COOK'S INFO: Things you've always wanted to know, but didn't know who to ask.
 
 

Sauces | Olive Oil

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Why you should eat your pasta al dente

Key:       Glucose = 100
               Low glycemic foods....are below 55
               High glycemic foods....are more than 70

   The physical nature of the carbohydrate determines how fast a particular carbohydrate raises blood sugar (glucose, its the body's preferred form of sugar).
     Using a glycemic index where glucose has an arbitrary value of 100 researchers can determine  enzyme action and the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose. Breads for instance are in the high carbohydrate range (70), not because of the chemical nature of wheat, but for mechanical reasons. The fine particle size of wheat flour give digestive enzymes great surface area to work on...and...the exploded structure of bread, a result of the leavening action of yeast, further increases the surface area of the food. By contrast, pasta has a low glycemic index (44), which can be further lowered by slightly undercooking it, or...as the Italians call it, al dente, the undercooked pasta resists digestive enzymes more than longer-cooked pasta and so has a lower GI.
     High-glycemic index foods trigger a very active response from the pancreas and a substantial rise in insulin, thereby increasing the body's exposure to the harmful effects of that hormone, whereas low- glycemic-index foods do not. Low-glycemic-index foods provide energy in slow, sustained-release form, mitigating hunger and leading to smooth use and storage of calories. By contrast, high-glycemic-index foods provide a burst of energy that may be followed quickly by depletion's and hunger.

     Carbohydrates were not a staple part of the human diet before the coming of agriculture and that goes back only about nine thousand years. However, they are today! On a list of America's twenty favorite foods, all twenty of them are carbohydrates.
     The question then is, what did people eat before the dawning of agriculture? The ate game, fish, birds, occasionally wild fruits, nuts and starchy tubers and when they could find a beehive, honeycombs. But most importantly, none of these foods were refined. Even after the coming of agriculture, the grains were simply ground, or eaten whole, cooked or raw.  
     Methods of grinding grains did not change much until the coming of the industrial age. And that took almost nine thousand years, which was closely followed by an increase in obesity and a number of related illnesses.

      If you need further convincing to eat pasta over other carbohydrates, consider that long grain white rice has a GI of 72 and a baked potato has a GI of 97, that makes pastas 44 look very, very good. So eat your pasta....al dente!
 
 
 
 

QUESTION: Do sauces really play an important role in a meal?

ANSWER: Sauces have played a major role in food preparation for several thousand years. Evidence of the importance of sauces is readily found in "The Roman Cookery of Apicius," by John Edwards. The title refers to three extremely wealthy Roman gourmets, each named Apicius, who lived so lavishly that by the first century, the name "Apicius" became a cliché for wealth.

A collection of 447 recipes from these three men were saved from the dust heap of things lost by an unknown Roman writer who transcribed the recipes from 1st century Latin into late fourth century Latin. In Mr. Edward's book, by my count, there are 175 recipes for sauce. That's 38 percent of the total number of recipes. I find that to be quite impressive that sauces were used and recorded. The vast Roman Empire allowed for safe trade throughout Europe as well as to and through the fringe areas of the Empire where trade was carried on with Asia, India, the Middle East and Africa. Spices that are readily available today in our grocery stores, were also available to the Romans two thousand years ago. A partial list includes, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, spikenard, coriander, cumin, oregano, celery seed, parsley, bay leaf, anise, fennel, mint, caraway, mustard seed, wormwood, chervil, sweet cicely, thyme, sage, pennyroyal, safflower, saffron and salt.

In addition to spices and herbs, many other flavors were incorporated into their sauces from chives, leeks, onions, shallots and nutmeats like pine nuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts, almonds and pistachios, raisins, dates, damsons and quinces.

Salt was also very important, especially in the preservation of food, and it was very expensive. In fact it was in the income stream, evidenced by Roman soldiers being paid in part with salt, as well as coin.

The high value of salt is carried over today in the word salary and in the disparaging expression, "He's not worth his salt". After the collapse of the Empire, world trade in spices and herbs virtually ceased, not to be available again for one thousand years, or until the Middle Ages.

QUESTION: What dietary significance is there in Olive Oil?

ANSWER: Beyond the 249 references in the bible to this wonderful oil, it is the key ingredient in a Mediterranean Diet. A diet proven to be healthful. So bring on the pasta, beans, vegetables, fruit, fish, seafood and small quantities of meat. Current guidelines from the government recommend fat consumption to be a maximum of 30% of total caloric intake. Olive oil has the highest level of monounsaturated fat of all vegetable oil fats, at 77%, and the fewest polyunsaturated fatty acids at 9%. Aside from its health benefits...olive oil is just downright good tasting when compared to canola oil, peanut oil, corn oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil or cottonseed oil.

Monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats, what is the difference and why should I care? The major difference is something only a research scientist could love. That is, it's in the atomic structure where the number of hydrogen atoms in mono and poly oils is fewer than those found in saturated fats.

With mono and poly fatty acids, the difference is important to your cardiovascular system where these acids are centered around high density lipoproteins (HDL's). While both monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats reduce total blood cholesterol, monounsaturated fats DO NOT reduce HDL's. What that means to you is that for you to get the maximum benefit from the fat in your diet, olive oil should be your choice.

The specifics of olive oil grade requirements are set by the European Economic Community (EEC). Where Extra Virgin Olive Oil must have less than 1% acidity (oleic acid). Their taste, aroma and color are a judgment call by the experts.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is only cold pressed and the most robust in flavor. It is often green/gold in color and preferred by experienced users in salads and as a condiment.

Extra Light Olive Oil is very mild and virtually free of the characteristic flavor and aroma of olive oil (my favorite is from Bertolli). One of the prime benefits of the oil is its ability to be used in baking such things as cakes and muffins. It may successfully be used in any recipe, where the characteristic taste of olive oil would be unwelcome, or you can replace saturated fat, like butter or lard with Extra Light Olive Oil.

More traditional olive oils, often called Classic and/or 100% pure olive oil, are best used in cooking.

The lowest grade of olive oil is called Pomace. Pomace is made by cooking the residual olive paste from prior pressings and then pressing it one last time.