OT (I think): Photo essay on What The World Eats

[RicodJour]

Pretty amazing photo essay. I really wish there were high resolution pictures so you could zoom in on the specific foods.

R

[Kris Krieger]

RicodJour wrote in news:97571580-6c54-4d6b-b8b0- [e-mail]:

THat *is* interesting. THe settings were also intersting.

(I do tend to forget just how much junk food other Americans eat :P )

[RicodJour]

Did you see how much soda the Mexicans drank? Unbelievable. I'd like to think that the people writing and shooting the pictures really got to the root of the matter regarding what the people _really_ eat, not just what they said they ate. I'll have to look at it again, but I noticed beer in the German photo, but not in most of the others. Alcohol would obviously skew the cost of the "food".

R

[Kris Krieger]

RicodJour wrote in news:95840220-a5be-4525-a371- [e-mail]:

Actually, I was amazed at how many of the pics did, in fact, show rather a large amount of sodas and boxes/bags of US brand faux-foods.

THe absence of beer in US photos doesn't surprise me - these days, if someone asks you whether you drink and if so, how much, if you say anythign other than "rarely - just the occasional social drink", you just about find yourself being hauled off to an AA meeting =>:-p

[++]

While some new brewpubs are opening, many more are closing with some of the large breweries aping the micro product. A local surprise was the demise of Christian Heurich

Many of the photos were not typical, but rather location specific. A typical Chinese diet sure isn't what you saw for the family in Beijing. Another anomaly in the collection was not to post a per person cost along with the typical market basket. Family of eight don't compare well with the typical double income no kids somewhere or another, nor were the choices necessarily representive of typical extended families and family sizes in given locales

[Kris Krieger]

"Ken S. Tucker" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

OK, I'm goign to assume that's a real question (hey, you know by now that I am The Perfect Straight Man ;) ), so:

BisQuick biscuits aren't bad, but BQ has IIRC "hydrogenated vegetable oil", or at least, it used to, so check the label. Buscuits are really easy to make, but the trick is remembering the proportions, so BQ *is* a handy item.

Onions - hey, sounds good to me, it's ahrd to go wrong with onions (or garlic ) - I haven't tried that (now I'm curious tho') but I've tried grated x-tra sharp cheddar - but I think the onions would be better if toasted first; IIRC you have a toaster oven or something similar ;)

Nice thing with buscuits is that you can also cook them on the stovetop in a heavy skillet with a lid.

[Kris Krieger]

"Ken S. Tucker" wrote in news:bac20116-cae0-4abc- [e-mail]:

You can "pseudo-fry" by putting some grapeseed oil** into the skillet. Put in enough just to reach about the lower third of the item being cooked. THat's how I make "fried" catfish. It's still a bit messy becasue it pops, tho' that's reduced if you use a skillet that's just large enough to hold the food (tho' that makes it even mroe important to have a cvery hot flame going, because the oil cools more quickly, and it's teh high heat of oil that makes foods crispy), but at least you don't have a gallon of oil to figure out how to process (although, it's easier if you know someone who hase a biodiesel- capable vehicle...)

**grapeseed oil take a high heat without getting all smoky; it also doesn't impart much of a taste to foods, and is IIRC the most unsaturated oil of all, so it's the healthiest; almond is next up, IIRC, for being polyunsaturated and taking higher heat, and has a very light flavor; walnut oil comes next, and does impart a nyutty flavor to foods; tehn olive oil. I don't know how peanut or canola oils compare, becasue I don't care for the flavor of either so don't use them.

HTH!

[Warm Worm]

Yes a bigger pic would be nice. Coincidentally, as a spin-off result of some personal online paleoentomology research, I ended up looking at a You Tube show on dining on bugs. Apparently, there's an "upscale" resto in California that offers bugs as main courses. Apparently some bugs are related to shrimp and taste just as good.

[Warm Worm]

A few years ago for the first time ever, I had one raw oyster, and will likely never have another one. Some things that gross some people out, others relish.

As I type this, I'm eating a can of Cloverleaf smoked oysters by the way, which your post reminded me we had in the cupboard. :D

What do you like to eat normally and periodically? What would you like to eat that you never have?

[Warm Worm]

Well maybe the oyster I swallowed somehow misrepresented what a fresh one normally tastes like. So I might try the deed a couple more times at different establishments for statistical integrity. The first one was at The Boathouse (on English Bay), for Ken's interest.

You've never had beef in your entire life? Holy cow. Deer heart sounds ok because I like heart in general. Personally, I've had-- and on the all-too-rare occasion-- French Canadian-style game-meat stews (sea-pie or ci-p=E2te as it's called) which have included whatever was caught at the time; deer, moose, caribou, hare, partridge, pheasants, etc.; with dumplings and herbs/ spices in a sauce. Very hearty and savoury and thoroughly recommended if you can get it done well. I doubt squirrel has ever been in there, but that would have been ok. I also had an ostrich burger once. A little dry, but ok. I'd be curious to try some kinds of reptile, like snake, iguana or alligator. How about you?

at woodchuck. =A0It

I'd eat everything on that list except maybe the tripe. I could probably eat brain if I pretended it was a no-brainer, or that I was a zombie. Maybe this Halloween.

...As a side-note, ostensibly you can sign your body off to medical research when you pass on.

Just think shrimp, crab, caviar, or in the case of the huhu beetle grub, buttered chicken. ;)

Without looking it up, I get the feeling you included what it is, and if so, I'm with you there.

[RicodJour]

e also

e line at woodchuck. =A0It

Incense causes cancer. Incensed incensed people cause facial trauma.

R

[Kris Krieger]

Pat wrote in news:f96e3b6c-3bda-4244-b09e- [e-mail]:

I don't eat raw meat, fish, etc. and prefer most vegetables cooked. Easier to digest, but much more importantly, cooking cuts down on the chances of infection from bacteria and parasites.

Brain, no way! No need to risk picking up a prion :( It'd be one thing if I was starving, but aside from that, some things are just low in nutrition and carry a higher risk of infection. IMO, that's not a risk I'd take just in the name of eating something off-beat.

Other things (especially organ meats) I simply do not like at all.

The thing that bugs me about bugs is the thought of eating the guts. If they could be cleaned out, I wouldn't mind so much, since some insects do carry parasites in the gut.

[Kris Krieger]

Pat wrote in news:b7a97908-234a-48d8-95fb- [e-mail]:

Hot dogs, baloney, and the like, from what I understand - probably also dog food. It *is* a muscle after all ;)

[snip]

[Warm Worm]

Nanotechnology

[Warm Worm]

woodchuck. It

"Popcorn was first discovered by the native Americans, who believed that the popping noise was that of an angry god who escaped the kernel."

--Wikipedia