So I recently had an experience that got me thinking more to the roots about how most of us aren't really down to earth about what we're eating. People head to Whole Foods and chow down on a nice steak or chicken breast, but abhor hunting because of how "cruel" it is. They'll buy a $4 sprig of basil, but refuse to build and grow a small raised garden. It's almost ironic how folks are willing to eat at fancy restaurants that serve "strange" wild game, who would otherwise never be caught dead with a rifle in the woods. I've taken this with a laissez-faire attitude, but this situation changed me a bit.
As a caveat, I'm a bit of a foodie. I don't eat out a lot, but instead find enjoyment on researching food and the best techniques to make amazing meals. Obviously, that leads to a deeper understanding of what it is I'm actually ingesting in order to use the ingredients to their best potential.
I was recently up in Boston for the marathon, and as those events usually do they had plenty of advertisers at the convention. One such advertiser was for a non meat chicken substitute. I tried a sample of their "chicken" salad, and found it quite enjoyable. Curious, I started grilling them a bit on what it was actually made of. I could sense their hesitation to respond thoroughly, but eventually they broke down and told me the details in front of the small crowd. The "meat" is made of mycoprotein, basically a fungus that they formed into a patty substitute. I was impressed on how similar to chicken it actually tasted (to be fair it tasted like bland chicken made from a crossfit recipe book or something, so nothing to write home about, but still).
Anyway, there was a man standing there listening in awe, with a somewhat disgusted look on his face. He was flabbergasted by the whole situation. As he watched me eat the sample, he simply exclaimed, "I hope you enjoy eating your fungus!" and stormed off.
Oh, how I wish I wasn't slightly hung over from the night before and had my wits about me (it was vacation and all, I wasn't the one running the marathon). 10 seconds too late, I wanted to quarry him on if he'd recently enjoyed a mushroom. Considering how ubiquitous good old shrooms are, I would have loved to throw it in his smug face replying to his affirmative, "About as much as you enjoyed your last fungus experience."
Alas, I stood speechless as he walked away. It wasn't the fact that he didn't want to be enlightened to meat alternatives; that's all fine and dandy, it was the fact that he insulted the workers at the presentation while they were trying to do a thing. His ignorance and others' before is why the workers were hesitant to divulge the recipe. Newsflash: Fungus is a great umami alternative to meat.
That got me thinking to many of my past experiences with people either being overly privileged and wasteful with food (I can rarely convince people to eat the well prepared gizzards finely diced in a gravy around Thanksgiving), or just straight up ignorant about what they're eating (people have refused fried pork belly, but turned around and ate bacon).
This thread is intended to be a culinary adventure of food and destroying some of our preconceived notions about it. What experiences have you had? What truth bombs do you want to share with other mustachians that might open a new world of nuanced cooking potential?
Some examples:
Never buy herbs in plastic again. Buy herb plants in a potter if you don't have a garden. They cost about the same. Keep it watered and sunned, and snip off what you need for your current meal. For the same $5, you'll have herbs throughout the spring and summer for "free."
Expiration dates on products and recipes are nonsense. Follow your nose, it's a honed tool over many years of survival based evolution. If it's a dish that can be heated to a boil, don't even worry about it being a few days old, just nuke the shit out of it. Any dead bacteria adds flavor (I kid...but seriously, it's fine).
I had an old friend tell me that he didn't eat mushrooms because he doesn't eat stuff that grows on poop. I contemplated telling him that decaying organic material isn't necessarily poop, but decided to leave the intricacies out of it. I didn't have the heart to tell him that most herbs and vegetables, though, are actually grown in poop.
Some of the most cost effective meat is the stuff that is taboo in first world countries. There's a reason why sausage and hot dogs are made with organs and left over cuts... they're delicious. Throw in some spices, mince it up, cook it until it's tender and you're good to go.
Chorizo has more weird shit in it than hot dogs. I've more than once met someone who refused to eat hot dogs because it has "gross parts", but chowed down on some authentic chorizo and eggs for breakfast.
Horse meat is actually pretty tasty. Try a brat next time you're in Germany.
Insects are a great source of protein. I've had maggots, worms, and grasshoppers raw, though like most cook worthy food I wouldn't recommend it in that fashion. However, using them in a similar technique as sausage they could definitely be a viable food source for the world.
Welp, to avoid going even further down the rabbit hole I'll leave it at that last one. What (less cringe inducing) advice or stories do you have about the realities of food, and where we should be looking for it in the future?
Edit: Spelling