I've been thinking a lot about food lately: where it's grown, where to buy it, how to prepare it. Basically, I've had a two-year hiatus from cooking because, frankly, cooking for myself was not that fun. Ordering take- out was so much easier and less wasteful...And, to be honest, being more of a "functional" cook than a "gourmet" cook (Think Rachel Ray vs. Julia Childs), all those unknown ingredients are actually intimidating. So, this is the first of a 3-part series on my "focus" on food.
Until I moved abroad, I never gave much though to where our food was grown. We just ate what the grocery store sold. Growing up in a small, isolated Western town, we ate what was "in-season" or we ate frozen. Moving to bigger cities, I learned there were many more food options than I'd been away of. I ventured out...a little... With the advent of Whole Foods, Sprouts and other "fresh-food" markets, even more variety became available. But, I still never paid much attention to "organic" or "health food" or farm workers or distance traveled from field to table. Now I think about these things all the time.
First I think about "organic" food,.(I dislike the term "organic" because all food comes from the organic ground...) But, using our American definition of "organic", yes, I can find "organic" produce here in Lumut and I do buy some of it. But, mostly I just focus on really washing everything. Let's face it. For a country, mentioned just this week in the Wall Street Journal as one where paying the "right" government officials can cause some regulations to be overlooked, I seriously doubt there are any kinds of enforced regulations about pesticide use and what the term "organic"actually implies. I just assume there are pesticides, herbicides, and ambiguity between waste dumps and compost piles. Wash...wash...wash...(Clorox bleach travels a long way to get here, but I'm glad it's here.)
Yes, we have got health food stores and I do shop there for things like oatmeal, rice, and soy sauce. It is one place I can find MSG-free, salt-free, preservative-free products, and sugar-free products. The rice, so far, has been bug-free, unlike the 20 kg pack we bought at the grocery store, but I still wash the rice until the water runs clear. The dark brown oatmeal is wonderful, and the soy sauce is delicious without making me swell the next day.
Here is a true conversation between my husband and a co-worker at the break room to illustrate why I use a health food store and try not to buy pre-packaged food.
Co-worker: Here...try this Quaker instant oatmeal. I eat it every day. It's delicious.
Husband: Thanks but my wife won't let me eat that stuff.
Co-Worker: What?! That's crazy! Here, I'll give you a pack anyway and you can eat it at work.She'll never know.
(Off he marched)
(He returned a few minutes later...)
Co-worker: Darn! Your wife is right. I just read the ingredients. It's got MSG, palm oil and 21 grams of sugar! I loved this stuff...Darn.
Just for fun, I sent the co-worker a photo a 100% Quaker Oats (They were even "instant" in case he hasn't got time to cook) and suggested he add some raisins, nuts, and a little brown sugar to give it some flavor without the "flavor enhancer."
Several things have gotten me thinking about the distance food travels. For example, we can buyWashington Apples here in Lumut. (Probably some trade agreement where Malaysia buys Washington Apples and we buy palm oil for French fries...Who knows..) Finding apples in July made me pretty sure they were last year's crop, had traveled many thousands of miles, and had sat in cold storage for umpteen months. But, they were still crunchy which is a nice change from all the local, soft, smushy tropical fruit. On the flip side, the apples didn't have a lot of flavor.
Another example of distance food travels are today's fresh strawberries purportedly from Australia...Remember, the Southern hemisphere is springing into summer ..... The confusing part of the strawberries is that there is a year-round strawberry season in Cameron Highlands, about 2 1/2 hours away, but the package said the berries were from Australia. So, I'm trying to figure out why we don't get local strawberries in the store. Here are some of my guesses:
1) The local strawberries are grown in hot houses in the center of a tourist mecca so maybe they only have the capacity to meet the tourism demand.
2) The "Australia" strawberries really ARE from Cameron Highlands and they'll sell for a higher price if they say they're from Australia.
3) The farm workers in Cameron Highlands can earn more money by selling to tourists.
(My husband guesses "2".)
And, of course, this week I learned of China's $4.7 billion take-over of Virginia's Smithfield ham. On one hand, the take-over makes perfect sense. There are lots of people in China who eat pork so the potential growth of this market it huge. On the flip side, both countries have very different management styles. (Have we got non-discrimination policies for vegan pork processing employees?!)
To be quite honest, I've been on kind of a pork kick this week (The grocery store probably got a recent pork shipment with some nice options)... tasty pork chops on Tuesday, delicious pork spare ribs at Kenneth's, a Chinese :Western - style" restaurant here in Lumut, Johnsonville Brats for dinner last night and bacon for breakfast. As a matter of fact, here in Malaysia, there are lots of Chinese who probably buy their pork from China. They also have restaurants that serve alcohol (not that it should matter, but on Friday night, it does...), and they know how to cook pork.
Now, before I lead you to believe that at our home we only eat products that have shipped from half-way across the world, I assure you that is not true. I am pleasantly surprised and impressed by the quantity and variety of local produce that I can find on any given day at the store. Here are some recent examples:
Cabbage - there is one entire super-store sized aisle devoted to cabbages: Napa, Chinese, red, little Chinese, big Chinese, and so forth. I chose a manageable-sized one last week that was delicious.
Bok Choy - there are many sizes, styles, colors, and names for what I think is bok choy...I just pick a new one each week and give it a taste.
Mushrooms - too many sizes and colors to count...delicious.
Fruit - All shapes, sizes, and skin types from stickery to fuzzy, to mottled, to prickly, to stinky. The texture of some is hard for me to swallow, but mixed in a smoothie with Greek-style yogurt, ice cubes and whatever other fruit is starting to go bad, and I've made some delicious, refreshing drinks.
I'm enjoying my local fresh vegetables, apples from Washington, strawberries from wherever, yogurt and feta from Greece, pork from Virginia, chickens and eggs from Lumut, etc. all at prices lower than I could find anywhere in the US...apples included...
Until I moved abroad, I never gave much though to where our food was grown. We just ate what the grocery store sold. Growing up in a small, isolated Western town, we ate what was "in-season" or we ate frozen. Moving to bigger cities, I learned there were many more food options than I'd been away of. I ventured out...a little... With the advent of Whole Foods, Sprouts and other "fresh-food" markets, even more variety became available. But, I still never paid much attention to "organic" or "health food" or farm workers or distance traveled from field to table. Now I think about these things all the time.
First I think about "organic" food,.(I dislike the term "organic" because all food comes from the organic ground...) But, using our American definition of "organic", yes, I can find "organic" produce here in Lumut and I do buy some of it. But, mostly I just focus on really washing everything. Let's face it. For a country, mentioned just this week in the Wall Street Journal as one where paying the "right" government officials can cause some regulations to be overlooked, I seriously doubt there are any kinds of enforced regulations about pesticide use and what the term "organic"actually implies. I just assume there are pesticides, herbicides, and ambiguity between waste dumps and compost piles. Wash...wash...wash...(Clorox bleach travels a long way to get here, but I'm glad it's here.)
Yes, we have got health food stores and I do shop there for things like oatmeal, rice, and soy sauce. It is one place I can find MSG-free, salt-free, preservative-free products, and sugar-free products. The rice, so far, has been bug-free, unlike the 20 kg pack we bought at the grocery store, but I still wash the rice until the water runs clear. The dark brown oatmeal is wonderful, and the soy sauce is delicious without making me swell the next day.
Here is a true conversation between my husband and a co-worker at the break room to illustrate why I use a health food store and try not to buy pre-packaged food.
Co-worker: Here...try this Quaker instant oatmeal. I eat it every day. It's delicious.
Husband: Thanks but my wife won't let me eat that stuff.
Co-Worker: What?! That's crazy! Here, I'll give you a pack anyway and you can eat it at work.She'll never know.
(Off he marched)
(He returned a few minutes later...)
Co-worker: Darn! Your wife is right. I just read the ingredients. It's got MSG, palm oil and 21 grams of sugar! I loved this stuff...Darn.
Just for fun, I sent the co-worker a photo a 100% Quaker Oats (They were even "instant" in case he hasn't got time to cook) and suggested he add some raisins, nuts, and a little brown sugar to give it some flavor without the "flavor enhancer."
Several things have gotten me thinking about the distance food travels. For example, we can buyWashington Apples here in Lumut. (Probably some trade agreement where Malaysia buys Washington Apples and we buy palm oil for French fries...Who knows..) Finding apples in July made me pretty sure they were last year's crop, had traveled many thousands of miles, and had sat in cold storage for umpteen months. But, they were still crunchy which is a nice change from all the local, soft, smushy tropical fruit. On the flip side, the apples didn't have a lot of flavor.
Another example of distance food travels are today's fresh strawberries purportedly from Australia...Remember, the Southern hemisphere is springing into summer ..... The confusing part of the strawberries is that there is a year-round strawberry season in Cameron Highlands, about 2 1/2 hours away, but the package said the berries were from Australia. So, I'm trying to figure out why we don't get local strawberries in the store. Here are some of my guesses:
1) The local strawberries are grown in hot houses in the center of a tourist mecca so maybe they only have the capacity to meet the tourism demand.
2) The "Australia" strawberries really ARE from Cameron Highlands and they'll sell for a higher price if they say they're from Australia.
3) The farm workers in Cameron Highlands can earn more money by selling to tourists.
(My husband guesses "2".)
And, of course, this week I learned of China's $4.7 billion take-over of Virginia's Smithfield ham. On one hand, the take-over makes perfect sense. There are lots of people in China who eat pork so the potential growth of this market it huge. On the flip side, both countries have very different management styles. (Have we got non-discrimination policies for vegan pork processing employees?!)
To be quite honest, I've been on kind of a pork kick this week (The grocery store probably got a recent pork shipment with some nice options)... tasty pork chops on Tuesday, delicious pork spare ribs at Kenneth's, a Chinese :Western - style" restaurant here in Lumut, Johnsonville Brats for dinner last night and bacon for breakfast. As a matter of fact, here in Malaysia, there are lots of Chinese who probably buy their pork from China. They also have restaurants that serve alcohol (not that it should matter, but on Friday night, it does...), and they know how to cook pork.
Now, before I lead you to believe that at our home we only eat products that have shipped from half-way across the world, I assure you that is not true. I am pleasantly surprised and impressed by the quantity and variety of local produce that I can find on any given day at the store. Here are some recent examples:
Cabbage - there is one entire super-store sized aisle devoted to cabbages: Napa, Chinese, red, little Chinese, big Chinese, and so forth. I chose a manageable-sized one last week that was delicious.
Bok Choy - there are many sizes, styles, colors, and names for what I think is bok choy...I just pick a new one each week and give it a taste.
Mushrooms - too many sizes and colors to count...delicious.
Fruit - All shapes, sizes, and skin types from stickery to fuzzy, to mottled, to prickly, to stinky. The texture of some is hard for me to swallow, but mixed in a smoothie with Greek-style yogurt, ice cubes and whatever other fruit is starting to go bad, and I've made some delicious, refreshing drinks.
I'm enjoying my local fresh vegetables, apples from Washington, strawberries from wherever, yogurt and feta from Greece, pork from Virginia, chickens and eggs from Lumut, etc. all at prices lower than I could find anywhere in the US...apples included...
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