Improv in the kitchen

Monday, December 11

Today, we had a class on Improv 1 where the class was divided into two teams and we had to come up with a four-course gourmet vegan meal together based on what ingredients we had available. There were limited seasonal ingredients and basic items available to us, only 15 minutes to plan the menu, and the menu had to be balanced, colourful, delicious, and use a variety of cooking techniques. First the chef had to review and approve the menu prior to starting, and then we had one hour and a half to prepare the four course meal and have it ready for presentation, without recipes or time to refer to things. It was challenging and a lot of fun. It was especially interesting to realize how much we had learned in our short but intensive time at the culinary school to date and what you could plan and prepare in a limited time period using the collective skills and creativity of team members. Our menu included: beet soup with roasted garlic coulis; fennel, currant, apple and walnut salad with a citrus vinaigrette; the entree of lentil, brown rice, vegetable and sunflower seed patties with a tahini sauce served with maple butternut squash and sauteed kale, and the dessert of a carrot pudding with a lemon coulis. Very vibrant colours and delicious too. We did quite well in the presentation to the chef with minor comments. In Improv 2, we will have to do a similar exercise again but this time we will be graded.

Medicinal Cooking - Cancer

In the afternoon, we had the first of our classes on medical cooking, the first one on cancer. This was quite the intensive and eye opening class about the latest stats on cancer and the relationship with food and healing, including different approaches and foods that have had positive benefits with the prevention and healing of cancer patients. Some interesting stats:

- In the 1900, cancer was the 10th leading cause of death in the US affecting 3.7% of the population. In 1995 it is the 2nd leading cause of death affecting 23.5% of the population, with 1 in 3 women being affected and 1 in 2 men being affected in some way

- The increased rate of cancer can be attributed to the use of pesticides, processed foods, environment, etc. and it is not because we are living longer

- Our teacher believes that there is little discussion and news about the environment and its relationship to cancer as many board members who sit on cancer associations belong to major corporations, in particular major chemical and pharmaceutical companies, who are contributing to the environmental problems.

- Billions of tons of toxic substances that never existed are now being released into the enviroment (water, air, soil) and it is estimated that only 3 per cent of chemicals in use have been tested for human safetey. Many experts predicted as far back as 30 years ago that cancer rates would increase citing an explosion of synthetic chemcals.

- More questions are being raised about the validity of mammograms (an xray) and the only acknolwedged cause of cancer by the American Cancer Soetiy is from radiation. There is evidence that the breast, particularly in premenopausal women, is highly sensitive to radiation and some women carry a gene that greatly increases their breast cancer risk from raditiation. For more info on this important topic, Sherrill Sellman wrote a popular book called "Hormone Heresy: What Women Must Know About Their Hormones" and www.ssellman.com

- The top three causes of death in the US are heart disease, cancer and stroke. However, in the latest medical reports they are citing "Iatrongenic Disease" as the third leading cause of death, which are medical errors made by practitioners that lead to disease and death

The main anti-cancer strategies related to food follow mostly what we have been learning all along at the school for healthful eating:

• Choose organic foods when possible
• Eat a wide range of vegetables and fruit daily that are colourful and varied
• Eat foods high in fibre such as whole grains, beans, raspberries, dark leafy greens, artichokes, etc.
• Select foods rich in Vitamin D such as fatty fish
• Reduce commercially produced foods. Compounds in processed foods that can cause cancer include, transfatty acids, rancid fats (commercial vegetable oils), Omega-6 fatty acids (in excess as only small amounts are required), MSG, aspartame, pesticides, hormones, and artificial flavourings and colours
• Eliminate or reduce factory produced commercial meat and dairy products
• Reduce hydrogenated fats and use healthy traditional fats in moderation
• Limit fried foods
• The use of artificial colours, flavours and sweetners should be reduced or eliminated
• Reduce the use of white sugar and avoid products with high fructose corn syrup
• Reduce the eating of refined carbs such as white flour
• Limit salt and sodium intake
• Avoid excess alchohol and try to limit to 1 drink a day for women and 2 drinks a day for men
• Avoid smoked or cured meats and meats cooked at higher temperatures or well done meat. Try to eat meat that is organic, grass-fed, as rare as possible, etc.
• Be cautious about decaffeinated coffee and tea where chemical solvents have been used to remove the caffeine
• Cooked tomatoes are usually one of the top vegetables cited by nutritionists to fight cancer. While this is beneficial, one should look at a colourful diet each day. The book called "What Colour is your Diet"by David Herber, MD, recommends trying to have one serving a day of each colour group, with a rainbow of different colours and a variety of vegetable and fruit examples under each colour. For example, under Red are tomatoes, grapefruit, watermelon, guava, etc. Under Red/Purple are cranberries, strawberries, red wine, raspberries, eggplant, red bell peppers, red cabbage, apples, etc. Under Orange is acorn squash, carrots, winter squash, yams, mangos, etc.
• Crusciferous vegetables in particular contain an abundance of phytochemicals called glucosinolates, which have demonstrated consistently protective effects on certain types of cancer. The list of cruciferae include: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, arugula, bok choy, broccoli rabe, collards, watercress, daikon, kale, mustard greens, turnip, rutabaga, radish, etc. In general, the deeper the colour, the greater the phytochemical content and they are also outstanding sources of calcium, magnesium, beta carotene, and vitamin C.