The Monster Cook Book: The Garden of Eating
29 August 2006If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The Monster Cook Book: The Garden of Eating
A new approach to the age-old dilemma of what best to eat, how much and when…
Rachael and Don Matesz are interesting folks doing interesting work in an area eternally near and dear to my hard, hard heart. They sent me a copy of their 600-page opus magnus, The Garden of Eating. I paraphrase but essentially the book’s mission statement is: meld precision eating with taste. The Matesz’s are followers of this website. I find it flattering that my oft incoherent rants don’t insult their refined and sophisticated nutritional sensibilities. Both are nutrition professionals super serious about fitness and health. (in our vanity culture a vastly undervalued attribute) We seek lean muscularity and have in interest in all things that move us towards that goal. Rachael is a top chef with a strong point of view. She teaches food preparation in picturesque Arizona. Here is a pithy encapsulation so spot on that rather than reinvent the critical wheel, I’ll simply pass along the succinct synopsis….
“{The Garden of Eating} draws on the landmark work of Weston Price, D.D.S., and the time-tested food ways of healthy pre-agricultural people, The Garden of Eating shows people how to obtain the health-building benefits of an alkaline diet based on fresh vegetables and fruits and including pasture-fed animal products. Provides a simple, practical plan, numerous time-saving tips, resource lists, shopping lists, menus, and 250 delicious, nutritious, family-friendly, grain-and dairy-free recipes, plus eight appendices; 592 pages, illustrated and indexed.”
That’s a damn-fine overview. This is a 600-page monster cookbook/philosophic treatise. It’s all about what to eat and what not to eat. Its all about food and nutrition and backed up with science. The BIG BOOK offers up a very specific and particular nutritional proposition, a solid stance. But what, pray tell, is an alkaline diet?
“If you want to minimize your body fat and maximize your health and disability-free lifespan, cut refined carbohydrates, but don’t stop eating carbohydrate-rich whole foods. Choose a produce-dominated diet wherein, by weight or volume, at least 65% of your food comes from vegetables and fruits. Divide the remainder among whole grains, nuts, seeds, and modest amounts of lean wild or grass-finished animal products. Use visible oils and fats sparingly. This will give you the most nutritious diet possible.”
There you go. Not that I agree with each and every assertion. Every imaginable aspect of this intricate nutritional formula is examined in minute detail. These people have thought about this approach. Acceptable foods are identified and recipes galore provided. Arcane yet important subtleties are brought up: which kitchen tools are needed? How best to organize the effective, produce dominated kitchen…meal planning…meal preparation…a month’s worth of day-to-day menus, complete with prep lists. Chef Rachael teaches cooking classes in Phoenix, Tempe and Chandler Arizona. Husband and coauthor Don has a Master’s degree in nutrition and in the esoteric art of Chinese herbology. Philosophically they bring a lot of diverse elements and influences to the table. At 30-bucks this mega-monster book is a total bargain. My only complaint is that the book is so encyclopedic as to be a bit unwieldy. I have a hell of a lot more in common with these folks than not and that’s a rarity in this day and age. I love the science and I love the strength of conviction. If pursing a produce-dominated diet (with some surprising allowable foods and some surprising banned foods) appeals to your mindset, this book is for you. We’ve posted an article Don wrote in our “guest writer section.” He’s a persuasive writer with a strong viewpoint. Here’s a short excerpt…
Do Carbs Turn To Fat?
Repeated metabolic studies in controlled conditions have shown that people convert only small amounts of starch to stored fat. When human subjects overate as much as 1000 calories (250 grams) of refined starch daily for one week, on the seventh day they were converting less than 10 percent of the carbohydrate to fat, producing only 10 grams of new fat daily from the process (13, 14, 15). At this rate, a person would have to overeat (on top of a calorie-adequate diet) a daunting 10 four-ounce potatoes or bananas, or about 20 slices of whole grain bread, every day for a whole year to gain one extra pound of fat. In contrast, eating a high-fat diet does not stimulate your system to burn more body fat, and if you eat more fat than you burn daily, more than 95% of it will become body fat (15,16). Your body burns a mix of carbohydrate and fat daily (the proportion depends on your activity level). To lose body fat, you have to eat less fat than you burn. Some studies suggest cutting fat may be more important than cutting calories.
Sharp stuff backed up with science. The Garden of Eating is a well-thought-out approach with a sharply distinct and sophisticated nutritional philosophy. We want acceptable meals but we need succulent meals – meals we look forward to eating – taste and skillful preparation that can transform ordinary food ( like chicken breast) into a divine culinary creation, one we crave. How about two quick selections from The Garden…mango-chutney-ginger spiced boneless breast or grilled breasts in spicy peanut sauce? On and on the recipes go, all acceptable and appropriate. Once taste is successfully melded with an effective nutritional game plan – dieting ceases to be dieting – food undergoes a metamorphosis: from adversary to ally. Physical transformation becomes not a matter of if but when. For purchasing info go to their nice website: www.TheGardenOfEatingDiet.com
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