Dining Well
Why can’t I dine like the classy Europeans? Recipe included!
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
Lately I have been having trouble subscribing to the edict that “food is fuel”. I know on a pragmatic level that it is true. We eat to live. I have come to learn that dining is much more than macro and micro nutrients. Let’s explore the debate of “eat to live” versus “live to eat”.
I have had the fortune to travel to France and Italy where I experienced the differences in how food is enjoyed and when. In my Canadian experience, eating is often seen as a thing to be checked off the to-do list. For years, I grabbed a granola bar as I ran out the door and deemed it breakfast. It was a time saver; I could drive to work which bought me about 15 minutes longer to sleep because I didn’t have to actually sit down and eat breakfast. Lunch wasn’t much different. We had a staff lunchroom at work but such was the culture there that practically no one used it. It was expected that you woof down your sandwich during your lunch hour so that you could eat and work on the computer at the same time, thus getting more done. Supper, particularly when raising my kids, was selected based on the limited prep time so we could run out the door to swimming, dance, football or piano lessons. Sound familiar?
In contrast, allow me to describe some of the meal events I encountered in France and Italy. On our first day arriving in a little Normandy town, at supper time, we selected a cute little restaurant in the Centre de la Ville called “The Green Lion”. The front door was locked. Strange. We knocked. As we were about to leave, a little voice called out en francais.
“Veux-tu manger?”
“Yes!”
“Maintenant??”
“Yes please!”
She explained that they were closed until 8:00 but agreed to open ‘early’ for us at 7:00 pm. Early???!!! Supper for us has always been at 5:00! We agreed as nothing else was open but I have to admit, I was thinking that it killed the evening. There would be no time for anything else after. Slowly, I was going to learn that dining CAN be an event. Slowly, we adapted and we made our subsequent supper bookings at the appropriate French time.
Almost a decade later, I voyaged to the South of France and Italy with my two grown-up children. It was HOT. We had backpacks which meant all the hiking from one city to another forged a mean appetite. I would have been happy to eat at 5 pm but before long I was in European rhythm again and looking forward to the late outdoor meal against gorgeous sunsets and cooler breezes. Now that they were old enough, it was a delight to order an icy bottle of Prosecco and take our time with appetizers, mains and a fancy dessert. Each new entrée we ordered opened up our taste buds to wonderful Mediterranean cuisine. Upon scrutiny, I realized that it was healthy too. Menus featured in-season fresh produce, tasty olive oil, herbs in place of sauces and all prepared from scratch by the chef. The wait staff kept professional distance, allowing us to experience the meal as an event and there was no pressure, ever, that they needed the table. They expected us to sit a spell. And it became like a spell to me. I felt my cells widen and each time I breathed, more oxygen seemed to get in (okay, maybe it was the effect of the Prosecco). I can truly say, it was a wonderful experience where I was engaged in the moment. Upon reflection, at our postmortem discussions about the trip, all three of us eagerly agreed that the evening meal was our favourite part.
My good friend Elizabeth gets this too. Each summer when I visit her at her Muskoka cottage, supper is the climax to a wonderful day. She and her husband, Wally, start planning for supper from the moment they wake up. Meat is pulled from the freezer at breakfast and a spectacular rub is applied to be marinating all day. Around 5:00, Liz informs us all that it’s time “to get dressed for dinner”. Off come the bathing suit summer-time uniforms, hair is styled, make-up applied and breezy summer dresses are donned. The activity shifts from the dock by the water to the deck overlooking the lake. This is the time for cocktails. Weaving her magic, she brings out the perfect dirty martinis. The conversation is ripe with recalling memories and gossiping about the latest styles sported in the area boutiques. The men, well, I don’t really know what they talk about but I am certain it’s not as interesting. Wally, comes and goes from cocktail hour, executing the finishing touches on his culinary masterpiece. Next, he announces it’s dinner time and we all put our cocktail glasses on the kitchen island countertop and retreat to the table for the feast. Conversation and laughter ensue all the way to dessert where Liz often brings out her lemon meringue pie.
Wait! It’s not over yet!
After dinner, Liz commands us to join her back outside on the deck where she will be serving her famous Spanish coffee while the northern stars firework into being, providing just enough light to see the lake take its rest from the sun. The jolly conversation is always ample despite the fact that this evening cuisine is not a solo event; it takes place faithfully each night in this described manner.
When reflecting upon my gastronomy experiences in Europe and here at Liz’s cottage, I often wonder why I can’t replicate the experience consistently at home. My excuses resort to lack of time and creativity. There is no reason I can’t prioritize differently and combine my desire to eat nutritionally, maintain a healthy weight AND experience the mental wellness that a slower, relaxed evening meal gifts me.
I have just completed an amazing course certifying me as a Nutrition Coach. It contained much more biology than I expected. I now know all the systems of the body, what they need to function well, how nutrients cross barriers to get where they need to go, thermogenesis and intestinal absorption, the value of hydration as well as the molecular and structural composition of nutrients, cells… I never realized I would need to be able to understand sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and hypokalemia in order to coach someone to eat more vegetables!
While I hope to be more helpful to clients armed with the “why” of what we should eat, I do fully subscribe to the pleasure of what dining well can afford the soul. Don’t yah just love when good friends get together to share the experience of a meal together? The best memories are of families feasting together for special occasions. And for those of us who love cooking, the preparation is just as sacred as the partaking.
I really longed to make dining experiences rather than making eating a chore. Can you imagine then, how devastating it was to me to realize that my health issues were tied to what I was eating? I cowled at the thought that in order to control my migraines I would have to adhere to a forbidden food list? This made me wonder if I couldn’t accept dinner invitations, go out for dinner, eat like everyone else at a wedding. There went my dream of making the mundane meal into a savoury experience. No MSG seemed manageable at first; isn’t it only in Chinese food? Nope, it’s in EVERYTHING. Now so many fun and seemingly healthy foods were taboo. No potato chips or Doritos, no Caesars (it’s in Clamato juice!), no Kentucky Fried Chicken, or condiments. Instant noodles were out and forget about cold cut meats. And can you believe it’s in almost every can of soup?!!
So many of my recipes and casseroles contained the dreaded MSG (MonoSodium Glutamate) . What would I make to eat?? And when I ate out, how would I know if it was hidden in the entrée? The wait staff, despite asking me if I had any allergies or sensitivities, more often than not, did not know about the MSG in the dishes. I would ask if something on the menu contained it and they would assure me it did not. I had to get pushy, “Can you just ask the chef if a bouillon cube was used when making the sauce?”. The answer often came back, “Yes, they used a bouillon cube”. Bouillon is laden with MSG and is frequently used by Chefs and Grandmas to add flavour to sauces and gravies.
So what’s the big deal? If one is careful, can’t one consume some level of MSG? It is FDA approved. It boosts the flavour by enhancing the taste receptors, particularly in savoury cuisine. My answer, is most people can tolerate it (I can’t) but, while not conclusive, some studies have linked it to obesity, blood sugar problems, as well as migraines. The jury is still out and more studies are needed. Suffice to say, I need to steer away from it. When I heard it might be contributing to my debilitating migraines, I decided to go cold turkey from it. The first week, I was migraine free. To put it in perspective, until then, I had been in discomfort for several years EVERY day. The world looked so different when the pain was gone! Now I have learned all of my triggers, MSG being one of them.
So, if you don’t have migraines or the other potential side effects of MSG, why read this blog post? Well firstly, it goes back to the “why” I was talking about regarding what we eat. Perhaps MSG isn’t your problem but donuts are. Sugar is another nutrition debate. Did you know white bread is translated as sugar to your body? Perhaps you are consuming far too many deep fried foods to keep your blood pressure healthy.
I KNOW! It’s depressing! Where is the enjoyment in life??? It is, my friend, in balance. As I write this blog post, I am sipping on a lovely glass of wine (that’s my excuse for any spelling errors you see). However, please notice I said I am sipping a glass of wine not a BOTTLE of wine!
And, you can have your cake and eat it too (I couldn’t resist). I have learned a gamut of substitutions that convert the yummiest of life’s culinary delicacies into lesser evils. Watch for upcoming posts to learn what some of them are but suffice is to say, almost any recipe can be nutrition-ified to ensure that the best moments in life are still celebrated with friends and family and with food!
Do I use a system to ensure I don’t over eat? You bet I do. (Another blog coming on how to do it without mathematical calorie-counting somersaults). Do I count my protein intake each day? You bet I do. After all, I am a menopausal woman cleaving to every muscle I have. No old age atrophy for me! And I still have pizza, cake, cheese and my casseroles! How? Balance and converted recipes. And, as was demonstrated to me in Europe, good, tasty, clean AND nutritious food can still be part of the dreamy, take-your-time experience of daily elegant banqueting.
You have been waiting for it. Yup I am doing to give you one of my converted recipes to prove my point. Subscribe to Plan B is Better and let me know if you want me to post more. Plan A recipes have the fat, MSG and other sins but Plan B recipes combine the culinary experience with the potential for deep health.
Tuna Casserole
Serves: 6 Cost: under $10
How is Plan B Recipe Better?
Removal of processed canned soup removes MSG and a heck of a lot of sodium.
Extra veggies are added (peas and broccoli). Peas are in two categories: vegetables & legumes
Worcheshire sauce and hot sauce add some sophisticated flavour to seem like a chef made it! Like herbs, a dash of them adds a lot of flavour without fat or calories.
Whole wheat noodles add fibre and are a lower glycemic index than white egg noodles.
FYI: I am a believer in grass-fed butter over margarine. A move to whole, natural foods over highly processed ones is always the best choice.
ADDENDUM:
The online Nutrition Coaching course I took is called PN Nutrition (precisionnutrition.com). Here are its definitions of the terms listed above that I am sure tweaked your curiosity!
Thermogenesis: heat production (it can go up or down with changes in energy intake. For example, getting cold after going without food).
Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy: increasing muscle size and density by increasing fluid and fuel storage in the muscle cells
Hypokalemia: too much water relative to potassium
