Food for Thought

  

I purchased both of these books last year just before moving to Japan, and I knew immediately that I would love them both. But have I given either of them the time they deserve? Sadly, no. Not until now. I finally cracked them both open this week and am eating them up, so to speak! Animal, Vegetable, Miracle reads like a story, better from beginning to end; while On Food and Cooking is best read in pieces, as need or interest arises.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (author of one of my favorites, Prodigal Summer) is the story of how the Kingsolver family moves back to their roots in Appalachia with the goal of living in close contact with the food they eat. They plan to eat locally, responsibly, and seasonally. Meaning, they will eat food that's in season and that comes from their own garden, county, or region as opposed to food that's shipped half way around the world to reach them. The energy and fuel it takes to refrigerate, store, and transport food to all corners of the earth isn't the best thing for our planet. And, obviously, food that isn't at its freshest, purest, and tastiest isn't that great for us. I'm only a few chapters in, but I'm already wishing I had a place in the country with my own garden out back. And maybe a hen house. I can almost taste the freshness of just-picked produce and just-laid eggs. Someday, I'll be able to live and eat like this. 

Finding locally grown produce in Japan is challenging. I haven't yet found a local farmers' market that I can frequent, although there's the occasional man selling fruits and veggies on the island. Just the other day, I stumbled upon someone selling fresh produce down at the River Mall. He wasn't selling from the street, but from an actual store. Hopefully he's setting up shop and will be there somewhat regularly. Some of his items were organic, some weren't. But they were all local. The tomatoes, onions, chiles, and garlic made a tasty salsa! My other challenge in the eat-locally arena stems from the fact that I haven't yet acquired a taste for the mountain vegetables and sea creatures found in many of the dishes here. "When in Japan..." isn't quite the same as "When in Rome..." when it comes to my palate (but I'm trying!). So I continue to buy familiar foods that are imported from thousands of miles away at ridiculous prices. I don't have a yard for a garden to help cut down my 'food footprint', but I'm growing herbs on the terrace. I've had a bit of success with rosemary, basil, chives, cilantro, and parsley.  It isn't much, but I guess every little bit helps, right?

On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee is about exactly what the subtitle suggests: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. It's full of interesting morsels of information on just about every food you can think of. I've been reading about mustard and sherry this week, two ingredients in a new marinade I was trying. Did you know that mustard, horseradish, and wasabi are all related? I knew horseradish and wasabi had to be close kin, but I'd never considered mustard to be from the same clan. However, I suspected it might be one of them after the new dijon I bought attacked my mouth, nose, and eyes the way wasabi does. Sure enough, there on page 415 it says that all three are members of the cabbage family and have irritant defenses (isothiocyanates) that cause a "head-filling hotness" when the irritant molecules are liberated. (This sounds like a politcal coup!) I find it interesting that the prepared condiments that come from these plants all come from different parts of their respected plants - mustard ground from the seeds, horseradish grated from the root, and wasabi scraped from the stem.

"Of the various spices that manage to please us by causing irritation and pain, the mustards and their relatives are unique..." I'd never thought of mustard in such masochistic terms!