Ancient Grains for Modern Meals - Maria Speck [6]
• Repeated studies have shown that a diet rich in whole grains significantly reduces the risk of major chronic diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.
• Eating three servings of whole grains per day can reduce the risk of certain cancers.
• People who eat whole grains regularly have a lower risk of obesity. They also have lower cholesterol levels.
This is all I want to say about the health benefits of whole grains. Much has been written on the topic, and one quick search on the Internet will bring you up to date. But mainly I don’t want to tout the health benefits of whole grains because I don’t believe this will actually make us eat them. After all, experts have been trumpeting these messages for years—yet so many of us still don’t know what most whole grains look like.
So why don’t we eat more whole grains? For one, I believe, it’s because we don’t know how to cook them. Fair enough. But I believe the real reason is that when it comes to whole grains, we are constantly reminded that we have to eat them because they are good for us. And that is also how they are still often served. Go to a bakery and you will find an assortment of beautiful breads with nuts and seeds, olives and sun-dried tomatoes, and then the one, oh-so-plain, whole wheat loaf. Or try a whole grain salad at a lunch buffet. Healthy it might be, with all the right ingredients, with lowfat this and no-fat that. I have chewed through many of those well-intentioned bowls. The thought makes me cringe. Because everyone else on the table is having a really good meal. Thank you very much.
I believe the only way to eat well for good is to eat all good food, within reason. Renowned journalist Michael Pollan puts it this way: “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” Cookbook author and food writer Mark Bittman from the New York Times calls it a “moderate diet of wholesome foods.” I believe whole grains have to be a significant part of our everyday meals to make us eat and live better, and perhaps even to lose a few pounds along the way. But first and foremost, they have to be deliriously delicious. Why else would we try them?
THE TRUFFLE THEORY
My eating philosophy can be summed up in what I call the truffle theory. It is based on my own experience, and it derives from one of my deluxe culinary pleasures: eating a homemade chocolate truffle.
When I buy a box of truffles, I often devour the whole box in, say, one day. Not so if I make my own. When one of my homemade dark chocolate truffles with cream, butter, and a fleeting hint of Grand Marnier starts to melt on my tongue, I go quiet fast. Not only is its sensational freshness positively overwhelming; I am also reminded of its creation. I remember the effort that went into making these unevenly shaped pieces of bliss. The wait for the silky ganache to cool. The brisk rolling between my palms so as not to melt the chocolate. And the good ingredients I bought to make them in the first place. So to my own surprise, one or two truffles will be all I eat. I don’t have to tell myself to stop. It just happens because each truffle is simply so good.
I admit this is an indulgent start to an eating philosophy in a whole grain cookbook, yet it best encompasses my four principles of eating well:
• Cook as often you can.
• Eat everything, with pleasure and not in a rush.
• Buy whole ingredients, close to home.
• Strive for imperfection; no need to be a four-star chef.
This, in essence, also sums up the pleasures of the Mediterranean table and how I was raised. From Greece, to Turkey and Tunisia, from Italy to Israel, from Spain to France—eating across the Mediterranean is a soulful combination of cooking from scratch and preparing mouthwatering meals with whatever is on hand. Tables can be bursting