Sunday, October 30, 2011

Shopping

What you buy is what you eat. Shopping can be as simple as going to the store for what you need. But feeding more people (crew, guests, family) and planning farther ahead (boat trips, emergency) takes forethought and practice.


I shop once a month for staples, once a week for roots, and twice a week for fresh produce. The grains are my foundation staple and long-term emergency food along with some canned vegetables and beans. The roots are my medium-term emergency food, and supplement my grain as alternate starch.

Roughly, my shopping strategy look something like this:

Monthly (big one, often Indian grocery for brown Basmati rice and spices, local for fresh produce)
- 10# brown rice, with 1-2# puffed brown rice or brown rice flakes.
- 5# bag with onions, etc., and small 5# bag potatoes.
- 10# seasonal fresh produce

Weekly (often Whole Foods for bakery and salt-free cans, local for fresh produce)
- 5# bag with onions, etc., and small 5# bag potatoes.
- 10# seasonal fresh produce

Daily (2x week, local)
- 10# seasonal fresh produce


Monthly
dry grain



brown rice
6 months
10 lbs
essential
puffed brown rice
1 month
0.5 lb
optional
flattened rice
1 month
2 lbs
optional
Weekly
root



potatoes
3 months
5 lbs
optional
carrots
2 weeks
2 lbs
optional
onions
3 months
5 lbs
essential
Daily (2x week)
fresh



red pepper
1 week
1 lb
optional
tomatoes
1 week
2 lbs
essential
eggplant
1 week
1 lb
optional
cooking fruit



lemons
2 weeks
1 lb
essential
limes
2 weeks
1 lb
optional
plantains
2 weeks
1 lb
optional
dry fruit



raisins
6 months
1 lb
essential
shredded coconut
6 months
0.5 lb
essential
snack fruit



oranges
2 weeks
1 lb
optional
bananas
1 week
1 lb
essential
mango
1 week
1 lb
essential




Saturday, October 29, 2011

Grains

Rice is a staple grain. Rice is plentiful and inexpensive, can be stored for use year round, and forms the foundation of traditional Indian food. Rice is a plant starch, high in energy, and typically eaten at every meal. Rice is simple and easy to cook. The focus is on the rich variety of sauces made from fresh seasonal ingredients, herbs and fresh ground spices.


Monthly
dry grain



brown rice
6 months
10 lbs
essential
puffed brown rice
1 month
0.5 lb
optional
flattened rice
1 month
2 lbs
optional


Of the total 4 lbs per person per day, I plan for 25% cooked grains daily. Cooked grains weigh twice as much as dry grains. So I plan for 0.5 lb dry grain daily, which will be soaked and cooked to 1 lb cooked grain. 4# weekly, 16# monthly.

BROWN RICE

Indians use different varieties of rice, but the favorite and most famous is long grain Basmati rice. Brown rice was traditional before inexpensive mechanical milling to remove the hull and bran became common.
Brown rice can be found everywhere, if you accept short, medium or long grain. I’ve never found a grocery without brown rice.

Brown rice keeps six months. I shop every month for a one month supply. Shopping for one person, I bring home a 10 lb bag every month, depending on what’s left in my bulk dry store. I could keep three times more. Brown rice comes in it’s own 10 lb sack. (My dry grains also include oats, and other dry goods include legumes.)

Long grain Basmati brown rice. 10#; store 1-2 months; keeps 6 months. Rice is always in the galley pantry. 10# = 1-2 months. Between a bag at each home and boat, that gives me 20# and 2-4 months.

RICE FLAKES

Rice flakes are parboiled and rolled brown rice, and require a trip to an Indian grocer or online. Rice flakes are a convenience food. Dishes with rice flakes are quick and easy. This makes rice flakes great for breakfast and lunch dishes. Because rice flakes are already cooked, then dried, they just require soaking. Rice flakes are available in thin and thick. Thin soaks quickly, while thick holds its shape better. Rice flakes don’t keep as long as whole rice.

Rice flakes. 2#; store 1 month (half-life); keeps 2-3 months (shelf-life). Between a bag at each home and boat, that gives me 4#. Note Quaker Oats is 2#, and I typically keep 2 bins at each home and boat!

RICE FLOUR

Rice flour requires a trip to an Indian grocer, but can easily be dry ground in a spice grinder or wet ground in a blender. There is no need to keep separate milled rice flour. Small amounts can be ground in spice grinder. Or wet grind from whole rice, in blender, as for pancake batter. Grind fresh, as with spices. By grinding yourself, you control the process. You can try flours from long, medium or short grains. Flours and breads are processed foods. Baked breads and crackers are dry, with higher energy density than whole foods (1000-1500 calories/lb.) Baking was never central part of Indian cuisine. Most traditional Indian homes had stoves, but not ovens.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Roots

Roots and tubers are ideal foods. Unlike fresh produce, they are available year round outside the tropics. Because are energy storage for plants, they can be quite large. (Contrast to grains and seeds, which are small.) They don’t require chasing down, just dig them up and eat. Roots and tubers are important because they keep very well. When stored in a cool, dry place they can keep through the winter.


Roots are often a base ingredient for stews and broths. There is always a pot of onions slowly browning in many Indian kitchens.

Weekly
root



potatoes
3 months
5 lbs
optional
carrots
2 weeks
2 lbs
optional
onions
3 months
5 lbs
essential


Onion: Common; not green onions. (Rice Flakes, Pilafs) Possibly native to Middle East (Palestine, Egypt) or central Asia (Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan).

Carrot: Uncommon. Occasionally with peas and carrots in pilafs. (Carrot Rice, Pilafs) Wild carrots are widely distributed in Europe and parts of Asia. Possibly native to Afghanistan.

Potato: Common. (Rice Flakes?) Native to Peru and Bolivia. Sweet potato and yams are uncommon in Indian recipes, which prefer the very common Russet potato.

Roots generally keep one month. So I shop every 2 weeks for a 2 week supply. Shopping for one person, I bring home 15 lbs roots every two weeks, depending on what’s left in the root basket. Usually 10 lbs onions and 5-10 lbs potatoes. (I typically use more onions than potatoes, though sometimes that reverses.) That’s two paper bag (10#) or three plastic bags (5#).

Of the total 4 lbs per person per day, I plan for 25% roots daily. I plan for 1 lb roots daily, which will usually be cooked.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Produce

Produce is fresh fruits and vegetables, which are seasonal. Only in the tropics are fruits and vegetables available year round. Plants protect themselves with antioxidants and chemical defenses. Fruit and vegetables keep fresh as long as their supply of antioxidants and chemicals. We are able to eat many of these plants despite their chemicals. The variety of chemical defenses we taste as flavors. Flowering plants trade their fruits to animals in exchange for seed mobility. Fruits are sweet to attract animals and us. But they are only sweet when their seeds are ready. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are all actually fruits.


Leafy vegetables generally keep only a few days. Soft fruit also spoils quickly. Hard fruit (apples) and citrus fruit can keep for weeks. Some fruits can be dried, and kept and used like spices. Raisins and shredded coconut dry and keep well.

Vegetables are often the feature ingredients for stews and broths. Their seasonal freshness provides color and taste variety to the root bases and staple foods. Fresh vegetables are often prepared as raw salads, since most can be simply eaten without soaking or cooking. Fresh fruit often sweetens dishes, especially salads, and also makes simple snacks.

Daily (2x week)
fresh



red pepper
1 week
1 lb
optional
tomatoes
1 week
2 lbs
essential
eggplant
1 week
1 lb
optional




cooking fruit



lemons
2 weeks
1 lb
essential
limes
2 weeks
1 lb
optional
plantains
2 weeks
1 lb
optional
dry fruit



raisins
6 months
1 lb
essential
shredded coconut
6 months
0.5 lb
essential
snack fruit



oranges
2 weeks
1 lb
optional
bananas
1 week
1 lb
essential
mango
1 week
1 lb
essential
Produce is fresh fruits and vegetables and generally keeps one week. So I shop twice a week for 3-4 days supply. Shopping for one person, I bring home 8 lbs fresh fruits and vegetables twice a week. That’s one paper bag (10#) or two plastic bags (5#).

Of the total 4 lbs per person per day, I plan for 50% fresh fruit and vegetables daily. I plan for 2 lbs fresh fruit and vegetables daily, of which 1 lb will be uncooked (salads, snacks) and 1 lb cooked. (The other 2 lbs is staple grains and roots.) Fresh herbs, found with produce at the grocer, are included with spices.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Spices

Spices commonly refers to aromatics, herbs and spices used in seasoning. Briefly, aromatics are roots; herbs are soft green leaves and stems, usually fresh; and spices are dry seeds, nuts, fruits and barks. Herbs and aromatics keep days and weeks, but dry spices keep months and years, and have been traded around the world.


India is located at the center of trade routes on the Indian Ocean, between the Middle East and Europe to the west, and Indonesia and China to the east. Indian merchants on the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, similar to Italian merchants on the Mediterranean, introduced and supplied India with spices from both the East and West.

India is known for its spices, and provides many examples to learn and practice seasonings. Spices let us choose a varieties of tastes, instead of just fat and salt. From sauces to pickles to preserved cheeses and meats, it’s the seasonings, from roots, leaves, seeds, fruits and barks, all plants, that distinguish and provide signature flavorings to our favorite ingredients. Spices can add flavor to our everyday cooking.

There is mystery and secret in learning spices. Products often keep their seasonings secret, with ingredients listing bases like onion, garlic and ginger, and including the rest of seasonings as just spices.  Ingredients are ordered by volume, but measures are never given. Learning to blend pastes and roast and grind spices creates the almost magical potions and powders of cooking. The amounts are small, and often mixed and ground together into a single ingredient, a spice mix. I think of spice mixes, prepared for each dish, as a single ingredient.


dry herb



bay leaf
1 year
5
essential
fresh herb



garlic
1 month
2
essential
ginger
1 month
1
essential
cilantro leaf
3 days
1
essential
curry leaf
1 week
1
optional
ground spice



red pepper
1 year
12
essential
turmeric
1 year
1
essential
sea salt
1 year
1
essential
paprika
1 year
3
optional
whole spice



coriander seed
1 year
14
essential
cumin seed
1 year
3
essential
black pepper corns
1 year
2
essential
brown mustard
1 year
12
optional
green cardamom
1 year
2
optional
cinnamon
1 year
1
optional
cloves
1 year
1
optional


ESSENTIAL HERBS (5)
Garlic: Aromatic

Ginger: Aromatic. Native to China.

Bay Leaf: Bay leaf is a strong leaf, used as base seasoning in stews and broths in North India as wells as Middle East and Europe. South India prefers curry leaves.

Coriander Leaf / Cilantro: Adds bitter finish. Cilantro is used as finish for salads, sauces and stews, similar in function to parsley in European and Middle East.

Lemon (Lime): Lemon Rice. Adds sour and fruity taste. Lemon juice is used as dressing for salads and finish in stews, similar in function to vinegars.

OPTIONAL HERBS (1)
Curry Leaf: Lemon Rice. Native to South India and Asia. Curry leaf is a strong leaf, used as base seasoning in stews and broths, similar in function but different taste and aroma to bay leaf in Europe and Middle Eastern and Northern India.

ESSENTIAL SPICES (6)
Sea Salt: Rice. A pinch and no more is all that’s needed to make the difference between plain and tasty.

Black Pepper: Pilaf. Black pepper is native to India, and along with cumin, garlic and ginger, provides basic heat.

Turmeric: Pilafs. Aromatic like garlic and ginger. Gives brown rice a nice yellow color. Turmeric is a yellow root related to ginger. Commonly used in small quantities in everything.

Cumin Seed: Common. Used similar to black pepper. Often paired with coriander. Native across Middle East (Egypt), grown across Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Coriander Seed: Coriander is native to India, and grown across Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Red Chili Pepper (Cayenne Pepper): Native to America; paired with black pepper and cumin for extra heat.

OPTIONAL SPICES (4)
While common today, these spices are native to Indonesia (Spice Islands).

Brown Mustard Seed: Lemon Rice. Mustard seed is grown across Europe, Middle East and Asia. India uses brown mustard.

Green Cardamom: Eggplant Biryani, Biryanis. Cardamon is native to Middle East.

Cinnamon: Rice Flakes, Eggplant Biryani, Biryanis. Cinnamon is the bark of a tree. Native to Sri Lanka.

Cloves: Eggplant Biryani, Biryani. Native to Indonesia (Spice Islands).