Are Super Foods as Good as we Think they are

CHEFTALK

Are super foods as good as we think they are?

The discussion about a healthy life style, healthy food, weight loss, running around the block, going to the gym, avoiding processed foods has entered a spiraling outbreak when you ask me. It is worse than an epidemic disease that has no cure but only hope for those affected.

You can’t open a food focused website or all sorts of super healthy looking gym blokes, super thin shiny ladies and handsome doctor look alike guys in authority commanding uniforms, who seem to have straight walked out of a mediocre hospital novel, pass your computer screen. All of them try to convince you of what is best for your health.

I do not know about you, but they drive me nuts. Their pushing style annoys me tremendously but they must be getting a point across to the average reader or else they would presumably not be there. How spot-on and accurate are they, is what they are trying to tell you the truth or are they just buck busters getting a good income over your, desperate to lose weight, back side.

The food producing industry as a whole and in tandem, the food processing industry is spending huge amounts of money to make us believe that what we eat is actually quite good. Well to put the whole issue in perspective, it is about money and nothing else than money.

The health issue

GMO is big in debate, the scare is that GMO plants create (or already have) new species of unknown plants that influence our health in the short medium or long term.

FDA scientist have repeatedly warned that GM injected plant species can produce ‘hard to detect’ side effects that may affect human health. Unknown side effects, nutritional effects and possible new diseases have been discovered. A good reason to avoid GM foods, question is how. More types of foods are GM than you might think. Not only soya beans, canola and corn are GM. Fruits are, I have read about papaya, pineapple and mangos.

Super food is another word high on the debate list, what are they and are they as ‘super’ as many want us to believe. 

Dietitians and nutritionists do not seem to like the word super foods, claiming lack of scientific proof for the benefits these foods may have. Cancer research UK claims the word is just a marketing tool with little scientific basis.

It is not getting easier to make out what is good or bad and what is safe and healthy to eat. If you have been reading some of my earlier posts you may know that I am a strong advocate of a balanced home cooked diet. This does not mean that that you should not have an outside lunch or dinner anymore. I believe that if a balanced home cooked diet is your principal, you can enjoy any food you like, in moderation, right proportion and variety.

Super foods

Super foods may not have a big load of scientific standing but they are good for you based on the properties and nutritional values they have. Dietitians and nutritionists do not deny that! 

Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel types and sardines are rich in essential fatty acids, Omega 6 and Omega 3. Dark colored vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are full of vitamins and minerals. Fruits are a rich source of fibers and vitamins. Legumes like beans and nuts are a good source of protein and so are meats. 

And then there are the, for many, somewhat unfamiliar ‘super foods. Grits, Quinoa, Kale, Hemp seeds, Edamame beans, coconut flour, okra and the list goes on. 

I believe in the health properties of all these ingredients, in addition they give me a load of inspiration.

Great foods that should be part of your diet. It is just a matter of where to find and how you implement them.


Buying super foods  

Organic produced super foods are your best choice. Unfortunately that is not within every ones reach. Buying goods from small farmers selling their produce on their own premises and at local farmers markets is a good choice as well. These farmers know what they are doing and are health food advocates themselves.

When stored correctly, most of the small farmers produce last much longer than mass produced products that have been stored and transported over a considerable period of time, losing a fair share of their shelf life and nutrients in the process.

Vacuum sealing, sharing and portioning saves cost.

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Super foods are ‘Super’ when you buy the right product at the right place, for the right purpose!   


By: Marinus Hoogendoorn

Should Obesity be Prosecuted

CHEFTALK

Should Obesity be prosecuted?

The legalization of marijuana in many US states has been welcomed by many and has been rejected by many others. Many objectors find marihuana a drug people get addicted to and should therefore be banned, some four decades ago this particular topic was hot news in the Netherlands, same objections, same arguments.

 The Dutch Approach

Smoking marihuana does not make you more dependent than smoking cigarettes. Contrary, the use of hard drugs increases every year with dire social consequences. A statement understood by the government in the Netherlands, when they decided in the 1970s (40 years ago mind you) to condone and tolerate controlled sales and personal use of soft drugs at registered locations. 

The objective was to separate the sales of soft drugs from the sales of hard drugs. This allowed law enforcement to shift their focus.

Those days the medical benefits were not well known but today it is widely agreed that marihuana has beneficial medical applications. 

The drugs policy in the Netherlands comes under regular scrutiny by neighboring countries, but the sales and use of cannabis is stable and under control and the death rate from the use of hard drugs is now the lowest in Europe.

The introduction of this article may sound a bit odd for an episode of CHEFTALK but allow me to explain why I picked the marijuana topic as intro to talk about the difference between legal and illegal addiction.

What is Legalized Addiction? 

Chocolate Cake

Obesity is a legally approved addiction. Sufferers are in most cases absolutely addicted to food that cause obesity. You are absolutely free to get addicted to obesity, you are free to stay addicted to obesity and you do not get arrested with a box full of doughnuts. 

A little marihuana in your possession may lead to a conviction with dire consequences.

What is the difference? Let’s look at some figures.

Obesity:

More than 1/3 of US adults (34.9%) are obese.

The estimated medical cost of obesity in the US was USD 147 billion in 2008.

The medical costs for people who are obese were $ 1,429 higher than for people with normal weight.

Obesity related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. 

(Source: Center for disease control and prevention)

Marihuana:

Healthy Grilled Vegetable Salad

A survey conducted among 70.000 people 12 years and above shows that in 2012, 7.3% or 7.6 million American adults use marihuana and heroin.  Up from 5.8% in 2007.

The use of marihuana alone, decreased for the 12 to 17 year age group from 7.9% in 2011 to 7.2% 2012.

Imprisonment of marijuana users cost an estimated USD 1 billion per year. This excludes loss of income and other social related cost.

Marihuana use has been linked to reduced brain development especially for people in the 12 to 18 year age group. A report that has been challenged in 2013 by the center for economic research in Oslo, stating that socioeconomic issues may have cost the drop in IQ as much as marihuana use. 

(Source: Alternet, University of Washington State, CBS news)

What should be Prosecuted?

Breakfast

Increase of marihuana arrests does not achieve the stated goals of marihuana prohibition. In fact the price of marihuana has dropped despite recent increases in arrests.

Controlled Marihuana use is fairly inexpensive and it helps relief people with certain illnesses yet using the substance is subject to prosecution.  

Obesity in contrast is exactly the opposite, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is America the fattest country in the world and is only getting fatter.

It is estimated that three out of four people in the US will be obese within the next ten years, before 1980 that was one out of every ten citizens.

A sedentary lifestyle combined with a frightening diet are the culprits and largely to blame for this scary prospect awaiting us.

Main excuse seems to be that when we hit the grocery store, white bread, ground chuck and potato chips are less expensive than products from the organic aisle. 

For a struggling family of four having the idea of feeding a family of four with 9 servings a day, the choice is no choice anymore. In addition fast food offers 99 cent meals and the whole thing of choosing the wrong (obesity causing)  products becomes something like unavoidable or a ‘what do you want me to do’ issue.

Healthy and Hearty

Now here is my point, I reject to believe that you have no choice or that your only choice is a 99 cents fast food meal because the organic aisle is too expensive. To me that is just a cheap excuse.  

You have many options to cook inexpensive meals that are healthy, hearty and keep you away from the ‘big size clothing stores and the doctor’s waiting room.

I cook everyday very ordinary simple home cooked food, simply because I believe in it and I am convinced that it is a better choice than 99 cent meals.

If you cannot produce a healthy meal for 99 cent, you certainly cannot buy one.

Think Healthy

I lace this articles with some pictures of my home cooked daily meals, not to show you how good a chef I am but to underline my believe in healthy, home cooked food.

The Netherlands has presently one of the healthiest eating populations in the world.   

In my next article I like to have a look at money saving cooking, so stay tuned! 

You will also learn how a vacuum sealer can help. In the meantime shop around here  www.vacupack.com and www.vacupack.ca

By: Marinus Hoogendoorn

It's Asparagus Season. Time to eat White Gold

CHEFTALK

It is Asparagus season!!! Time to eat white gold

In fact I am late, my excuses for that but better late than never as the saying goes. In Europe were the seasonal tradition is kept high, the asparagus season starts Mid- April and ends in June, on June 24 to be precise, the feast of John the Baptist.

The timing has a reason as the ground needs to be at a certain temperature before the spears start to grow towards the sun. The spears are covered with soil so they stay white. Long stretches of ‘dyke like’ patched up soil can be seen when you travel through one of touristic asparagus routes set out during the asparagus season in Germany, Belgium and the South of Holland.

The ultra violet of the sun, which makes exposed parts of vegetables green, is not able to oxidize the asparagus skin. White asparagus or white gold as they are also called are the delicious result.

When the ground ‘cracks’ the farmers know that the asparagus is ready for harvest, the ground is carefully removed around that single piece and with a long ‘looks like a screw driver’ tool, the asparagus is then cut from the base underground.

Asparagus harvesters are hawk-eyed buggers, inspecting the stretches of asparagus dykes from the early morning until midday. The moment a crack is spotted, the asparagus is in the bag, quite like salmon fishing with your bare hands.

As said, the season is from Mid-April until the end of June, officially the season last only 9 weeks and that makes asparagus so special. The crowd is drawn from hundreds of miles away, tracking the asparagus routes and buying some of the freshest asparagus straight of the field.

Unlike in the US were asparagus can be found year round, it needs mentioning here that there is a famous asparagus festival in Stockton CA on June 25, Europe keeps the seasonal tradition high and you need to have a look in history to get a better understanding why that is so.

Asparagus most likely came to Germany after the conquest of the Roman Empire using the lavish land to comply with high demands for asparagus in their homeland. When the Roman Empire crumbled the asparagus industry diminished and became virtually unknown, only to be revived in the mid-16^th century by monastery monks.

Asparagus were green those years. A cool legend has it that a hailstorm once destroyed a complete harvest and the locals were forced to eat the small remaining part that was left underground. This part, being white, happened to be much tenderer than the green asparagus the people were used to, hence the popularity of the white asparagus. 

Asparagus 'dykes' 

The sprouts were covered with soil to be protected from weather conditions and the tenderer white asparagus was born.

Another tale relates the popularity of asparagus to the fact that is was once a Royal food and who doesn't want to eat royal food that is referred to as white gold.

The word asparagus is probably as old as the road to Rome so to speak. It is said that the word comes from the Persian word for ‘shoot’ which is asparg. The first A was dropped in Europe and Sparg or Spargel became the common mentioning of the vegetable. The British started calling the white gold ‘sparrow grass’ which annoyed some experts who found that such a Royal vegetable should have a classier name and referred to it as Asparagus.

Asparagus grow as a shoot from long horizontal placed strings of the mother plant, placed under ground the shoot works its way up towards the sun and when exposed to sunlight chloroform from the plant oxidizes and the asparagus turns green.

Early days asparagus cover

To prevent this from happening, pots were placed on top of the vegetable to stop the penetration of sunlight. Later farmers found the dyke method a better and easier way to produce the white gold vegetable.

There is still little time left to enjoy asparagus, when you follow the season that is.

In my next blog I will give you some great traditional asparagus recipes to enjoy and how to vacuum and keep asparagus for when the season is over.   

If you like to purchase a vacuum sealer before the next blog, find them here:

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By: Marinus Hoogendoorn

   

   

What Is Healthy Food?

WHAT IS HEALTHY FOOD

When I spoke, about the Primal and Paleo diets in my last article, I promised to dedicate my next article on the same subject. I concluded that it all comes down to having a healthy and balanced diet, with moderate portioning and home cooked, not readily bought food off the shelf.

In ancient times, people had to do with what they found or bagged in their surrounding areas. I am a very practical person, if I may say so and when I try to imagine how life would have been those days, I see somebody wake up in the morning with a hungry feeling in his stomach, so what to do now.

He or she is going to look for something to do away with that feeling and without a refrigerator filled with what not, I imagine that instead of killing and eating one of the ‘cave mates’, a less emotional measure would be to look for some animal to catch instead.

If there were only a few people, one bird, rabbit or something small would do. Later when more people were existent, more prey was needed, or more food for that matter. Humans taught themselves and each other better ways to stay alive. I do understand that wheat and grains were not available but plants were in abundance and our cave man friends must have eaten some of them. Development has therefore always been a part of life.

                                   

Development that has led to bad, better and good products as we know them today. 

Our way of eating healthy food should also be like that of the cave man, go to your local market and find produce that suits you. 

Cook it yourself and avoid processed foods that contain loads of sugar, preservatives and other artificial coloring and flavoring. You do not need them.

My definition of healthy food: home cooked, fresh ingredients, moderate portioning.

The introduction of processed foods and convenience products has led to us buying those foods for the obvious reason of convenience. 

Fast food arrived and was popularized as being quick and convenient. This was a disastrous development. Millions of people are addicted to fast food. Even the fact that fast food is being described as the heroin of the modern generation still does not stop people from consuming fast food.

I saw this guy who weighed 543 pounds. He went through a gruesome weight loss program lasting one full year.  With all his dedication he lost half of his weight, awesome right, BUT, he takes the bus home from work to avoid the temptation of passing by a fast food joint and not being able to resist and stop if he drives his own car. Wow. Is that fast food addiction, or is it me?

Many of us have products of the processed food category on our kitchen counters or in the pantry. Ketchup (sugar), bottled pasta sauce (sugar), chips (sugar, salt), cookies (sugar), soy sauce (salt) and the list goes on. Store bought bread has at least 12 added chemicals to keep it “fresh” longer. All preserved meats and seafood, smoked or not, contain salt and sugar. To make these products, bacon and smoked fish and so on, they are brined or dry salted, both methods contain salt and sugar. Sugar is used for color after smoking and salt to preserve the meat or fish. 

I do not think that you have to omit some of those products completely but rethink if they are your daily diet.  

You may think, but it is easy, convenient, grab a packet, stuff it in the microwave and I am done.

Well if you wish to place yourself in that category, good luck. 

If you wish to eat healthier, read on.

A vacuum sealer is a great tool to help you, keep your foods fresh, semi or half cooked, raw and fully cooked, saving money and giving you peace of mind by knowing what you eat, because you cooked it yourself. 

Portioning of food and the balance of ingredients are another great money saver.

I mean, four slices of bacon, with three fried eggs, a scoop of baked beans and a few slices of toast. Do you really need that every morning?   

Portioning of food is perception!!

This is not my wisdom but scientifically proven. Your brain tells you via vision, (you looking at your plate) when your stomach is full or satisfied. By using a smaller plate and with that obviously a smaller portion, you will have the same ‘I am full’ feeling than you have by using a bigger plate and a bigger portion.  

Observe a well balanced mix on a plate. I fully agree that 40% protein, 40% vegetables and 20% carbohydrates is a good mix but ensure that your cooking method points at the vegetables and protein. The carbohydrates are then eaten last and less, this is better for you as the carbohydrates take longer to digest and the nutrients of the protein and vegetables are the first to be absorbed in the blood stream. 

Some tips as promised to help you reduce cost. 

Healthy food does not have to be expensive by default.

Tip 1:

Do not throw any of your purchased food away. When pre-preparing the vegetables you just bought for vacuum sealing and storage, you will have some end pieces or root pieces. Carrots, celery, leeks, coriander and so on, these roots are more flavorsome than the parts you cook to eat. 

Prepare a mix of those root pieces and vacuum seal them. They are great to use in stocks and as a base when you cook a roast. They stay healthy for at least a week in your refrigerator and you can freeze them also if you like.

Tip 2:

Watch for cheaper cuts of meat and fish, instead of lamb leg or lamb chops, use lamb shoulder, de-boned rolled up lamb shoulder makes a great roast. Same thing goes for pork shoulder. Slice thinly when it is cold, portion, vacuum seal and you have a great cold cut for sandwiches, salads, or a cold platter dish for a weekend lunch.

Pork trotter is such a much undervalued cut of pork meat. But a piece of meat that is really lovely to eat.

Try this simple recipe,

4 Nos Pork trotters

1 Nos Roughly chopped medium onion

1 Nos Red chilly

3 Cloves Garlic

1 Bunch Garlic (cut in half)

4 Stalks Coriander root, keep the leaves for later

½ Cup  Vegetable oil

1 Bag Of your own earlier prepared vegetable roots

1 Stalk Rosemary

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Vegetable oil

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 325 F.

Prepare a marinade of the onion, cloves of garlic, chilly and coriander stalks by placing them in a blender and blending them fine, while blending, add the oil.

Season the pork trotters with the marinade and salt and pepper.

Place your own vegetable roots on the bottom of a baking tray with the garlic bunch, add the rosemary and the butter and vegetable oil. If there are no onion pieces in your vegetable root mix, add some.

Place the trotters on top, roast in your oven for 2 ½ hours or so, depending a bit on the trotter size.

After the roasting time the meat will come off the bone and is lovely, flavorful and great tasting.

Remove the trotters from the tray, add 2 Tbsp of flour to the tray with all the vegetables and mix well, add 1 Cup of stock and simmer for 5 minutes.

Press all this through a sieve, rest for a minute or so, you can now scoop of excess fat easily as it will float on the top.

Serve the trotters as they are or remove the meat and serve with the gravy and garnish of your choice. 

Vacuum seal and chill or freeze.

Enjoy !!

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Here is another tip,

If you find that one whole bunch of garlic is a bit too much for your gravy, remove it before you add the flour.

Cool the garlic until you can handle it and press the flesh out.

Mix the garlic with some butter, finely chopped onion, some finely sliced coriander root, salt, pepper and a bit of oil. 

This makes great roasted garlic butter, roll it into a sausage shape, vacuum seal, and freeze.

Flavored butter like this works great on all sorts of meat and also seafood.

Any questions? Please ask and I will be happy to help wherever needed.   

Written for PMG by:

Professional Chef Marinus Hoogendoorn 

Culinary expert in recipe development.  

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