Enjoy ... Life

Returning to Earth By Jim Harrison - Books - Review - New York Times:

( Jim use to be the Food Editor for Esquire, among other writings )

"Harrison’s Five Rules for Zestful Living"

Briefly

1) Eat well, of course, avoiding the ninny diets and mincing cuisines that demonize appetite and make unthinkable a tasty snack of hog jowls. We’re all going to die. Might as well enjoy a little fat along the way.

2) Pursue love and sex, no matter discrepancies of desire and age. Romance is worth the humbling.

3) Welcome animals, especially bears, ravens and wolves, into your waking and dream life. An acceptance of our common creaturedom is essential not just to the health of the planet but to our ordinary happiness. We are mere participants in natural cycles, not the kings of them.

4) Rather than lighting out for territory, we ought to try living in it.

5) And finally, love the detour. Take the longest route between two points, since the journey is the thing ...

Portions

Since David got me back to work on this blog, thought I'd post up an example of how we do a bit of portion control and presentation.

Steak: 12-16oz NYStrip, either on the grill or stovetop.I like stovetop with a bit of chopped garlic and pat of butter.
Then let rest for about 5min, this allows the juices to retreat back into the cut.

Then slice thin, about 3/8 inch (cut to suit, this is not exact) and fan out on the plate. Place a drop of Crema di Balsamico (Balsamic Creme) on each slice, top with a bit of Fleur de Sel.

The point is, you end up with 6 to 8oz of steak, plenty for an adult.

Food for Thought

Good, if somewhat lengthly piece on nutrition vs food, cover story Sunday NYTimes Magazine:

Unhappy Meals - Michael Pollan - New York Times:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy. I hate to give away the game right here at the beginning of a long essay, and I confess that I’m tempted to complicate matters in the interest of keeping things going for a few thousand more words. I’ll try to resist but will go ahead and add a couple more details to flesh out the advice. Like: A little meat won’t kill you, though it’s better approached as a side dish than as a main. And you’re much better off eating whole fresh foods than processed food products. That’s what I mean by the recommendation to eat “food.” Once, food was all you could eat, but today there are lots of other edible foodlike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages festooned with health claims, which brings me to a related rule of thumb: if you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat.

Truffles ... get sensitized

In Season
Truffle Lovers, Truffle Haters -- It's Chemistry

People react to truffles in vastly different ways. Now scientists are closing in on why

By KATY MCLAUGHLIN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 5, 2005; Page P3

You've paid a small fortune to sample one of the world's great delicacies: truffles. Your waiter ceremoniously shaves a few grams over your pasta. All around you, diners are sighing with delight. But you smell zilch, and your companion complains that the pricey fungus reeks.

It's a fact -- people react to truffles in vastly different ways. Now scientists are closing in on why. Nearly 25% of the population do not smell androstenone, a chemical that contributes to truffle's signature musky aroma (and makes female pigs go into mating stance). Another 40% of people are keenly sensitive to androstenone; they say it smells like rotten wood or sweat. The rest of the population likes the smell.

It all makes white-truffle season, which started in late September and usually lasts for about eight weeks, a confusing time for chefs, who are forking out roughly $1,600 a pound for the fungus this year. Mark Alba, chef at the Food Studio in Atlanta, says he's heard everything, from complaints that truffles stink to a patron who told him she could die happy after tasting them.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley are investigating whether varying levels of perception of the compound are due to differences in individuals' noses or in the ways the brain processes aroma messages, says Berkeley scientist Noam Sobel.

Other compounds contribute to the earthy aroma of truffles, but people's reactions to the fungus appear to mirror the population's response to androstenone. "If there weren't androstenone in truffles, the mystique would not be there," says Avery Gilbert, a consultant to the fragrance industry.

That mystique is what inspired financier Dandridge Woodworth to drop $110 last week for spaghetti with truffle shavings at Café Boulud in New York. He loved the "earthy and nutty" aroma, he says. That's just what puts off Rosalie D'Amico, a retiree in Woodinville, Wash. She says she loathes the "overpowering woodsy taste" of truffles and truffle oil and interviews waiters to make sure there is none in any dish she orders.

Oddly, it's rare to find truffle-haters among chefs and their kitchen staffs. Scientist Tim Jacob and his colleagues at Cardiff University, in Cardiff, Wales, published a study last year of test subjects who took several whiffs of androstenone -- at levels of concentration about equal to that in truffles -- three times a day. By the end of a week, subjects previously unable to detect any odor were experiencing a "honey-straw-earthy pleasantish smell," says Mr. Jacob. It may be that restaurant staffers are exposed enough to truffles to become sensitized, he says.

The bottom line: If you're tempted to drop several hundred dollars on a truffle dinner, ask a specialty food store to let you take a whiff of a truffle or a high-quality truffle oil made with genuine truffles. If you smell nothing, or overpowering notes of rotting wood, urine or sweat, you may want to save your money for another delicacy.