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Re: Gussow on Nutrition/Food Systems



The older French homemaker style--make a big deal about buying a suitable
vegetable, spending a great deal of time in preparation--far beyond what
most Americans woule ever dream of doing---is something that would be hard
for American homemakers to follow.

As said, they come home from an 8 hr stressful job, have to get a meal
ready in minutes, instead of hours--it all takes time, even if done "the
night before", because that night was also stressed about time..

That's one reason I try to urge people to eat as much as possible raw.
That usually entails slicing it thinly, chopping it finely, squeezing or
crushing, etc. That takes less time than other methods. Yes, it does have
the handicap that it exposes more cells to air/oxidation, but still there
are enough undamaged cells in the slice or fragment to provide
enzymes--the critical item.

When young, I read cookbooks by the dozen. I wanted to try the fancy
recipes. For example, a French cookbook said for peas: Line the pan with
lettuce leaves, put in the peas with a tiny bit of water, make flour+water
dough into a long ribbon, place the ribbon the rim of pan and set cover
onto it. The dough bakes, the food inside is insulated from outside air,
and the peas are especially delicious.

Well, the American modern uses a stainless steel pan with a cover so
tightly fitted that there is no need for a dough glue. And there is no
reason why one could not put a few lettuce leaves in with the peas.

Another French recipe calls for 3 different kinds of wine. Cook 5 minutes,
put in a dab of wine #1; cook a bit longer, add wine #2, do something
special with flavor, add wine #3---who has time for all that now?

Just better to eat as much raw as possible, and eat as many edible weeds
as you can find. They are all around, free, need little or no preparation
and are far more nutritious than the usual bought seed product.

B. Rateaver


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