Food of One's Own

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Placebo Effect!

Expectations change our sensory system and alter the way we experience subjectively and objectively.

We may be laughing at people who believed in the effect of snake oil and think we are different now but Placebos still work the magic on us.

Placebos are effective in two stages to shape our expectations. Imagine that we first see the health claims all over the box of a new product, we believe in them and we decide to try. Great expectation makes us feel better after having it. Our faith results in positive initial experience and we are confident to go on. Sooner than later, we are conditioned to expect positively after repeated experiences and release chemicals to prepare us for the next pleasant outcomes, just like Pavlov's dogs salivated at the bell rings.

This explains why it's so hard to stop eating the junk food that we know is bad for us.

When we allow ourselves to reach for the convenient junk foods while feeling most hungry, sad, tired, stressed and frustrated, we are totally vulnerable to expect something good to lift us up, and boy, they are good! They are ingeniously designed and engineered so! Of course they cure all our ailments and we are hooked. We become emotional eaters of this cure-all.

We just went through the most effective Placebo process, thinking it's not much more than merely spoiling our appetite for the next meal, without knowing that it might be far more difficult to strip away the preconceptions and its self-enhancing Placebo effect once when our brains are primed and conditioned.

My point? If you have to, have it early in the day, when you are happy, full, and share it so you don't have to finish the whole bag by yourself.

Notes:

Hormones such as endorphins and opiates can block agony and produce exuberant highs and dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain's pleasure system when you expect a rewarding experience.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

The Power of Expectations!

When we believe something will be good, it generally will be good. Studies show that it doesn't just change our beliefs psychologically, it also changes the physiology of the experience itself.

It turns out that knowledge doesn't merely inform us of a state of affairs, it actually reshapes the sensory perceptions to align with the information we received. That is, the knowledge of what we are going to eat actually modify the neural activity underlying the taste itself, so that when we expect something to taste good or bad, it will actually taste that way.

Interesting, don't you think?

What you know modifies your taste, changes the way you perceive and appreciate the food!

This will be quite useful when you invite people for dinner or encourage people to try something new.

However this is also how branding and marketing get us hooked on a product. We expect the product to be good because of the name, the artful presentation, the video clip or the well-designed box that suggest benefits, cultural images or social connections, and we experience greater pleasure from the product and the process of consuming it.

Don't believe that expectations change the experience? Check this out.

Coke versus Pepsi.
It's all in the head.

Receptive vs Expressive Level of Knowing.

In the world of language, we use "receptive vocabulary" to refer to the words that we understand in listening or reading, and we use "expressive vocabulary" to refer to the words that we not only understand well but can also skillfully use in speaking and writing.

Learning to taste well is the receptive food skill. Learning to prepare food is the expressive or productive skill.

Just like learning a word isn't an on/off switch process, learning how to cook is also a dimmer-switch, a "crescendo" process. The good thing is that, we don't have to make flash cards. We eat at least three times a day to refresh it.

Without a good receptive level of knowing your food, it will be hard to build up the expressive level of food skill because our receptive food memory sets up how we evaluate what we taste.

Moreover, if the receptive understanding of food is skewed, nothing out of nature and prepared by human hands naturally will taste like the processed food that you often had when you just started learning to cook. Discouraged, you thought you suck at cooking and you stopped trying. How sad!

Remember, pick up something fresh and is safe to eat raw, but will perish eventually if left long enough. Wash it clean and eat it as it is without messing with it. That's what you should compare to when you evaluate your cooking.

Chase the Real, Not That of Little Worth.

Admit it, some food is not worth having. Don't feel bad if you have to close the door to it. It is not a lost cause, it's your gain.

We hate the feeling of loss; we have an innate aversion of loss. That's why we feel we must take home that big screen TV on the last day of sale and we must take that last chocolate cookie on the platter before someone else does.

Chasing a lot of little worth just to keep the options open is foolish because it wears out our palate, our emotions, our energy, our time, our self-control capacity and our wallets.

With the abundant opportunities we have today, the right thing to do is to consciously closing some of the doors of little value and worth. We need to stay focused and selective with good taste in this very distracting world.

It is true for life and certainly true for food.

Escape from Freedom!

Do you have a hard time making choices or decisions? Do you feel overwhelmed or even anxious when you have to pick out of several options presented to you, because of the fear of missing out the others?

You are not alone, my friend. Quite the opposite, you are just the same human being as the next one.

Erich Fromm said in his book "Escape from Freedom" that we are beset not by a lack of opportunity, but by a dizzying abundance of it.

We keep telling the kids we can do anything and be anything we want to be.

That is all good, only that I see two problems, if we forget to read them the fine print.

Let's make the case within the realm of food.

We have talked about our brain and how evolutionally ancient it is (our food brain). When it comes to food, when our brain is primed to believe "do anything we want, experience everything", when we believe that without the knowledge of what's in our best interest and about the food system we have today, it is (in fact, it has been) a recipe for disaster. In a nut shell, if the food system doesn't work for you, you can't just take everything and every opportunity when the food is presented to you. Do you know whether that is real food or just edible food-like substances, how it is produced or manufactured, and what it does to your body and mind? That is the first problem.

The second problem is in living up to it.

I know, you are going to say, "didn't you just say we should not eat everything we could? So, is experiencing it all a bad thing to avoid or a good thing to live up to?"

Exactly! If you do it right, it's a good thing. If you do it blindly, it's beyond bad.

In my opinion, a good thing that's worth living up to, is something we must develop ourselves in every possible way so we can discern the nuance, truly appreciate the expression and consume the offering responsibly. The development of the capacity to perceive will enhance and maximize the experience, making it a lot more meaningful and substantial to you and to the planet.

Moreover, when you have the capacity to distinguish real from fake, your craving will be geared towards food that is naturally good to you. That is how you reclaim your freedom in choosing what you eat and trust me, when it comes to deciding what can touch your body, you want the sole ownership of that right.

On the contrary, if we ignore to build up our understanding around it, we, as human beings, tend to spread ourselves too thin, eating everything we could unselectively, trying the newest product with the most health claims, running from one hip place to the next but never quite feeling enough or satisfied. Do you know that the processed food today, is meticulously and scientifically engineered to make us "insatiable" and always want more of it. How can you stay in control of your appetite and palate without knowing it? You have an illusion of freedom in your food choices but as a matter of fact your brain and palate have scientifically been hijacked.

Problem two in a nut shell: if you don't know what you are eating, it's bad, beyond bad. Build your food skill from tasting it and then preparing it.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Sugar!

Sugar not only sweetens food, it adds flavor, texture, decoration and it helps food to brown easier through caramelization process. It works to make baked goods more appealing in color, more moist and tender in texture, and it works to stabilize egg white meringues when making pavlovas and the like.

Sugar can be categorized by color and granularity.

White Sugar

Confectioners Sugar, Icing Sugar or Powdered Sugar
It is also referred to as xxx to 10x sugar (more X's indicating finer grains), and the sugar is ground further into a fine powder that can come in different degrees of fineness. Confectioners sugar dissolves immediately in liquid, and is often used to make icing and frosting for baked goods. Because powdered sugar clumps up easily, there is always a small amount of cornstarch added as an anti-caking agent. If the recipe calls for pure powdered sugar, such as for French macarons, you can use pure granulated sugar and grind it finer in a coffee grinder, or crush it in a mortar and pestle by hand.

Snow Sugar or Doughnut Sugar
This is similar to powdered sugar, only it doesn't melt as easily as it consists of dextrose, starch and anti-binding agents to retain its structure when dusted on pastries that require refrigeration. Commercial bakers use this on cakes, doughnuts and other pastries for decorative purposes.

Caster Sugar
Caster sugar is finer granulated white sugar. Because the crystals are finer, they dissolve quicker than regular granulated sugar, which makes it ideal for making meringues, syrups, and cocktails.

Granulated Sugar
It's also called refined, table, or white sugar. When people talk about "sugar," this is usually what is referred to. It's the most common type of sugar for daily all purpose use. It is made from sugar cane or sugar beets (99.95% Sucrose).

Pearl Sugar, Nib Sugar, or Hail Sugar
Pearl sugar is a opaque-colored specialty sugar that comes in different sizes by brand, often used in Scandinavia and a few other countries in Northern Europe. It is not completely round, but comes in large chunks and has a coarse, hard texture. Because it is heavily compacted, it holds its shape, and doesn't melt when exposed to moisture or high heat. Pearl sugar is commonly used to decorate pastries, cookies, and buns. Sprinkling it over the top of a bread or pastry or mixing it into the dough will give the baking goods extra crunch, sweet bursts and a nicer finishing aesthetic appeal.

Cubed Sugar or Sugar Cubes
Sugar cubes are compressed blocks of sugar that are designed to dissolve easily in hot liquid. The individual grains of sugar are not held tightly together.

Multi-Color Sugar

Sanding Sugar
It is used mainly for decorating with its colorfulness and large crystals, which are resistant to heat. The crystals add crunchiness to the texture. Sanding sugar can be found in different colors for decoration.

Brown Sugar

Raw brown sugars range in the amount of processing they receive, but they are brown because, unlike white sugar, they have not had all of the molasses chemically and physically removed, except the "light brown sugar" and "dark brown sugar", which are made of refined sugar with a little molasses added back. The least processed of the brown sugars—Rapadura or panela—often still has the minerals and enzymes intact.

Cane Sugar
Cane sugar is produced solely from sugarcane and is minimally processed. It has a larger grain, golden brown color, and it is usually more expensive than regular white sugar. Use the same amount as you would granulated sugar when you substitute it.

Turbinado Sugar
Turbinado Sugar is a minimally processed raw cane sugar that's been steam-cleaned with a light molasses flavoring. This sugar variety has non-uniform, medium-size, light-brown crystals. Though its color is similar to standard brown sugar, it's not the same thing. Turbinado sugar has a delicate caramel flavor and can substitute for granulated sugar in recipes if the color is not going to be an issue. Use the same amount you would granulated sugar.

Light Brown Sugar
Light brown sugar is refined white sugar with a little molasses added in. It has a slightly sticky, wet, sandy texture and a delicate caramel flavor. It adds color and more flavor for dishes and baked goods. Use the same amount when substitute it for granulated sugar in recipes. To substitute for light brown sugar with dark brown sugar, mix 2 parts of dark brown sugar and 1 part of white granulated sugar. Or use one cup granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon of molasses to substitute one cup light brown sugar.

Dark Brown Sugar
Like its lighter counterpart, dark brown sugar is refined white sugar with molasses added in. It contains more molasses than light brown sugar, resulting in a stronger, more intense flavor. Light and dark brown sugar can be used interchangeably. You can substitute brown sugar with granulated with a little molasses. Use one cup granulated sugar with 2 tablespoons of molasses to substitute one cup dark brown sugar.

Demerara Sugar or Demerera Sugar
Demerara sugar is a variety of raw cane sugar that is partially refined and is originally from Guyana. It is very close to Turbinado Sugar, but with a larger, coarser grain and uniform crystals. Like Turbinado sugar, it has a golden brown color and a natural molasses flavor. Use it for coffee or tea, or as a topping on baked goods to add complex and round sweet flavor.

Muscovado Sugar or Barbados Sugar
Muscovado sugar is a British specialty unrefined brown cane sugar and is very dark brown with a particularly strong molasses flavor. The minimally processed crystals are slightly coarser and stickier in texture than “regular” brown sugar. It has a much stronger and distinct flavor that is wonderful in barbecue sauce, marinades, and savory dishes.

Sugar You May Not Know

Chinese Rock Sugar ( 冰糖)
or Lump Sugar
Chinese Rock Sugar is made by cooking the refined sugar until it starts to color. It is then cooled and solidified as an opaque, gold-colored sugar lumps. Traditionally it comes in irregular lumps of crystallized sugar of varying sizes that you have to whack before using. The crystals can be up to 2 1/2 cm (1 inch) wide. These days you can find it in different degrees of fineness and very easy to use. It has a clear taste, with no discernible caramel tones. It is rounder and not as in-your-face sweet as regular white granulated sugar. Because it's less sweet, it doesn't overwhelm the flavour of tea or dishes as much as white sugar can.

Coconut Sugar
It's the same as palm sugar.

Jaggery Sugar or Java sugar
It's a variety of palm sugar. Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in Asia, India and Africa. It is a concentrated product of date, cane juice, or palm sap (see palm sugar) without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color. It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, and up to 20% moisture, with the remainder made up of other insoluble matter, such as wood ash, proteins, and bagasse fibers. Jaggery is mixed with other ingredients, such as peanuts, condensed milk, coconut, and white sugar, to produce several locally marketed and consumed delicacies.

Kurozato (
黒砂糖)

Sugar and Kuromitsu (
黒蜜)

Syrup
It is typically made from unrefined Okinawan kurozatō ("black sugar"), and is a central ingredient in many sweet Chinese or Japanese dishes. Chinese and Japanese black sugar is very close to Muscodavo sugar with minimal processing and most minerals intact, which is believed to have health benefits. It is one of the ingredients commonly used in Asian desserts and pastries. For example it is used in making steamed cakes, muffins, wagashi, and it serves well with kuzumochi, fruits, ice cream, pancakes, sweet tonic soups, etc.

Maltose or Malt Sugar
More prosaically, it is a sugar made from grains by malting them. The grains might include barley, rice or wheat. It can come as a thick, sticky clear or amber color syrup sold in tins or tubs, or as a white or off-white crystalline powder with no odor to it. It is less sweet than honey, and only 1/3 as sweet as white sugar. It dissolves easily in water. Malt Sugar is commonly used in Chinese cooking, breads, sweets or pastries. For example, it can be diluted with water and brushed on the skins of ducks in making Peking Duck.

Moreover, diastatis malt is used by bread makers to feed the yeast and improve the texture. Nondiastatic malt is used in bread as a flavoring and preservative.

Misri Sugar or Mishri Sugar
Misri refers to crystallized sugar lumps, and type of confectionery mineral, which has its origins in India and Persia, also known as rock sugar or lump sugar elsewhere. It is used in India as a type of candy, or used to sweeten milk or tea..

Palm Sugar or Coconut Sugar
It comes in block should crumbled when you squeeze it with fingers.
Palm sugar was originally made from the sugary sap of the Palmyra palm, as well as the date palm or Sugar date palm. Now it is also made from the sap of the sago and coconut palms and may be sold as “coconut sugar.” Date sugar can also be made with the fruit of the palm by pulverizing very dry dates, but note that sugar made this way will not dissolve well in liquid.

Palm sugar varies in color from a light golden color to a rich dark brown. It tends to be extremely grainy, with dried forms being highly crumbly, and it is typically minimally processed.

Panela Sugar or Panocha Sugar or Piloncillo or Rapadura
It is the least processed of all the cane sugars, and is rich in dietary iron. Unrefined, it is commonly used in Mexico (called Piloncillo) and in Central and Latin America, where it has been around for at least 500 years. Made from crushed sugar cane, the juice is collected, boiled and poured into molds, where it hardens into blocks. Panela is also known as rapadura in Portuguese.

Sucanat Sugar
Sucanat (a contraction of "Sucre de canne naturel") is a brand name for a variety of whole cane sugar that was introduced by Pronatec in 1978. Unlike refined and processed white cane sugar and brown cane sugar, but similar to panela and muscovado, Sucanat retains its molasses content..

Spiced Sugar

Cinnamon Sugar
Mix 1 part ground cinnamon with 7 parts of granulated sugar.

Maple Sugar
It's made from dehydrated and granulated maple syrup and is often sprinkled on pastries, cereal, pancakes and toast.

Vanilla Sugar
Put the natural vanilla bean in the sugar for a week and you'll have this lovely scented sugar.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

For Sandwiches, Rolls, Sushi, Wraps ...

Here is what you can use to wrap up a quick meal in minutes. Use any of these interchangeably to make rolls, sandwiches and wraps in my recipes:

Ready to Use: