Have I ever told you that I enjoy making these titles? Eight posts in, I'm on a roll!
If the title of this post gave off enough exposition, Nutrition is an incredibly important topic to write a thousand words about (no really, do sit back & relax. Get cozy with a warm beverage before reading).
The human body must consume an assortment of fruits & vegetables, milk & dairy products, grain products and meat (& alternatives) to make sure our systems have many types of essential nutrients it needs to grow (and not die).
When it comes to making food as a chef (and of course eating it), it is his/her responsibility as artsy creators & builders (also possibly picky if you have OCD) to ensure that our customers are being served a diverse combination of foods in the time they spend at a restaurant.
In a typical daily menu (depending on where you go), many restaurants would include 3 courses to start: Appetizers, Main Course & Desserts. In each comes a variety of dishes the customer could choose:
Appetizers (Typical):
Breads: Usually put on the table first as a filler (& palate cleanser) for the hungry customer, what kind of restaurant would leave this out of their menu? If such establishment exists without bread being served, the critics out there have some bad news for them...
Salads: Mixed green vegetables are the staple choice for customers everywhere prior to making cholesterol gains with a main course. Both refreshing, choosing salads makes the customer feel like he's making a healthy choice (it's false hope if Caesar dressing is involved)! Many restaurants now dedicate a section on the menu just for salads.
Any kind of Seafood: Socialite-approved, it's a great starter to satiate the eager carnivores. Fish is both succulent & expensive (which makes it the perfect starter to make some quick money). Traditionally served with citrus or even raw (as a ceviche) for fanciness, these appetizers satisfy in Omega 3 fatty acids.
Main Courses (Typical):
Protein: As this type of dish is the main reason many bring their significant others with to enjoy, generous amounts of meat on your plate are what keeps the customers coming back. Beef & Chicken take the form of Steaks & Breasts (respectively), & are always accompanied with a side dish such as veggies, potatoes or rice. Sauces on these main courses affect the nutritional value, so do heed, & be wise!
Sandwiches: A bundle of joy consisting of breads hugging an assortment of meats, vegetables & garnishes within, Sandwiches are a nutritional godsend (if made carefully) as you can have one of each food group in one satisfying serving. Typically, a wide selection of sauces (& mayonnaise) are included inside.
Calories (I meant to say, Typical Desserts!):
Cakes: Serving as the ultimate celebratory food for all sorts of occasions, these sweet, cool, tasty slices of heaven are suggested to the customer typically at the LAST MINUTE to keep them in the restaurant a little longer (and again, to make some more money. How is that for Culinary capitalism?) Both high in fats & sugar.
Ice Cream: These dairy products are what keep many (including myself) happy on summer days. Ice cream is a very popular dessert dished out which is incredibly high in fats & fruit concentrates.
Making use of the concept that balances out one of every food group effectively in a serving, I aim to please with a recipe that covers it all: Sushi!
Salmon Nori Roll (12 pieces):
The Filling:
- 1/2 pc Julienne Cucumber (De-seeded)
- 1 pc Julienne Avocado
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tamagoyaki Egg Mix (2 Eggs, 2 Tbsp Mirin, 1 Tsp Sugar)
- 2 Salmon Fillets, sliced into thin strips
The Casing:
- 1 & a 1/2 Cup Sushi Rice
- 1 Sheet of Nori (basically, a sheet of dried Seaweed)
Directions:
0. COOK YOUR SUSHI RICE WITH A RICE COOKER WITH CORRECT WATER/RICE RATIO
1. Prepare the Tamagoyaki Egg by mixing Eggs with Mirin & Sugar.
2. On medium heat, spread your Vegetable Oil on the pan. Pour in your Tamagoyaki batter, covering the entire pan
3. Leave the egg cooking as a whole layer, when fully cooked carefully & quickly roll the egg sheet up! Remove from pan & let it cool over a surface. When cool, slice into strips!
4. To make the filling, julienne your Cucumber & Avocado. Cut your Salmon Fillets into Julienne as well.
5. Mise en Place is done! To form the roll, lay out your Nori sheet. Spread rice on top, leaving no spaces. 4 inches up from the bottom-edge of the sheet, lay out your filling ingredients across in a straight horizontal line.
6. Grabbing the bottom end & enveloping the filling, carefully & tightly roll the Nori over everything, gripping the roll with your fingertips & tightening as you go.
7. Cut this roll into 12 proportionate pieces.
8. Serve! (Congratulations, you learned how to make sushi)
While I possibly can't maintain a healthy lifestyle by depending on this one recipe every day, my routine stretches to enjoying all sorts of foods from fruits, popcorn and stir-fry. My main goal is to balance a healthy lifestyle while enjoying the food that I choose to eat (freedom)!
In a typical week for me, my diet consists of:
Monday:
- Breakfast: Sunny Side Up Eggs w/ a Sausage & 3 slices of SPAM
- Lunch: a Fit for Life Grilled Chicken Wrap with Chicken Breast, vegetables & mozzarella cheese.
- Dinner: Steamed Rice with Fried Fish, Garlic Cauliflower, Beef Brisket & Chicken soup.
- Clementines (Yes, I'm eating my own people)
Tuesday:
- Breakfast: Tim Horton's Double/Double Steeped Tea, Blueberry Muffin
- Lunch: BAKING CLASS! NO LUNCH.
- Dinner: Shrimp Pad Thai from Thai Express
-Snack: Popcorn, Milk, Clementines (Yes, I have them regularly. Tasty, & affordable!)
Wednesday:
- Breakfast: Tim Horton's Double/Double Steeped Tea, Blueberry Muffin
- Lunch: a Fit for Life Grilled Chicken Wrap with Chicken Breast, vegetables & mozzarella cheese (the usual at school)
- Dinner: New York Fries Triple Pork Poutine
- Snack: Milk, Clementines (Yes, I have an addiction to them but also accounts for healthiness!)
Thursday:
- No Breakfast: Early 8am Lab!
- Lunch: Homemade Beef Noodle Soup with udon, beef broth & eggs
- Dinner: Peking Duck & BBQ Pork served with Steamed White Rice! (& a can of Nestea)
Snack: Popcorn, Milk, Homemade Shortbread Cookies (I ran out of Clementines... Bummer)
Friday:
- Breakfast: Sunny Side Up Eggs w/ a Sausage & 3 slices of SPAM
- Lunch: Sandwich: Swiss Cheese, Bacon Weave layer, Sliced Tomatoes, Lettuce & Mayonnaise (am I making you hungry?)
- Dinner (aka Clement's Wild Night Out): Honeydew Bubble Tea w/ Aloe Vera, Pho Noodle Soup w/ Beef Brisket & Bean Sprout, an Apple.
Looking back at my week of indulging, I realized that I have started to become reliant on prepared foods, as time & convenience act as driving factors in making me gain lots of cholesterol & quite possibly an overdose of Vitamin C (all because Clement ate all of those Clementines. I tried to avoid being redundant, honestly).
In truth though, there are many things I need to work on. As a chef; despite being sick of cooking after a long day of cooking in labs, I should push myself an extra mile to create some real, organic dishes that I can enjoy on nights when I'm not home & winter weather makes it too cold to go out on groceries (living in a dorm has its price, and I'm not just referring to the rent!). As a result, that's where prepared food comes in for me.
Also, I could continue to encourage my heavy drinking of homogenized milk, as it has gained me much-needed weight. Maybe finding a way to reduce Vitamin C from Clementines would be to add yoghurt into my diet, as it has both dairy & fruit products in it. Two birds with one stone!
My choice does not need to necessarily subtract anything in particular besides the overeating of Clementines, but I do need to begin combining certain foods together as to avoid going over nutrients (it's very possible!). Also, another choice would be to avoid fatty foods like the tempting but deadly Canadian stuff of dreams: Poutine!
Tuesday 17 March 2015
Wednesday 4 March 2015
The Spectacular Sustenance of Sovereign Farms: An Expedition for an Exposition
(Please, do set the Pulitzer Prize on the left side of my desk for that extravagant title)
Ever see the North Section directly in front the St. Lawrence market? It's that big sketchy building across the street that's always empty whenever you walk by it most of the time.........
...........except for Saturdays!
Every once a week on this magical occasion, the North Market becomes open! And it's filled with people (duh).
Aside from the thousands of visitors that come to shop, the main attraction that dominates the Market are the numerous farmers that grow & distribute their own produce at low prices (yes, even during the winter, there are farmers markets. With real organic food. Every Saturday. Aspiring chefs everywhere can freak out in joy now).
I had the opportunity (or better call it, a positive-burden) to wake up at 7 am (because who does that on a Saturday, right?) & travel to Toronto to witness all this retail mayhem unfold on a regular day.
As soon as I walked in, it was a culinary wonderland.......
With my grind music on, I was walking through the rushing bunches of eager customers competitively hunting for the right deals while completely drowning out the sense of urgency to run through my mission, & enjoy my time while I could before flocking journalists & last-minute students swarmed the warehouse.
To visualize, I was utterly speechless when I saw what the first few sellers had to offer. Although it was a farmers market in the winter (and being simple-minded at times) I was expecting a low, dwindling supply of organic foods at this time. Boy, was I wrong (so wrong).
I saw a nice abundance of some of the finest (perhaps rare as well) ingredients that students in George Brown's cooking labs were given the chance to use. Venison tendon (hey, that rhymed), buffalo meat & even large whole clean animal bones were among the few meats you wouldn't find at a regular butcher.
Like a prehistoric guy seeing fire for the first time, I was too interested holding a handful of turnips & wondering why there is so much dirt covering each one. Being raised with industrial produce for most of my time, it was pretty cool to know that the farmers here aren't messing around, and the fact that they pull vegetables straight from nature & sell it in its natural state certifies its freshness (it doesn't get more real than that).
All ecstatic reflections aside, I did say I was on a mission. Meet Wes Sovereign (coolest. last. name. ever). He's the most popular farmer (and the most socially qualified among the rest of the busy farmers) to set time aside for a nice story.
Exposition time!
Wes Sovereign was actually born from a long line of farmers. Since the 1800's, sustainability was the policy for this family as they made most of their agricultural business with the vast acres of land won over to them in light of the ever-growing demand of farming at the time (call it: The Golden Age of Organic Farming).
When Wes was old enough, he lived through most of his childhood learning how to produce food. Call it a slightly clichéd way of becoming a farmer, but Wes' skills further developed into a passion when farming grew on him.
Fast-forward into his later years, Wes was not always a farmer. For a time, he worked at an industrial factory for financial support, as many contractors were taking more farming land & the farm itself couldn't make all of the income earned annually.
However, something lucky happened. While Wes was on the verge of being a part of some massive layoffs in his workplace, his experience & reputation kept him safe, allowing him to continue earning. At that point, he had an epiphany. He took this as a wake up call to leave his workplace to go back to his one passion (while he still had the money to rebuild his organic empire).
And so, he did!
Half a decade later (which brings our story from Media Res to the Present Day), Wes has brought his business to the St. Lawrence Farmers Market every Saturday, sharing the fruits of his labour (Every. Pun. Intended) with everyone.
And that's where I come in... (with the harder, compelling questions)
Asking Farmer Sovereign about his philosophy on farming, he modestly stated that although he works out of his love for the soil, farming organically as his drive stems from his fierce determination to stay true to growing "real food", as many industrial (fake) foods currently dominate the market. Growing up from a long line of farmers, Wes Sovereign knows better than many people about "Simple Farming".
Wes did mention that although he uses a bit of chemicals on his produce, the compounds in his solutions are to simply keep the fruits & vegetables from dying during harsh seasons. Aside from that fact, he supports farming with "free land", and greatly opposes the destruction of agricultural areas where you could grow an entire field of corn rather than building another "concrete foundation" of parking lots & more industrialized factories making fake foods.
Again, "Simple Farming" is the norm at Sovereign Farms & every day, Wes works hard to keep customers happy while spreading awareness that there is a whole other agriculture you could experience if you try purchasing foods outside of the local supermarket.
Keep farming, & keep fighting Wes.
Ever see the North Section directly in front the St. Lawrence market? It's that big sketchy building across the street that's always empty whenever you walk by it most of the time.........
...........except for Saturdays!
Every once a week on this magical occasion, the North Market becomes open! And it's filled with people (duh).
Aside from the thousands of visitors that come to shop, the main attraction that dominates the Market are the numerous farmers that grow & distribute their own produce at low prices (yes, even during the winter, there are farmers markets. With real organic food. Every Saturday. Aspiring chefs everywhere can freak out in joy now).
I had the opportunity (or better call it, a positive-burden) to wake up at 7 am (because who does that on a Saturday, right?) & travel to Toronto to witness all this retail mayhem unfold on a regular day.
As soon as I walked in, it was a culinary wonderland.......
With my grind music on, I was walking through the rushing bunches of eager customers competitively hunting for the right deals while completely drowning out the sense of urgency to run through my mission, & enjoy my time while I could before flocking journalists & last-minute students swarmed the warehouse.
To visualize, I was utterly speechless when I saw what the first few sellers had to offer. Although it was a farmers market in the winter (and being simple-minded at times) I was expecting a low, dwindling supply of organic foods at this time. Boy, was I wrong (so wrong).
I saw a nice abundance of some of the finest (perhaps rare as well) ingredients that students in George Brown's cooking labs were given the chance to use. Venison tendon (hey, that rhymed), buffalo meat & even large whole clean animal bones were among the few meats you wouldn't find at a regular butcher.
Like a prehistoric guy seeing fire for the first time, I was too interested holding a handful of turnips & wondering why there is so much dirt covering each one. Being raised with industrial produce for most of my time, it was pretty cool to know that the farmers here aren't messing around, and the fact that they pull vegetables straight from nature & sell it in its natural state certifies its freshness (it doesn't get more real than that).
All ecstatic reflections aside, I did say I was on a mission. Meet Wes Sovereign (coolest. last. name. ever). He's the most popular farmer (and the most socially qualified among the rest of the busy farmers) to set time aside for a nice story.
Exposition time!
Wes Sovereign was actually born from a long line of farmers. Since the 1800's, sustainability was the policy for this family as they made most of their agricultural business with the vast acres of land won over to them in light of the ever-growing demand of farming at the time (call it: The Golden Age of Organic Farming).
When Wes was old enough, he lived through most of his childhood learning how to produce food. Call it a slightly clichéd way of becoming a farmer, but Wes' skills further developed into a passion when farming grew on him.
Fast-forward into his later years, Wes was not always a farmer. For a time, he worked at an industrial factory for financial support, as many contractors were taking more farming land & the farm itself couldn't make all of the income earned annually.
However, something lucky happened. While Wes was on the verge of being a part of some massive layoffs in his workplace, his experience & reputation kept him safe, allowing him to continue earning. At that point, he had an epiphany. He took this as a wake up call to leave his workplace to go back to his one passion (while he still had the money to rebuild his organic empire).
And so, he did!
Half a decade later (which brings our story from Media Res to the Present Day), Wes has brought his business to the St. Lawrence Farmers Market every Saturday, sharing the fruits of his labour (Every. Pun. Intended) with everyone.
And that's where I come in... (with the harder, compelling questions)
Asking Farmer Sovereign about his philosophy on farming, he modestly stated that although he works out of his love for the soil, farming organically as his drive stems from his fierce determination to stay true to growing "real food", as many industrial (fake) foods currently dominate the market. Growing up from a long line of farmers, Wes Sovereign knows better than many people about "Simple Farming".
Wes did mention that although he uses a bit of chemicals on his produce, the compounds in his solutions are to simply keep the fruits & vegetables from dying during harsh seasons. Aside from that fact, he supports farming with "free land", and greatly opposes the destruction of agricultural areas where you could grow an entire field of corn rather than building another "concrete foundation" of parking lots & more industrialized factories making fake foods.
Again, "Simple Farming" is the norm at Sovereign Farms & every day, Wes works hard to keep customers happy while spreading awareness that there is a whole other agriculture you could experience if you try purchasing foods outside of the local supermarket.
Keep farming, & keep fighting Wes.
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