‘It’s the Best Job! But It Will Kill You’: Four Restaurant Critics on the Battle to Stay Healthy

THE GUARDIAN: Last week, the New York Times’s restaurant critic left his job after a worrying medical checkup. How do others keep going?

After 12 years as the New York Times’ restaurant critic, Pete Wells announced last week that he was leaving the role due to ill health – largely a side-effect of dining out decadently on a regular basis. “My cholesterol, blood sugar and hypertension were worse than I’d expected even in my doomiest moments,” he wrote after a medical checkup. “The terms pre-diabetes, fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome were thrown around.” He had become obese, he says, and knew something needed to change.

With this in mind, we asked four leading restaurant critics how they mitigate the health risks posed by working in what is often deemed “the best job in the world”. » | Grace Dent, Chitra Ramaswamy, Fay Maschler and Leonie Cooper | Tuesday, July 23, 2024

The French Paradox: How Rich Food and Wine Could Help You Stay Healthy | 60 Minutes Australia

How's this for a diet; fat? Okay. Red meat; not a problem. Cheese and cakes; you can eat them to your heart's content. And it gets even better. Fancy a glass or two of wine to wash it down? Go ahead, it's good for you. It's fun and it works - in fact, it's why French women don't get fat. Of course, this dream diet has been around for centuries. It's known as the French Paradox and it defies all logic. How come they thrive on all that rich food and wine AND have lower rates of obesity and heart disease than we do. Well, being French, you can bet style has something to do with it.

This is no surprise. We have known about the French paradox for years. But this is a very good and informative short documentary on the pleasures of life in France and the health benefits from the French way of life and ways of eating and drinking. These are pleasures that we in the Anglosphere are increasingly denied; and when one defies the zeitgeist and indulges in such pleasures, there are plenty of boring and often ignorant people around, killjoys who think they know it all, who try and send one on a guilt trip for the indulgences. Fie on them all!

Little wonder that the vocabulary items and expressions used in English to describe these pleasures are borrowed from the French language. Expressions such as savoir vivre and joie de vivre come immediately to mind. Of course there are others.

These expressions can be translated into English; but when translated, they become rather meaningless.

France is a wonderful country and the French are a wonderful people; further, the French know how to live life to the fullest. They could teach us Brits, Americans and Australians a thing or two about how we should live. To use my own recent quote–Nowadays, people recognise the dangers in everything, but recognise the pleasures in nothing.–sums up attitudes to life in the Anglosphere. Now, in order to know how to live, we must look to France and the French.

Vive la belle France ! – © Mark Alexander

EU to Ban Olive Oil Jugs from Restaurants
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The European Union is to ban olive oil jugs and dipping bowls from restaurant tables in a move described by one of Britain's top cooks as authoritarian and damaging to artisanal food makers.

The small glass jugs filled with green or gold coloured extra virgin olive oil are familiar and traditional for restaurant goers across Europe but they will be banned from 1 January 2014 after a decision taken in an obscure Brussels committee earlier this week.

From next year olive oil "presented at a restaurant table" must be in pre-packaged, factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labelling in line with EU industrial standards.

The use of classic, refillable glass jugs or glazed terracotta dipping bowls and the choice of a restaurateur to buy olive oil from a small artisan producer or family business will be outlawed. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Friday, May 17, 2013

Food Chain At Risk of Being Poisoned by Terrorist Groups

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Food and drink sold in Britain is under a growing threat from terrorist groups which might try to poison supplies, the Government’s security advisers have warned.

Manufacturers and retailers have been told that their sector is vulnerable to attacks by ideologically and politically motivated groups that may seek to cause widespread casualties and disruption by poisoning food supplies.

The warning from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure [CPNI], which operates as part of the Security Service, comes as experts warned the deadly E.coli outbreak in Germany has highlighted the vulnerability of the food chain and how quickly bacteria can spread.

The highly virulent strain has claimed 18 lives and left more than 1,800 seriously ill, with the true number of cases expected to be far higher.

A senior German doctor last night called for an investigation into the possibility that the bacteria had been spread deliberately.

Klaus-Dieter Zastrow, chief doctor for hygiene at Berlin’s Vivantes hospital, said: “It’s quite possible that there’s a crazy person out there who thinks 'I’ll kill a few people or give 10,000 people diarrhoea’. It’s a negligent mistake not to investigate in that direction.” » | Richard Gray, Science Correspondent | Saturday, June 04, 2011

Canada Pushes for Healthy Street Food
Vancouver has become the first North America city to impose strict healthy food regulations for potential street vendors. In its attempt to cut down on unhealthy street food, the Canadian government is trying to lessen the number of carts selling foods that are high in sodium, fats or sugars.
But public opinion about the move remains divided.
Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports from Vancouver

Singapore Bans Japanese Food
Mar 24 - Singapore becomes the latest country to ban food imports from certain regions in Japan. Arnold Gay reports

Radiation Fears Over Japanese Food
Radiation is still leaking from the Fukushima nuclear site in Japan and spreading to other areas.
 In Tokyo, the capital, radiation levels are now reportedly 10 times higher than on Monday.
The World Health Organisation has urged authorities to stop the sale of any contaminated food. Andrew Thomas reports from Tanohata village in northern Japan

Germany Closes 4,700 Farms in Dioxin Scare
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany shut down more than 4,700 farms and related businesses late on Thursday after tests showed animal feed had been contaminated by a cancer-causing chemical.

"4,709 farms and businesses are currently closed," including 4,468 in the state of Lower Saxony, northwest Germany, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The farms will be closed until they are found to be clear of contamination by dioxin, a toxic chemical compound that can cause cancer, and will not be allowed to make any deliveries, the ministry added. >>> | Friday, January 07, 2011

Verbunden >>>

THE GUARDIAN: German contaminated egg scare spreads to British supermarkets: Food agency confirms liquid egg containing illegal levels of dioxins has been used in cakes and quiches sold in UK >>> Kate Connolly in Berlin and Matthew Weaver | Friday, January 07, 2011

Tarte tatin. Photo: Google Images
France, the Gourmet Nation, Is Too Worried about Food to Enjoy It
THE TIMES: It is a source of ancestral pride, a cornerstone of the national identity and a treasure so highly prized that President Sarkozy wants Unesco to place it on a World Heritage list.

But Gallic gastronomy is facing a threat that could remove all of the fun from mealtimes in France, according to the French National Food Council, which advises the Government on food policy.

The threat comes not from Anglo-Saxon fast-food outlets or industrial farms elsewhere in Europe. Instead, says a report published by the council last week, it comes from France’s own bureaucrats, who are bombarding their compatriots with messages designed to counter obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease and other ailments purportedly linked to eating habits.

There is little evidence to suggest that the campaigns are making France healthier. But they are producing the almost unthinkable consequence of putting French diners off their food, the council says.

“They are turning eating into a stressful experience and there is a risk that they will end the pleasure and conviviality that has always been an essential component of French gastronomy,” Alain Blogowski, interministerial secretary at the Food Council, told The Times.

He said that the French were becoming more concerned with fatty acids than with the flavour of their blanquette de veau or their tarte tatin. “We’ve got to get away from the idea that if you eat, you’re likely to fall ill.” Read on and comment >>> Adam Sage, Paris | Monday, June 21, 2010

NY Chef Shows Creative Cooking With Spices

Hummus Recipe From Dede's Mediterranean Kitchen

’Tis the Season!
For the first time since 1990, Delia returns to television screens at Christmas time to unveil a celebration feast packed with indulgent, scrumptious recipes.

Delia is a firm believer that the festive period of cooking and feasting should be cherished, not feared. In a season which can be fraught with panic, Delia is here to allay cooks' worries. She steers through the minefield of timings and planning in the hectic weeks before Christmas Day; the key, of course, being to prepare as much as possible in advance.

Delia treats viewers with Christmas classics, from gloriously fragrant home-made mincemeat and traditional Christmas pudding to a glossily bronzed turkey with all the trimmings. She spoils the hungry with a delicious chocolate and sour cherry crumble, her best cranberry and orange relish, and delectable scallops in the shell. Diners will ascend to culinary heaven with her fillet of beef with wild mushroom and red wine sauce, and roasted bacon with blackened crackling, and there's a twinkly delight as Delia indulges dessert lovers with a gorgeous panettone trifle.

Delia's Classic Christmas is a sumptuous celebration of Christmas cooking crammed with Delia's best Christmas recipes, practical tips and step-by-step guides to enjoying the preparations. |Source: BBC]

Watch* Delia’s Classic Christmas >>> | Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Duration: 60 minutes

*Unfortunately, it will be possible to watch this BBC cookery programme only if you are in the United Kingdom.

Afghanistan: No Sex, No Food!
Afghan cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Asef Mohseni claimed the law he devised did not condone marital rape. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
MAILOnline: A new Afghan law that has drawn Western condemnation for restricting women's rights does not allow marital rape as its critics claim, but lets men refuse to feed wives who deny them sex, the cleric behind it says.

Ayatollah Mohammed Asef Mohseni's Shi'ite personal status law sparked controversy abroad because of a provision that 'a wife is obliged to fulfil the sexual desires of her husband'.

This was read by some as an open door to marital rape, and together with clauses restricting women's freedom of movement denounced as reminiscent of harsh Taliban-era rules.

The law has been criticised by Western leaders with troops fighting in Afghanistan, including U.S. President Barack Obama, who called it 'abhorrent'.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who signed the law last month, has since put it under review.

But Mohseni said the law - which only applies to the 15 percent of Afghans who are Shi'a muslims - has been misinterpreted by critics.

Its sexual clauses aimed only to ensure men's sexual needs were met within marriage, because Islam prohibited them seeking satisfaction with other women.

'Why should a man and woman get married if there is no need for a sexual relationship? Then they are like brother and sister,' he told Reuters in an interview in his recently built central Kabul mosque and university complex.

'A man and wife can negotiate how often it is reasonable to sleep together, based on his sex drive, and a woman has a right to refuse if she has a good reason,' said the bearded cleric.

'It should not be compulsory for the wife to say yes all the time, because some men have more sexual desires than others,' he said, adding that husbands should never force themselves on their wives and the law does not sanction that.

But women do have a duty to meet their husband's needs.

'If a woman says no, the man has the right not to feed her,' Mohseni said. New Afghan Law Does Not Allow Marital Rape... But Lets Men Refuse to Feed Wives Who Deny Them Sex, Says Cleric >>> By Mail Foreign Service | Friday, April 17, 2009

The Shrinking World of Food

Photo of the Ayme family of Tingo, Ecuador courtesy of TIME

TIME: Originally the food of emperors, the cuisine known as kaiseki is the pinnacle of Japanese eating—and few restaurants serve a more refined menu than Kikunoi, in the former imperial capital of Kyoto. The experience begins before a single plate is served, with the setting: a tatami-mat room, bare save for the tokonoma, the alcove in the corner that displays a single scroll of calligraphy and a seasonally appropriate flower, today a lily. Then the food begins to flow, course after course of carefully trimmed portions, delivered by a kimono-clad server: a single piece of sea-bream sushi wrapped in bamboo leaf, a tiny grilled ayu fish with water-pepper vinegar, fried prawns and bamboo shoots with an egg-yolk-and-cream sauce. Kaiseki dining is the product of centuries of cultural evolution, but though Kikunoi is high-end—as the bill will indicate—its cuisine is meant to be a grand elaboration of the basic Japanese home meal: rice, fish, pickles, vegetables and miso soup, artfully presented in small, healthy portions.

"I believe that Japanese cuisine is something embedded in Japanese people's DNA," says Kikunoi's owner, Yoshihiro Murata. That may be true, but it's a legacy under assault, increasingly crowded out by fast, convenient, Westernized food. These days, Murata says sadly, his college-age daughter doesn't see much difference between cheap restaurant food and the haute cuisine he makes. "I think that in Japan, people should eat good Japanese food," he says. "But they are far away from it."

Japan is not alone. Food and diet are the cornerstones of any culture, one of the most reliable symbols of national identity. Think of the long Spanish lunch followed by the afternoon siesta, a rhythm of food and rest perfectly suited to the blistering heat of the Iberian peninsula in summer. Think of the Chinese meal of rice, vegetables and (only recently) meat, usually served in big collective dishes, the better for extended clans to dine together. National diets come to incorporate all aspects of who we are: our religious taboos, class structure, geography, economy, even government. When we eat together, "we are ordering the world around us and defining the community most important to us," says Martin Jones, a bioarchaeologist at Cambridge University and author of the new book Feast: Why Humans Share Food.

Even the traditions we learn from others we adopt and adapt in ways that make them our own. Japan received chopsticks from China and tempura from Portugal. Tomatoes, that staple of pasta and pizza, arrived in Southern Europe only as part of the Columbian Exchange (so-called because of Christopher Columbus' journeys to the New World, where tomatoes originated). "A lot of what we think of as deeply rooted cultural traditions are really traceable back to global exchange," says Miriam Chaiken, a nutritional anthropologist at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. How the World Eats (more) By Bryan Walsh

Mark Alexander