Wizard Recipes

What would happen if we begin to consider food is less a thing and more a relationship? In nature, things have always been like this: eating meant in fact interacting whit species in the systems that we call food chains or tropic networks, which include everything up to the soils. Species co-evolved with the other species that eat them and very often, among them develops a relationship of interdependence: I’ll feed you, if you spread my genes.

Following an evolutionary process of mutual adaptation, the apple or the pumpkin turns into a nutritious and delicious food product for certain animals. Over time and through processes of trial and failure, the plant becomes tastier (and often more visible) to answer the needs and desires of the animal, and so that the animal can develop various digestive tools (eg, enzymes) needed to exploit the plant as good as possible.

Thus, at first, the cow milk was not a nutritious product for people: in fact, it even harms them that until the people who lived around cows developed in adulthood the ability to digest milk. The gene responsible for producing lactase, the enzyme that make the digestion of milk possible, was disabled by humans shortly after medical ablation, but now five thousand years, people have suffered from a mutation where the gene which remains active throughout life, the mutation that quickly spread through a population of pastors in north-central Europe. Why? Because people which suffered this mutation have access to a new extreme nutritious food source and therefore they could multiply more easily than those who had not undergone the mutation that we are talking about. This adaptation was good for those who consume milk but also for cows that have multiplied and expanded their habitat (and have improved their health status) all because of this new symbiotic relationships.

Among other things, health status is determined by the type of relationships within a food chain extreme varied relation in the human case which is an omnivorous. So, when a link from the food chain health is affected, this can be passed on to all other living creatures that make up that food chain. If the soil is sick or suffering from certain deficiencies so will be the gras growing on it and the cows grazing grass and the people who drink their milk. This is what Weston Price and Sir Howard was thinking when they were trying to establish a connection between these apparent distant spheres: soil and human health. We can not separate our own health from the entire health chain.

To continue our journey through the secrets of fish and seafood, I continue my article by mentioning the proper way of consuming fish and seafood in order to attain a healthy nutritious meal!

How to associate fish and seafood… the right way! :

- Due to the low calorie content, you must associate fish with rice, potatoes or vegetables of any kind to make it a complete nutritious meal

- lemon juice contributes to a better protein digestion and increases iron absorption

- if you’re consuming ‘fish from a can’, use only the ones with own juice, not oil added. It’ s a lot healthier!

- try not to stir fry the fish

-cook it in the oven, sauté, in aluminum foil or grilled

- cook the seafood with tomato juice, wine boiled and well seasoned. Don’t add a heavy graving or mayo

- smoked or dried fish contains a lot less calories that the normal one.

- fresh fish must have: sparkling eyes and firm meat

Also remember that :  - there are two types of fish: Low fat and fatty(salmon, tuna, sardines)

- there are two types of seafood: Mollusks (oysters, clams, octopus )and Crustaceans (shrimps, crabs, lobsters)

Mushrooms are not a particularly nutritious food, but few people are thinking of nutrition when they bite into a perfectly prepared specimen. They are high in protein compared to other vegetables, but in an absolute sense, they are still a low-protein food. They contain lots of vitamins B2 and B3, a significant amount potassium and a moderate amount of phosphorous.

The mushroom’s job is to add flavor, texture, eye appeal and richness to a dish or plate of food, not nutrition. Western cuisines tend to use mushrooms mainly for flavor, although the subtle mushroom texture is an important part of many dishes that don’t require long cooking.

In Oriental cooking, their texture and ability to absorb other flavors from the liquid are more crucial. Japanese cuisine in particular adore mushrooms for both flavor and texture. That is why the cultivation of so many flavorful mushrooms originated in Japan.

Mushrooms add a chewiness that is pleasing even if the flavoring effect is modest using milder mushrooms. In fact, some of the dried Chinese mushrooms match tofu in blandness, but cooks use them extensively for texture, color and to absorb the flavor of the sauces.

The mushroom’s very pretty, appealing shape in food presentation has made it even more trendy among contemporary cooks and chefs, particularly in white tablecloth restaurants

So what type of mushrooms should you use in your cooking? If you have an unlimited kitchen budget, use fresh black truffles ($1300 a pound or $3000 a kilo) and morels from France. They will be a sure hit among your guests, particularly if you can weave their cost into the dinner conversation.

But most of us work with a more limited kitchen budget in which the other end of the spectrum is the more likely scenario, even considering to rescue the mushrooms on the “reducedfor- quick-sale” shelf of the supermarket.

For most everyday cooking, fresh button mushrooms are perfectly adequate. When you want to splurge a little, one of the more common exotic types is a nice addition to your menu.

Remember, a little mushroom goes a long way. Two ounces (55 g) of an exotic mushroom per person is plenty to get the full benefit of mushrooms when you mix it with other ingredients in a side dish. So 1 pound (half a kilo) serves 8 guests-not an outrageous expenditure for an elegant meal.

To make the price even more reasonable, mix the exotic mushrooms with button mushrooms half and half. You will still get the flavor and visual impact of the exotic mushrooms. You can also blend fresh button mushrooms with dried reconstituted exotic mushrooms for their added flavor. Use 1 or 2 ounces (30 or 55 g) of dried mushroom for every pound (half kilo) of fresh mushrooms.

Mature mushrooms are always more flavorful than younger ones. Both the umbrella shape and the deepening color of the “ripe” spores indicate a mature mushroom. Don’t use quite as much of a mature specimen as you do the same mushroom in the button stage.

A flavorful exotic species like the chanterelle goes with any robust, full-flavored dish, while the milder exotics, like the oyster mushroom, are better with mild-flavored food, particularly seafood.

Some mushrooms are perfect for garnishing to add visual impact, such as the enoki. Their size and blandness are hopelessly lost among the other ingredients, but they look great as a garnish.

You may also use mushrooms raw in salads. They add visual impact to the dish with their pretty-shaped cross-section when thinly-sliced. But uncooked mushrooms are almost flavorless. Marinated or pickled, they readily absorb the flavor of the liquid in which they are soaked, thanks to their spongy flesh. A marinated mushroom retains its crunchiness, too, making it great hors d’oeuvres to serve with toothpicks.

How much mushroom should you count on for each serving? Mushrooms are 92 percent water so with cooking they shrink considerably as heat evaporates much of that moisture. Generally, a 4-ounce (110-g) serving is an adequate size when mushroom is a side dish, but for a more generous serving increase that to 5 ounces (140 g).

When it is the main ingredient of a mushroom dish, such as a mushroom stroganoff and mushroom stew, increase it to 6 or 6 1/ 2  ounces (170 or 185 g). For hors d’oeuvres as marinated mushrooms, count on everyone taking anywhere from 2 to 5 buttons, depending on their size and what else you are offering