I am all about using the freshest ingredients. I attribute this to my father, who would never allow me to eat processed food. Growing up we always had the freshest vegetables, poultry, fish, dairy, beef, lamb… you name it! We were organic before organic!(Not that organic stands for much these days, whith everyone trying to make a quick buck on it!) I have to say, that Lebanese people generally are very conscious and adamant about freshness. Lebanese women spend hours upon hours in the kitchen making every dish from scratch and every ingredient is either grown on their farm lands in the village or received from a relative, friend or neighbor that has a chicken farm, dairy farm or something to that sort. To no surprise, I would whine because I wanted mac n cheese or at one point I was all about buying and eating anything that had “0″ calories advertised on it. My dad in annoyance would tell me to look at him. So I would look at him and he would say with this very very serious face ” if you eat this shit… you will eventually get cancer. We have a farm, where everything is grown fresh and we know what is in it… why do you want to eat this? it’s poison!” I guess telling that to a stubborn teenager was going to take a while before it stuck. But eventually it stuck. Boy did it stick!
I must admit it is so much easier to cook entirely fresh in Lebanon or Maui. It’s nearly impossible to get fresh milk here (I’m talking you just witnessed the cow milked before your very virgin eyes!). Where you can make your fresh cheese and yogurts. No chicken farms nearby for freshly lain eggs and how about a butcher or the neighborhood fisherman. Frankly I just don’t think I want to trust much of what’s put out there no matter what the label says. To make matters worse, we lead a very hectic lifestyle nowadays and by the time you get home and finish sorting what you need to sort, the last thing on your mind is if the chicken came from the local chicken house! You just want to eat!
What I’m trying to say, start getting yourself trained and in the habit to always select and buy the freshest produce out there. Find a nearby certified farmer’s market and buy directly from the producer. That way your also supporting the local market! If you’ve got a garden then start planting your own. Planting herbs is an easy way to start and there’s nothing like saying “oh yes the pesto is made from fresh basil from my garden!” Free range, no range, pesticides no pesticides, I can’t tell you about that, the pros and con’s are all arguable and history has shown that 2-3 years down the line they will come up with a study that now tells you not to eat what they told you would save your life 2 years ago! Use your instinct, stay as natural as humanly possible these days and remember don’t use processed!
Lovely,…and excellent. I am being an Indian and inspired by my father the same way have the same thinking and I follow it to th T. I am so happy I found somebody in th blogging world to be like minded! You have a really lovely blog!