Fourier's real subject (is) the organization of production. The big question he asks is: Why does man work? What makes him occupy a determined place in the social organization and agree to stay there and carry out his task?... Fourier... was conscious that... people worked hard, sometimes very hard, without being pushed by the lure of profit but by something, in the eyes of modern man, much vaguer; the love of God, in the case of monks, or more simply the honour of the function.
Sometimes I wonder why I (and Singaporeans in general) slog so hard. We often hear of the work-life balance debate in the news. Just as Houellebecq captures in his insight "L’honneur de la fonction," modernity is characterized by work; an ideal pursuit offering a richer source of personal and collective identity than traveling, family or simply just enjoying.
Today for groc shopping I went a little adventurous and bought 3 different kinds of red meat – kangaroo fillet (super lean and red !), beef and lamb. Im more worried on the kangaroo how I should cook it to prevent it from being too tough to chew. Remember I bought veal the other time? I stir fried it with some onions, capcicums and herbs, and it came out super tough ! eatable, but it sure worked my jaw muscles.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I came across clarified butter at the supermarket ! in other words, ghee. Bought a tub of it and that’s gonna be my cooking fat from now till I reach sg. Gotta admit it took me quite awhile to buy it, yknow, the concept of avoid-ghee-at-all-costs-it-is-full-of-bad-fat is still etched in my brain.
oh, i just read that clarified butter is not the same as ghee. Ghee is clarified butter that has been cooked longer to remove all the moisture, and the milk solids are browned (caramelized) in the fat and then strained out. This gives a rich nutty taste. Ghee has a longer shelf life, both refrigerated and at room temperature. It is traditionally used in Indian cuisine.
ReplyDeletealways thought i could use it interchangeably.
I only know ghee is used to make roti prata. haha :) Poor little roo. I hope you'll make something good out of it.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you use oil? I read a book on oil and vinegars at the library yesterday. From fruit oils (oilive, arjan, avocado) to nut and seed oils (hazelnut, macadamia, walnut, sesame). Very interesting. Like for oilve oil there's Spanish, Greek and Italian, and the nuances in taste depends on the climate and soil grown. As a rule of thumb, olives from hotter climates such as southern Spain tends to produce more 'peppery' tones. As for vinegars (eg balsamic) it's actually produced from red wine + bacteria culture. Balsamic vinegar has to be aged at least 12 years!
ReplyDeleteI reckon why some people insist on using full cooking fat for frying is cause it won’t break down and stablises really well at high heats. For paleo, (im sorry im paleo this and paleo that but that’s what I’ve been reading up on for the past few months), they advocate oils not for cooking, apart from avocado and olive oil (but still preferbably butter/lard/clarified butter). For oils, highly recommended for salads for drizzling which what I’ve been using – extra virgin avocado & olive oil.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally, I do use regular olive oil for baking my fish. Oh, and I came across an interesting article on why nut butters are not as healthy as we think. Agave syrup is the no.1 factor, and also, the ratio of omega 3:omega 6 is really low – somewhere along those lines of omega fatty acids where it lacks the essential omega 3 but is high in omega 6.
But I sure am interested to venture out into nut oils (: will you there to try roo meat? Since its my last few weeks in aus, I decided to give it a shot.
I don't usually see agave in nut butters, or at least I don't buy sweetened nut butters. Oh no, I just read that Omega-6 is pro-inflammatory. Does that mean I should switch to lower omega6:3 nuts like walnuts?
ReplyDeleteSo how was the roo?