A lot of folks nowadays are getting health conscious and dissatisfied with the standard Western diet. They generally disagree on what is really healthy and often will simply exclude certain food categories. For instance, vegans won't eat animal products, while paleo supporters will severely limit or eliminate grains and sugar etc.
What I have noticed while studying traditional diets, is that people in these cultures cook more than we do and eat less of "cold meals" such as sandwiches. Even in Southern (and Eastern Europe) they will often eat at least two (if not three) hot meals a day.Strangely, there isn't much info on the internet about warm vs cold foods, however, I did read somewhere that warm breakfast improves fertility and also that hot food is more easily digested, boosts metabolism, helps fight allergies and improves health. (Source).
So today I decided to make soup for lunch and tried Hungarian mushroom soup which turned out great. The instructions are very clear. I did some small adjustments as I used several types of flour instead of just white flour.
It's my opinion that he also omitted a couple of small details, as you'll have to bring the soup to cooking point after adding the chicken stock, and then you turn the heat down and let it simmer. My other suggestion is to bind the milk or cream by bringing your soup to the boil for the second time and add sour cream to individual portions. This way you can re-heat it next day and serve again.
I find that whether one wants a warmer or cooler meal is partly dependent upon one's internal temperature; if I feel cool when I awaken I'm more likely to want a hot coffee and oatmeal or bacon and eggs; if I'm warm, I might eschew such in favour of bread and peanut butter and diet cola. May not be the healthiest but I can't help but be influenced by my body temperature...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree, like sometimes we do crave ice cream or cold milk or something. Yet, an interesting thing is that in Africa, when it's always warm, their traditional foods always seem to be stews of some kind and they have less cancer, too. It must be a factor? I have discovered another benefit of warm food - you can't eat quickly, so you'll have to take you time for a meal, which is, supposedly, beneficial.
ReplyDeleteThat's true, and in fact, most tropical country meals, whether from the Caribbean or India or Indochina, are all warm meals...
ReplyDeleteAlso in warm countries, even here in the South of Europe, folks tend to take their meals more seriously. Somewhere like Spain or Italy it's a leisurely family occasion, they don't eat pizza out of the box in front of the telly. I wonder if it contributes to better health. We constantly hear about the dangers of fast food, but what if it's not only the ingredients of it, but the whole fact that it's supposed to be "fast"? Why should a meal be fast anyway?
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I'm sure it's better to eat slower...
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