Food And Music

We seem to enjoy many situations where food and music are combined.  In fact  music and food are often foundations of social events.  Consider soft music playing in the background during family meal times; the special live music often playing while dining out; the outdoor festivals where food and music are the main attractions.  Thank about pot lucks, dances, weddings, carnivals, street fairs, all combine food and music. 

Hearing music is an invisible path to joy, laid out in various forms for us to listen to, contemplate, and savor.  Music, like food, can stimulate many pleasing memories.  As cooks, we often enjoy not only the sounds of our cooking, for example sautéing veggies, but many listen to music in the background, for enjoyment or to inspire.

Taste enables us to distinguish between sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, the four basic flavors that all cooks have to play with.  The fun and adventure begins here, as the cooks choose their ingredients. The simple splendor of enjoying the creations prepared by the loving hands of others is an experience we all enjoy. All we need to enjoy these foods is an awareness of our own particular pleasure.

In Quebec, the maple syrup harvest is celebrated with fiddle playing to a meal of brown beans, ham and maple syrup. Why not celebrate our cold winter season by stimulating our senses with music and a big pot of home baked beans? How about taking home baked beans on a picnic? Beans contain an abundance of B vitamins, iron, calcium, zinc, potassium, magnesium, and copper, and are said to be one of the five least allergenic foods. They are an ideal complex carbohydrate, loaded with fibre, necessary for good bowel health. They fight cancer, help with blood sugar balance, and reduce cholesterol.

See the recipe below for my favorite method of maintaining generous amounts of good quality legumes in my diet.  Cooked beans keep well for about three days in the fridge, and about three months in the freezer. 

Sprouting legumes raises the nutrient value a great deal. Using sprouted beans in your diet on a regular basis contributes to an even higher level of nutrition than using them cooked and unprocessed. Sprouted beans are best sautéed for three minutes and added to a stir-fry, salad, or soup for a great source of protein.

Basic Bean Cooking from Eat Away Illness by Paulette Millis

You Need:

dry beans of choice,(e.g. garbanzos, navy, lima, black, pinto, kidney)

filtered water

few pieces of sea vegetable such as Kombu

Pick out any discolored or unsuitable beans and discard. Wash well. Cover with filtered water and soak overnight. Drain and cover with fresh filtered water or vegetable stock and a piece of sea vegetable (helps to reduce the production of gas).

1. Simmer until tender, usually one and one half hour. Test beans for doneness like you do for pasta, just bite into one. Garbanzos usually take a bit longer than lima, kidney and navy beans, but cooking time depends on the age of the bean, the dryness of the year they were grown, and storage factors.

2. Drain the beans and save the liquid for gravies and soups. I don’t save kidney bean water as the color is not appetizing.

Note: Split peas and lentils do not need soaking overnight, although it is okay to do so. They will cook from the dry state in 30 - 45 minutes, although long simmering, as in Split Pea Soup, softens the legumes into almost a purée.

To save time and increase the likelihood of using beans regularly, soak and cook several kinds of beans in separate pots. Drain, and place on cookie sheets and freeze. Bag in separate zip lock bags when frozen, label,  and Voila! ready for casseroles, salads, soups, stir fries, mashed as dips, in burritos, and baked beans.

Nature’s Medicine: Vegetable protein is less likely to contribute to illness. Use legumes often in place of meat. For a high profile of amino acids (protein) combine with a grain.