral in temperature. Honey  is also neutral, tonifies qi and blood and lubricates both the lungs and the large intestine. Brown sugar is slightly warmer than white sugar and has some blood moving ability.  Maltose (malt syrup) is also warm and can slow the attack of acute symptoms. It also lubricates dryness.The gluten intolerant should take note, however. Malt syrup usually involves barley and may cause a reaction in the sensitive.  Maple syrup and date sugars are other great alternatives to white sugar. While processed white sugar is thought to cause inflammation by many, maple syrup and date sugar are thought to be OK. High fructose corn syrup, on the other hand, is just a bad idea and it's everywhere.

*****

"Ain't nothing like the real thing", but some of you may be thinking "substitutes". OK, Stevia is a natural sweetener derived from the plant Stevia rebaudiana. It is many times sweeter than white sugar and is generally regarded as safe and even beneficial. It doesn't do the things that sugar does in baking, however and you'll probably have to make some adjustments to your recipes.  I also find it to have an after taste. Xylitol another sweetener derived from natural sources is generally regarded as safe and also beneficial. Studies connect xylitol to reduction in tooth decay, increase in neutrophill activity and even suggest that xylitol could be used to treat osteoporosis. Xylitol has a good PR firm. Agave is my current favorite in terms of taste. It has a relatively low glycemic index and has been on Oprah.

Artificially produced sugar substitutes like aspartame remain controversial. Some studies suggest that aspartame impairs cognitive function and at least one connects it to headaches.

The take away here is: sweet - nourishes yin, but too much yin and you just muck up the works. You can find sugar in salt and sugar in tomato sauce. Become a compulsive label reader and you can dramatically reduce you sugar intake without cutting back on the cup cakes one bit.

A google search for the number of love songs using the word "sweet" resulted in over 7 million hits. Can't be bad.

"Tea, Earl Grey, Hot"

Green tea, Shanghai, April 2008

We often divide the world into two opposing camps: vegans  vs.omnivores, anchovy vs god forbid anchovy pizza and those who will see the new Star Trek movie vs those who will, unfortunately, not. 

For the truly obsessed there are a number of references for Star Trekkian foods. There is a Star Trek cookbook and numerous posts where one can find assorted Klingon recipes and the secrets of Vulcan Yorakar, ears optional. For me though, the most memorable food reference in all of Trekkidom is  Captain Picard's association with Earl Grey tea.  Kirk, could have his Romulan Ale, but Picard's iconic replicator request has lasted though the time space continuum and more importantly for our purposes, has provided a vital link between Star Trek and Chinese Medicine. (Ok, if we pushed it we could probably link up quadro-triticale in the Trouble with Tribbles as well.)

A lot has been written about tea and by now everyone knows that it's really good for us. It's good for the heart, it protects against cancer and it even works as a facial product. The distinctive aroma and taste of Earl Grey (yes, named after the 2nd Earl Grey who lived in the 19th century) comes from the addition of oil of Bergamot. Bergamot is a small citrus that is a cross between a lemon (Citrus Limetta) and the sour orange (Citrus Auranteum). Tea, camilla sinensis, cha ye in pinyin, is a commonly used substance in Chinese dietary therapy and herbal medicine. Especially in the green form it is bitter,  sweet and slightly cold and is thought to promote digestion and stimulate the spirit. It affects the heart, lungs and stomach. Citrus auranteum, is pungent and regulates qi. Lemon peel opens the chest. So the bergamot flavored tea  stimulates, supports and regulates the Qi all at the same time - great for any Star Fleet officer and for the rest of us not wearing the funny outfits. If it weren't for Earl Grey, who knows if Picard would have survived his encounter with the Borg - something to think about as we manouver through our own alien universes.

 Live long and prosper!

Buen Provecho

Bread Bag, Buenos Aires, April 2009

Sometimes I think we miss the point. Consider the USDA "food pyramid". There are endless discussions on the virtues of the various elements including the proportions of grains to nuts, what constitutes a "serving" and the presence or absence of animal products. In developed countries world wide there is an attempt to promote health through better diet. While in Argentina, I wondered about local ideas of what constituted a "good diet".  Then I saw it - right there on the bread bag, #10: "enjoy your meal while talking to others." Perhaps it's not just that we are what we eat, but also we are how we eat.

Happy Birthday and the Tortas de Buenos Aires

 

Las Violetas, Buenos Aires, April 2009

Some of my favorite people on earth have birthdays this week and here I am thousands of miles away from them unable to share in the classic festivities. Festivities would include, of course, the birthday cake.

The origins of the birthday cake are a bit fuzzy, but most sources trace it back to the ancient Greeks who offered round cakes to Artemis, the goddess associated with the moon. Lit candles were inserted to the round cakes to make the cake glow like the moon and the smoke from the candles was thought to carry the prayers of the people upward to the gods. Other cultures probably offered cakes to the gods before this, but they are generally not discussed in the birthday cake lore. The word "cake" itself is thought to derive from the ancient Norse "kaka".

The Romans, as they did with most things, co-opted the cake idea from the Greeks, but they expanded the concept to include the emperor in the offerings. Why should the gods have all the fun? One can imagine that along with the decline and fall of the Roman empire that all sorts of standards were not maintained until, well, just about anyone could have a birthday cake, if they could have a birthday cake.

Time and cooking skills progressed.  Much pastry happened in Germany from the 15th through the 17th centuries. Cake became a concept culminating in ultimate pastry quote of all time attributed to Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat cake" or more correctly "brioche". The first commercial boxed cake mix is attributed to Duff and Sons in England in the 1920's. Betty Crocker cake mixes became available in the states in 1947. A more modern Duff brings us the "Ace of Cakes" on the Food Network.

Birthday cake is by it's nature  rich. The best are transcendent - what we would want for our friends, right?

The  ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs and some kind of fat - typically butter are pretty basic. The principle ingredient, wheat, is a staple grain for a significant part of the world's population. Like all grains in the Chinese dietary materia medica, wheat has an affinity for the Spleen and Stomach, the Earth elements. Wheat strengthens us, builds our blood and calms our Shen. Wheat has a sweet flavor and generates fluids. It's cooling (some say the gluten) nature slows things down and settles those pesky little fires of irritation in our lives. When things get too much we want mac and cheese not broccoli. Wheat is used in Chinese herbal medicine to treat hysteria and night sweats. People with dampness issues should perhaps keep wheat consumption to a minimum, but birthday celebrations generally happen just once a year!

Sugar is considered neutral and is sweet. It has an affinity for the Spleen and Stomach and in small quantities tonifies. It also generates fluids. The damp among us beware! Sugar is in itself not evil, however.  It's just that when sugar becomes part of everything that problems arise.The sweet taste makes things linger, slows things down.  We have our desert, our birthday cake, at the end of our meal as though to keep the good times just a little bit longer. Sweet generates yin our foundation. We just love it and sometimes can't get enough.

Butter is warm and sweet and also tonifies Qi and Blood. In the body and in the cake it moistens. Butter will have a post of its own soon, I promise.

Chicken eggs are generally considered neutral in temperature. Actually the yolk is warming and the white is cooling. (Egg whites are actually really good to use in the treatment of burns and bruising.  Apply topically.)

The egg itself tonifies Qi and Blood, moistens dryness and tonifies Yin. It is often used as a postpartum and convalescent food.  Though it belongs to the earth element and has an affinity for the Spleen and Stomach, the egg also has an ascending nature. It is after all a miniature bird. So besides the idea of making whatever richer, we technically use eggs as a levening agent.  We can think of it also as the eggs bringing all that goodness up to the heart.

Happy Birthday songs are common worldwide. "Happy Birthday to You" in English,  "Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le" in Mandarin Chinese,  "Feliz cumpleaños a ti" in Spanish, "Bonne Fête" in French, and "Tanti Auguri a te" in Italian. We sing the song and the honored guest makes a wish and blows out the candles .Those with sufficient lung capacity get their wish. As one gets older this becomes more difficult in a kind of unfortunately frustrating metaphoric way. It's a good thing we've come up with the candle binary system - the numeral 4 and the numeral 0 for 40 for example. Even the Greeks covered all bases when delivering messages to the gods.

San Telmo Score, April 2009