No trip to Carolina Beach would be complete without a trip (or two…or three) to the famous Britt’s Donut Shop where the same glazed donuts have been made for over 70 years. One of the top donut shops in the country, these melt in your mouth in a way that should be illegal.

My friend Philippe made his famous Shrimp Provencale with jumbo shrimp caught off a captain’s boat that morning. Yet throughout this relaxing, wonderful trip, I kept thinking about meat.

Here, you may pause. Beach, sand, shrimp…meat? What am I talking about?

Some of you may recall my ongoing dilemma about meat. While Zomppa Tsering has been supportive about my potential in becoming a vegetarian, I am still an omnivore. I have read about CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) and factory farms and have watched videos like MeetYourMeat. (warning: video is graphic).

Julia Whitty of Mother Jones reports that global meat production is expected to double over the next four decades, with negative impact on air and water pollution, diseases, and pathogens. Leslie Hatfield of EcoCentric wrote a great article comparing CAFOs with sustainable pork practices.

So in lieu of meat, I have recently been trying more soy-based products (I am allergic to some soy). But even eating some of these products make me nervous.

• Does soy have long-term negative effects? Andreas Moritz reports that soy – especially those from genetically modified plants – can increase risk of cancers and thyroid disorders among other issues.
• Are veggie burgers really better than meat? The Cornucopia Institute has reported that most non-organic veggie burgers contain hexane, an air pollutant and neurotoxin.
• Is it false advertising to suggest soy milk has the same nutrients as regular milk? The National Milk Producers Federation says no.

But I haven’t been content with only soy-based products. I still craved meat – but was it OK for me to eat it? A couple weeks ago, I finished the book, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, which reminded me that while I eat animals, I had never watched an animal being slaughtered for my consumption. So on the Friday before I went to the beach, I visited the Homestead Harvest Farm in Wake Forest, NC. Owned and operated by the extraordinary Jan Campbell, her Animal Welfare-approved farm is a place where her chickens, ducks, and turkeys roam freely, behaving as animals do, and maturing naturally as animals should. When it came time for the processing, I observed how Jan gently stroked each chicken and talked to it through the entire process to keep it calm. The process is quick and thoughtful, and done with extreme care. She honors each life.

It was with this experience that I found myself sitting on the beach, contemplating my dilemma. Folks like Jan Campbell and farms like Homestead are as far away from CAFOs as you can get. If more people treated animals the way Jan Campbell does, our meat would be more humanely raised, healthy, and delicious.

Why do factory farms exist then? So many questions, not enough answers.

As I debated with myself about my consumption of animals one early morning on the beach, I saw a rather unusual sight.

A crab eating a jellyfish. The cycle of life and death continues.

A cycle we should honor.

]]> http://www.zomppa.com/2010/07/28/contemplating-meat-on-a-nc-beach/feed/ 5 http://www.zomppa.com/2010/07/27/virginia-woolf-farmers-and-my-family/ http://www.zomppa.com/2010/07/27/virginia-woolf-farmers-and-my-family/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:56:01 +0000 Tsering http://www.zomppa.com/?p=6273 Virginia Woolf: Eons ago, when I was young and studying Literature, Virginia Woof’s writing seized my attention for her narrative style-stream of consciousness. It is the mode that reveals the character’s thought processes, it is winding sentences (well for me), connecting thoughts and it is an interior monologue. Enough about Virginia Woolf and the world of fancy literary criticism.

Farmers: This weekend, we took the entire family to St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. We love this historical market, but we live on the other side of town and in tow with a toddler and a 4year old, going to a bazaar can only mean CHAOS so we have hardly visited!

St. Lawrence Market in Toronto dates back to 1803 when the Governor proclaimed that the land was to be officially designated the: Market Block (see website http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/about/history/index.html)

The market is in the heart of the City and in my opinion feels like the soul of the City too. You have farmers from Ontario selling their fresh produce, artisans selling their creative items-jewelry, clothes , etc, and there are always events like the Corn Roast coming up on August 7, 2010- imagine fresh, hot buttered roast corn –COMPLIMENTARY. Name the cheese and you can find it in the cheese section, name your cut and pick of meat you will find it in the meat section!!!! On the weekends there are so many people that at times you will have to stand in line for a while.

My Family: I love fresh produce and my ma-in law loves it even more. So as soon as we got to the market everyone had darted off to their own sections – cheese section was my pick, fruit and veggies – ma in law, meat section of course hubby darling and pa-in law. I could not help but purchase fresh fetuccini, the guy said that the wheat was milled on Thursday, pasta made on Friday. Laden with fresh fruit, vegetables and meat we set off home tired!

We made the fresh pasta for lunch and the verdict- my toddler and hubby loved it, others not so!

We ate the yellow watermelon –the verdict- it was juicy, sweet, and it had so much depth to its taste!

So while, thinking about what I wanted to share on Zomppa, my thoughts were random, loosely connected and almost felt like an interior monologue.
We always thank the lord for the food we eat but often forget to thank the farmers, who toil the soil and who have remained (mostly) truly determined to provide us with nourishment despite all the hardships they face. The farmer from whom I purchased the fresh fetuccini said the farm was in the family since the 18th century and they have been regular vendors at St. Lawrence. Not to be outdone, but the stall next to them was attended by an elderly East Indian lady and her wares were undoubtedly samosas-THE GREAT INDIAN SNACKS- boy were they good!
As we walked along the market there was a busker singing into his mike, and I was slow to realize that on the intercom it was his music we were listening to as opposed to a record or FM radio. This is St. Lawrence – fresh music, fresh food!

The weekend at St. Lawrence market helped me remember and reaffirm my appreciation for the people behind the food we eat the joys of communal activity-something as simple as shopping local produce, the importance of sharing with our children the bounty that mother earth provides and my sheer love for this city! So if you visit Toronto you must visit St. Lawrence Market!

Is there something in the water?

Maybe, but not everyone is swayed or convinced of its baby making power.

Most people agree that humans were built with certain ‘hardware,’ allowing us to make more humans.   But what about the ‘software’?  Specifically, the sub-conscious layer of thinking  – that loudly obnoxious, or for some, muffled banging called Biological Clock?

A very good girlfriend recently suggested that she experiences no such ‘clanging.’ – that this so-called biological clock never turned itself on in her.  In addition, she expressed very little concern about her body (or mind’s) ability to turn the clock on OR when it might do so.

Does this make my friend a human anomaly?  Did my friend sub-consciously, yet vehemently reject the societal pressures for women her age to have babies and subsequently silenced (or broke) her biological clock?  Why does she possess the ‘hardware’ but not the ‘software’?  And why do some women possess the ‘software,’ but lack the ‘hardware’?  Is my friend-sans-biological-clock somehow liberated in a way that women who want children (and all the good, bad and ugly that can come with it) are not?   Can she be liberated from something she has never wanted?

It is unclear and I am no closer to answering these questions than I was before I started this metaphysical, biological and hypothetical debate in my head.  However, my friend’s situation continues to interest me greatly, most likely because I think I might have drank too much of the ‘baby making’ water.  My own biological clock has and continues to be quite clamorous…almost deafening.  Even after two children.  It is L-O-U-D…like the sound of a sustained blow horn.  Curious thing, really.  Should I try ignoring it?  Give in to it?

For the time being, I’ll concentrate on eating these super delicious and simple-to-make eclairs.  Eclairs don’t make my head hurt.

This recipe comes, straight up, from the food network website.  Thanks Gale Gand!

Fresh Corn Chowder

Serves about 6

1. Stand corn on end. Using chef’s knife, cut kernels from 4 ears corn (you should have about 3 cups); transfer to medium bowl and set aside. Grate kernels from remaining 6 ears on large holes of box grater, then firmly scrape any pulp remaining on cobs with back of knife (you should have 2 generous cups kernels and pulp). Transfer to separate bowl and set aside.

2. Sauté all of the pancetta in Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, turning with tongs and pressing down on pieces to render fat, until cubes are crisp and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the pancetta to a paper-towel lined plate. Reduce heat to low, stir in butter and onions, cover pot, and cook until softened, about 12 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add stock. Add potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, milk, grated corn and pulp; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add reserved corn kernels and heavy cream and return to simmer; simmer until corn kernels are tender yet still slightly crunchy, about 5 minutes longer. Discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley, salt, and pepper to taste and top with reserved pancetta. Serve immediately.

Potato Seed

Included in the rationale for acknowledging the potato plant, was the understanding that the tuber is a central food source for many of the world’s vast populations. By food source, I am not talking about what we commonly see in mainstream settings—french fries, baked white potatoes or potato chips—all flavored with various oils, butters/fake butters, salts and preservatives. Instead, a nice example to point to is the potato of the South American Andes—or should I say potatoes, meaning the thousands of varieties of potatoes cultivated over thousands and more thousands of years.

In Peru, Andean Quechua-speaking family members tell beautiful stories of the potato—of its origins and symbolism of our humanity. Like corn and quinoa, potatoes occupy a special place in the lives of Andean people that link this food to our spirituality, to the earth and to the very practice of what it means to be a living, working human being.

Grandma plants potatoes

As with other sacred crops, the women in my community in the Andean highlands plant the seeds. This is because women represent fertility, life and nurturance. From the very young to the very old, community members are taught to plant this crop, to care for it compassionately and to harvest the varieties we plant with great joy.

Potato plant

Once potatoes are harvested, they are of course, consumed fresh by family and community, taken to the local market for sale or barter, and also stored using special methods and herbs.

Potatoes in storage

The potatoes stored in this manner will last in the dry Andean climate for over 10 months, feeding family members, friends and visitors.

While the stories, cultivation, harvesting and storage of various potato varieties is fascinating and wonderful, this piece is really a love letter to the women in my family—the women like my mother, my grandmothers, my aunties, who worked the land to plant these seeds, but who also prepared these potatoes with their deepest devotion to the art of cooking, and with love. Women the world over, like my cousin, Herminia, who today continue to pass on the tradition of farming and cooking to their children—this is my ode to you.

Herminia, Wanka cook with a conscience

Everyone is blessed with gifts—gifts of mind and gifts of heart. An Indigenous scholar, Mary Eunice Romero (Cochiti Pueblo), conducted a beautiful project known as the Keres Studies (1994) that examined the way in which Indigenous people in her community understand the concept of giftedness. Her work revealed gifts of four domains—humanistic or from the heart, linguistic, knowledge or reflection of ingenuity, and creativity associated with psychomotor abilities. But what her work also revealed is that it’s not really a gift unless it’s used to contribute to community.

In this light, one of the highest expressions of giftedness is exemplified by cooking, and cooking with a conscience. One of my favorite Peruvian dishes of all time hails from Wanka lands and takes its name from one of the three regions that the Wanka people occupy—Huancayo. The dish is called Papa a la Huancaina (pronounced pa-pa a-la wan-ka-eena), and is essentially a yellow chile cheese sauce covered potato. YUM. Or as we would say in our Quechua language, Añañao! (Pronounced a-nya-nyow. Remember to say it with a flair!). There are many many recipes for this dish, but my favorite is the simplest.

Washed starchy potatoes ready to boil

What makes this dish, prepared at home in our village, so special is that the chile is grown locally in the community, pesticide-free. The Andean cheese (similar to a queso fresco) is made from my grandmother’s cows (who are fed only alfalfa and other products grown alongside our corn). The starchy potatoes that my cousin uses are also pesticide-free, grown from our own fields. Nevermind that a worm or two might have traveled through the potato, leaving it relatively unscathed—as the women say, “Poor thing, I suppose the worm has to eat too.” And to boot, everything is prepared by hand here in the highlands, even the grinding of the chile.

Grinding stone

So without further delay, I present to you, Papa a la Huancaina, estilo Herminia (Herminia-style). And while we are no longer celebrating the International Year of the Potato, our conscientiousness can still make an impact, starting in our own kitchens and in our own “villages,” indeed wherever it is we call home.

Papa a la huancaina served!

Papa a la Huancaina

Ingredients: Yellow chiles, known as aji amarillo (4); Cheese (100 grams for 4 portions); Milk (1/4 liter); Eggs (hard-boiled, amount is your preference); Boiled Potatoes (1/2 kilo); Salt (to taste); Olives; Lettuce (for garnish)

1. Wash potatoes. Wash the chili. Remove seeds

2. Slice the chili to blend in a blender or use a stone grinder (If you use a stone grinder, the sauce will not be completely smooth)

3. Cook the chile for 30 minutes over strong heat until it boils and continue boiling at medium heat for the remainder of time

4. Let the chile cool

Preparation:

1. Use a stone and grinder to grind down the cheese (or use a blender for smoothness)

2. Stir the cheese into the milk

3. Combine the cooled chile with the cheese-milk mixture and mix well (or use blender, depending on your preference for smoothness)

4. Add salt to taste

5. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and sliced boiled eggs

6. Garnish with sliced olives and lettuce

Anyway, I hear many of you shout out “what has all this got to do with food and African cuisine?” Ok, ok, enough of my Azzurri ramblings.  So, seeing as the World Cup final will be taking place this coming Sunday, I felt it was crucial that we put up a post on Zomppa with a quintessentially African dish.

I have the great pleasure and honor of having a wonderful friend here in Northern Ireland who is half-Italian, half-Ethiopian/Eritrean and she cooks the most divine Zighini (also known as Wot).  I have known Veronica for like 20 years, and her Zighini on Injera bread is one of my most favorite dishes on the planet.  She loves making this dish, and all that love sure does come out in the flavor.  Beats any restaurant version I have ever tried.

I was over at Veronica’s place the other night to feast as we watched one of the World Cup matches.  She went all the way and prepared all the special trimmings. For those of you not familiar with this dish, Zighini stew is served on top of the injera along with various trimmings like Shiro (a chick pea sauce), salad, and many other bits and bobs.  Oh, and you eat it with your hands! It’s certainly finger-licking good food!

Injera Bread

• 1 espresso sized cup to measure the teff flour
• 1-3 espresso sizes cups of sorgo (another ethiopian flour)
• 500gms of flour
• Mix in two sachets of yeast
• Mix in luke-warm water until it reaches a smooth consistency like a mix for crepes
• Leave it to ferment for 3-4 days in the fridge
• The mixture is the cooked like a crepe

Zighini

• Finely chop two large onions
• Fry onions in a butter milk based butter (if possible) and a mix of oil
• Place 4 Tbsps of berbere in the golden fried onion
• Add a glass of water till it evaporates, and repeat this three times
• Add a can of sieved tomato, a little water, and bring to the boil
• Add two pounds of lamb/ beef(cut into small pieces) or you can also use chicken or fish.
• Cook for 45 minutes

As a first for Zomppa, I thought I would also film proceedings with my new toy, the iPhone 4! So, check us out on ZomppaTV Youtube!!! We will definitely develop our filming skills as we go forward so keep an eye out. Oh and thank you, thank you Veronica for the fantastic meal!

…in any case, as part of this goal, I have been learning as much as I can to help raise awareness of healthy eating, especially among young children. About two months ago, I spent a couple days in gorgeous, hot Charleston, South Carolina.  I was blown away by the grandeur of the majestic homes there and intrigued by all the little hidden gardens behind iron gates.

I was there for a workshop to become a Certified Food Educator through the Food Studies Institute, an innovative organization started in 1999 by the amazing and legendary Dr. Antonia Demas. Dr. Demas is a visionary gentlewoman who is not afraid to challenge, question, and educate. She realized when she was a young mother that her children weren’t always getting real food in schools.

So she decided to bring real – and whole – foods back to schools and homes. She went to get her PhD and worked with T. Colin Campbell of The China Study. She then developed a brilliant curriculum – Food is Elementary – about nutrition, healthy eating, and cultures around the world (sound like Zomppa? It’s like finding family!) It is a vegetarian-based curriculum utilizing tons of grains and whole wheats and fruits and vegetables. I was beyond impressed by some of amazing dishes we learned to make.

This workshop was hosted by Field to Plate, a food education company started by the incredible and committed Amanda Archibald. The workshop was held in an amazing beach house on Folly Beach, 15 minutes from downtown Charleston. There, I met some amazing women from all over the U.S. from all walks of life. What we share is the passion for good, healthy food and for a way to raise awareness in others how and why this issue is critical. For example, one dynamo, Tina Ruggiero, also known as the Gourmet Nutritionist, is coming out with a healthy baby food cookbook later this year (more to come!).

One particular dish Dr. Demas taught us was this amazing flourless fruit tart – so easy! Instead of flour, we used nuts, dates, dried fruit, cinnamon and vanilla as the base. Water binds it. Coconut flakes add flavor. Then you top it off with all the fruit you want. Voila! No flour, no baking, just for good-for-you-goodness.

Of course, the week was not all just us cooking – we had to explore Charleston and all its amazing restaurants, such as Slightly North of Broad with its ridiculous shrimp and grits. These grits were no joke.

Charleston is the perfect food town, perfect for folks like me to chew over how to best raise awareness that food is something we cannot take lightly, especially with our children. Workshops like this and people like Dr. Antonia Demas and Amanda Archibald all help towards this goal.

And contemplating how to do this on the beach is not a bad place to be.

World leaders have descended upon Toronto, to discuss important world issues – economic recovery, fiscal responsibility, deficits, and global poverty. Many took to the streets to showcase and stand in solidarity with people all around the world on diverse issues. But all I see on TV are burned police cars, police arrests of demonstrators, boarded shops, and damaged properties. The violence and riots have surely made a point; the media coverage is focused on the riots than discuss issues such as poverty, hunger and rights.

What is the G20? The G20 established in 1999 is the forum that brings together the industrialized 8 nations with emerging economic powers. I believe that such meetings of heads of states are integral to creating a world where there is more cooperation and discussion. With that being said, what does this summit held in Toronto from June 26-27 2010 means to the 1.02 billion people in the world who are undernourished and following the recent international economic downturn the additional 100 million who go hungry. The last summit that took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 24-25, 2009 recognized a need for a concerted effort of global institutions, local governments and private partners for a food security initiative. http://www.pittsburghsummit.gov/resources/129662.htm

The final communiqué of G20 Summit in Toronto today declared the launch of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) which will provide financing to low income countries to increase rural productivity, build sustainable agricultural systems. It furthers stresses on the need for more R&D to close agricultural productivity gaps.
http://g20.gc.ca/toronto-summit/summit-themes/the-g-20-toronto-summit-declaration/

The role of markets and private sectors in this initiative is deemed critical. I remain hopeful but still with questions – How will this impact traditional farming and crops? How much of “funds” are just pledges and how much will actually trickle down to those in need? How will the role of the private funding/donations dictate agricultural policies?

The tab that we taxpayers will pick up for this summit is a billion dollars +, it would be a tab worth picking up if there is 1 billion people less that goes hungry!

Do you ever wonder how people without enough get their food?

Do you ever wonder if food banks run out of food?

Food banks rely on the goodness and kindness of businesses, volunteers, and supporters. It isn’t easy, but it requires hard work, dedication, and a whole lot of faith that in the end, people will not let their fellow brother/sister go hungry.

On a hot, steamy Wednesday morning, I went to follow one of these incredible volunteers, Ms. Victoria, a retiree who devotes her time driving a 10-food truck, lifting 40-lb. boxes in the NC sun, and making a whole lot of people happy. Ms. Victoria volunteers for one of the largest – and certainly most unique – rescue food missions in North Carolina. The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, started by two incredible women (with a whole lot of faith themselves) who saw a lot of food waste and decided to do something about, is more than a food bank. It’s got programs for kids – stuffing backpacks full of snacks, culinary training programs, and farming/gardening programs.

But without food, there would no programs. Without donor businesses and individuals, there would be no food. Without volunteers, there would be no one to pick up the food or prepare the food. This simple line of logic is a reminder that indeed, like it or not, we are all connected.

So we started loading a truck at 7:30 in the morning, filling it with everything from breads to meats to milk – which is a hard-to-come-by-much-desired commodity.

Then it was off to pick up food from local partners who kindly donate pounds and pounds of food each day. The first stop was Edible Art, a local bakery in Raleigh, NC. In the early morning hours before it opened, the bakery smelled like heaven…and they kept on a table all the delightful cakes and pastries leftover from the day before ready wrapped to go.

Other businesses, including Trader Joe’s, Costco, BJ’s, and a local vending company also generously donated food. The Food Shuttle never knows what kind of food they’ll get – sometimes it’s lots of produce, other times, dry goods. Sometimes, they’ll get several hundred pounds; other times, they get just a bit. On this day, we happened to be blessed with much bread and pastries. Even flowers.

One issue that arises is that oftentimes, businesses fear getting sued if someone gets sick from produce (even though there is a law protecting them from this) so they end up giving a lot more cakes and muffins. While sweet and delicious, there is the issue of giving non-nutritious food. Is it better to give any kind of food or is it a disservice giving the less fortunate sugar-packed, nutrient-less foodstuffs?

In any case, what I’m blown away is how the chefs at the sites that receive this food can whip up a meal for hundreds without knowing the ingredients until the morning of. These are true culinary geniuses. In between food pickups, Ms. Victoria and I drop food off at various sites, including the Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen, which serves over 300 people daily, the Salvation Army, and a men’s homeless shelter at a local church. We unloaded produce, bananas, frozen crabmeat, vegetables, breads with the help of, who else, volunteers at these sites.

Ms. Victoria and I return to the Shuttle, our truck almost empty, the rest going to someone else later that day. We have weighed how much food we received in donations and distributed – over 1,100 pounds.

Not bad for a morning of some muscle, heart, and a bit of faith that hunger can be eradicated.

You have to understand St. Michael’s to fully appreciate the scene. St. Michael’s is a small community located on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay about 20 minutes from Easton, MD. It’s a seasonal community that is pretty hokey during the colder months but during the warmer ones boating and crabs are the main attractions…unless you know about the house at the end of the block on W. Chew Ave. During the warmer months you can usually find the inhabitants of said house out in the garden, sitting on the porch, or dining on the back patio watching the still waters of the inlet just yards away. A new bike path was recently finished across the street and the foot traffic has increased enormously. To most that would probably be a bad thing but not to the inhabitants of the last house on W. Chew Ave. More than a few complete strangers have been invited to pull up a chair and share in some wine or other such beverage with said inhabitants. Now, imagine doing that in DC or New York or even Minneapolis (well…more likely in Minneapolis, but still). More than a few friendships have been born of such invitations. It is to this house that my friends and I arrived on that Sunday afternoon.  The kids settled in exploring all the wonders of the glorious garden my mom has nurtured. They discovered the various toys she had accumulated for her grandchildren over the years and they were off.  There were hula hoops, balls, bubbles, you name it Nonna (a.k.a. my mom) had it!  Meanwhile the grown folk began to unwind and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the surroundings (despite the pitter patter of little feet and the  screaming and laughing of those little munchkins, too).  We  took a walk down to the park along the bike path.  When we returned it was time to get our grub ON!!!

Now, this wasn’t any ole’ ordinary grub…this was a Rib’s n’ Crab FEAST!!  Oh yes….Don’t be jealous that’s just how we do!  Peter gave the novices a crash course on the fine art of eating Chesapeake Bay crabs and we were off!  Accompanying the main dishes were fresh corn on the cob, salad and melted butter for dipping that luscious crab meat. It was all a bit unbelievable, but then again we were at the last house on W. Chew Ave.

BEFORE

AFTER

RECOVERY