Jonesing

Four days of veganism and things are going fine.  At the very least, wracking my brains for meal ideas has made me more conscious about what I eat.  I have to actually consider the entire contents of my fridge and think about what might sate me, whereas before I'd just grab the nearest block of cheese and build a meal around that because I knew that it would sate me.

I don't want to use fake cheese and meat products to fool myself that nothing's changed but I still have cravings for many of their taste constituencies, namely mouth feel and umami.  The two sort of go hand in hand in that glutamates stimulate our umami receptors which registers a savory, full taste in our brains.  These glutamates can be created when proteins break down through aging and fermentation.  Thus, aged cheeses, cured meats and fish sauce are excellent for satisfying umami cravings.

The Hunt
Since all three are off my current food list, I have to find my fix elsewhere.  Here's a fun source: Sauerkraut!  The basic idea is to take some shredded cabbage with some salt and put it in an oxygen-free environment for a few days so it can undergo lacto fermentation.  The preserving process makes it sour and umami-licious (a term that will henceforth never be used in this blog).

I actually have a big 8-gallon ceramic water-sealed fermenting pot which works great but it's hard for one person to eat gallons of sauerkraut.  I had this idea to use beer brewing air-locks with 1-quart Ball jars for smaller batches.  Sure enough, people on the web have already done this.  You can be up and running for under 20 bucks and it works like a charm - pickles, kraut, kimchi, etc.

This is the easiest way to get into DIY/homesteading/preserving.  Set it and forget it.  I highly recommend it.  My current favorite is sauerkraut with mustard seeds.

The Chinese Deliver
Asians know how to find their glutamates.  Fish sauce and dashi are classic sources as are many preserved soy products.  One of my favorites is preserved chili soy bean paste.  Small blocks are brined in glass jars.  It has the texture of smooth mascarpone but tastes like salty, aged gym socks.

But it's delicious on rice or added to a braise.  Today I had a sauteed vegetable and lentil wrap and where I would have put cheese and mayo, I put in a streak of bean paste on the tortilla and it was spectacular.  Suffice it to say, a little goes a long way.

Another product that I've been reading more and more about is mushroom powder.

It consists of mushroom extracts and salt and is used in place of MSG.  Mushrooms have a lot of glutamic acid so it's basically the same thing except it has a mushroomy flavor.  So while most vegetable stocks are pallid substitutes for chicken stock, vegetable stock with mushroom powder is a formidable player.  Soups, stews, popcorn, risotto, etc.

Only Temporary

Yes, it seems like vegan folly to compare salted cabbage to a slice of Parmesan Reggiano, but keep in mind, this is just a one-month experiment to broaden my palate.  Not shut off parts completely.  Look out, Prosciutto di Parma.  I'll be back.

A Philosophical Question

Is a pizza without cheese still a pizza?

A Month of Gustatory Austerity - Not an April Fool's Joke

A year and a half ago, or so, I made an informal pledge to not bring non-aquatic meat in my house.  It was not an easy choice as I love to eat and cook meat, but the reasons were too overwhelming: ecological, dietary, ethical, food costs, pigs are cute, etc.  But I'm also a hypocrite, since I will eat meat at restaurants or friends' houses.

Initially, I felt healthier and smugger as I lost a bit of weight.  But that trend sort of plateaued and reversed itself as I made excuses to eat out at pork dumpling restaurants and taquerias and developed a habit of adding molten chunks of cheese to everything I cook.  Combine that with a steady stream of booze and an aging metabolism and suddenly I'm back up to here:

This puts my Body Mass Index (BMI) at 27.2, i.e., "overweight."  In order to be of "normal weight," I should be around 15 pounds lighter, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The problem is that I don't really think about what I put in my mouth.  When I make a meal, I instinctively go for hearty things like pastas and stews and greasy fried things accompanied by fistfuls of cheese and glasses of wine.  Salads never even cross my mind.

I need to break the habit.

According to self-help lore, habits can be broken in around 30 days, so that's what I'm going to try: train my body to crave healthier foods.  Here are the rules:

• this applies only for the month of April
• a completely vegan diet
• nothing deep fried
• no added sugar
• no booze
• no sugar substitutes (I'm talking to you, Crystal Light)
• no meat analogs (texurized vegetable protein, faux ground meats, etc.)
• no fake cheese (easily done since they all suck)
• no fast food, vegan or not

I'm not expecting miracles, but we'll see what happens.  This past weekend, I tried to prime my body to make it ready for a healthy change.  This process consisted of eating four pizzas, cooking a fantastic grass-fed filet mignon that had been sitting in my freezer for two years (and thus grandfathered past my no-meat pledge) and downing a few bottles of wine.  My liver wasn't happy, but the rest of me enjoyed it.

Next, I'll talk cooking strategies.