beXnlog

Good Food

What a sleepy day: i partook in leftovers for lunch, knitting, a nap and tv while the boys played video games. I didn't even leave the apartment today! As an early snack i set out some dried mango, pistachios, wafer cookies and cheddar Chex Mix. The late afternoon snack was cheese (cheddar, mozzarella and chevre with herbs), crackers, tomato slices and bosc pears. For dinner be made pasta with a tomato spinach sauce, grilled portobello mushrooms and red leaf salad with tomatoes and cucumbers. He also juiced 4 lbs of carrots, 3 red delicious apples, 3 Granny Smith apples and a 1" chunk of ginger. Finally, we ate 1 mango, 3 tangerines and used 1/3 of a lemon. We reduced our produce by an honorable amount, but there's still so much more!

On a side note, i think people on "low-carb" diets are totally the most high-maintenance eaters out there. I know most people relegate vegetarians and vegans to that label but everyone i've run across on a "low-carb" diet has been the biggest, whiniest baby about their meals - like death will strike them down in the form of too many rice particles or with the wrong portion size of meat. Most people i know who don't eat meat and/or dairy are quite aware of the options and limitations of eating out, while those low-carbers act like everyone's out to sabotage their precious diets. I'm glad that diet phase seems to be ending, cause you can't tell me all that steak and bacon and eggs are good for you.

Overall, i'm against the concept of dieting. Not only are we an oppressive culture obsessed with a specific definition of "attractive" and "beautiful," we're a country who's forgotten how to eat good food. I can't believe people feed their children bright blue drinks. I've seen 2 year old kids on the subway clutching 20 oz bottles of coke and eating candy bars. We're losing so many types of produce simply because it's not profitable for big corporations to grow and ship them anymore, plus the demand is so low. And, since most of the stuff at the supermarket is crap - crappy tasting and in terms of nutrition - we turn to more crap (esp. fast food) cause that's the only stuff that tastes decent. Eating is a thing we do to not die, whereas it should be something we also enjoy and look forward to. Don't you remember, when we were kids and summertime meant dark Bing cherries and juicy watermelon? Shit, i haven't had a good piece of watermelon in years. It's all been flavorless and mealy recently. Remember how apples used to be? Crispy, sweet and juicy? Nowadays at the supermarket, they're so waxy you can see your reflection but they're soggy, mealy and grainy inside. It's not right that local and/or organic foods are more expensive; that's the way it ALL used to be a few generations ago. Now it's a luxury or based on availability.

I think about my mom and all the food she misses. I've seen the markets in Hong Kong and Kowloon, and they're just insane. There are streets and streets filled with vendors selling everything and anything, blocks and blocks of only produce, only tofu products, only dried foods. We went to an indoor market that only sold seafood and meat, with many floors of people comparing prices and haggling. It's a place where food really, really matters. People live to eat a certain kind of item, grown only in a certain place, available only at a certain time, cause it's the best. The attitude in France is similar. Why bother eating it if it's not the best possible thing? My mom tells me about the mangoes and coconuts she used to eat. It's just not the same here.

I'm not exactly sure where i'm trying to go with this; i suppose it's late and i've been thinking about the concept of food a lot recently. We're trying to eat better and it also means defining what "better" is. I'm recalling my mom's reaction to farmers' market pink lady apples. I'm also missing cherries. And of course, calling low-carb eaters big babies.

posted by beXn @ 3:03 AM