Something About Soda
One thing that I always keep on hand at home is a stash of Pepsi Throwback. This may be surprising to some people, or maybe not.
If Coke was still made with cane sugar, or if I could get the kosher for Passover coke in cans, or if the Mexican Coke wasn’t so darn expensive, I would keep that on hand instead. For a while there was a plant somewhere in the US that was producing a Dr. Pepper Throwback, and that was my soda of choice when I could find it.
My soda consumption isn’t driven by taste preference. Instead, it takes its cues from my avoidance of High Fructose Corn Syrup. That said, I do make an occasional exception for Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray, especially when I’m eating corned beef or pastrami. I know the corn refiners say that HFCS is the same thing as sugar. But if that’s the case, how come you can’t buy it at the grocery store to sweeten your morning coffee?
Regardless of the sweetener used however, soda finds itself under attack.
On one hand, I think that’s great. Soda is public enemy number one in the fight against obesity. And for far too long soda companies that have been pushing nasty sweeteners on the people of the world. But as a food lover, this is dangerous territory.
AskTP – Doing Just Fine
Really I need a staff of writers. There are so many topics to cover and not enough days in the week to do them justice. Just yesterday there were two great ones that popped up on my radar. One was the ReviewerCard. The other was the video released by Coke on obesity and its more honest cousin that was released by just someone who wasn’t going to swallow their propaganda.
That’s on top of already being delinquent on following up about a host of topics. Luckily today is the day I get to answer everyone’s burning questions. And that means at least some of the outstanding issues will get addressed in this magnum opus. Really, many of these questions deserve several hundred word responses. But I’m just one guy.
Still, I’m committed to answering every question that’s asked in the comments, just so long as it includes a question mark. For those who are reading Ask the Profussor for the first time, please note, all the questions are preceded by the mystery link of the day. They all go to the same place. Give one a click, and see where it takes you.
Okay, without further ado, onto the questions:
The Tailor
Don’t waste food. It’s a mantra that I try to convey to my children. In this house, we don’t waste food. And I try to explain from the field to the table all the work required to grow the food and all the people and places involved along the way.
The kids like soft squishy sandwich bread. So I get them the least-bad stuff that serves as a reasonable delivery device for peanut butter and honey. Personally, I think it’s vile. But that’s another rant.
When they don’t want to eat the crusts, I tell them about the farmer who has to grow the wheat. The machines that are used to harvest the grain. The wheat’s journey from the farm to the mill and from the mill to the bakery. The bakers and the factories used to make the bread. The machines and the designers who produce the packaging. The truckers who bring the bread to warehouses and then to markets. The supermarket employees who stock the shelves. And all of the people in between. Sometimes they have to hear about the coal miners, without whom there would be no electricity to run the factories.
I think eventually they eat the crusts to get me to stop talking.
But the sad truth is that in this house we waste food all the time. Most recently Mrs. Fussy took a long hard look into the deep recesses of our pantry and found some things no longer fit for human consumption. Obviously, I’m ashamed by this. So naturally, I will share the story.
DuChilly
I’m not one to gush. Maybe you’ve picked up on that by now. So listen to me when I tell you this. Really I probably shouldn’t even mention it.
A while back I wrote about TC Bakery and their French macarons. They were great. And since then I’ve been in contact with chef Paul there, visiting the kitchen and tasting some of the new and delicious things he and his crew have cooked up.
I really liked their rustic fruit tart and the creme brulee too. But those aren’t always available. Before Christmas he gave me a taste of something amazing. And I wasn’t sure there would be any left come the new year. But I popped into the bakery last week and was able to pick up another bag of these decadent treats.
They aren’t macarons. They aren’t pastry. They aren’t chocolates. Nope, they are actually some very special nuts.
SOS: Troy Story
So maybe I didn’t quite get to everything I wanted to talk about this week. These are the challenges of writing just one post a day.
Yesterday was interesting as Mrs.Fussy got motivated to clean out our pantry. And she set out a parade of neglected foodstuffs that were brought into the house with much enthusiasm, yet somehow got buried in a cabinet or otherwise neglected. I’d love to try and squeeze that story in next week.
Plus there was an exciting purchase at The Cheese Traveler (that’s part of my new diet), a great night out at DeFazio’s (that wasn’t), more coffee at The Charles F. Lucas Confectionery and Wine Bar, and frozen yogurt at my favorite place for the stuff in the region… Dante’s.
But today, you get none of that. Today I need to catch up on old business. These are some local tidbits of food news and press releases that have been sent to me over the past few weeks that people have asked me to share with you. And share it I will.
Let it not be said that I’m a bad sharer.
Stocking Vermouth
Where have all the cocktails gone? Long time passing.
Where have all the cocktails gone? Long time ago.
I think I recall a time when I faithfully wrote about cocktails once a week. Whatever happened to that? Well, part of it is that over the last couple of months I largely stopped drinking as cocktails didn’t quite jibe with my medication.
Anyhow, it’s January and I haven’t even transitioned the bar from fall to winter. Really, this year I may not even make the attempt. The bar is cluttered with far too many mostly empty bottles to bring anything new into the house, including some of the Peach Jack from summer and a bunch of the Coal Yard (which I really enjoy) from fall.
This notion of hanging onto bottles is one I want to talk about further. I totally get the impulse. We still have some Chartreuse in a bottle that’s at least five years old. But that’s a hearty spirit and some have even said that it’s a rare example of something that ages well in the bottle.
Vermouth, on the other hand, isn’t quite as tough.
Hair
Extracting someone else’s hair from your mouth is never appetizing. I get that. Believe it or not, I find hair in food quite a bit. I don’t know if it’s my eye for detail, my propensity to take small bites and chew food well, or an extra sensitive mouth. But if there’s hair in a dish, I’m going to find it.
For many people this is an egregious offense. For some, finding a hair in their food completely ruins their meal. It would seem that others expect an errant hair to end in a comped meal and a gift card for a future visit.
But I don’t understand these people at all.
Food is dirty. Vegetables grow in dirt. Animals are a seething mass of bacteria. Fruit attracts bugs. Cheese is nothing more than the controlled spoiling of milk. Of all the things that could accidentally get into my food, a hair is among the lesser evils. What is it about hair that drives people into apoplexy? Seriously, I want to know.
What I find truly upsetting is not the clearly visible stray hair, but rather the things in my food that I can’t see. Here are a few for starters.
The Most Delicious Clinic Ever
People seem to be split on mayonnaise. I love it.
I love eggs. I love oil. Put the two together in a rich and delicate emulsion and I’m in heaven. I’ll slather it on a BLT, dunk my duck-fat fries in its stiff peaks, and smash my nearly perfect hard-boiled eggs into its voluptuous bosom.
Sure, there are problems with the commercially made version. Most are made with nasty solvent-extracted soy-based oils. And I shudder to think about the cruel and unusual conditions to which the chickens who laid the eggs were subjected. But these aren’t matters that concern me right now, because mayo is off the diet.
In some weird twist of fate, somehow the Mayo Clinic has come up with recommendations for eating to reduce your cholesterol numbers that does not include its namesake condiment. Bummer. So, what do they think I should eat instead?
Don’t Play Cards With Seitan
Did anyone here know that when I was as a senior in college I had a radio show? Can’t say it was very popular, but I did get to explore some strange and wonderful music with my friend SK. One song that particularly sticks out in my mind from that era is this master work from Daniel Johnston, which provides some context for today’s title.
Never forget that much of this blog is written purely for my own amusement.
While the focus of the song is Satan, today’s food story begins with seitan. I don’t have a lot of experience with fake meat. The first time I recall ever eating the stuff I was at a fundraiser for Everglades Earth First at some weird vegetarian cafe somewhere in Miami listening to a local folk singer rail against the non-indigenous Melaleuca tree. True story. In my defense, there was a girl involved.
But this time was different. This time I went in search of seitan on purpose. I was even looking forward to it. And while I didn’t know it at the time, there would once again be a girl involved. Actually, more than one.
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