Food Learning 101

Alo people!

Now for a little change of pace, I'll be sharing some material on foods that I work on IRL. Because I'm not called Ciabatta for my health (well technically, because I love the bread), but I'm also [learning to be] a baker (and general cook) as well. ^^

First a couple of interesting videos about a once-staple crop here in the west called sorghum, a relative of corn that is highly nutritious (in terms of vitamins and minerals) at fewer calories, can be turned into popcorn, and whose sweet variant can be used to make a surprisingly-nutritious syrup. It also requires less water and fertilizer to grow, and can be planted successfully in areas not fit for other cash crops (such as arid land), so it has substantial value for food security in dry countries, as well as [effective] ethanol production in places like Brazil and India.

Alo peoplez!  

Today I'd like to talk to you about something near and dear to my heart... or specifically my culture.

Huatle... 

Or known more commonly by its modern English name, Amaranth.

This is a grain I've heard about for quite some time, even having eaten Alegrías (or candied puffed amaranth bars) as a kid, but not knowing its nutritional or cultural significance at the time.  But it's only until the last two weeks that I've really come to truly appreciate its value as a common food source that ideally should be introduced into our diets, and it's easier to understand why it was so important to indigenous cultures of ancient Mexico and Central America, almost as much if not more so than maize.  

In its pseudo-grain form, amaranth is harvested from seeds of the Amaranth family that have multiple varieties, from giant flowering seed variants, all the way to roadside weed variants that may be growing in your gardens right now (but are still beneficial).  Still relatively wild, amaranth grows very quickly with minimal nutrients or water, and propagates with little human intervention... some variants can produce as much as 60,000 seeds per plant.

Despite this, amaranth is an extremely nutritious pseudo grain, combining modest calories, carbohydrate [non-gluten] and fat content with extremely high protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, fiber, B Vitamins, nitrolisides, and many other essential vitamins and nutrients.  It is nutritionally elbow-to-elbow with the more commonly-known quinoa pseudo-grain, but at only 1/3 the price, making it one of the most affordable (albeit harder to find) supergrains.  Only chia seeds (another revered pseudo-grain in ancient Mexico) are better, but considering they're nearly 7 times as expensive, I say amaranth is definitely the better nutritional bang for your buck.  

Amaranth has a hardy, earthy, nutty flavor that may or may not be present based on how its cooked, and may be unusual at first but you quickly get used to it.  It can be boiled as a porridge, cooked as a fritter, accompanied with other grains and pulses, or puffed up to create cutlet breading, cereals or dessert treats.  It can also be milled as a flour to create gluten-free breads and other baked goods. 

*cough* I hate learning *cough*

lol, well it's not quite the best response, but hey... at least someone posted on my thread. ^^

*hug*

Grrr, I can't quite get the hang of doing one of these rotis without disintegrating completely, but the hot water is definitely a step in the right direction.  Will try it again over the weekend, this time equipped with a good rolling pin and tawa (since the hand method requires a level of experience I ain't got yet).  ^^;

Oh the wonders of GMO bacteria poop, isn't it tasty?  Yay!  XD

No but seriously, not a big fan of Xanthan Gum -- it's disgusting, heavily [and questionably] processed, still has the potential to cause allergic reactions, and definitely can cause bloating and other gastro-tract ailments.  It's unfortunate to see it get used a lot in gluten-free bread recipes just because it's an okay binding agent, but apparently it gets used in a whole bunch of other stuff too (even where it shouldn't belong). XO

Imma proud of myself for doing these dishes so successfully yesterday! Yay, Indian bread!  




And some amazing stuff to go with it...

Here is a little something on the adverse effects of modern Durum wheat, which not only includes increase in weight, but adverse health and psychological effects as well.  For the record, I am in the process of reading 'Wheat Belly' myself, and can corroborate a lot of what is written with my own experiences.  ^^

Note that I do believe the real issue lies with the modern variants of wheat,... older heirloom variants like Einkorn, Khorosan [Kamut] or Spelt are probably okay, but it's safer to predominate your diet with non-gluten grains such as millet, flax and sorghum, and pulses such as beans and lentils.

Necroposting in order to post an awesome radio interview I'm loving. Great to have it play in the background while I'm Minecrafting.

This make's me hungry cia    

Let's make us some ghee!  

Ciabatta is best cook!  

YAY!  Take that, Ramsey!  XD

Now make a poster of me beating up on Bobby Flay, and then we'll REALLY be cookin'! [I freakin' hate that guy!!]  >v<

There are only TWO celebrity chefs I look up to....

The Teacher (for Good Eats only)...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton_Brown

And the Grand Master...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroyuki_Sakai

seriously? >.<

Mmmmm... industrially-processed Rapeseed oil, yum yum... XD

Some notes I had to take when watching this thing:

• "Canola" is not a plant per se, since it's a genetically-modified variant of Rapeseed meant to be less deadly to humans.  
  
• Health claims are based on the notion that Monounsaturated fat is the ONLY good fat for us -- in which case yes it has lots of it, but what else is being ingested when eating it?  
  
• If it even has Omega 3 fatty acids, they're probably lost in the super-heated refining process.
  
• Canola cake has leftover oil extracted using a solvent known as Hexane. Google it to find out how fun it is.  
  
• Cattle are fed leftover, Hexane-bathed canola cake.  Setting aside that cows don't typically eat seeds, how come they don't show us a picture of what this stuff looks like?  
  
• Sodium hydroxide... otherwise known as lye.  If anyone has ever watched Fight Club, you'll know what this stuff does to you.  Granted it's not the first time lye is used in foods (search "hominy"), but in general I don't want edible products prepared like soaps.  XD
  
• Yay!  Vegetable shortening confirmed to have canola sludge!  
  
• Bleaching is actually a very common practice among all commercial seed oils, to ensure the oil looks nice and clear and pretty.  But I generally don't want to eat bleached anything, including Pink Slime... XD
  
• Deorderizing is also a very common practice, since seed oils are typically short-lived and very susceptible to becoming rancid and nasty.  If the bottle of canola oil can have such a long shelf life, it's more testament to the power of mad science than the natural state of things. ^^;
  

This was both informative and hilarious, and a great way to lose the fear of sciency stuff.... XD

That was awesome Cia, its very funny xD I love this guys presentation style, its fantastic. Really fun to watch.

Ill have to make presentations like that if I need to when I go back to Uni, not only is it fun to listen to, but you remember all the information that went into it since its alongside jokes and humor ^_^

I thought these were adorable and make blood sugar problems easy to understand... ^__^

I FOUND IT

A much longer video, but fantastically made... and it references some other works I've read/seen so far. ^^

A certain cheese video for a certain cheese lifter.

I've been reading a lot recently about neurological disorders and a certain... staple grain... The below example hits close to home for me, and because it involves staple products often goes under the radar....

Ciabatta wrote:A certain cheese video for a certain cheese lifter.

Mmm... bacteria, mold, and curdled milk... my favorite! >w<

WIth respect to certain rumors about my "dislike" for butter, I'm posting this to clear the record. I learned what I know through literature, but the guy on the video summarizes a good deal of that very well.