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Stupid, Stupid, Stupid
Apr. 5th, 2011 02:13 pmI can't say I'm a fan of, "The Daily Meal"* It sells itself as "All things food and drink" which is a pretty large claim to start with, but that's not the killer. The killer is that it's USAToday for people who are interested in food. The recent 101 Best US Restaurants List did at least admit that all such lists are flawed, and really this isn't "the best" but what "The editors like", and those editors/panelists do cut a pretty broad swathe through US eateries.
But the rest of the place is cluttered with claptap, or overly simple comment (no, a poolish is not why your loaves have an open crumb, that's a function of how wet the dough you make from it is, and how you treat it), which leads to people believing strange things; and so limiting themselves in the kitchen.
"What's good at Trader Joe's" is just as confused. It's a recap of a blog, so two people (whom I have no way to know the tastes of) are set up a arbiters of "What's good". From the quick list, I don't think we agree in most things. Which would be fine, if the place for, "all things food and drink" weren't declaiming this was, in some way, "True", rather than two people with a passion.
Or, (and this is the sort of stuff which inspired this rant) it's full of cant about diet. From the guy mocking veganism, to the "five foods to boost your metabolism (number 1, Turmeric, number 2, hot peppers, "The capsaicin in chiles is what makes food spicy; so it's safe to say that if it makes you sweat, it's increasing your metabolism.... no).
And this one, "The 10 Most Pointless Salad Ingredients I'd say the headline had five too many words, and the story could really be summed up as Pointless.
I've got my prejudices. I don't like mango (it's not just untasty, I find it revolting, the way some people react to cilantro), I think avocado is yucky. There are things I think (usually) don't belong in salad, e.g. dried cranberries, or banana chips.
So took a look. Number 1: Cucumbers. That was where I knew the list was going to be problematic. It wasn't, actually, a list about salads; as salads, but as vehicles for "eating healthy". Worse, the foods the author said were pointless, had other foods offered as equivalents.
Not very rich in vitamins or even fiber, cucumbers are a throwaway salad ingredient, but you can keep them around for helping puffy eyes. For that satisfying crunch, add chopped raw zucchini
No. 2: Croutons. Which is where we went from fail, to epic fail. A half cup adds 100 calories, and can be replaced with silvered almonds or chopped walnuts.
Zucchini doesn't have the same level of "crisp" as cucumbers. They are also "cool" in the mouth, in a way zucchini isn't. If you leave the seeds in there is also a slight tang.
Silvered almonds run at 674 calories the cup, and walnuts come in at 765 calories per cup.
So they don't taste/behave the same, and they have more calories (same is true for the cuke/zucc pair, though not by anywhere near as much).
It's not so much the banality of the piece. There are lots of places which purport to tell me how to make healthier salads. No, it's the stupidity of it, and the stupidity they assume the reader to have.
Beets don't taste like corn, neither does broccoli taste/feel like green beans (cheese /= avocado). This could have been a tolerable example of the, "all food must be good for you" school (I don't hold with that school, but it's not wrong, per se; even though it does walk the line toward gluttony). This isn't that. This is something else.
Because really, did they think salad isn't something one eats for the flavor? If it's just a case of putting the right fuel in the body, there's no need to make it into anything. Salads are expressions of enjoyment. I'll use beets, or avocado, or brussels sprouts, or almonds or croutons, spinach, arugula, iceberg, bibb, etc. as it suits the dish.
Food isn't formula, and this is formula.
*Their catchpa is not helping them either. If one doesn't wish to regsiter, one must watch an ad, and then answer a question about the ad/product, to make the comment. Not good, pretty much guaranteed to limit my reading, because I don't want to participate.
But the rest of the place is cluttered with claptap, or overly simple comment (no, a poolish is not why your loaves have an open crumb, that's a function of how wet the dough you make from it is, and how you treat it), which leads to people believing strange things; and so limiting themselves in the kitchen.
"What's good at Trader Joe's" is just as confused. It's a recap of a blog, so two people (whom I have no way to know the tastes of) are set up a arbiters of "What's good". From the quick list, I don't think we agree in most things. Which would be fine, if the place for, "all things food and drink" weren't declaiming this was, in some way, "True", rather than two people with a passion.
Or, (and this is the sort of stuff which inspired this rant) it's full of cant about diet. From the guy mocking veganism, to the "five foods to boost your metabolism (number 1, Turmeric, number 2, hot peppers, "The capsaicin in chiles is what makes food spicy; so it's safe to say that if it makes you sweat, it's increasing your metabolism.... no).
And this one, "The 10 Most Pointless Salad Ingredients I'd say the headline had five too many words, and the story could really be summed up as Pointless.
I've got my prejudices. I don't like mango (it's not just untasty, I find it revolting, the way some people react to cilantro), I think avocado is yucky. There are things I think (usually) don't belong in salad, e.g. dried cranberries, or banana chips.
So took a look. Number 1: Cucumbers. That was where I knew the list was going to be problematic. It wasn't, actually, a list about salads; as salads, but as vehicles for "eating healthy". Worse, the foods the author said were pointless, had other foods offered as equivalents.
Not very rich in vitamins or even fiber, cucumbers are a throwaway salad ingredient, but you can keep them around for helping puffy eyes. For that satisfying crunch, add chopped raw zucchini
No. 2: Croutons. Which is where we went from fail, to epic fail. A half cup adds 100 calories, and can be replaced with silvered almonds or chopped walnuts.
Zucchini doesn't have the same level of "crisp" as cucumbers. They are also "cool" in the mouth, in a way zucchini isn't. If you leave the seeds in there is also a slight tang.
Silvered almonds run at 674 calories the cup, and walnuts come in at 765 calories per cup.
So they don't taste/behave the same, and they have more calories (same is true for the cuke/zucc pair, though not by anywhere near as much).
It's not so much the banality of the piece. There are lots of places which purport to tell me how to make healthier salads. No, it's the stupidity of it, and the stupidity they assume the reader to have.
Beets don't taste like corn, neither does broccoli taste/feel like green beans (cheese /= avocado). This could have been a tolerable example of the, "all food must be good for you" school (I don't hold with that school, but it's not wrong, per se; even though it does walk the line toward gluttony). This isn't that. This is something else.
Because really, did they think salad isn't something one eats for the flavor? If it's just a case of putting the right fuel in the body, there's no need to make it into anything. Salads are expressions of enjoyment. I'll use beets, or avocado, or brussels sprouts, or almonds or croutons, spinach, arugula, iceberg, bibb, etc. as it suits the dish.
Food isn't formula, and this is formula.
*Their catchpa is not helping them either. If one doesn't wish to regsiter, one must watch an ad, and then answer a question about the ad/product, to make the comment. Not good, pretty much guaranteed to limit my reading, because I don't want to participate.
