Balance of Food

On the second Bourdain Day, how Anthony Bourdain would handle a worldwide pandemic

I don't carry around a bracelet with the initials WWABD. I do ask myself lately how Anthony Bourdain would have dealt with a pandemic such as COVID-19?

Can't really travel, can't celebrate food in restaurants, can't produce intimate television such as the great shows Bourdain produced.

I suppose Bourdain would have picked a remote spot, eaten well locally, managing to do that without cameras or voiceovers. Those that move at a fast pace find slowing down to be difficult. Anthony Bourdain would have been 65 today. He might not have liked the idea of slowing down even at 65.

Many of us are discovering cooking during the pandemic. You often saw Bourdain eating out: when he could, Bourdain would eat in people's homes. He really enjoyed eating at home with people and learning how to approach certain dishes.

Eating and sharing with people has also gone by the wayside in a pandemic. Pick the people you are with and make the best of it. So many people are alone during the pandemic; some would rather be alone.

Being alone heightens anxiety and depression. With food, you are not alone. Then again, you can feel alone surrounded by people, even with social distancing.

Bourdain might tell us to reflect on our food travel memories. Ours aren't as spectacular or extensive as his were. We have the books and TV shows of his adventures. We can only imagine what happened off-camera.

Bourdain Day is a way to celebrate the love of food and food cultures

Anthony Bourdain legacy: Find your own food adventure

We do have food travel memories. Eating raw oysters for the first time at the Ferry Building farmers market in San Francisco. The local canned tuna fish I bought in Victoria and ate on an Amtrak car traveling from Seattle to Chicago. The late night Belgian frites in Amsterdam. The dark chocolate gelato in the outdoor seating at the bar in Rome. The strawberries and raw milk snack in Santa Monica.

The childhood car rides through the U.S. South: pecan logs at Stuckey's, grits at numerous diners, the hockey-puck like hard chocolate chip cookies we got from my grandma's friend and how the warm Southern summer made those cookies edible from the heat.

Bourdain would likely tell us to explore "ethnic" grocery stores and aisles to travel the world without leaving your city. He would suggest ordering out from family-run restaurants and ignoring the greed of restaurant delivery apps (more money in the pockets of the people making the food).

He also would spend a lot of time cursing in several languages about how all of this sucks.

Anthony Bourdain takes CNN's Parts Unknown to the mysterious land of Newfoundland

Eating outdoors is a part of summer. Some cities will close off streets to increase social distancing. Shop well and set up a picnic in a nearby park, keeping your distance. Take a dish that you learned and eat it outdoors. Not the same as food travel but the best we can do during a pandemic.

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

As we noted last year and worth remembering: "Anthony Bourdain's legacy lives within us. Travel more to learn about people through food. Read one or several of his books. Write your own book and dedicate that book to the spirit of Anthony Bourdain."

photo credit: Instagram Anthony Bourdain

Bourdain Day is a way to celebrate the love of food and food cultures

Comparing Anthony Bourdain to Ernest Hemingway is easier than it should be. The love of life. How it all ended.

We don't remember either of them for how it ended but how life was lived. This is the spirit behind the movement by fellow chefs José Andrés and Eric Ripert, longtime friends of Bourdain, to name June 25 as Bourdain Day.

The 1-year anniversary was earlier this month but June 25 was picked for Bourdain's birthday.

Anthony Bourdain legacy: Find your own food adventure

Cook to 160°F minimum a sign to look elsewhere for meat

The philosophy of cooking meat

Medium-rare burger a rare find in Canada, especially buffalo and elk

North Carolina holds on to radical views on medium-rare burgers

Anthony Bourdain's legacy lives within us. Travel more to learn about people through food. Read one or several of his books. Write your own book and dedicate that book to the spirit of Anthony Bourdain.

David Shaw, R.I.P.

Anthony Bourdain takes CNN's Parts Unknown to the mysterious land of Newfoundland

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

You can join a group on social media devoted to Bourdain. Post a significant memory of Bourdain on Twitter with the hashtag #BourdainDay. Eat a really good meal and think of him.

photo credit: Instagram Anthony Bourdain

Salt Fat Acid Heat provides impactful cooking advice

Most cooking shows are about how to cook a specific recipe with a few tips along the way. Good Eats and the new Good Eats: Reloaded are grand exceptions though consumed a bit about the science of how cooking happens.

Salt Fat Acid Heat is a 4-part series on Netflix from Samin Nosrat, author of the book that inspired the series. The series helps you to understand cooking breaking things down to the 4 core elements.

The series takes us around the world as each episode is devoted to a region suited to the element:

Salt	Japan
Fat	Liguria, Italy
Acid	Yucatan, Mexico
Heat	Berkeley, CA

 

Salt

Nosrat tells us salt is prevalent in every world cuisine. We seek salt not just in crystals but in foods that contain salt, such as olives, cheese, pickles, and capers. Salt also provides umami to dishes. She shows us how in Japan, they make salt from seaweed.

Nosrat teaches us there are 3 basic decisions where salt is concerned:

• when to salt (Salt meat in advance and do on all sides. Season meat on the bone the minute she gets back from the butcher.)
• layering salt (Use less salt on the meat if you are going to marinade with salty ingredients. You can get other flavor benefits from salty ingredients.)
• how much salt (The less time food spends in the water, the saltier the water has to be.)

The third decision gets us back to a battle we have had over time about the absolute need to salt the pasta water.

What's Tempting: Salting the pasta water

What's Tempting: Salting the pasta water Part II

Taking seasoning advice with a grain of salt

Many cooking shows told of the need to have a lot of salt in the pasta water, but no one explained the concept as well as Nosrat did. In our earlier experiments, perhaps we didn't use enough salt to be able to tell. If you do something because a TV chef tells you to do something, you aren't really learning but doing. With Nosrat, you are learning why to do something.

Fat

Nosrat shares with us that fat provides flavor and texture as well as amplifying other flavors. The key is how to harness its magic.

She points out fat has 5 distinct textures: creamy, flaky, crispy, tender, and light. Fat transforms simple ingredients into a great meal.

We see the collecting of olives that are turned into olive oil. We see the foccacia become buttery and crumbly thanks to the olive oil.

The parts of the pig are on display and how the fat from the pig produces wonderful pork products with that glorious fat. We learn about the milk from the red cows that is sweeter and fatter ultimately turned into Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

We see in a simple ragu dish of the number of fat options, including soffrito (olive oil), beef, pork, and beef fat. Nosrat let us know that fat can transform simple ingredients into a great meal.

Acid

Nosrat teaches us that acid brightens food and balances flavors in dishes. The episodes focuses quite a bit of sour oranges and sweet lemons.

Fermentation also adds acid to dishes such as pickles, vinegar, and red wine. Browning also produces acidity. Marinating a food in acid is more effective in a short-term burst and produces distinct results as opposed to cooking in acid.

Nosrat points out that atypical foods such as coffee, chocolate, bananas, and honey qualify as acidic. She tells the story of her first Thanksgiving dinner in the United States and working cranberry sauce into other dishes to get that acid effect.

Heat

Heat takes us to where Nosrat got started at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA where she was taught to pay attention to the food not the fire. There were no settings on the ovens so you had to learn to use other senses.

We see steaks cooked at Chez Panisse over a fire with the steak cooked more than halfway on first side and browning all over not just doing it for grill marks.

This also happens when Nosrat cooks buttermilk marinated roasted chicken. Since the heat is in the back of oven, put the legs toward the back. When the legs are relaxed, the chicken is done.

Nosrat makes a rice dish with her mother: Persian-ish rice with tahdig. The dish involves steaming and frying, producing the rice at the bottom that is crunchy in a very good way.

BalanceofFood.com television coverage

Even if you are watching an episode of one element, the other elements make cameos in the other segments. Fat will be in the Salt segment while salt plays a part in the Heat segment. We learn in the Heat segment that the same saltiness comes from 1 tsp. of Morton kosher salt and 2 tsp. of Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

The cuisines are defined by the fat and salt that they use.

Nosrat shares her own personal story having grown up in Iran and working at Chez Panisse. Her ability to speak Spanish and Italian (she used to live in Italy) help her help us gather more information. She is very personable, curious about food no matter how spicy or unusual. There is a lot of laughter and all of that laughter feels natural and warm.

She talks about how you don't need fancy ingredients to cook good food. The salad she makes in the Heat episode is white beans with a bunch of roasted vegetables, a few herbs, and a simple dressing. Most American kitchens aren't serving that kind of a meal. Salt Fat Acid Heat is trying to change that dynamic.

video credit: YouTube/Netflix
photo credit: Salt Fat Acid Heat

Temptation of the Week: Part-time vegan

You can punch a time clock on the whole vegan thing: start the day punching in as a vegan and when it's time to go home, you can punch back out.

That may not be the spirit of what Mark Bittman is extolling in his new book "Vegan Before 6," but he does offer a more approachable take on being a vegan. Bittman says he can eat whatever he wants for dinner, though I'm willing to admit that his version of "whatever he wants" is more limited than yours or mine.

Bittman is a believer of meat, just in a supporting role.

You certainly don't have to take "vegan before 6" literally. You can flip the script, eat one meal vegan, add some vegan ingredients, or go part-time vegetarian.

The main issue to take is that you don't have to go deep in the water to make a difference. After all, Bittman, The New York Times food writer, eats meat and fish and uses butter — just not all the time.

Though I find myself a conscious omnivore, I do find the idea of being more vegetarian friendly to be tempting. Experimenting with coconut oil and almond milk might get me to be more vegan friendly.

The only thing that separates me from being "vegan before noon" on most days is the milk I usually drink for breakfast and the pecorino romano cheese I put on my spaghetti. The cheese is purely out of habit. Then again, I use very little cheese. The milk is also somewhat out of habit. The milk and cheese do have a protein purpose.

Except for an occasional use of pancetta, bacon, or anchovies, the usual morning meal is vegetarian, just not vegan. Fake cheese could substitute for the pecorino romano, but I would rather go without. Almond milk or other fake milk could supply the missing protein.

Yes, I get some protein from the whole wheat spaghetti and the mushrooms, but feel like the morning should have more substantial protein.

The general consensus is that adult women should get 46 grams of protein per day, men 56. Getting that protein sooner rather than later can help you get through the day.

I see almond milk as a great sub for baking or cooking, but am not convinced for regular drinking … yet.

Some days, I do go "vegetarian before 6" especially if I'm eating bread and cheese for lunch. I don't feel like I'm missing the meat as much if I'm consuming protein. Right now, that protein is dairy-based, though I might need to rethink this.

Doing that day after day isn't going to happen for me. I need flexibility to achieve my balance of food. I can get meals to be mostly vegetarian or mostly vegan on occasion. I'm willing to consider reasonable alternatives throughout the day.

photo credit: Clarkson Potter/Publishers

Will Allen gains new audience with Good Food Revolution

You would think there would be a lot of duplication in comparing people who read BalanceofFood.com and those who know the work of Will Allen. Outside those worlds, some are discovering what is happening with Allen and Growing Power up in Milwaukee for the first time.

Stephen Colbert sure acted this way when the Colbert Report interviewed Allen on last night's show. Colbert was armed with urban farm jokes, and they never even talked about the worms.

If you don't know about the worms, well, you have a bit more to learn.

Allen is out promoting his new autobiographical book, The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities. For those who know or think they know Allen's story, this book is a natural opening to talk about Growing Power.

I first discovered him in Fresh but even if you saw that movie, how many of your friends saw that film?

Allen pointed out that less than 1% of food in urban cities is locally grown, particularly troubling given all the serious food deserts in urban settings.

BalanceofFood.com film coverage

Colbert and Allen explored the concept of urban farms and vertical farms. Colbert mentioned Detroit as a prime opportunity for urban farms. Detroit already has a bunch of urban farms. Maybe this will inspire Colbert to come to Detroit or Milwaukee to see urban farms and bring attention to them in the same manner in which Colbert has brought attention to rural farms.

If Will Allen has anything to do with that, his 6 minutes on the Colbert Report will have greater meaning beyond introducing Allen to a wider audience.

Paula Deen's reported Type 2 diabetes diagnosis should be met with concern, not scorn

Update: Obviously, Deen made it official this morning. Turns out Deen has been diagnosed for 3 years. Wow! After three years, you should be making a lot of progress, though not everyone does. Also, the rumors are true that she is endorsing a diabetes medication. Her Web site is Diabetes in a New Light.

Depending on where and when you read this, Paula Deen may have admitted by now that she has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Deen appeared on the "Today" show to talk to Al Roker. The blogosphere has certainly known about the speculation for some time. The reaction to Paula Deen possibly having Type 2 diabetes was a little more joyful than one would expect.

As much as I follow the food scene, especially the TV food people, I know very little about Paula Deen. I know she loves butter and cooks high-fat Southern dishes on television. But I don't watch her shows and never gave much thought to her, pro or con.

Here's what I do know. Anyone who has suffered from Type 2 diabetes knows they wouldn't wish the disease on their worst enemy. Full disclosure: I know of what I speak, though my numbers have been excellent since then.

Getting the diagnosis throws your world in a rainbow of directions. Being a public figure who deals with food getting the diagnosis? Can't even imagine.

If the speculation is true, Deen has had the diagnosis for at least 9 months, and she reportedly has made changes to her diet. If so, good for her.

That sentiment is not universally shared. Sentiments of "I told you so" and "I knew this would happen to her" flow across the Internet sky.

Ouch!

The sad truth is that Type 2 diabetes does hit people who are thinner than Deen, eat better than Deen, and are younger than Deen. And some people are heavier than her, eat worse than her, and are older than her and don't get Type 2 diabetes.

"Serves her right," is the ardent cry.

In the bizarro world that is the U.S. health care system, if you have a fasting blood sugar of 800, you are "healthy" as long as you are not diagnosed. If your fasting blood sugar is 180 (normal fasting blood sugar is between 70-110) and you are diagnosed, you are branded with a scarlet D for diabetic. At least with the scarlet A, you supposedly had sex.

Since few very people come forward about the diagnosis, having role models would help newcomers to Type 2 diabetes to show them that you can get better, you can improve your life. Whether Paula Deen wants to be one of those role models remains to be seen.

Changing one's life after a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis requires strength, determination, and support. Since Deen isn't getting much help from the modern food community, she can look to the past for a similar scenario.

Graham Kerr was on our TV sets as the Galloping Gourmet who didn't do as much galloping as he should as he suffered a heart attack. The heart attack changed his life and his TV career, coming back years ago with lighter recipes.

Kerr got a lot more sympathy for his heart attack than Deen has for Type 2 diabetes. We think we know heart attacks: family history, diet, stress, hypertension, weight. What do we know about Type 2 diabetes? People eat badly, people don't move around well enough, people get Type 2 diabetes.

Bobby Deen, Paula's son, is hosting a show on Cooking Channel ("Not My Mama's Meals") that foreshadows what may be a new direction for his mother. Changing Southern cooking is an arduous task. I also know from experience: I have a lot of Southern relatives with a history of all the bad stuff.

Having Type 2 diabetes is a stigma, a way to look down at you for your behavior. So what if you eat the way you do because of emotional eating or a reaction to anorexia or mindless eating? Get more exercise, eat less and healthier and you'll be fine.

That advice is true, regardless of whether you have Type 2 diabetes. This is the fastest growing disease over the last decade or so, and our sympathy levels are still near zero. Even children who suffer from the disease are left to wonder if hiding the diagnosis is the better strategy.

Whatever we think about the disease and those who suffer from it, they need to be told that they can do certain things to reduce the impact of the disease. Portion control, be smarter about carbs, lose 10% of your body weight, move, move, and move. They should also take their medication, as needed. Kicking someone when they're down? How about holding out a hand to say, "Hey, we can help."

Paula Deen may not have many friends in the food community with the news that she reportedly has Type 2 diabetes. At BalanceofFood.com, she has a friend in us because she needs help. We don't care how many butter recipes she has served up on TV. She needs help, love, and support. For the moment, her TV career be damned; Deen needs to see the way to get better is out there. Paula Deen needs to find her own Balance of Food.

Forks over Knives has good message, but presentation needs work

I come not to praise or bury Forks over Knives because I haven't seen it in its present run. I think I've seen it in a preview, but am honestly still not sure. But movie reviewers who have seen it recently are digging the hole with forks and knives to bury this film.

There are those who love the movie but more so for the message and not the movie's presentation.

How important is it for a movie with a message to have that message be intriguing to watch?

These documentaries don't have to be song and dance to explain why you should eat better, or the message in this movie, which is "give up meat products." There are compelling movies that if you've seen one, you've seen several of them. I have reviewed Food, Inc and Fresh and have enjoyed Super Size Me. These movies teach you yet you are still interested in the content and presentation.

The two reviewers from Ebert at the Movies sum up the issue of substance vs. style:

"He (Lee Fulkerson) utters the phrase 'whole food, plant-based diet' so many times, it could be a drinking game. But it probably shouldn't be because then you'd be consuming too much sugar." — Christy Lemire, The Associated Press

"A PowerPoint presentation combined with maybe a brochure and a hectoring guy on the street coming up to you with a clipboard." — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, Mubi.com.

They certainly aren't haters to the message, but as Vishnevetsky points out, "a documentary is still a movie."

This Chicago Reader review: "If you're curious about the whole-foods movement, try Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food, which addresses the subject from a wider variety of perspectives and does so in a far less insulting manner than this extended infomercial, with its muzak score, entire sequences lifted from network TV news, and bar graphs illustrating every other scene."

Rotten Tomatoes weighs in, as does a San Francisco Chronicle reviewer who is a 20+years vegetarian and The New York Times where the review notes that "this dense documentary would rather inform than entertain … this trudge through statistics, graphs and grainy film of cholesterol bubbles and arterial plaque may challenge even the most determined viewer. Uninflected narration and marching columns of numbers cast a retro glow, like a 1950s health education class taught by Dr. Oz."

Understandably, those in the realm of wanting others to eat better are reluctant to bash a movie, even if it isn't exciting because they don't want to be seen as "haters."

From watching the trailer and previews, I do feel like I've seen the movie, or maybe a movie like it, because I've seen a lot of these movies. And maybe I have seen this movie. The more I watch the previews, the more I think I really have seen this film.

BalanceofFood.com film coverage

The truth is some of these movies are not exciting. These documentaries have to be as fun and exciting as Food, Inc. or Super Size Me. Those who make these movies and watch these movies should know two things:

Those who are already on board with the message are more patient with presentation.

Those who aren't on board need to be entertained while they learn.

You may not like the message that movie reviewers are delivering about Forks over Knives. If you want to convert more people to the message, these movie reviewers have a very good point.

If you have seen Forks over Knives and other films, we invite you in the comments section. Compare this film with other films and let us know what you think. If this is the first film of its kind that you've seen, let us know whether you were entertained or fell asleep.

Colbert spotlights changes in perception of fat people

"We have a huge diet industry, a $60 billion diet industry that really reinforces that idea that we're not a sufficient person if we are not thin." — Dickinson College professor Amy Farrell was on the "Colbert Report" last week discussing her new book, “Fat Shame.”

Farrell notes a cultural shift about 120 years ago when poor and middle class were able to put on fat that the perception became a problem.

Professor Farrell shared some of the history that associating fat with shame is a relatively new phenomena in history. This goes back to when fat meant you could eat well, and not everybody could back then.

Perhaps we could adjust our perception of food where the poor and middle class are a lot less fat, where fattening food cost more than healthy food.

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To access the podcasts, check them out in the podcast library.

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This week's podcast deals with new and old ways to fight childhood obesity.

To access the podcasts, check them out in the podcast library.

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