Re: regional taste (was quark)

[Guest guest]

Suze-

>And I don't know why German food

>seemed to have so much more flavor to me...it's something I've wondered

>about from time to time.

I don't know about food overall, but I've never found sausages that are a

fraction as delicious as the sausages I had in Germany. My god, on every

street corner you could get gourmet sausage! It puts our hot dog stands in

NYC to shame -- and more shame, and more and more and more.

Perhaps the lowfat craze has destroyed the sausage industry there. That

would be an awful shame.

-

[Guest guest]

>I have never tasted

>such...*tasty* food in the U.S. Never. And I don't know why German food

>seemed to have so much more flavor to me...it's something I've wondered

>about from time to time. Some of my favorites were chocolate, potatoes

>(never knew how good a potato could taste!), bread and all bready things

>(best bread ever - and a staple, as I'm sure you know), chocolate, most

>vegetables, cheesecake and most pastries were the best I've ever tasted,

>turkey, apple sauce that my second german mom made, schnapps and chocolate.

My grandmother was from Germany and she always mourned the loss of good

food. I figured out what she meant when I was there! I lived in Switzerland

for awhile, with a family, and one of the big things I noticed was that

everything was done on a much smaller scale and much more local. The old

lady I lived with had her maid do shopping every day, for that day's meal.

The market had a really tiny produce department, but really fresh. The cows

were right outside of town and actually grazing on big ol' fields.

My sister goes to Provence yearly or more for R & R because she loves the

food so much. They eat lots of oil, vegies, and good bread, living in small

farmhouses. It kind of floors me though, having to go clear to another

country to get good vegies.

I think the food tastes better partly because not so much of it is

factory-farmed. The species don't have to be ones that are easy for

machines to pick, and they can ripen in the field. More people, and

restaurants, either keep an herb garden or buy fresh herbs.

We have a farmer that just started a farm at the bottom of our field, on

about 50 acres or so. His family is out there daily, picking and weeding,

and they sell it at a little stand. The vegies are really, really tasty!

The butter and chocolate there are made by a different process. Some of

that they are beginning to do here. European chocolate is stirred for some

thing like 24 hours. Bread ditto: if you 'slow rise' the yeast overnight in

a batch you get a more European kind of loaf, but few bakeries do that here

because it is too labor intensive.

Basically I'm beginning to think that America is being owned more and more

by corporations and everything is based too much on competition. Enron was

sort of a big case in point, but the food industry has all their people in

place in the USDA and other places. Hence that dratted food pyramid.

And the other problem is labor: in Europe, the salary difference between a

doctor and a shopgirl was not so huge as it is here. So all the " smart

people " do not go into doctoring and law. Some of them go into farming and

actually seem to do ok. The farmland seemed more 'protected' -- at last

back then, I hope it still is -- and not being eased out by housing tracts.

-- Heidi

[Guest guest]

>

> >I have never tasted

> >such...*tasty* food in the U.S. Never. And I don't know why German

food

> >seemed to have so much more flavor to me...it's something I've

wondered

>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>snipped<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

>

> And the other problem is labor: in Europe, the salary difference

between a

> doctor and a shopgirl was not so huge as it is here. So all the

" smart

> people " do not go into doctoring and law. Some of them go into

farming and

> actually seem to do ok. The farmland seemed more 'protected' -- at

last

> back then, I hope it still is -- and not being eased out by housing

tracts.

>

> -- Heidi

>>>>>>>>>>>>>My theory is someone capable has to be in the kitchen and

garden many hours to produce the tasty morsels you're referring to. I

will say factory food in the US tastes much better, in general, fresh

off the production line than it does in the grocery store some one to

twelve months later. Dennis

[Guest guest]

> ***Ach du lieber!! Du hast auch im Baden studiert? Kanst du noch auf

Deutsch

> sprechen und/oder schreiben? Ich habe alles vergessen Except how to

write

> what I just wrote. <g>

I can still read and understand it quite well, but actually composing or

speaking it is VERY challenging. I even majored in it in college, but I

haven't used it *at all* since then. I also managed to travel to Freiburg,

Heidelburg, Muenchen, Koeln, Berlin, Strassbourg (France), and Stuttgart.

It was an amazing experience that I unfortunately can only recall somewhat

hazily. I'm convinced that my memories are tied to my language in such a

way that they fade together. When I do something that refreshes my german a

little (like watching Run Lola Run in german or attending a local german

discussion club) I get a flood of memories from my exchange program and my

total immersion college courses. It's like the language is the thing that

all the memories are keyed by.

> So...do you suppose it's something about the soil that makes German food

> (not talking about the chocolate now) so tasty as opposed to American

food?

> Or maybe I'm the only one who feels it's light years tastier...? What do

you

> think? Do you remember it being *that good*?

Things tended to be made more artisanly than in America. I think we've

gained a little ground in some areas while losing a lot of ground in others.

Bakeries are seeing a rennaissance, so are artisanal cheeses, beers, wines,

chocolates, coffee, etc At the same time, every day staples have gotten

worse...or even hard to find (coconut oil). Soil might be a factor; I'm not

sure. I definitely know that they used a lot more food products that were

the result of skilled craftspeople instead of underpaid factory workers.

Left to my own devices, I would have lived off of soft ripened cheeses,

prosciutto, and pretzel rolls. All washed down with Hoepfner Hefe-weizen,

Jever Pils, or Spruedel mit Orangensaft. I actually still remained a slave

to the almighty Coca Cola and coffee bean too.

> Adventures were plentiful, though - a little too plentiful perhaps, so

there

> was lots of stress to sweat off all that I ate. Plus I walked everywhere

> carrying the weight of a backpack (minus a sleeping bag!), so I think I

> could've eaten about anything and not put on much (needed) weight.

I wouldn't discount the influence of those factors on the taste of the food.

You were keeping your metabolism cruising along, you were probably less

inhibited and pleasure responsive in general. That would probably make the

same food taste better. Excercise, intellectual stimulation,

relaxation...all those combined make for a context that will heighten almost

any experience...

[Guest guest]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>snipped>>>>>

> > Fresh is good alright, and raising your own kids is good

> >too.>>snipped>>>>>>>.

>

Consider this: economic contributions

> you make in your own kitchen are not taxable and do not show up as

> part of the GDP. To me, that increases their value. Also consider

> that to some degree, cooking is something you can multi-task on,

> using time you'd otherwise not use efficiently.

>

> > And feeding " real " food to a person is as bad as feeding

> > " real " food to a cat: they don't like the kibble after that.

>

> Since I've been doing this, I ate some canned stuff once...soup

IIRC.

> It tasted muddy, pale, flat.

>>>>I once called Nestle's Quality Control hotline to inform them

their chocloate milk tasted like mud! It still does! Dennis

[Guest guest]

> >>> Yeah, it does take many hours in the garden and kitchen, and in

my

> >household it's me! Fresh is good alright, and raising your own kids

is

> >good

> >too. Balancing that against the salary of a programmer is another

issue!

> >Am

> >I worth more in the kitchen washing dishes and making kefir, or at

the

> >keyboard? <<

> >

> >I say no contest. You are correcting your own health problems due

to a

> >lifetime of eating SAD, and you are giving your children a

healthful

> >start in life. I can't think of any amount of money that would

> >compensate me for getting cancer (my mother died of cancer at age

54) or

> >worse, watching one of my children suffer with it. Obviously, NT is

not

> >a guarantee against cancer, but diet is the one big risk factor

that we

> >have the most control over, so let's do what we can!

> >

> >~ Carma ~

>

> No contest to the cost of work clothing, sitters cost, sitter

trouble,

> bringing

> the children out on cold mornings, waking them up instead of them

waking on

> their own, sickness caught from other children, mannerisms picked up

from

> other

> children, commute gas, pollution, extra car repairs, meal quality at

night

> besides the stress of the everchanging employment that affects you

to maintain

> them. I did this with my 29 year old. Decided not to miss anything

with my 13

> year old when I was laid off from my last full time job when she was

5 months

> old after I'd been back there a month. Swore I'd never work full

time again

> and

> haven't even though my husband was on full disability at that time.

Have

> worked

> part time since. Not only is it the nourishment you make for their

bodies its

> the examples you give from having them with you that give them the

ability to

> make wise choices. No one else can do that. The 29 year old will be

an RN in

> June. My stepdaughter will be a paralegal in May and our 13 year old

is her

> own

> person.

> Its me with the garden and kitchen here too but to me its creative,

changes

> with the seasons, non repetive as jobs get to be, always more to

learn and

> not

> found anywhere else but here.

> Wanita

> If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of

civilization, it

> expects what never was and never will be.

> - Jefferson

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Is it all about motivation of the team (in

kitchen and garden)? I think so. I also think it's next to

impossible to accomplish. When I worked for Coors they introduced the

team concept. It's great in theory. But getting the team " going " is

(more than) a challenge. I didn't intend to get into this but we're

here. How DO you get it done? Any hints. I mean like there's so

many chores! And " I did it Yesterday " !, comments at our house. The NT

method seems nearly overwhelming in the kitchen as well as just

acquiring the ingredients. Any suggestions from you veterans? I

still need to make a menu it seems. Best regards, Dennis