Cooked - A Natural History of Transformat Part 36

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First published in the United States of America by The Penguin Press, part of The Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2013

First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane 2013

Copyright Michael Pollan, 2013

A portion of Chapter Two first appeared under the t.i.tle 'Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch' in The New York Times Magazine, 29 July 2009.

The moral right of the author has been a.s.serted

Cover designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-0-141-97563-4

I. AYDEN, NORTH CAROLINA

* Though later, in Leviticus, rules governing grain sacrifices are spelled out in detail; the commentaries suggest such rituals allowed people who could not afford to sacrifice an animal to nevertheless make an acceptable offering.

* In Greek thought, which obsessively worries the distinctions between man and animal, "raw eater" (omophagos) is a cutting epithet, bearing connotations of savagery. Cyclops commits a double outrage against civilization when he eats Odysseus' sailors without cooking them first.

II. CAMBRIDGE, Ma.s.sACHUSETTS

* Berna, Francesca, et al., "Microstratigraphic Evidence of In Situ Fire in the Acheulean Strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province, South Africa," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109 No. 20 (May 15, 2012), E121520.

* Carmody, Rachel N., et al. "Energetic Consequences of Thermal and Nonthermal Food Processing." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108 No. 48 (November 2011): 19199203.

Ninety percent of a cooked egg is digested, whereas only 65 percent of a raw egg is; by the same token, the rarer the steak, or more al dente the pasta, the less of it will be absorbed. Dieters take note.

IV. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

* I'm not sure why he even brings up water-perhaps because it is the enemy of fire? Or because it's a feminine principle and barbecue is a male domain?

* In 2011, Ed Mitch.e.l.l left The Pit, in a split with Greg Hatem's restaurant group described in the press as amicable. But Ed told me there had been battles over philosophy and economics and he could "no longer put Ed Mitch.e.l.l's face and reputation on something where I had no control." Ed plans to open a new barbecue restaurant in Durham, North Carolina.

V. WILSON, NORTH CAROLINA

* The name itself is a mini-polemic about what barbecue is and is not. Since the word "barbecue" is reserved for pork, that need not be mentioned; however, the word may not be used to modify ribs or chicken, which, whatever else they are, are not barbecue. At least here in North Carolina east of Lexington.

* Much the same can be said of the Christian Eucharist, in which all communicants symbolically eat from the body and blood of Christ.

VII. BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

* In the introduction, Bachelard helpfully warns us, "When our reader has finished reading this book he will in no way have increased his knowledge."

II. STEP TWO: SAUTe ONIONS AND OTHER AROMATIC VEGETABLES

* Vol. 56 (2008): 51216.

V. STEP FIVE: POUR THE BRAISING LIQUID OVER THE INGREDIENTS

* Marcella Hazan, the Italian cookbook writer, was on the same page: "Water is the phantom ingredient in much Italian cooking," she wrote. "One of my students once protested, 'When you add water, you add nothing!' But that is precisely why we use it. Italian cooking is the art of giving expression to the undisguised flavors of its ingredients. In many circ.u.mstances, an overindulgence in stock, wine or other flavored liquids would tinge the complexion of a dish with an artificial glow."

* MSG is a food additive synthesized by microbes from various natural materials. Glutamate also finds its way onto ingredient labels as "hydrolyzed vegetable protein," "protein isolate," "yeast extract," and "autolyzed yeast."

VI. STEP SIX: SIMMER, BELOW THE BOIL, FOR A LONG TIME

* Though for married women who don't have jobs the amount of time spent cooking is greater: 58 minutes a day, as compared with 36 for married women who do have jobs.

* Arlie Russell Hochschild, Second s.h.i.+ft (New York: Penguin Books, 1989).

* From the study: On an average day during 20068, Americans age 15 and older spent 78 minutes in secondary eating and drinking, that is, while doing something else considered to be the primary activity. Secondary eating and drinking was reported as occurring in all 400-plus detailed activities, except sleeping and primary eating and drinking. The two most popular activities that accompanied secondary eating or drinking were watching television and engaging in paid work. Travel related to work or travel related to shopping was also a frequent activity that accompanied secondary eating and drinking. (How Much Time Do Americans Spend on Food?, EIB-86, November 2011.) http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib-economic-information-bulletin/eib86.aspx.

* Cutler, David M., et al., "Why Have Americans Become More Obese?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17 No. 3 (2003): 93118.

* Haines, P. S., et al., "Eating Patterns and Energy and Nutrient Intakes of US Women," Journal of the American Dietetic a.s.sociation 92 No. 6 (1992): 698704, 707.