Re: Which Food Pyramid?

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On Sat, 4 Feb 2006 11:14:53 -0000, "Nicky"
<ukc802466929@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Quentin Grady" <quentin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:qbb7u1hnfn6g889ui9p782j2sef6vr3qn7@xxxxxxxxxx
The key things with the people on Crete appeared to be their increased
intake of vegetables compared to their neighbours. Frankly I thought
the amounts were pathetic but compared to their neighbours they were
magnificent. Now amounts can be deceptive. The thing that doesn't
get measured often is quality. On Crete one finds sustained reference
to horta, wild greens.

So you're saying there is (relative) quantity and (absolute?) quality in
their veg intake. Sounds like a good maxim.

G'day G'day Nicky,

I find time and time again it works for me. Buy quality. The
temptation we all face is to buy more cheaper. I have the luxury of
shopping in supermarkets, the Farmers' Market and along the country
roads. One stands out in my mind, Meanee Road. It doesn't mean
anything to anyone living elsewhere. I friend of mine once remarked
"Why would anyone buy vegetables anywhere else?" The vegetables were
fresh, fresh, fresh. The other aspect is they cater for a diverse
range of cultures, European, Pacific Islanders, Indian and of course
Chinese. It doesn't seem like a likely place to find vegetables found
on Crete. There are some though. The Chinese like garland
chrysanthemum. They pick the baby plants. I find they liven up some
frozen peas like magic.


Is it possible to get whatever
it is that makes horta special in the supermarket? Certainly we can maximise
benefits - but is it enough?

Well it is probably impossible to duplicate. However, the principles
aren't. Notice the emphasis on TOPS. I'd play is safe and use
Florence fennel tops as the wild fennel can be poisonous at certain
times of the year. When one is unfamiliar with foreign vegetables it
pays to be very cautious. We can't replace their centuries of
experience. The edible chrysanthemum is shungi ku or chop suey
greens,

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/vegetable_greens.html


Cretan Mixed Greens and Tomatoes
with Black-Eyed Peas
From Mediterranean Grains and Greens: A Book of Savory, Sun-Drenched
Recipes, by Paula Wolfert.

Serves 6 to 8

On the island of Crete, March and April are the best months to pick
wild edible greens for making pies. Also in spring, in the markets of
Heraklion, you?ll find neatly tied-up bunches of aromatic greens
called yahnera: a few shoots of wild fennel bunched with salsify tops,
leaves of young corn poppy, Roman pimpernel, shepherd?s purse, wild
carrot, edible chrysanthemum, and a thick furry thistle called eryngo
- all sweet fragrant greens nearly impossible to put together outside
Crete.

The dominant flavor of a yahnera bunch, wild fennel, is hard to find.
In spring, it grows rampantly in California; elsewhere combine
supermarket fennel and some crushed fennel seeds. To simulate the
other greens, I make up a mixture of three or four easy-to-find
"sweet" greens (beet greens, baby spinach, Swiss chard, miner?s
lettuce, pea shoots, mache, orache, nettles, lamb?s quarters, and
green amaranth) to which I add just one sprig of cilantro for
fragrance.

Black-eyed peas are a popular legume in many Mediterranean regions,
ranging from Catalonia (where they?re cooked with moist stewed wild
mushrooms or a spirited blend of salt cod and wild edible greens) to
Cyprus (where they?re stewed with greens and served with good olive
oil and lemon) to Turkey (where they?re enhanced with a unique
burnished red pepper, then simmered with heaps of stewed greens - see
page 170).

Serve this delicious vegetable dish warm or cool for lunch along with
some cheese, olives, and a glass of wine followed, in turn, in true
Mediterranean spirit, by . . . you guessed it! . . . a nap.

1 2/3 cups dried black-eyed peas
1 cup diced fennel bulb


Now go read what Frank presented us about the ORAC scores of beans.

Yeah, that was an eye-opener. Something else that occurs to me is that beans
are massy - if you're having beans in a meal, you'd likely cut down on the
other carbs, like grains.

One can see a comination coming on. Beans, turmeric, black pepper.

If we leave out grains or curtail their intake severely it won't be a
Mediterranean diet. What is left is something which has collected some
of the best features of Mediterranean diet. We might not have
collected all of the essentials. How about octopus? Is octopus
essential. Will squid do? How about fish?

And it's a fair bet that there's valuable interactions, not simply the sum
of the constituents.

Yes. I was thinking about that in connection with someone who had
problems with thin blood after taking 4 fish oil tablets daily.
We know Vit K from greens has the opposite effect. Most of it is
produced in the gut so I'm unsure of its significance. My point is
that national diets work because they are the survivors of all those
that didn't work.

Nicky.

--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
.

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