Mouthful

What in the world are you eating?

100 glorious years of MSG

25 September 2008 | 10:39 - By Phil Lees

What began as a highbrow discussion of Chinese food in Australia a few days ago ended with the most lowbrow of gastronomic outcomes: me cooking the Australian version of chow mein that absolutely requires a whole packet of the cheapest, home-brand powdered chicken noodle soup available. Apart from that, cabbage, minced meat, curry powder and rice is required. Mix with water and boil.


I have no idea from whence this abomination of a recipe came but I'm guessing that it originated on the back of a chicken noodle soup packet in the 60s rather than from anywhere near China.Which has me wondering, why was it acceptable to cook a meal using MSG-filled powdered soup and not just use straight MSG?

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Semi-vegetarian

22 September 2008 | 9:16 - By Phil Lees

I'm semi-vegetarian or at least I am according to this research. It sets the bar excessively low for what is classed as semi: consuming meat with "fewer than half" of meals.


14% of American adults eat meat for less than half of their meals or not at all. An equal percentage of American adults eat meat with every single meal. The research classes them as "avid" and they offer a carnivorous equilibrium to the semi- and fully- vegetarian folk at the other end of the lever.

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A brewing disaster

11 September 2008 | 10:04 - By Phil Lees

There is a disaster brewing for beer drinkers that is an ugly lesson in global interdependence.


For the last twenty years there has been a global glut of hops, the fragrant conical heads of the female hop plant that lend beer many of its distinctive aromas and bitterness. Flavours from floral to fruity can be coaxed from different varieties into beer during the brewing process.

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Rarely a week goes by where we are not subjected to another article about a superfood that will make you smarter. This week alone (in my most scant of research), I've come across claims that the following foods will boost your brainpower because of the related substance:fish (Omega-3 fatty acids), broccoli (vitamin K), nuts (vitamin E), chicken and lean red meat (L-Carnosine), whole grains (folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6), sage (wive's tale, no particular reason), tomatoes (lycopene), blackcurrants (vitamin C).


Of these, only fish (especially oily fish like mackerel or sardines that are quite literally dripping with omega-3 fatty acids) seem to have the unequivocal support of nutrition science.

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About this Blog

A blog about what the world eats, when and where it eats it, and why it matters to us all. Only much less ambitious than that sounds and with more excruciating puns.

Phil Lees grew up in rural Victoria, the first generation in his family to not have lived on the farm and thereby not slaughter their own meat.

In 2005 he moved to Cambodia and started the nation’s first food blog, Phnomenon.com, named after the best pun that he has ever made. It turns out that Cambodian food is delicious and unlike the warnings in most guidebooks, is not likely to kill you with any immediacy. Gridskipper called him a “national treasure”. Lonely Planet’s Greater Mekong guide called him “the unofficial pimp of Cambodian cuisine”. The New York Times laughed at a funny hotdog he saw.

Phil makes a mean sausage, a hoppy pale ale, a modest laksa. He owns three barbecues and is in the market for a fourth. He’s never eaten at a Michelin-starred restaurant. There is more important food in the world to be eaten.

 
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