Ode to the Mediterranean diet - Portion, proportion and price

                                           (Eggplant and tahina as prepared by my wife)

I just returned from a three-week trip to the United States. I was happy to return to my bed, cats, computers and, no less importantly, my diet.  It was not that I ate badly on my trip.  I ate solid American food, fancy French food, tasty Asian food and good basic Mexican food, to name a few.  I certainly did not go hungry.  Still, it is a relief to go back to my Mediterranean diet, filed with lots of vegetables in dishes and salads, a reasonable amount of protein, fresh fruit and nuts.

At each of the restaurant types I dined in, something seemed off.  Typical American fare, such as deli sandwiches, pancakes and American breakfast, is tasty and filling but the portions are simply too big.  The feeling after the meal borders and even sometimes crosses over to heaviness. While it is possible to order smaller portions or split dishes, the eyes are much bigger than the stomach.  The food on the plate only turns out to be too much when after you have finished eating it. I really can live without American food.

I also enjoyed several Asian restaurants.  I relish curries and spicy food. The issue is the matter of proportion.  Hot is as hot feels. Everybody has a different comfort zone but a restaurant can only cater to it to a limited degree. I always felt that I wanted it a bit hotter or milder. Having eaten Chinese food in China I understand that there simply is no single standard of spicing.  The process of trial and error is a long process. Also, the proportion of meat to vegetables is low by Western standards. That is probably good for the body but not always enough for the soul. For me, Asian food is a treat, not an everyday meal.

I also dined a several very fine French restaurants.  The portions were right for middle-aged persons and left me with a nice feeling of having eaten enough but not too much. The taste was rich with complicated sauces complementing the well-prepared meats.  The problem was that the price was rich also.  Comparing the price and the amount of food it purchased, something seemed off. While I was satisfied in terms of quantity and quality, the cost seemed exorbitant. French restaurants are an expensive diet.

Now I am back home with my eggplant, chopped vegetable salad, tahina, shakshuka, falafel, kabab and humus, not to mention lamb, chicken and fish.  The portions, even in restaurants, are sufficient but not exaggerated. The flavors are balanced.  If I want it hotter, I can add some sahug, a hot pepper condiment. The prices are quite reasonable by local income standards and more than reasonable for tourists. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  I would say it also has the same effect on the taste buds and stomachs.

Something from nothing gets something

Traders have always known that everything has a value. The matter is to discover it and bring the product to those who need (and willing to pay good money for) it. A recent conversation about not being to eat the “hole” in a piece of meat led me to search for ultimate uses, in all senses of the phrase, of supposed garbage.

One use of garbage is for food.  For example, donut makers took the tiny pieces of dough removed to make the defining hole of a donut, baked them and sold them as, of course, donut holes.  So, you can eat the hole, at least in some cases.  In Israel, falafel stands take and fry the thin slice of pita bread that is cut in order to open the pita, adding it as a crunchy element to the choice of condiments. In wine countries everywhere, grappa, a very strong wine made from the remaining grape skins, is produced to celebrate the harvest and processing of the grapes.  It is not suggested for weak spirits.  As many still say, you should not throw out food; there are starving people in some country.

Waste products can also be used to make our lives better in other ways. Dry cherry pits, apparently, make a very effective filing for bed warmers although it takes a lot of them and requires you to remember to not throw them out in the summer.  People weave wheat shafts to create very nice baskets (and make money from it). Coconut shells make fine bowels. Walnut shells can be turned into portable fire starters. Ash is used to make home-made soaps.  Corn cobs make excellent barbeque cleaners. Your imagination is the limit.

In a world searching to end its dependence on chemicals, organic materials provide a rich source of alternatives.  Sunflower seed shells discourage weeds.  Bird crap has always served as an ideal fertilizer and is is known as guana. Egg shells can be used to keep pipes clean while cat hair can be used to clean animals coated with oil from spills. In terms of medical options, potato peels can help treat infections while apricot pits are used in cancer treatment.

Of course, some waste products can simply be burnt as fuel.  These include coconut husks and olive pits, to name a few.  You can even run an specially adapted engine on cooking oil. The smell is a bit French fries but the car runs.

Of course, this is only a partial list.  You can find out more details by looking up the relevant items in Google or Bing. In any case, to paraphrase the known expression, garbage is as garbage sees.