Food

I’ve been thinking about food a lot lately. This is new to me, as I’ve not been very food oriented for my entire life. Sure, there’ve always been things I’ve liked more than others, but I rarely paid much attention.

I guess this shift came from watching a few too many episodes of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It’s a good show, and while it features food, it’s also about travel, and I really enjoy Bourdain’s commentary, which runs throughout the show.

Slowly, his intensity for food as rubbed off on me. It doesn’t take a professional chef to know that the smell that wafts from Subway isn’t right, or to notice when a dish at a restaurant is lazily planned or prepared. Even I know that there’s no reason to use American cheese. Ever.

I’m also re-evaluating my vegetarianism. I’ve been off meat for something around ten years, so I think it’s time to evaluate. I already know that I won’t be reintroducing beef into my diet. It still takes eight times the resources to grow a cow to feed a person as it would to just feed the person. I’m also not very enthused about chicken. I suppose organic / free range chickens might be okay to eat. Forget about pork (I do still miss bacon though).

Mostly, I’m thinking about certain kinds of fish. Just two days ago I purchased Bottomfeeder, How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood by Taras Grescoe. Even in the introduction it’s clear that some, if not most, fish should be avoided for a mix of environmental and health reasons. However, it sounds like there are many other kinds that are healthy and thriving. After I finish the book and understand the arguments, I’ll make my decisions.

While I haven’t historically been a huge seafood fan, as I mentioned above, my relationship with food has evolved since I quite eating anything with a nervous system.

Sports Drinks

Now that I'm running a lot, I've taken a renewed interest in sports drinks.

So far, Accelerade seems best. It has sugar instead of the high fructose corn syrup found in Powerade and Gatorade. It also has some protein, which is also good for me. As a vegetarian, protein intake is something I need to watch. I've had a little trouble finding a reliable source of Accelerade; even the stores that carry it, don't have it in stock reliably, and they often don't have more than one flavor in stock at a time.

This led me to examine Gatorade's current offerings. Nowadays, there's Gatorade Fierece, Gatorade a.m., Gatorade Tiger (licensed by Tiger Woods), Gatorade Rai... and all seem to come in a handful of flavors.

The thing is, all those products HAVE THE SAME FORMULA! There's no nutritional difference between the different Gatorades. Even the A.M. formula! According to the Gatorade marketing department, Gatorade A.M. has flavors that one might like to taste when exercising in the morning.

Now, Gatorade does carry G2 which is a lower calorie verison; at least that is functionally different than the others. That doesn't help me any, but I can see why someone would be interested.

Moderate Excess

So far, the vacation is predictably fabulous. I've introduced my wife and other friends to Munchkin Cthulu, which is a great game for this group. Few of us have read much Lovecraft, but it's easy enough to understand Victorian era horrible monster hunting. My friends and I were weaned on 1st edition Advanced D&D, and had a few copies of Deities and Demigods floating around. That book included a whole chapter on the Cthulu mythos. Then they discovered that those characters were copyright protected and had to go away (along with Moorcock's Melnibone' set) from later editions.

Yesterday we also played a few rounds of Clue. It had been years since any of us had played it, so we were all on equal footing. The strength of Clue is that it demands a different kind of game play than most board games: you have to work out the logic, plus try and read your opponents' mannerisms. Almost oddly, I'm not a huge fan of it. This shouldn't be interpreted as a judgment of the game itself. Rather, it's a very personal preference because the game doesn't directly line up with my own strengths. As I told the group, "I'll enjoy it when we play, but I probably won't ever suggest it."

The food in Colville is hit and miss. We discovered a great place for breakfast and lunch called The Courthouse Cafe. Unfortunately it doesn't have beer or wine, and isn't open for dinner. It did remind me that not all tasty beverages require alcohol. The service is also quick and friendly, and all the food has been top notch.

On the other side of things, in other places, we've encountered some lazy food (chile rellenos that really weren't, grilled cheese with good bread but yucky American cheese, and a generally dissatisfying set of omelets for brunch).

It's fairly easy to get good beer in Colville now. That's an improvement. During my last trip, I discovered a local brewery called 'Lost Falls' that I enjoyed, but I can't find it anywhere anymore.

Another high point of the trip so far was running 10 miles yesterday morning with Tony. We kept tight to my comfortable but not too comfortable 8 minute mile. I don't believe I've ever run that far before. Since I don't think I had ever run 9 miles before doing so last month, these mileage personal records aren't so novel anymore.

Don't Settle

Eagle Rare continues as the bourbon of the moment. That's the last of the birthday bottle though, so back to Elijah Craig until the next special occasion.

My lovely wife got tickets to Anthony Bourdain for us, and we just got home. He's a great speaker, and the one thing I carried from him is to continue guarding against mediocrity. I've never been much of a foodie, and I'm still not. I have many steps to go before I even really understand what he's talking about. However, I do understand lazy food, and I understand tasty food. There's always the 'I know what I like' criteria, which is completely valid. At least, it's valid if one is paying attention and has given some thought to what one likes.

Then, my friend David pointed me toward this YouTube mash-up of William Shatner's version of Common People laid over some Star Trek Animated Series clips. The shit is brilliant in several ways.

I know I've settled for lazy comic books, lazy television, lazy movies, lazy internet sites and lazy web surfing. In this context, I'm using the word lazy in the worst sort of way: there are plenty of cases when lazy is a wonderful, brilliant thing. Lazy can be perfect. However, when it comes to entertainment and many other things, it's actually a little horrifying.

I may start eating some kinds of fish again. I recently read an article about how some fish are not endangered, not underpopulated and not filled with toxins. They're really quite healthy apparently. I know that sardines were an example. That contrasts with tuna and salmon which are fish populations that are having problems. More research is required.

I've been a vegetarian... hmm, I think for over ten years. It's appropriate to revisit my dietary choices in this regard.