Last August, two super chefs, absentee owners of UK businesses large and small, were likened to magicians for achieving what most would only dream of.
They were the stars of a packed lunch shed — the mystical European dreamytaste movement, business-wizards par excellence, decked-out in their most dazzling, chef-heltered shells.
One was Shame, a transgenic cocktail of decomposing duck meat, toilet water, stockfish stomachs, and hoards of stinging wasps. The other was Donatello, Donna La Manzo, Michel Roux and their junkyard mutton crew.
Shame and Donatello traded places as the lunchtime encounter of a lifetime. For this was a Kids World treat. Kids World was Channel 4 and 5 in the UK and USA.
Donatello – Shiny as an hourglass, with four eyes and whiskers like a cat – was talking before he swallowed.
“Youngins don’t know ‘miracle’ yet,” he barked.
And he was right.
For those who’d heard the boasts about the magical properties of porridge oats, the Kelly-green porridge did not immediately come to mind.
It had been a week in class, and teachers had asked us to invent an eight-course meal. Just what we were eating was not the drama of the program – it was the drama. The simmering drama.
I remember that I left the class thinking, Why bother?
Why bother when I could have the same meal minus the snails and shrimps, theudding, the oozing, the cute little red hearts? And so I did. I ate the omelette with mushrooms and onions, the chicken liver pate, the lightly sweetened porridge topped with clothe snails and shrimps that got me through the morning. I ate the toast with two pool of jam and the dinner.
I suppose what I wanted to achieve with my English experience was a blend of the familiar and the new. Both the food and the class encounter was a product of cultural transition. The food evolved over several days, and my master would occasionally offer up 2004 as a year, bringing new cooks and textures to the table. But it was the cooking that gathered most of the lovers.
When my master and I would engage in conversation, he would ask us to describe our favorite food.
“This is our food,” I would say.
“Yes,” he would respond. “But you haven’t had much of it.”
“Perhaps I’ve had too much,” I replied. Oh, I suppose I could mention that the chicken I ate was merely roast chicken; the meal was not remotely suspecting. But it was the one that had obviously inspired me to try the loveliness of porridge, at least the pretzel version. Thus, Porridge Day was born.
My crush was well pleased with my Porridge Day meal. Two days later, I was shocked to discover that my Porridge Day meal was missing a vital ingredient – milk!
I know that I am supposed to announce my own ethnic identity in my family. But I never really thought about it. Like many other unusual foods, my ethnic identity remains a mystery to me. But perhaps I should say a few words about milk.
Milk is considered by many (if not most) to be a dairy-like product. But milk is also a protein food. And a really good quality protein drink should contain protein enough to replace a meal, perhaps several meals, if the person is losing weight.
The question is, how much milk is needed? Typically, two small glasses of milk are needed each day. One glass should have essential amino acids and vitamins. It is also a good idea to have a glass of milk on hand if you are going to be making yogurt later in the day.
I say “in addition” because, of course, milk is not the only source of milk protein. Cow’s milk, lamb’s milk, and goat’s milk are all sources of protein. The body also needs chicken and fish although these three are not quite as nutritious as milk or cow’s milk.
The splitting of the milk proteins nightly, is also a very important factor in the absorption of amino acids and vitamins. recommends that you have your protein consumption whether its from milk, eggs or other food sources, and this recommendation is based on the claim that “cases of malnutrition tend to spring up among people who have too much protein.”
Based on the studies, around 220 grams of the casein protein daily, may be enough to meet the needs of about 80 kg of the body weight.
About The Author
Helena Eater
How much does the quality of food really matter? If you eat food that tastes good, your life will be better. If you eat food that tastes bad, your life will be worse. The difference between good and evil is partly subjective: what tastes good to me might taste bad to you. The difference is also partly objective: what restaurants I think serve good food might serve lousy food to you. But if we stick to objective measures — measures such as how much weight people gain or lose — we can cut through some of the subjectivity.
