Superb photo / cartoon / video blog post on eating a US$300 meal of truffles.
see the rest of the cartoon – The Amateur Gourmet: Chutzpah, Truffles & Alain Ducasse
Category: food
nutrition – is corn killing me?
I’m no wimp when it comes to nutrition.
But with my processed food diet, sounds like I won’t live long enough to read a 400 page book about food: The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
But the Slate.com book review club delivered a terrific audiocast. Stephen Metcalf is a particularly eloquent and articulate reviewer. Listen to that podcast.
For reasons historic and political, corn is used to feed American cattle. Unfortunately a corn diet can kill a cow. Thankfully we have drugs to keep the poor beasts alive until slaughter date. (About 18-months-old, I believe.)
Consider a McDonald’s lunch. Corn feeds the cow that turns into the burgers. Corn is the oil that cooks the fries. And corn syrup sweetens the shakes and the soft drinks. Corn even makes up 13 of the 38 ingredients in Chicken McNuggets.
If you wisely avoid Rotten Ronnie’s, know that a quarter of the products in your grocery store contain corn.
Avoiding corn is as easy as avoiding things made in China.
This cannot last much longer. So much petroleum is needed to keep the corn economy running that the corn economy is not sustainable long-term. Something must change.
New Zealand was held up as a non-corn-based model. They dropped all agricultural subsidies long ago.
Big Mac index, Tall Latte index
I don’t eat Big Macs — they have no taste — but a travellin’ man is always checking price vs purchasing power. I saw a standard muffin sold for US$3 in San Francisco, then $4.50 in a Las Vegas casino deli.
Economist magazine started the Big Mac index in 1986 and it is still referred to widely.
But Dana would be keener on the Starbucks Tall Latte index, introduced by Economist in 2004.
The graphic shows 2004 prices. You must subscribe to Economist on-line to get the up-to-date statistics. That’s to keep the poor (who might disagree with their pro-globalization, pro-Starbucks editorial policy) ignorant.
PS
I’ve often told people that Starbucks was owned indirectly by big tobacco. That’s wrong — in fact, the company is zealously non-smoking at all outlets, even in China.
the breakfast hype
A friend again told me, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
As a life long “breakfast skipper”, I’ve always questioned that wisdom of the ages.
The LA Time published an extensive piece on the science to date. (Take it with a grain of salt — there is more trash written about nutrition, than consumed.)
The breakfast hype – Los Angeles Times
To sum up, it looks conclusive that growing children do better in school if they have a good breakfast.
But in adults there is no strong consensus. A number of important studies show no disadvantage to those skipping breakfast.
On the other hand, there is certainly no downside for those who do break the fast heartily.
Kate’s 15 minutes of fame
My secret gal pal Kate Zimmerman just won a major food writing award: Best Food Feature in a Magazine from the Association of Food Journalists.
She claims to have kicked Anthony Bourdain’s butt. … (He’s only a little guy.) … Or maybe it was something about “Bourdain won the award last year”.
In any case, congratulations!
Check Kate at KateZimmerman.ca
the Thirsty Traveler
Gourmet chef Dave Adlard tipped me on to The The Thirsty Traveler series on TV hosted by Kevin Brauch.
I had never heard of it.
But I got my hands on the “cookbook” — if you can call tinkering in the kitchen with vodka, tequila, single malt scotch and other fine alcohol, “cooking”.
It’s excellent.
gimmie my Timmies and no one gets hurt
Canadian unity and patriotism is best fostered by Tim Horton’s Coffee.
Noted Canadian author Pierre Berton once wrote: “In so many ways the story of Tim Hortons is the essential Canadian story. It is a story of success and tragedy, of big dreams and small towns, of old-fashioned values and tough-fisted business, of hard work and of hockey.”
Some commentators have questioned the rise of Tim Hortons as a national symbol. Rudyard Griffiths, director of The Dominion Institute, recently wrote in the Toronto Star that the ascension of the chain to the status of cultural icon was a “worrying sign” for Canadian nationalism, adding: “Surely Canada can come up with a better moniker than the Timbit Nation.”
Chili, bun, donut (bagel) and coffee for $5.11 !!
Monsanto should be terminated
Playing with Mother Nature is rarely a good policy.
This is bound to end in diaster.
… I believe Monsanto is going too far with this evil … Yes, I said evil. To prevent a farmer’s seed from previous harvests from germinating just to maintain a strong grip on the marketplace is sick, and one strong reason GM food is looked at with distrust and hatred in the rest of the world.
Terminator technology or anything that disrupts the proper development of any plant should be illegal.
Beyond protecting intellectual property, this is all about greed, plain and simple.
Dvorak Uncensored » Monsanto continues to pursue controversial “Terminator” seed-control technology
why I go to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Not for the gym camp. But all the grilled lamb chops I can eat!
More photos of Dave and Lisa Adlard’s restaurant on Flickr.
I finally got a US$25 Flickr Pro account. After years of hosting my own photos, it’s time I moved to a web host. I will add more photos to this set over the next couple of weeks — easy to do in Flickr.
» next travelogue post on this trip – gymnastics camp photos
barbecue a whole hog
The latest video blog from Rockin’ Ronnie learns you how to go whole hog.
It’s pretty graphic! You need a sharp axe and other weapons.
Don’t get too chummy with the hog before you smoke him.
photo – Ian Baird
Rick McCharles 