Sometimes, Food Additives Are Pretty Innocuous

Guest

Robert Gravani, food science professor, Cornell University

The uproar over what critics call "pink slime" in some ground beef refocused attention on what's in the food we eat. Most packaged foods contain at least one item you wouldn't recognize. But many food experts caution that just because you don't know an ingredient doesn't mean you shouldn't eat it. This segment was originally broadcast on April 11, 2012.

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MSG: the Killer Food Additive. - Jane Grey on HubPages MSG has been defined as the sodium salt extract of the non-essential amino acid of glutimate. Other research has revealed MSG to act as an excitotoxin of the highest ... Dye Diet Eat Food, Not Food Additives! Dye Diet offers food reviews, health risk and nutrition values based on analysis of food additives and artificial dyes content to help consumers to make healthy diet ... Yang Lan: The generation that's remaking China Video on TED.com Yang Lan, a journalist and entrepreneur who's been called "the Oprah of China," offers insight into the next generation of young Chinese citizens -- urban, connected ... Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good - rense.com Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good By Eric Schlosser Excerpt From Eric Schlosser's new book 'Fast Food Nation' (Houghton-Mifflin, 2001) From The Atlantic Monthly The Secret Ingredient In Your Orange Juice Food Renegade Do you buy orange juice at the store? If you do, I'm sure you're careful to buy the kind that's 100% juice and not made from concentrate. After all, that's the ... Chemical Cuisine - Food Additives CSPIs Food Safety Shopping was easy when most food came from farms. Now, factory-made foods have made chemical additives a significant part of our diet. In general, it's best to avoid ... Processed food tastes like a treat but youre really being tricked All natural foods contain lots of ingredients that you may not have bargained for like castoreum, calves stomach, hair, feathers, and bugs. MSG-- What is MSG? A dangerous food additive What is MSG, why is MSG in food of all sorts, and why is it such a big issue with my additive conscious friends? This food additive explains many ailments in many ...

No Innocent Spice: The Secret Story Of Nutmeg, Life And Death

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In the 1660s, Cornell University's Eric Tagliacozzo says, the conflict and competition for the spice trade came to a head. "The Dutch decapitated a number of English merchants who were also in the Spice Islands trying to profit from the trade."

In the 1660s, Cornell University's Eric Tagliacozzo says, the conflict and competition for the spice trade came to a head. "The Dutch decapitated a number of English merchants who were also in the Spice Islands trying to profit from the trade."

Ah, nutmeg! Whether it's sprinkled on eggnog, baked into spice cake or blended into a latte, this pungent spice can evoke memories of holidays past. We tend to link it to celebratory times.

But a lot of blood has been shed over this little brown seed. "Nutmeg has been one of the saddest stories of history," explains culinary historian Michael Krondl. If you listen to my story you'll hear the gruesome, grisly tale of how the Dutch tortured and massacred the people of the nutmeg-producing Banda Islands in Indonesia in an attempt to monopolize the nutmeg trade.

So, why was nutmeg so valuable? Well, Krondl likens it to the iPhone of the 1600s. It was fashionable among the wealthy. It was exotic and potent enough to induce hallucinations or at least a nutmeg bender, as detailed in this account from The Atlantic.

Nutmeg was considered medicinal, according this 16th century description: "Nutmegs be good for them the which have cold in their head, and doth comfort the sight and brain, & the mouth of the stomach & is good for the spleen."

"Nutmeg really does have chemical constituents that make you feel good," explains culinary historian Kathleen Wall of the Plimoth Plantation. And traditionally, we turn to nutmeg (along with cloves and cinnamon) this time of year because these spices as the settlers to the colonies believed can help warm us up and even help us fight off head colds and stomachaches.

And for foodies, nutmeg is an ideal spice for layering flavor. Chef Kyle Bailey of Birch and Barley restaurant in Washington, D.C., combined spinach and nutmeg to whip up a divine puree (see gallery below) that marries the flavors beautifully.

I can't finish this post without mentioning a bit of nutmeg history that makes good dinner-party conversation and this is the question of whether the Dutch traded Manhattan (yes, New York) for nutmeg.

In the 1600s, "the Dutch and the British were kind of shadowing each other all over the globe," explains Cornell historian Eric Tagliacozzo. They were competing for territory and control of the spice trade. In 1667, after years of battling, they sat down to hash out a treaty.

"Both had something that the other wanted," explains Krondl. The British wanted to hold onto Manhattan, which they'd managed to gain control of a few years earlier. And the Dutch wanted the last nutmeg-producing island that the British controlled, as well as territory in South America that produced sugar.

"So they [the Dutch] traded Manhattan, which wasn't so important in those days, to get nutmeg and sugar."

And back then, the Dutch considered it a sweat deal!

Recipe: Spinach Puree

Nutmeg and spinach make an excellent pairing. Chef Kyle Bailey shared his tricks for merging the two flavors in this easy-to-make spinach puree. No cream required! Click and enjoy.

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  Start by melting 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet. Add 2 tablespoons of shallots and saute. Add 4 cups of spinach. Cook on high heat until wilted.

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  Maggie Starbard/NPR
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  Grate a heavy pinch of nutmeg. Sprinkle it over the spinach as it cooks until wilted.

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  Karen Castillo Farfn /NPR
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  Put the spinach into a blender.

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  Puree until the mixture until it's the consistency of paint.

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  Just before you plate the puree, add a splash of lemon. Serve under fish like salmon or sturgeon and enjoy.

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  Karen Castillo Farfn /NPR

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Too Busy To Peel Garlic? Try The 20-Second Microwave Tip

Garlic's papery skin slips off quick after a little turn in the microwave. Yes, the microwave is back.

Garlic's papery skin slips off quick after a little turn in the microwave. Yes, the microwave is back.

If I were rich, I might hire a sous chef. But for now, I'm learning to cheat time. And here's a new way I've stumbled upon to save a minute or two every time I use garlic.

Toss it in the microwave. I put the whole bulb in 15 to 20 seconds will do the trick. It makes peeling much easier. The cloves practically slide - or pop out of their skins, though I won't make any promises about stickiness.

But, since I'm on the science desk, I have to ask, how does it work?

I emailed Gavin Sacks, assistant professor in the department of food science at Cornell University. "My guess is that ... the microwave will heat the water in the garlic, causing cells to rupture," he says. The resulting steam breaks the bonds between the skins and the flesh.

Any down side? Well, microwaving the garlic is akin to blanching it, which Sacks explains will partially inactivate some enzymes. "Since the pungent compound in garlic is formed enzymatically, once raw garlic is crushed or cut, it is likely that the resulting microwaved garlic will be less pungent than non-microwaved garlic."

Hmmm ... I didn't taste any difference when I tried it. Maybe it's just a weensy-bit less pungent? Or maybe I was getting used to the slightly duller flavor in the jar of pre-peeled garlic.

The tip comes from Cook's Illustrated magazine, where they've put together a bunch of readers' tips section in the November/December issue.

"We go through a lot of garlic in my house," Jack Bishop, editorial director of the magazine, tells me.

The microwave tip comes in handy especially when a recipe calls for many, many cloves of garlic that need peeling.

But really, despite some foodies' philosophical opposition to the the microwave, or perhaps the aversion that comes from getting burned by the bowl while the soup stays cold, or fears about food safety, it can be a key kitchen tool in the cook's arsenal.

As home cooks see how the pros are using the microwave on cooking shows, "I think it has come back somewhat into fashion," Bishop says. "You can actually do some smart things with it," like starting baked potatoes in it so they cook faster in the oven, and drying herbs from your garden in it.

"The microwave is really just a piece of technology, not one to be scared of," he says.

Anyway, it's worth a try. And no worries, there's no plastic involved.

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Can Government Bans Tackle Obesity?

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September 21, 2012

New York City's Board of Health approved a controversial and first-of-its-kind soda ban earlier this month. Marion Nestle of New York University and Brian Wansink of Cornell University debate whether government regulations are an effective way to fight the obesity epidemic.

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