new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[RoyalChick]

Meh. I cook. and recently damaged the cure on my wok.

Oh that is a pain - I assume you will redo it?
Thanks again for the help - I am feeling more confident and can also rationalize oils in my kitchen and ditch most of them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Oh that is a pain - I assume you will redo it?
Thanks again for the help - I am feeling more confident and can also rationalize oils in my kitchen and ditch most of them.

Oh yes, I'l redo it. I had this glorious blue/purple/green sheen - it was worthy of being called jewelry.

FWIW, we keep Safflower, Light Olive Oil, and EVOO on hand. Nothing else.

 

[RoyalChick]

Oh yes, I'l redo it. I had this glorious blue/purple/green sheen - it was worthy of being called jewelry.

FWIW, we keep Safflower, Light Olive Oil, and EVOO on hand. Nothing else.

It really is beautiful - just like my black chickens in the sunshine!

I am thinking I can reduce to safflower/avocado (whichever I can find), EVOO, and toasted sesame seed oil (I use a drizzle for added flavor sometimes).

A couple of pictures of my well seasoned wok-chickens!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Oh yeah, toasted seasme. We have that too - but only for a few dishes.

Which... is a great dinner idea. Some seared tuna, thin slived veg, a bit of short grain rce, and a nice dipping sauce w/ toasted sesame oil, soy, and mirin. TY. Going shopping shortly!

 

[NatJ]

The feed industry does not exist to first benefit the health of the animal over a healthy bottom line.

True enough, but at least for livestock the "bottom line" will suffer if the animal dies or is too unhealthy to produce whatever the person wants to sell. So the feed industry does care about animal health up to the point where healthier animals are more productive and thus make more money. That makes purchased food a middle ground between something so bad the animal dies or becomes unproductive (which happens with the worst of home-made feeds) and something enough better that the animal lives, is healthy, and has a long lifespan (which happens with the best of home-made feeds.)

I tend to trust livestock feed a bit more than I trust feed for pets (like dogs and cats) or feed for humans: no-one cares if the dog or person is "productive," so they don't even have that low bar to meet.

 

[Perris]

I need to buy oil for cooking. Mostly I have Extra Virgin Olive Oil but I have started using a wok and that gets to much higher temperatures and I believe my olive oil isn’t good for that (something about breaking down in high heat).
I have been reading about different oils and am bewildered!
Avocado oil seems to have the fewest bad effects apart from to the health of your wallet.
Has anyone seen any science based review that would help me make an intelligent choice?
Failing that, some recommendations with rationale.
Perris - hope you don’t mind me asking this here.

No I don't mind at all; I hope you get some interesting and useful answers.

 

[Sally PB]

highly refined (extra light) olive oil.

I recently read that olive oil is another "often faked" food, like honey. Do you have a brand you recommend?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I recently read that olive oil is another "often faked" food, like honey. Do you have a brand you recommend?

Yes olive oil is routinely faked. Having said that, the way that olive oil is routinely faked is cheap(er) Spanish olive oil being substituted for more expensive Italian olive oil. For olive oil not from the continent at all. Decent olive oil coming out of california, which once again is frequently substituted with cheaper olive oil from elsewhere in the americas. Having said that, the olive oil you want for frying has had all of its character removed, because the components that give an olive oil its character, that separates the flavor of California from that of south america, or Italy from Spain, are the ones that are removed in the process of making extra light olive oil because they are the things that smoke at lower temperatures. It is claimed that the Italian mafia is responsible for counterfeiting between 35 and 50% of the Italian crop each year. So yes, if you buy grocery store olive oil, there is half decent chance that it's not from the location indicated on the label. But since you aren't buying extra light olive oil for its flavor, that's much less of a concern. I usually use pompeian or Bertolli, both are Blended oils from who knows where. I have planted my own Spanish olive trees, are the queen aquabina, for eventually making my own First Press, cold process EVOO. In the interim I use California Olive Ranch something or other for my EVOO, but you have to read the label carefully, it is not always from solely California as it was a few years ago - the brand name is no longer "a descriptor", its simply a name.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You should also be aware that I'm not a snob about my olive oils because I don't use it for making dressing, the particular character of a given EVO is not real important to me . And while Spanish olive oil is definitely cheaper than Italian olive oil, it is at least as good as California olive oil, and better than most of the rest of the world.

Arquebina are like Dual purpose hens. Good for eating, good for brining, good for making oil. But not great at any of those things.

 

[Perris]

another couple of relevant pieces here, focussed on modern paranoia about microbes, our food industry approach to hygiene regulations, and the excessive and often unnecessary emotional as well as economic burden the latter places on small producers.

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/ne...about-contamination-is-threatening-local-food
https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/news-views/preserving-the-practices-of-traditional-foods