More than just a cooking demo....

One of the great things I've been able to do since coming to Bangalore is attend a number of different cooking classes, some in restaurants others in people's homes. Often, I can't eat everything that's on offer due to my milk and yeast intolerance, but there's one class I've been to that I could eat everything on offer (well, nearly everything) that was not only really healthy but delicious too - a vegan one.
Say the word vegan and it tends to bring to mind aged hippies eating lettuce leaves, museli and chewy smoked tofu that gets stuck in the back of the throat, food with an odd taste and just not interesting. Go to a cooking demo by Dr Nandita Shah and you'll get a completely different opinion and a taste sensation.
We had morning shakes, mayo, tongue tingling salads, curries and dals (this is India!!) and, the most exciting for me, home made vegan 'cheese' that was used for pizza.
I haven't tried making it myself yet (the demo was only yesterday!) but I will, and once road-tested, I'll put up the recipe; I'm hoping it works out as good as yesterdays. Not being able to actually eat pizza because of the yeast in the base, they kindly cooked the pizza sauce and some vegetables together, topped with the cheese and it was absolutely gorgeous!
Apart from eating mounds of yummy, healthy food, the purpose of these cooking demos is to put across a more serious and profound message - that the food we eat really does make a difference to our health and that the chronic diseases that are on the increasing around the world, such as diabetes and heart disease, can all be reversed or prevented through eating a plant based whole food diet. It's a simple but radical message and one that can take some time to accept. Dr Shah herself is a the perfect advocate of this type of eating as she just glows with energy and vitality. This is the third session I've been to with her, and each time I take away more ideas and thoughts, and I'm gradually making the changes needed, although I haven't managed to stop the tea or the alcohol!
There were some really inspiring stories yesterday of people who had made a real difference to their health - I spoke to one lady who has been eating this plant based whole food diet for 2 months and has already halved her diabetes medication. There was someone else who was almost medication free since starting in June. Years of health problems building up and growing turned around in such a short period of time - quite remarkable.
So it makes me think about why don't more doctors advocate this instead of just handing out the pills and potions? Why aren't governments that spend so much money managing chronic health problems promoting this kind of eating? Why are there so many fast food chains still just chucking out the same, addictive junk? I guess it comes down to money - there's not a lot of it in carrots and brown rice, but there is in the pharmaceutical, meat, dairy and fast food businesses.  Co-incidentally, I read some startling statistics the other day. According to a UN report, 18% of the world's CO2 emissions are produced by animal agriculture, compared to 13% from all forms of transport combined together. Also,  it takes between 4000 and 18,000 gallons of water to make the beef for just one hamburger. So just from an environmental perspective, there are big issues related to animal food products even before you start looking at the health side.
So as well as feeding my stomach, the cooking demo also fed my mind, giving me lots to think and learn about. But one thing I am sure about is that food can harm, but it can also heal, and I'm following that route, so my next burger is definately a veggie one!
If you want to find out more about Dr Shah's work check out the SHARAN India website at www.sharan-india.org. 

Sensitive seasoning

I love fajitas; crunchy fried vegetables with warming seasoning, either cooled by yoghurt and avocado or zingy with salsa topped with piles of cheese. And it's so easy to make - one fajita kit and a pile of veg and 15 minutes later dinner is on the table.
Of course, having a milk intolerance cuts out the dollops of yoghurt and lashings of cheese, and finding a fajita kit in the shops in India can be nigh on impossible. So I bought whatever fajita seasoning  and wraps I could find and made the rest myself. One day, I found a new brand; checking the ingredients (as I do with everything I buy!) I found that it had milk powder in it along with a whole load of E numbers, anti-caking agents and loads of other chemicals. I went right off it! That's when I decided to create my own seasoning with whatever I had in my kitchen.
The basis of fajita seasoning is chilli powder, ground cumin and salt, three ingredients readily available in any Indian kitchen so we were good to go. Luckily, I had inherited a pile of spices from a friend who had recently left Bangalore, so I had paprika and garlic powder too. Cayenne pepper was more of a challenge but the best thing about this seasoning is you make it how you like it and with what you have to hand. I defiantly put in less salt than the packets!
Fajita seasoning recipe  - amounts are suggestions

• 1 teaspoons chili powder - or more if you like it spicy
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 If you have chilli flakes or dried onion powder this works well too and you can add a little sugar or corn flour to get the sticky caramelised texture as well. Once you've made a batch up just keep any left overs in a separate pot until next time. Yum!

Headaches - NICE advice?

Last week, NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) issued a warning about people taking too many painkillers for headaches which then contribute to more headaches. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19646921 I read this with a wry smile; when I went to see my doctor about my chronic daily headaches her advice, after a perfunctory neuro examination performed more to humour me than anything else, was to take ibuprofen and paracetamol until they finally went away. That was it. No other help or advice except a dismissive "of course it's alright"when I questioned whether that was a safe thing to do.

I don't like taking pain killers and wasn't happy with this advice and so started my journey into finding out what was the cause of these terrible headaches rather than just dampening down the symptoms with medication. Around the same time I was trying to lose some weight and tried Carol Vorderman's Detox for Life diet which basically cut out all meat, dairy, sugar, wheat, alcohol etc etc. Whilst there was some weight loss, the biggest difference it made was that I felt great and had fewer headaches; having taken steps to dismiss other causes like eye strain, stress etc I realised food must be the trigger.
If you think you have a food allergy or sensitivity, the general advice seems to be to cut out that food from your diet for a few weeks then reintroduce it and see what happens (see the Allergy UK website www.allergyuk.org).  I tried this with various different classes of food but never seemed to get anywhere - I wanted something more solid to guide me. So after doing a lot of research on the internet, I decided to have a food allergy test done. The most recommended company was York Laboratries. They can perform a test that covers 113 food types from just a few drops of blood. As this is quite expensive, they do a simple yes or no test first, so that you find out if there is a positive response before forking out a couple of hundred pounds.
Once I sent off my test, I waited to hear back from them - only 2 days later I received a phone call saying I had a positive reaction and did I want to go ahead with the full test, which of course I did.  By this stage I was more than curious, more like desperate to know what to do. I received a call another 2 days later telling me I was showing a very positive result for dairy and yeast, plus a small reaction to lentils (who ever thought lentils could have an effect???).
Even though I'd had my suspicions, I was still gutted - I loved cake, puddings, cheese, wine and bread and apparently all those things I loved were actually making me ill. Luckily I like all sorts of other food as well plus cooking, and it was the beginning of my journey looking in to how foods can heal as well as harm. York Labs arranges for two consultations with a nutritionist as well, so you're not left completely on your own with no idea of what to do - more help than I got from my GP. Somewhat ironically, NICE has also issued advice in the last year or so that these blood tests are not clinically proven and can be inaccurate, but reading more about it this seems to be focused on parents trying to get diagnosis for children's food allergies rather than an on going chronic sensitivity.
Maybe one day NICE will publish some helpful guidelines on how to deal with chronic headaches - they certainly don't seem to have come up with many useful ideas at the moment! 

Nutrient popping pesto

I love the smell of fresh sweet basil; one waft captures images of warm summer days, luscious ripe juicy tomatoes draped with fresh basil leaves accompanied by a crisp cool glass of wine. Opening up a jar of pesto can capture this image, even on the coldest winter day, an ideal sauce or marinade for a quick weekday supper. Of course, one of the main ingredients for traditional pesto is cheese so this is usually a no go area for me, unless I can find a jar in a "free from" range - fairly rare in the UK, non-existent here in India.
Recently I came across a bunch of sweet basil in the local vegetable store and just craved for pesto. There are many kinds of basil; Asian basil has a quite different flavour to the Mediterranean type, harsher and reminiscent of cloves which doesn't work quite so well on pasta, so finding sweet basil was a real boon. Basil is full of nutrient goodies and the oil in the leaves carry anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties so not only taste good but are good for you too. One agent, eugenol, inhibits the enzymes that mediate the inflammatory cascade and can  provide symptomatic relief in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and irritable bowel disease. Basil is also packed full of vitamin A which is essential for healthy eyes, skin and mucous membranes as well as vitamin K, essential for blood clotting and strengthening bones. Not only that but basil contains good amounts of iron, manganese and potassium, essential for healthy functional cells. So much in one leaf!

Traditionally, pesto is made with pine nuts, but these are also hard to find here and always seem to be rancid. On a recent trip to Kashmir, I was so excited to find a box of pine nuts, guaranteed not to have turned rancid, or so I was told. When I returned home and eagerly opened the box, I discovered that was because they were still in their shell. Peeling 100g of pine nuts is a seriously boring job!! So a nutrient popping alternative is walnuts (I also bought a massive bag of these, ready shelled!). People often shy away from nuts, fearful of their high fat content. But walnuts contain unsaturated fats and fabulous amounts of omega 3 alpha-linolenic acid, one of the few plant based foods to have this essential fatty acid. Omega 3 fats keep your heart and brain healthy - a walnut looks a bit like a brain and really is brain food. They also have fabulous amounts of the micro-mineral manganese, essential for blood sugar control, cellular energy and bone growth, and other minerals such as magnesium, copper and phosphate as well as a whole range of vitamins.
So for the pesto you need:
2 cups of basil leaves
1/3 cup of walnuts, lightly toasted and cooled
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1/2 cup of olive oil
salt to taste
Firstly place the walnuts in your blender or grinder and blitz for a couple of seconds. Add the basil and garlic and blitz again until broken down. Then add the olive oil a bit at a time, blitzing in between until you get the consistency you want and season with salt to taste. That's it! Same as normal pesto, just no cheese! Because there are no additives and preservatives apart from the salt, the bright fresh green colour fades pretty quickly, but it still keeps well in the fridge for a few days, or you can freeze it in small quantities if you want, but I think this takes out some of the active ingrediants and lowers it's healing properties. Of course then you can do whatever you want with it - spoon in to pasta, add more oil and use as a salad dressing or marinade or even a topping for a baked potato.
Dairy free, super healthy and delicious - what's not to like?

The organic food debate - real evidence?

Who would have thought that a humble carrot or potato could cause so much debate and hype in the media? A recent study produced by Stanford University has hit the headlines for claiming there is no evidence to show that organic food is safer or healthier than conventionally grown food. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19465692. Using this report as new research, there have been many articles and commentaries vilifying those who believe in the organic 'myth'.
I always find it interesting to see how 'facts' are translated into 'proof'. With anything that is connected to big business and money, research is rarely independent and unbiased. The Stanford study claims to have no primary funding source. Really? The University does happen to have major funding from one of the large GMO companies, but that must be coincidence, surely?
Putting all that to one side though, if you look at the study conclusion it does come to some positive conclusions about organic food, despite the way it's worded. http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1355685. Oh, by the way, this is not a new study but a review of previously published research.
* organic food has significantly lower levels of pesticides - and 30% is significant!
* exposure to anti-biotic resistant bacteria was significantly lower in organic meat produce - up to 33%.

It may not prove that one carrot has more beta-carotene than another, but these two points are positive evidence that organic food is healthier. Pesticides are a big issue. Controls are in place to ensure that chemical residues don't go above a level deemed 'safe' for health. As far as I'm aware of, each chemical is tested independently, whereas in reality our bodies are exposed to a cocktail which may, or may not, work together, building up in our cells, then have to work even harder to detox. And what do our cells need to clear away these chemical toxins - vitamins, minerals and energy that comes from our fruits and vegetables. So it seems logical to me that if you don't eat the contaminated products in the first place, and stick to organic, then you're ahead already in the healthier department!

The conclusion regarding anti-biotic resistant bacteria is also highly significant. Routine administration of antibiotics to animals reared for food is a major contributing factor to the creation of superbugs. And we really don't need any more antibiotics in our food, whether it's meat or dairy products.
The study also concludes that all the studies are so different that it is difficult to come to any over all conclusion - so there is no evidence that conventional food is better or worse than organic food either.
Personally, I would rather have my food organically grown and locally produced, the closer the better. I like my food without genetic modification, antibiotics, pesticides, growth hormones and chemical fertilisers. I think organic food tastes better, are more vibrant and I do believe they are better for my health. Bought in supermarkets, they can carry a higher price tag, but direct from the farmer, or even from my own garden, that's not so much of an issue.
But one of the most important, and fortunate, things is that I have a choice, and when it's possible I choose organic because I prefer it and believe that it's healthier for me. Maybe the evidence tells me I'm wrong, but when that's supported by large conglomerates willing to gamble our health and environment to make big bucks I'm just not ready to listen.  

Yummy banana muffins two ways

I have a sweet tooth and just love cakes. Of course, every time I ate one it made me ill, so one of my first tasks when I discovered my milk intolerance was to find out how to make cake without dairy. It was actually quite easy as non-dairy spreads are easily available in the supermarkets - I used to buy Pure sunflower spread as it was light and didn't have a strong flavour, and is great for baking. And if milk was required, soya milk has a slight richness to it so works just as well.  The spread doesn't work quite so well as butter cream though, so a Victoria Sponge cake had to stay simple with just jam and a sugar dusting.
Coming out to India things became more complicated, and not just because I have the worst oven in the world that seems to emit more heat on the outside than inside. Mind you, at least it's gas, so when there's a power cut (a daily occurrence) the oven stays on! Butter is available in the shops, some forms of margarines but nothing dairy free. As there's only so many pots of Pure you can hide in your suitcase, I had to start investigating making cakes with oil. The structure of the cake is slightly heavier and tends towards greasy, but its a reasonable replacement.
One of my favourites is banana muffins. Bananas grow everywhere in Southern India - I even had a bunch hanging down in my garden the other day from the house behind. Unfortunately, they came and claimed them. Some are really small and sweet, others larger but equally tasty. It's easy to end up with a bunch ripe at the same time, so this is the perfect way to use them. I have two recipes - one with eggs, the other without so suitable for vegans or those with egg allergies.
Banana muffins version 1 (with egg)
3 ripe bananas mashed
1 cup of sugar (although if the bananas are really ripe, reduced sugar content as other wise just too sweet and of course it's healthier with less sugar!)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of oil (I use organic coconut oil but whatever you have - not olive oil though)
2 cups of flour (wholemeal is best - or atta in India)
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt (or less if you're not a salty person)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional but gives the added bonus of omega 3 oil)
All you need to do is mix together the sugar, oil and eggs until they are well combined then beat in the bananas. Stir in the remaining ingredients and add the walnuts if you're using. Spoon in to individual muffin papers or a greased muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes or until they feel cooked at 180oC. Pop the muffins out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack, then consume; perfect with an afternoon cup of tea!
Banana muffins version 2 (no egg)

Exactly the same ingredients as above but omit the eggs. This time, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Then add in the mashed banana and oil. The mix will be rather thick and dry, so stir in some soya milk, enough to give you a thick batter that doesn't stick to the spoon. Add in walnuts if you are using them. I also add a sprinkling of cinnamon and about 10g of flaxseed, blitzed in the blender to a powder. This makes them even healthier - flaxseeds are currently my number one superfood - will explain why on another post soon. If you are going for the flaxseed option, add in a bit more soya milk as flaxseed does make the muffins a bit more stodgy. Once everything is beautifully mixed together, fill your muffin cases and bake as above. These ones will be more dense than the eggy version but no less yummy. Try them out and let me know what you think.

Pastry solution

When you have to adapt your favourite foods to accommodate an intolerance, it's great to be able to find ready made placements in your local supermarket. I always assumed that ready made pastry contained butter or some form of dairy, so life was much easier when I found that most of the products contained no butter at all. The fact they contain lots of hydrogenated fat is not so good health wise, but sometimes you just have to ignore that when you fancy a mighty fine pie.
In India, however, I've not managed to find any pre made shortcrust or puff pastry. Filo can be found in some imported stores for a phenomenal price and who wants to defrost a whole box as once? Home made is the only option and for this you need 1) none dairy "butter" which I've not found here and has to be snuck in suitcases (it's heavy too!) and 2) a delicate hand, which I do not! And as for trying to make it with oil, well that was just a complete disaster. Plus it really is too hot in the kitchen to spend too long mixing and kneading a sticky ball of goo.

The solution came one day in the form of my lovely friend Mandy - vegetable suet. It provides the right fat base to work in to flour with a good dollop of cold water to form a firm, kneadable pastry. I've still not found it in the shops here, but it's fits quite comfortably in a spare suitcase corner!
All you have to do is mix 100g of self raising flour with 50g of suet, add a little salt and pepper. Stir in 2-3 tablespoons of cold water (more if you're using wholemeal flour as it absorbs more water) to form a firm but flexible dough. Knead until the texture of the suet has been broken down into the flour and you have a smooth dough. This makes enough for 4 individual tart tins or the top of one bigger pie. You don't need to chill it as it doesn't seem to shrink in the same way normal pastry does, but equally it doesn't do any harm. You can then cook it as per whatever recipe you are doing. If you want a sweet pastry, you can add 25g of caster sugar before the water.
Unfortunately, this is not an option for those who are gluten intolerant as the suet contains wheat. And if fat is something you are trying to avoid, then you should definitely think twice as despite the 25% fat claim there's still over 60g of fat in every 100g - yikes! But then again, if you're avoiding fat, pastry really is not the way to go.

Creamy cashews

So many delicious recipes include cream, whether it's to top of a delicious roasted tomato soup, a creamy mushroom sauce for fish or just a simple pouring cream for apple pie or crumble. Thank goodness for the humble cashew nut which when ground down makes a tasty cream alternative, although I've had to put up with many sniggers from my teenage son and husband when I say it's nut cream!! Of course, if you have a cashew nut allergy, I'm sorry this is not for you.
Back in the UK, soya cream is readily available but always has a slight soya flavour and tends to be sweetened. I've not found it in the shops of Bangalore, so really wanted to find another alternative - this is so easy too. All you need, apart from cashews, is a food processor that has a small nut or coffee bean attachment. Luckily this are easy to find here, as traditional Indian recipes involve a lot of grinding and mincing. My food processor has been one of my best purchases here (my gorgeous coffee table being the best!) and probably used more than anything else in the kitchen. Apparently this also works with blanched almonds, but I've not tested that one out.
Cashew nut cream recipe
100g cashews
150-300 mls warm water
honey to taste, lemon rind - both optional

Place the cashew nuts in the grinder and whizz them until they form a fine paste. You now have two options - either transfer the paste to a separate bowl and beat in the water to form the desired consistency or, as I tend to do, add water gradually into the grinder and whizz on pulse until you get the thickness you want. I find this gets rid of any lumps really well, you just need to stop and check, scraping the paste off the side of the grinder.

If you want a sweeter cream, add some honey but I tend not to as cashews have a natural sweetness of their own and the honey can dominate the flavour. Same for the lemon rind if you want a tarter cream.
If you are using the cream for a cooked sauce, add at the end just before serving, warming it through but not boiling as the cream tends to separate a bit - this can happen with coconut cream or milk if you're not careful too.

Random cashew facts

Cashew nuts are biologically seeds, although we use them as nuts in cooking. Pub quiz fact - cashews are native to Northern Brazil but were introduced to India in Goa by the Portugeuse and they have since spread throughout South East Asia. We saw cashew nut trees on a trip to Goa. I had never really thought about how they grow so was fascinated (sadly so!) by their duality. First there is the flower which grows into a cashew apple; the cashew nut then grows at the end of the cashew apple in a harder case. Apparently the flesh of the cashew apple is really delicate so doesn't travel well - it's used in Goa to make Feni, a seriously strong, completely gross alcohol that must be guaranteed to give you gut rot! I tried it once, never again! The brown outer shell of the cashew nut contains chemical irritants so have to be handled carefully. Best get your cashews ready pealed in a bag off the shelf!!

So what is a food intolerance?

Food is our friend - or so we're told. We need to consume enough fuel to keep all our cellular activities going, all the amazing processes that we take for granted. But do we really give much thought to the quality of the fuel we give ourselves and what trouble might be brewing? It's like putting poor quality fuel into a high performance sports car - eventually the engine will just give out.
According to Allergy UK, 45% of the population suffer from some type of food intolerance * - that's an enormous percentage! So there's something or things in our standard diet that really shouldn't be there. And because we are all individual, it could be any number of things that affect each person differently. Some people may never find out what it is that makes them feel so tired and exhausted, or just take medication to 'relieve' their stomach pains or headaches. And is there anything wrong with that?  I believe there is, as masking the symptoms doesn't deal with the real cause, and continuing to bury the problem with chemicals that often just compound the issues is not a healthy or constructive way forward.
Allergy or Intolerance?
A food allergy is a potentially life threatening immune system response to a particular food stuff. For some reason the body's immune system has developed antibodies called IgE (immunoglobulin type E) which react to a specific food (peanuts is the most well known one). IgE molecules attach themselves to mast cells. When the antibody finds and combines with the allergen  it triggers the mast cell to release histamine and other chemicals to combat the perceived threat to the body, resulting in classic symptoms of allergy such as skin rashes, asthma, rhinitis or stomach upsets. A severe allergic reaction can result in immediate swelling of the face, throat and respiratory tract - these are known as type 1 allergic reactions and can be fatal. Often sufferers will carry epipens containing adrenaline to combat this type of severe reaction, or take anti-histamines.
A food intolerance, however, is more stealthy and chronic, and so harder to detect and diagnose. Symptoms of food intolerance can be so diverse that the symptoms could be caused by a huge number of different issues so it can take some time to find the root cause. This journey can be difficult and frustrating, especially if you find your GP to be rather conservative and unwilling to really deal with what they consider to be a minor issue that can be "cured" with pain killers or other medication.
According to Patrick Holford's great book "New Optimum Nutrition Bible" food intolerances are thought to involve IgG rather than IgE, a different marker that takes some time to react - anywhere between 2 hours and 3 days.  Often there are no symptoms. However, over time, IgG builds up and has a delayed, cumulative effect - so the more you eat of a particular substance that your body doesn't like, the more likely you are to develop a sensitivity.
Why me?
There are many explanations why food intolerances develop (another post) but why it happens to one person and not another is not so easy to explain. I'm sure it's the same reason why some people can smoke 20 a day all their lives and not develop lung disease, or how others can have massive amounts of salt in their diet and never develop high blood pressure or kidney disease - that's just the way it is.
Ironically, there is some research that suggests that the food you love is the one you develop the sensitivity to. Apparently, the proteins in the food are broken down into peptides before the single amino acids which are used at cellular level. Endorphins, the body's natural painkiller and feel good chemical, are also peptides and can be made from peptides taken from ingested food stuffs such as milk and wheat, giving you a short term feeling of well being when you eat that particular food stuff. So eating cream buns does make you feel good! Over indulgence over time can create problems. For me, I have always love cakes and creamy puddings much more than anything else on offer - the very same things that I can't eat now! It really is quite unfair!

** Allergy UK Report (2007)," Stolen Lives 3, The Food Allergy and Food Intolerance Report"