I write this post on Christmas Eve (in Singapore) to formally wish you all a fond farewell and to announce the ending of our foodie blogs. These blogs won't be taken offline; rather, I'll keep them online for the sake of memory and archive purposes, at least for another year or two. But let me explain my reasons for officially ending the blogs here:
There's nothing sadder than a blog that purports to still be alive and kicking, but in actuality is dead. I don't want the same fate to befall our blogs--to have people post very, very occasionally and to have nobody comment or no other posts follow.
Think of this as a metaphorical "pulling the plug" on a comatose blog, and then preserving the blog in a bottle full of formaldehyde. But without the same problematic ethical issues which would arise if the blog were a human being.
I've enjoyed being part of this blog very much, and have enjoyed reading all the posts and comments you've all contributed to this online community!
Without further ado, I bid you all farewell and Happy Christmas!
I watched Julie&Julia this afternoon. Well, for the ones that have not watched the movie yet, I will introduce. Julie is a secretary from a government office who loves to cook. She used to be a writer, but she quit her job. No body wanted to publish her book. One day, her husband suggests her about making a blog, a cooking blog. She thought it was a good idea, so she decides to blog about her cooking recipes from Julia Child's cookbook in 365 days. Julie becomes famous through her blog and end up publishing a book, Julie&Julia. Later, the book was made into a movie. As we all know, Julia Child the French cook is famous for her cooking shows and cookbook. Through the movie, I learned so many facts about her. The movie starts from when Julia moves to Paris. She used to be a secretary at government office just like Julie. Since she came to Paris, she did not have anything to do. So, she decides to find her a profession. Julia tries hat making, poker....etc. but fails to find something that she like. At the end, she finds that food is what she is passionate about. She starts to going to a cooking school, became a decent cook. Later, when she meets her two friends who were working on creating a cookbook for American. Julia joins them to create a French cookbook for American housewife. After numerous rejection from the publishing companies, Julia Child ended up publishing her cook book.
This movie reminded me of my English class so much. First, our topic was food. Second, we had our own blog just like Julie. Third, we produced owr own cookbook just like Julia Child did! What a coincidence. I think I can convince many people that our class idea came from this movie or a book, Julie & Julia.
In the beginning, I did not like our topic. 'English class with food as a topic? What is this?' was my reaction. I also did not understand why we had to explore such a different type of writing. They were so much different from what we did in high school. I do not know about other people, personally, I never had to write a restaurant review or never had to write a weekly blog post. As I look back, I learned so much through this English class. If I am to write something that does not need to be formal, I would include pictures, I would change the font, I would change the color, I would change font sizes, I would bold few words, I would underline few words, I would highlight few words....etc. I would do so much to deliver what I intend to say in the most effective way.
This English class not only changed how I write. I think it also changed my perception of food. I am sure it did change yall's too. I am no kidding. Easiest way to find out is going to a grocery shopping. Whenever you pick up something, you'll find yourself looking at the nutrition facts !
For me, Dead week=Stay in the dorm= Review=No Food in the dinning hall
Have you realized that ever since we start the dead week, the food in the dinning hall becomes less and less and the quality... Okay, so after several disappointed experience with dinning hall. I decided to order food online with my friends. Our first attempt is Papa John's and the pizzas are incredibly tasty! So after that, I keep ordering pizzas from Papa John;s from the rest of the week! XD
When I told my friends about that, he laughed and said that he also had Papa John's addiction. He even ate the pizza four days in a row！ Maybe the food there really have some sorts of magix that attract us keep going back~
Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, was disliked by my fellow foodies of P4 and was discredited as a neophyte writer who cannot construct a well thought out argument. Some of them discredit him as a writer because they believe Pollan was making a general, broad assumption without defining what a “Western diet” is, giving numerous scientific facts to support his argument when he has no education in science, and providing no particular solution when he argues that we need to change our way of eating. However, I think differently. As I was reading the book, In Defense of Food I found that Pollan’s argument was very sound and very well supported by facts and various quotes of renowned people in the area. By using numerous examples in the beginning of the book, Pollan made his conclusions indisputable.
“Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly plants”. Michael Pollan begins his book with these words that are central to his argument. With this clear stance, he argues that we need to end the “Western diet” which is detrimental to everyone‘s health and is the cause of damaging diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart diseases and arguing that we should go back to the traditional diet. Specifically, Pollan guides the readers through three easy steps in his book. First, he clearly identifies what is food and what is not food but nutrient. He discusses how science and nutritionism has affected our eating behavior and health. Second, he explains the detrimental effects of the “Western diet” on civilization. Third, he provides the practical solution to getting rid of the “Western diet” and further explains his argument referring to phrase “Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly plants”.
First, Pollan uses varying tones and exaggerations successfully to make his argument sound more convincing. His tone becomes negative and aggressive on the matters that contradict his argument and becomes positive when he speaks of things that support his argument. This is clearly visible when Pollan says, “People eating a Western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases that seldom strike people eating more traditional diets” (140); “A hall mark of the Western diet is food that is fast, cheap, and easy”, “Traditionally people have allocated a far greater proportion of their income to food”(145). Also, Pollan says that the Western diet consists of an abundance of processed foods and meat, added fat and sugar, and everything except fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (89). This generalization of the Western diet is a good example of Pollan’s strategy. He claims with exaggeration that the Western diet consists of substances such as processed foods, meat, fats which he previously mentioned as being toxic to our health. To most of his readers, his solid argument and his use of various literary devices are effectively convincing.
Second, Pollan uses factual support of experts in the area to complement his argument. Throughout the book, Pollan’s arguments are almost always supported by quotes from experts in the area. In some portions, Pollan uses three or four quotes on one page; it may seems like he is writing a book out of other people’s thought only and may cause him to be appeared as less credible writer. However, his skillful placement of the words of experts actually strengthens his argument even more. For instance, when Pollan says, “In the course of my own research into these theories” (140), I was doubtful of his ideas. Similarly, when Pollan mentions how an increase in consumption of polyunsaturated fats is a major factor of decline in heart disease, I doubted him not knowing that his claim was being supported. When I realized that it was actually being supported by an epidemiologist Walter C. Willette of the Harvard School of Public Health, then I was convinced Also it was satisfying to know that Pollan was not trying to argue something that he is not an expert of.
Third, Pollan uses an exceptional style to develop his argument throughout the book. In the first two sections of the book, Pollan mainly focuses on teaching the readers and giving them basic knowledge that will help them understand his argument better and will cause them readily accept his argument. In the last section of the book, Pollan reveals that his ultimate goal was to suggest to the readers a healthier way of eating not to dictate the way they think about food. The numerous scientific facts given earlier in the book help the readers to be engaged and to think about their stance on Pollan’s argument. Yet, contrasting to what he tells the reader, the foremost role of these facts given earlier is to evoke the readers to think the way Pollan does. After having been bombarded with the scientific facts, not many readers will discard Pollan’s argument.
Overall, Pollan’s argument, a Western diet, which is detrimental to our health, should be stopped and replaced with healthier traditional diet, has been effectively convincing throughout the book. Not only because of his clear stance but also because of clever usage of different literary devices such as exaggerations, varying tones, exceptions and exceptional structure, have presented his argument convincing manner.
In the book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan centers many of his arguments around the “Western Diet.” He defines the western diet as consuming “lots of processed foods and meats, lots of added fat and sugar, lots of everything except fruits, vegetables, and whole grains” (page 89). Pollan’s argument to “Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” is simple enough, and possible, but when he goes on to explain what food to eat it becomes more complicated. The industry is providing the public with what it deems necessary for survival. The food it’s providing might not be the best, but as long as the public isn’t complaining then the industry will continue to do what it can to make a profit.
Even with his advice however, it is hard to get away from the foods Pollan identifies as being bad for us, even our meats and vegetables are processed. The cows we get our meat from are fed on pastures that were probably fertilized, were fed a diet rich in corn and supplements, and injected with hormones and antibiotics. So the products we think are relatively organic and free from processing are just as processed as the sugary, low cholesterol, low fat breakfast cereals we’ve come to associate with “bad foods.” Our vegetables and fruits are genetically altered to produce high yield corn, two inch across strawberries, and large bunches of broccoli, all at the cost of poor nutrition.
If people wanted to change the way they are eating then they would. There have been uprisings before. People have overthrown governments they weren’t happy with, so why not the food industry? If it was really that much of a problem then people would change it. They would put their forks down and tell the industry “No, I will not eat this over processed, unhealthy food.” The public chooses not to. They have decided to eat whatever the industry puts in front of them. There are people who are rebelling, those who are going organic for example, but there isn’t enough force to change the whole industry. People need to eat. As long as they are being provided with some sort of sustenance they won’t mind much what they are putting in their mouths. It’s food, it’s cheap, it works.
Pollan makes some great arguments, but the truth is, not many of them are well supported. The “Western diet” (however untrue that title may be) is what it is because there aren’t many alternatives. Pollan’s logic in his argument that people can change the food industry isn’t even plausible. People are going to eat what they are given as long as they aren’t directly dying from it. It also doesn’t help that they are being told what they are eating is healthy and good for them even if it might not be. Pollan makes arguments, tries to back them up, but in reality they are relatively weak. Sure he has lots of evidence but the logic of it just doesn’t hold. The state of the people who eat the Western diet are perfectly okay with what they are eating, otherwise they might try to change it.
In today’s day and age Pollan’s ideologies appeal to a small audience, and even if he wanted to change the mindset of all his readers his writing techniques and methods would fail to do so.
In his current book his organizational way of writing, in which he meticulously makes an index with each and every chapter talking about a specific detail might educate the reader in some way but his writing is flawed in logic.
As readers we have the right to have our opinions and ideas. When an author wants to put his point across he should try and convince the reader as to why his opinion is the right opinion rather than force his opinion. In the 21st century many people would defend Pollan’s argument saying that the world has gone into the hands of the supermarket tyrants, processed food giants but if thought about it, doesn’t anyone understand that we ourselves allowed them to develop. He argues that there are more diseases now than ever, people are unhappy now more than ever and he points his finger straight towards the so called “western culture”. But is it only the western culture that is responsible? And how is it that only the Americans constitute the “western culture”?
Being a non-western myself I know that these problems are faced in other countries as well. Obesity, hypertension and other `diet’ related diseases are there in other countries because of their staple diet and junk food intake, not just because they have started to follow the American culture. The main reason as to why people were fit during our grandparents age was because of their lifestyle. They had to do more physical work while we tend to have more of a sedentary lifestyle. So it’s the way we live our lives that decides our health now rather than how much of processed food we eat.
As a reader one major drawback I found in his writing was that he kept on giving scientific facts. While proving a point it is necessary to give evidence for your stance however too much of plain scientific talk like in Pollan’s book fails to stimulate the readers mind as the reader looses interest in the subject itself. For example when he talks about the various acids or risk factors for CHD or even the general surveys. These facts are either unnecessary or too hard to follow for a common man.
The other factor that was a drawback in Pollan’s argument was that he was not able to justify his counterarguments. He seemed to beat around the bush by just providing the facts and scientific knowledge. In today’s world people buy the things that they like. People have grown up eating all sorts of food and have made the conscious decision as to how much of organic food has to be eaten and how much of processed food. The government bodies that check and make sure that the food put up in the markets is eatable and good are set up for a reason. Even though the food might be genetically engineered and processed it is still food which can be eaten. These industries only flourish because there’s a demand for them so technically we are not forced into eating the processed food we actually prefer it.
In conclusion Pollan shows that he has strong ideals, however he fails to put his point across to us readers. In all if the world itself is happy with what they eat and how they live then why would they want to change their lifestyle?
In Defense of Pollan As a New York Times Bestseller, In Defense of Food, written by Michael Pollen, successfully grabs the public's attention by stating unique perspectives and referencing an abundance of sources about the type of food that people should eat. However, readers also complain about the judgmental tone of his writing, as well as the numerous facts which require more clear explanations. This is especially true for its main argument: people should eat unprocessed food; plants in particular. In spite of the fact that I do not side with some of his opinions, I still consider his statement as a well-organized and convincing one .
He first approaches the statement by attacking harshly on the western diet which contains “lots of processed foods and meat, lots of added fat and sugar, lots of everything except fruits, vegetables and whole grains.” With the citation of several famous people like Denis Burkitt and Walter Willett, Michael clearly makes his point that western diet is not only lack of nutrition but also has the potential to cause a variety of diseases such as high blood pressure and excessive cholesterol. This is true to some point. Nonetheless, food is more than nutrients and health. It is also about pleasure, experience and the identity if the nation. People gain much pleasure through dining experience. People distinguish their identity by what they choose to eat. If that is the case, what food are people supposed to eat on daily basis? He then goes on to give some fundamental guidelines which define the “real food”. For instance, “Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” This sentence basically conveys the idea that those unprocessed food, as the favorites of the grandparents in the past, is the healthiest food that the people in the contemporary society should eat. In other words, the best food culture and wisdom comes from the past. Interestingly, he uses a simple but precise expression about grandmother to describe the features of the real food vividly. This clear definition is followed by the method of eating healthy diets. In the bullet point form, he lists all the rules distinctively and gives each rule a thoughtful explanation to convince the readers. To be honest, this is my favorite part of this book. Unlike any other nutrition books which talk on and on in big paragraphs and complex sentences about how we should eat, the book uses concise arguments and understandable vocabularies to give out the guidelines which are quite easy to follow. Moreover, the reasonable explanations given under every healthy eating rule also establishes his authority as an author. In particular, the effective use of both examples and data strengthen Pollen’s argument.
It is not hard to infer from the above that Pollen’s statement about eating unprocessed food is structured pretty well. Furthermore, the content is also quite convincing and persuasive. Though the definition about western diet is a little bit general and controversial, it’s undeniable that some of the diets in the west do appeal the problems mentioned in his argument. For example, McDonald’s, which is considered to be world’s largest chain of fast food restaurants as well as a significant American food cultural phenomenon, is producing food which makes millions of people get obese. He is also right about the fact that unprocessed food contains some nutrients that supplements cannot provide. The more the food was processed, the less nutritious it became. To avoid the popularity of some diet-related diseases and shortage of vital nutrients, consuming unprocessed food which comes without a package is absolutely natural and wise. In his argument, Pollen analyzes this fact to the readers and transfers the professional phrases into very explicit expressions which can help the readers comprehend. Besides, he even enumerates ways of putting the words into actions to convince the readers that the guidelines he offers are applicable.
To sum up, although scientists appear to pay much attention on health in food and process the food such that it will be more nutritious, yet this may not be the case. The more we process, the less nutritious it becomes. Also, the food culture is more than health and nutrition, other aspects like culture, pleasure and identity should be considered. However, his argument and definition are subject to dispute. In terms of the quality and organization of Pollen’s argument about “people should eat unprocessed food”, Pollen does a terrific job in convincing the readers.
Michael Pollan makes it apparent in his latest book, In Defense of Food, that he is disturbed by the food industries’ health claims and alterations on the food that the public consumes. He presents his audience with a call to action to ignore nutrition experts and advertisers while relying solely on their common sense and innate judgments on food. As his argument fails to convince us to be oblivious to this new age of the food industry and to tune in our primal hunter-gatherer instincts to help guide us, Pollan never presents a feasible solution to, what he calls, the “American Paradox” and, thus, his argument lacks profundity.
“Scientists can argue all they want about the biological mechanisms behind this phenomenon, but whichever it is, the solution to the problem would appear to remain very much the same: Stop eating a Western diet.” (140-141). Firstly, this is just one of several generalizations Pollan makes throughout his book. He generalizes the Western diet to consist of “lots of processed foods and meat, lots of added fat and sugar, lots of everything except fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.” (89) He further discusses the negative impact of the Western diet by contrasting it with the diets of those in Africa, India, Labrador, and several more regions all over the world. He applauds the diets of the other ethnic groups by pointing out the almost complete absence of chronic diseases that has become commonplace in the West. He fails to acknowledge the fact that most of the inhabitants in these regions are not as fortunate as those in the U.S. Food is not as readily accessible to these people and, therefore, the likelihood of these people to attain food related diseases is less simply due to the fact that they consume less. He does not describe what makes the diet of these people better; he assumesthat these more backward societies would have more traditional lifestyles making their food options less tainted by the evils of modern science.
Pollan writes his book in hopes of improving the health of others, but his advice proves impractical for many of us who live in the current day. He advises us to avoid certain ingredients, food products that make health claims, and to get out of the supermarket whenever possible. A typical American family living in Suburbia or in the city would find these tips hard to follow when what Pollan demands us to avoid is clearly inevitable. It is hard to walk down an aisle in the supermarket without finding a product that does not make health claims or does not contain a sinful ingredient. Supermarkets are the main food provider for many homes. Pollan’s alternative: Whole foods, Farmer’s Markets, or a garden. These food providers do not live up to the convenience of the local supermarket located every few miles or so in most cities and suburbs. And the costs of shopping at these locations would break the budget of many American families.
Though Pollan suggests many possible ways to help us eat healthier and states an abundance of facts to support his claims, he leaves his audience unable to follow through with his advice and leaves many other vital facts unacknowledged. To change the lifestyle and eating habits of a whole region is a bold thing to encounter. Unfortunately, Pollan falls short with his argument and leaves his readers unconvinced.
Works Cited:
Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food. New York : Penguin Books Ltd, 2008.
This is a visual essay depicting the various stages of culinary delight that I encounter every time I go to my favourite chinese restaurant in New Delhi - Ano Tai.
Salad and Appetizer
Caesar Salad
The origins of the Caesar Salad are somewhat controver
sial. Certain historians believe that Giacomo Junia, a native Italian who worked in a restaurant in Chicago, invented the salad in 1903 and named it after Julius Caesar. The majority, however, believe that Caesar Cardini invented the mix in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1924.
Cardini, who owned a small restaurant, was running low on food one day and was forced to create a salad for his guests from what was left over in the kitchen. His original recipe included Romaine lettuce, garlic, croutons, Parmesan cheese, boiled eggs, olive oil and Worcester sauce.
A more filling starter option has never been created. Hats off Giacoma Junia.
Honey Chicken
This is my all time favourite appetizers. The coat of sweet honey, along with the sometime added schezwan sauce calls for a burst of flavour in the mouth. If cooked well the certain level of chewiness and a hint of bitter due to the sesame seeds fails to bore me every single time.
Main Course
Fish Fillet with Black Bean Sauce
I was first introduced to this dish when I was on a high protein diet. This is probably one of the healthiest food options I
have seen outside my home. Steamed fish with vegetables coated by a generous amount of black bean sauce. It has a very unique taste to it bordering on the bitter, but the good bitter if you understand what I mean. The softness of the steamed fish is extremely appropriate and not squishy which would seem very gross in the mouth.
Dessert
Roasted plums with oatmeal crusted caramelized bananas
Another newfound delight is the caramelized banana and plum. It was an experimental choice and seems to have stuck as my regular dessert choice. It is extremely sweet though the roasted plums gets you back on the ground. Not recommended to those worried about tooth cavities.
And Lastly .......
How can a chinese meal be complete without a fortune cookie. Its origin seems to be a mystery but it is quite an enjoyable tradition. What mine said will remain a mystery for eternity.
I am here today to explain to my fellow classmates and all others who follow this blog about why I love Chinese food so much. Perhaps part of my liking for chinese food comes from the fact that I am indeed from China. But this has not stopped my craving for chinese food.
One of my favorite food is 粽子(zongzi). It is a special kind of dish that is usually eaten during 端午节(duan wu festival). We eat it in this festival to honor a poet, Qu Yuan, who died because he fought against the government and its policies. He committed suicide by jumping into a river and the people mourned his loss. They searched for him in the river but could not find him so they dropped zongzi into the river to prevent the fish from devouring him. Ever since, it has become a customary tradition to eat zongzi in memorial to Qu Yuan.
Qu Yuan
The zongzi is made by taking some meat, usually chicken or beef, along with egg and some vegetables and embedded into a ball of rice. Then the rice is wrapped in several bamboo leaves and left in a oven to steam. It is ready after an hour of cooking and can be taken out to eat.
zongzi
It is truly wonderful and delicious and I have enjoyed it ever since childhood.
Recently I wrote a blog about how disappointed I was with the show "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern." I didn't like the show because it mainly featured food that the average viewer would probably never want to try. It didn't seem like the show was trying to introduce people to new food. So for my visual essay, I decided to compile a list of six different ethnic dishes that people might actually be interested in trying. This list includes recipes from five different countries and consists of food ranging from sea bass to ice cream.
Korean barbecue: Korean barbecue basically consists of grilled beef(or chicken). What I found interesting about it was that after the meat is grilled it is placed on a charcoal grill (usually built into the table) to keep it warm. It is usually served with lettuce (or some other leafy vegetable) and sauce known as ssamjang.
Beef Bourguignon: Beef Bourguinon is a French recipe (commonly called beef burgundy). It is a stew made with beef and red burgundy. Garlic, onions and mushrooms are added for flavor.
Paneer Makhani: Paneer is one of the most popular dishes in India. It basically consists of cubical pieces of cottage cheese that can be cooked in a variety of sauces (the one shown above is cooked in a tomato based gravy).
Fried Ice Cream: Fried Ice cream originated in China (however there is a Mexican equivalent). During its preparation, the ice cream is frozen at a very low temperature and is then coated with cookie crumbs or honey. It is then deep fried. The low temperature prevents the ice cream from melting. The result is that it has a warm outer layer of honey with cold ice cream on the inside.
Koftas: Koftas are a middle eastern version of meatballs. What makes them different from meatballs is that they are served with a thick, creamy gravy (usually tomato based) which is seasoned by spices.
Chinese Sea Bass: Chinese Sea Bass is a marinated black sea bass served with a sauce containing ginger, garlic and lemon juice.
Coming to Georgia Tech was a whole new experience for me. It was for many of the freshmen now. Coming from a different state, I had an obligation to myself to explore Atlanta and part of that exploration included food. Atlanta is one of biggest cities in United States and with a huge population, Atlanta offered many different varieties of food. With Georgia Tech being located within Atlanta, I had ample opportunities to go out and explore the food cultures. Also, being away from home, I missed some of my favorite foods back home. When I had to chance to go back, I got a chance to satisfy my craving for those foods.
In this visual essay, I have included five different pictures of food that I have tasted over my first semester at Georgia Tech. Where: Vortext, Atlanta - GA
This bar style resturant had some god burgers and its own uniqueness. I had a double coronary bypass burger which was huge. Its quality was ever better than its quantity
Where: Junior’s Grill, Georgia Tech Campus, Atlanta - GA
This is a chicken finger tender that was served with honey mustard sauce. This did not taste good for me
Where: Bonehead’s, Atlantic Station, Atlanta - GA
I had fish tacos in this restaurant. The tacos were amazing and the sauce that they offered added to the overall taste.
Where: Yu’s Mandarin, Schaumburg - IL
I had chinese noodle called Jjambbong. The soup was spicy and hot. It had very fresh ingredient. It tasted amazing
Where: Boraan’s, Naperville - IL
Pho is one of my favorite food. When the weather is cold, I get such craving for one of theses soup. Its soup is a very rich flavor of beef.
Molecular gastronomy is a scientific discipline that studies the physical and chemical processes that occur while cooking. Molecular gastronomy seeks to investigate and explain the chemical reasons behind the transformation of ingredients, as well as the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general. [1]
In search of new recipes, pioneer cooks use both equipment and substances that are more common in chemical laboratories other than at kitchens. These are liquid nitrogen, infrared spectrometers, nuclear magnetic resonance analyzers, and vacuum devices.
Cook fills syringes with the smoke from grill during meat roasting, and before dish servicing, waiters release it upon the plate or inject directly into the meat so the guest shall feel both taste and aroma of the fire the meat was roasted on. Or here are the impeccable fried eggs. If you pierce it with fork, the yolk even spreads out, as it should be. But taste it, and you are delighted and surprised: the yolk is sweet and with flavor of carrot juice and maple syrup, and the white has savor of coconut and cardamom. These are the culinary illusions that the guests are coming for.
Molecular gastronomy can do anything – turn liquid into mousse or jelly, and fluff it up with an inert gas until it reaches the weightless foam state. Knowledge-based delicacy and unorthodox technology give the extraordinary taste combinations, e.g. the smoked eel with whipped caramel cream, and absolutely change the idea of traditional products. Therefore, the appearence of absolutely transparent meat dumpling with the filling being visible through its sides, is not accidental. You will realize that it is made of celery only if you taste it.
On the one hand, the molecular food develops unconventional thinking, and makes you look for the unusual in something common. On the other hand, there is a feeling that this is the new kind of luxury made-up for the rich to have something to show off. It’s like, we saw a lot of things but nothing like that.
However, tastes differ: one gets a great pleasure from “ the show of taste”, idolizes foamy dishes and calls them unique. As Wolfram Siebeck, a German restaurant critic, said after tasting the creations of such high gastronomy: “Any nonsense can he justified somehow. We call that progress”.
These last two have been quite an eye-opener for me. One of the reason for this was the final project assigned to us. Never have I spent so much time analyzing and studying about food. Never have I interacted with food in terms of cooking and buying. There were also various things that I learnt about my peers that was quite a revelation. Kyle for instance is an immensely talented cook, being able to come up with recipes all by himself and also be able to improvise with dishes when things got tough like in the case of the chicken enchiladas that we presented in our cookbookette. Max on the other hand seems to have realized a new found art of creative writing which he used to the utmost when writing the "authors" page on the website. I also learnt a new thing about myself. My ability to lead a group. I would not judge if it was successful but I wont call myself a complete failure since we did get the project done.
So all in all I believe that this project had a lot to teach us.
Zaxby's is a fast food franchise that offers chicken dishes. they are located at 12 states in South Eastern States. It is not as popular as franchises like McDonald's, Burger King or Taco Bell, but i believe it offers the best meal. The first time i went to Zaxby's was in the middle of the semester. I had nothing to eat on the day before i went to Zaxby's because i was sick. I ordered a chicken finger plate, which cost about almost $10 with a drink, had four chicken fingers, one choice of sides, one toast and a sauce. The food tasted amazing. It was probably the best meal i ever had since i got to Tech. My hunger could have made the food taste better, but the quality of the food, i thought, was great. The fries were crispy and the toast just melted in my mouth. The chicken fingers, after dipping into the sauce, was just sensational. For those who haven't tried Zaxby's yet, i definitely recommend that you go.
Last night I decided to take a break from studying. I turned on the T.V. and saw that "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" was on. I'd heard about the show before but had never actually seen it. I thought it would be fascinating to learn about food that I had never heard of before. Unfortunately, most of the food featured on the show looked inedible. I know that when it comes to food, keeping an open mind is important. But I think that even the most adventurous person would think twice before trying fried lizard. The only thing that looked good on the show was the Korean barbecue which is something I'd actually like to try. In the end, "Bizarre Foods" lives up to its title. But I would have liked it if the show featured some ethnic food that the viewer might actually want to try.
So last night when I was studying I got hungry and decided to order pizza online since most pizza placed had stopped taking phone orders.It is so much easier to customize your pizza online than it is to over the phone.You are given way more options just from a drop down menu.I personally thought it was a very intelligent system whoever designed it knew how to put a smile on the faces of college students at 3 AM in the morning. :)
I don't know if many people have noticed this but in Tech Square there are a few restaurants which accept Buzzcard and some which do not. The reason for this is the restaurants which don't accept buzzcard are in buildings not owned by Georgia Tech,it is just a coincidence that they happen to be in Tech square too.
Hot Pot Again!!!
Atlanta is cold! I was born and raised in a city has a nickname of spring city, so I hate cold weather since I grow up. Final week is coming, the weather is as cold as my motivations to study for all the exams. Even the review session for my computer science class is 6 hours long. So today after the long, tiring review session, two friends of my we drove to Chinatown to eat hotpot. As I explained in my last blog post, hotpot is the perfect dish to eat in the wintertime, it worms you up, as well as the tasty flavor of it. The restaurant we went was the restaurant I reviewed for my second blog post, the Oriental Seafood. It is a cantonese restaurant, and cantoness cuisine is not known to be spicy, and offers the num sensation of spicy food. So I was very excited to see what the restaurant offers for their hotpot. The hotpot consisted with the normal dishes, seafood, vegetables, meat combinations, tofu, as well as noodles. The hotpot soup was not the spicy one, instead is a very flavorful soup specially made by the chef. The chef also made a special dipping sauce include onions, green belt pepper, green onions, soy sauce, peanut oil, as well as peanut sauce. The dipping sauce is not super spicy, but it does has the kick of spicy flavor from the green pepper.
I would definitely recommend American people to go try out the hot pot at the oriental seafood. The biggest advantage of eating hotpot at winter time is to drive away the coldness. My body was so worm after eating the hotpot, however, I just want to go straight to bed to sleep.
Jimmy The Greek, a restaurant that offers Greek cuisine, is a quick service restaurant franchise in Canada. When I was living in Toronto, I would go to 'Jimmy The Greek' and order Gyros Dinner. Probably, a lot of you guys at Tech would know what Gyros is. Many restaurants around the campus offers Gyros. For instance, the Junior's Grill and Good Fellas offer Gyros. The only thing that is different between Gyros dinner and Gyros is that the meat in Gyros is served with rice, Greek salad with potatoes. Everything in Gyros Dinner is delicious. When I'm done eating, there is nothing left on the plate.
As more and more people suffer from health problems, researchers, nutritionists, and other health experts are advocating a healthier lifestyle and suggesting more healthful eating habits and diets. What role is nutritionism playing? In the book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan argues that we are depending too much on nutrition and food science, and it is such science that makes us sicker. Although Michael Pollan provides considerable evidence to convince us that we should not listen to these experts, the way he writes does not strongly support his opinion. Basically, he has made three critical mistakes in his argument.
First of all, he successively implies that as more people choose food in accordance with suggestions made by nutritionists, an increasing number of people are developing chronic diseases.He believes that they are strongly related—that actually, scientists’ advice are faulty, and because they are bad advice, more and more people are getting sick.However, just because these two trends are occurring at the same time does not necessarily mean they are related. For example, one individual’s full mark in a test has nothing to do with another individual’s failure in the same test. Likewise, one cannot say nutritionism is the cause of health problems because they are simultaneous. Many other factors may be contributing to the rise in the number of cases of obesity and heart disease, such as a sedentary lifestyle, stress, and lack of sleep. Michael Pollan is simply making observations instead of establishing some scientific evidence that would show a relationship between nutritionism and health problems.
He also fails to understand that parts of nutritional theory being wrong does not lead to every part being wrong, just like one could get partial credit for a question. Michael Pollan keeps using the example of scientists in the past telling us to take trans fat to show that scientists are telling people to ingest toxins. Undoubtedly, this suggestion to use trans fat to replace saturated fat was a serious mistake made by scientists, but that was a long time ago and scientists are trying to make amends by telling people to stop consuming trans fat. More importantly, we cannot deny all the efforts made by scientists because of mistakes they have made because some of their studies reveal numerous problems with people’s eating habits and offer solutions based on scientific research.However, because of his neglect of those helpful suggestions, Michael Pollan argues that all scientific theories are bad and making the situation worse.
Last but not least, Michael Pollan seems to overlook a critical question: What if people never get advice from the experts and their conditions worsen? He ironically says “eat right, get fatter” and insists that the rates of obesity and heart disease and the number of people who have a healthy diet are increasing simultaneously.However, he remains close-minded and never acknowledges the possibility that without such advice, these people may become even more chronically ill. He does not mention that people’s consuming too much fat and protein and becoming unhealthy motivate scientists to conduct research that leads to such recommendations as “eat more unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat” and “consume more carbohydrates instead of protein.” In other words, scientists are attempting to fix the problem. Although they have not fixed it entirely, one cannot disregard their suggestions as not working. However, Michael Pollan does not appreciate the “half-fixed” part of the problem, but blames scientists for the “half-unfixed” part.
Overall, Michael Pollan’s argument is hardly convincing. He dreams of an ideal world in which people eat only healthy food without even thinking about what they are doing. He is strongly against researchers’ and nutritionists’ suggestions and implies they are just making people sicker by manipulating them. He does not acknowledge that two events occurring at the same time could be completely unrelated.He makes gross generalizations based on minimal evidence, and he does not give much thought to what the world would be like without scientific evidence on the value or risk of particular kinds of food. He needs to base his ideas on empirical evidence rather than observation and inference to illustrate how nutritionism makes people sicker.
