is high-heat cooking traditional?

[Guest guest]

A discussion took place a while back about whether certain high-heat methods

of cooking were included in traditional healthy, non-modern diets.

I just came across this in the Life of Charlemagne which was written aroudn

826:

" Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified whether he was standing

or sitting, and this despite the fact that his neck was thick and somewhat

short, and his belly was rather prominent. But the symmetry of the rest of

his body concealed these defects. His gait was firm, his whole carriage

manly, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his size led one to expect.

His health was excellent except during the four years preceding his death,

when he was subject to frequent fevers; at the end he even limped a little

with one foot. Even in those years he trusted his own instincts rateher than

the advice of physicians, who were almost despised by hi, because they wanted

him to give up roasts, to which he was accustomed, and to eat boiled meat

instead. "

So, whether or not Charlemagne believed it, the idea that high-heat cooking

is inferior in terms of health to low-heat cooking is as traditional as

high-heat cooking is. Just because something has been around a while doesn't

make it good for you, and people understood this beyond a millenium ago,

apparently.

Nevertheless, I must say I like french fries, and when I find a moderately

inexpensive source of deep frying fat that's healthy, I will eat them from

time to time

Chris