Raw Rag™

"A recipe is not a formula"

This provocative quote from Zester Daily is so aligned with how I think that I wanted to share it with you:

A recipe is not a formula. A recipe is an inspirational aide to guide a cook to reach higher, to prepare food that will dazzle others and make them happy and to do that the cookbook author needs to help them in the decision to make the dish in the first place. It's not just about ingredients. A recipe should have a soul, as it's about the material expression of a culinary culture.

- Clifford A. Wright

H/T: Dianne Jacob.

Eating Berries May Activate the Brain's Natural Housekeeper for Healthy Aging

 
News release (Newswise):

Scientists today reported the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Their study, presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), concluded that berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain’s natural “housekeeper” mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline.

Shibu Poulose, Ph.D., who presented the report, said previous research suggested that one factor involved in aging is a steady decline in the body’s ability to protect itself against inflammation and oxidative damage. This leaves people vulnerable to degenerative brain diseases, heart disease, cancer, and other age-related disorders.

“The good news is that natural compounds called polyphenolics found in fruits, vegetables and nuts have an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect that may protect against age-associated decline,” said Poulose, who is with the U. S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston. Poulose did the research with James Joseph, Ph.D., who died June 1. Joseph, who headed the laboratory, pioneered research on the role of antioxidants in fruits and nuts in preventing age-related cognitive decline.

Their past studies, for instance, showed that old laboratory rats fed for two months on diets containing 2 percent high-antioxidant strawberry, blueberry, or blackberry extract showed a reversal of age-related deficits in nerve function and behavior that involves learning and remembering.

In the new research, Poulose and Joseph focused on another reason why

Denver chefs grow their own food: “If you’re not growing stuff to eat, you’re not a great chef"

A nice article in the New York Times describes efforts made by some Denver chefs to keep their offerings local. I attended a social entrepreneurship event last night and met a man from Seattle who told me the local fare is increasingly being sold in restaurants in his city, too. From the article, we learn that many cities are favoring the "farm-to-table ethos."

Excerpt from "Denver Chefs Head for the Garden":

[A]n increasing number of hometown chefs are not only celebrating Colorado’s farmers, ranchers, cheesemakers and foragers, but also growing produce and other food themselves. Their restaurants, many of which opened in the last few years, are bringing Denver in line with the farm-to-table ethos already consuming so many American cities. And the ambitious chefs are taking advantage of the urban gardens multiplying all over town.

Frank Bonanno, a veteran Denver chef and restaurateur, [his blog] recently bought land in the suburbs that he hopes will supply “favas, lettuces and haricots verts” to his four downtown restaurants. “If you’re not growing stuff to eat, you’re not a great chef,” he said.

Image credit: Westword.

The diet argy-bargies: Raw, natural, vegan, vegetarian, locavore, omnivore? What is a person to eat?

The phrase argy-bargy is very descriptive, not to mention fun to say. It means a lively discussion or dispute, and is exactly what the diet gurus are having. The more I follow these disputes, the more they provide me with laughter, partially because they are so predictable and ego-charged.

What is tiresome is that many of these food spokespeople will not allow differing opinions to co-exist. It is a fight to the black-and-white death; shades of grey are not allowed. Doesn't the controversy cause them indigestion?

I continue to research what is best to put in my mouth, and then continue to believe that nutrition is not one-size-fits-all. What is best for me may not be what is best for you. We each must do the work, experiment, to discover what is our optimum individual diet, and not necessarily eat as dictated by some book or personality.

Most of us would probably be happiest and healthiest hanging out in our own, personal shades of grey.

For me:

• Meat is fine sometimes, as long as the animal has grazed on grass and has not been munching lots of corn or ingesting antibiotics
• Sugar is to be avoided (mostly)
• Processed foods are not really food and thus are not good to eat
• Raw is very good, actually excellent, but not to be eaten exclusively, and, most important, its consumption should not be turned into an unforgiving and finger-pointing cause or religion
• Dairy is fine occasionally, as long as the animals from which it comes fit the first criterion in this list
• Eggs can be part of a healthy diet, as long as the chickens were not raised in cages, and were fed a nutritious diet.

The above are my dietary lifestyle conclusions for now. They are mine, and do not need to be yours, of course.

Yes, I started out 100% raw, and over the months could find no evidence

Looks like Oklahoma City bombing conspirator wants a raw or whole food diet: Judge says no

This news story made me realize how lucky we are to be able to choose our own diet. I do not fault the federal judge for the ruling she made; you lose much freedom when you commit a flagitious crime.

Excerpt from "Judge dismisses Oklahoma City bomber's suit" (San Francisco Chronicle):

A federal judge has dismissed claims by Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols that prison officials violated his constitutional rights by depriving him of a diet he requested for health and religious reasons.

U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello said in a ruling issued Monday that Nichols didn't support his claims that a diet insufficient in whole grains, fiber and raw fruits and vegetables amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and violates his right to free exercise of religion.

Nichols is serving life for conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in the 1995 federal building bombing that killed 168 people. Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and executed.

Click to read the rest of "Judge dismisses Oklahoma City bomber's suit."

Image credit: Washington Post.

"Once a fringe movement, it's now clear that there is RAW FOOD FOR EVERYONE": Even zombies?

From Publishers Weekly, we learn that food books are coming soon about everything from cupcakes to raw. Excerpts:

Baking
There's some debate about cupcakes' continued domination. Ryland, Peters & Small says the trend is "far from over" and is rolling out Holiday Cupcakes and A Zombie Ate My Cupcake this month. But hot on cupcakes' heels are Cake Pops (Chronicle, Sept.), Mini-Cakes: Tiny Treats to Surprise & Delight (Sterling, Aug.), and Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes That You Can Make at Home (Ulysses, Oct.). Subcategories of baking range from chick lit (The Happy Baker: A Girl's Guide to Emotional Baking, Harlequin, Oct., and Sweet Chic: Stylish Treats to Dress Up for Any Occasion, Ballantine, Oct.) to tomes from A-list bakeries ...  .

Vegan

Numerous publishers have reported strong sales of vegan titles. This fall, vegan powerhouse Da Capo Lifelong has Fresh and Fast Vegan: Quick, Delicious, and Creative Recipes to Nourish Aspiring and Devoted Vegans, Second Edition (Sept.), Appetite for Reduction: 100 Fast & Filling Low-Fat Vegan Meals (Dec.), and Veganize This!: From Surf & Turf to Ice Cream Pie—200 Animal-Free Recipes for People Who Love to Eat (Jan. 2011). On Wiley's list are Vegetarian Times Everything Vegan and Party Vegan (Sept.). ...  And closely tied to vegan books are the raw food tomes. Once a fringe movement, it's now clear that there is Raw Food for Everyone (Avery, Oct.).

Now we just need a book about raw cupcakes for chic zombies, yes?

Videos of the winners of the Hot Raw Chef contest (and my recent whereabouts near the Pacific Ocean)

Click to watch all the Hot Raw Chef winners making their raw food recipes. Especially the delicious-looking Chocolate Jalapeno Poppers!

I have not been blogging as much due to a trip to University of California at Santa Barbara for the Learning and the Brain Institute. Being out of town in a conference setting can be quite a raw-food challenge; more about that soon. In the meanwhile, here are some video clips from Santa Barbara. See the clips that begin at the bottom of the first page of this YouTube playlist.