by Tammera J. Karr, PhD
Fats are hydrophobic. In other words, fats repel water. Even oil-based emulsions like mayonnaise rely on a third party to hold each tiny droplet of oil in suspension—egg yolk, mustard, or certain starches are common choices. Despite what some folks tell you, food fried at higher temperatures actually absorb more oil than those fried at cooler temperatures. Natural oils and fats are traditional cooking mediums. Today’s best options are cold pressed, extra virgin oils, and organic humanely raised animal fats. The more filtered an oil, the lower the mineral and polyphenol content. Always buy oils that are solvent-free.
Fats conduct heat and can do so at higher temperatures than water. When you baste a roast in fatty pan drippings, that coating functions as a temperature buffer, allowing your food to heat evenly and preventing the exterior from drying out before the interior is fully cooked. Under normal conditions, water cannot be heated past its boiling point of 212° F at sea level, whereas fats can reach temperatures of 400-500° F.
Fats lubricate food preventing sticking to cookware surfaces.
Fats add or enhance flavor and enhance textural nuances of foods. This is vital for “mouth feel.” Many of the flavor compounds that make herbs and aromatics such compelling seasonings are what we call fat-soluble, meaning they will actually spread and coat your tongue better when they are immersed in lipids. Using fat in anything from marinades to braises helps coax out, layer, and evenly distribute flavors.
Monounsaturated oils, specifically olive oil increase the nutrients available through digestion. The tradition of tomatoes and olive oil is well supported by research; the antioxidant content of the tomatoes increases when combined with olive oil.
Traditionally, oils are extracted from nuts and seeds through mechanical crushing and pressing. If bottled immediately, the oil is a cold-pressed “raw” or “virgin” oil, which tends to retain its natural flavor and color. Virgin in the case of olive oil also signifies only the perfect fruits were used. Unrefined oils have higher levels of minerals, enzymes, and other compounds highly sensitive to heat and tend to be susceptible to rancidity; these are the oils best-suited to drizzling, dressings, and lower temperature cooking.
To produce oil with a high smoke point, manufacturers use industrial-level refinement; bleaching, filtering, and high-temperature heating to extract and eliminate extraneous compounds. This produces a neutral-flavored oil with a long shelf life and a higher smoke point.
Clarified butter and ghee follow the same basic concept: a process designed to extract more heat-sensitive components; milk solids—from fat to raise its smoke point. When heated past its smoke point, fat starts to break down, releasing free radicals.
Health Benefits of Traditional Fats
Fats speak to the integral health of our whole body. Without healthy fats, we would not exist. [1]
Olive Oil is not only one of the oldest oils still in use for cooking, but it also has some impressive science to support its use for health. The unrefined olive oil contains minerals, vitamins and compounds that serve as anti-inflammatories. This is especially important when it comes to brain health. [2], [3], [4] The antioxidants in olive oil are essential for aiding the digestive system in absorbing nutrients found in vegetables. Especially those high in carotenoids; winter squash, carrots, tomatoes, lycopene: tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, kale and xanthine; dark greens, cruciferous vegetables, chard.
For a maximum flavor reach for extra virgin olive oil, you may want several types on hand providing a delicate fruity or strong peppery flavor. For times when you don’t want a lot a pronounced flavor, you can use “Classic” olive oil or “Pure.”
How you plan to use each type of olive oil matters because the flavor is affected by cooking. Olive oils, especially extra-virgin, have a varying range of smoke points, this depends on the type of olive, where it was grown, and how it was produced.
The International Olive Council (IOC) in Madrid, Spain, sets the grades and standards for world olive oil trade, which members of the North American Olive Oil Association agree to follow. [5]
To Traditional Foods made with Care and Intention, Flavored with Love.
Excerpt from Our Journey with Food Cookery Book
[1] https://www.eufic.org/en/whats-in-food/article/facts-on-fats-dietary-fats-and-health
[2] Extra-virgin olive oil preserves memory, protects brain against Alzheimer’s; June 21, 2017, Temple University Health System: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170621103123.htm
[3] Extra‐virgin olive oil ameliorates cognition and neuropathology of the 3xTg mice: role of autophagy; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5553230/
[4] Mediterranean-type diet and brain structural change from 73 to 76 years in a Scottish cohort; http://n.neurology.org/content/early/2017/01/04/WNL.0000000000003559.short?sid=f6a60041-6b89-41fe-827d-49a0f92359fa
[5] Grades of Olive Oil; https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/grades-of-olive-oil-video?utm_campaign=olive%20oil%20videos&utm_content=77894857&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
by Tammera J. Karr, PhD
Fermentation is making a big comeback. Artisan bread makers are developing their own strains of yeast, kombucha makers are popping bottles of fizzy drinks at farmers’ markets. Brown glass bottles line cold drink shelves and have their own growler stations, online gurus are creating websites dedicated to specialty fermenting jars and gadgets.
Through the encouragement of a colleague and a diminishing bank account from buying kombucha, my husband, headed to amazon.com to buy kefir grains, and launched into home fermenting. Kefir water was an easy place for us to start, and we had an abundance of fresh, frozen and canned fruits on hand to flavor the second ferment with. We found our locally sourced organic blueberries were a favorite food for the kefir probiotics to feed on. By mid-summer we had half gallon jars of kefir water on the kitchen counter, in the RV shower and in the home refrigerator in various stages of fermentation. Everywhere we went a jar of probiotic brew went with us.
What is water kefir water?
Water kefir, like kombucha, is first cultured by introducing a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts) into sugar water. The beneficial bacteria and yeasts present in the water kefir grains metabolize the sugar, turning it into an array of beneficial acids and infusing it with beneficial microorganisms, additional B vitamins as well as food enzymes.
Water kefir grains are small, translucent, gelatinous structures and are comprised of assorted bacteria including lactobacillus hilgardii which gives them their characteristic crystal-like appearance. When properly cared for and regularly cultured, they produce an excellent probiotic-rich beverage and will continue to grow and reproduce indefinitely.
We learned to use a jelly bag to place fruit in for the second fermentation, this made a clear pulp-free beverage over a juicy fruit drink. My colleague, Sarica Cer
nohous, DACM, L.Ac.; emphasized the need to use organic unrefined sugar, over honey, coconut or other low glycemic sweeteners. Sarica reminded me the probiotics needed the sucrose for food and the purpose of fermenting was to break down sugars, leaving a low glycemic almost sugar free beverage.
By the spring of 2018, we were confident enough to tackle Kombucha. For some reason this looked like the more difficult of the two fermented beverages, in fact it turned out to be far less temperamental then Kefir water. Kefir water is picky about metal, so all our containers, utensils and strainers have to be glass, wood, nylon or cloth.
What is Kombucha?
Kombucha has a history dating back 2,000 years and originated in China where it was prized for its energizing qualities. The fermented drink found its way into Russia, then Germany and in the 1960’s, Swiss researchers reported that drinking kombucha was just as beneficial as eating yogurt. From there, kombucha boomed into a popular health drink.
The basic ingredients include water, black or green tea leaves, sugar and the probiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.
During fermentation, glycolysis (the chemical breakdown of glucose and lactic acid) produces ethanol. The bacteria in the SCOBY use the ethanol to produce vinegar. And that’s why you get that initial citrusy sour smell and taste. Fermentation is literally the breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeast or other microorganisms. Kombucha is brewed (or fermented) over the course of 10-14 days.
Here are a couple tools that got us started with Kefir water and Kombucha.
We purchased a Kombucha Shop kit from Amazon, it included jar, muslin topper cloth, pH papers, SCOBY, organic black tea, cloth tea bag, organic sugar and stick on thermometer. A fermentation guide and a step by step laminated guide with very clear instructions!
Next we read the Funky Kitchen by Sarica Cernohous, DACM, L.Ac. and, Delicious Probiotic Drinks: 75 Recipes for Kombucha, Kefir, Ginger Beer, and Other Naturally Fermented Drinks by Julia Mueller; which filled in the gaps and provided a selection of flavoring ideas and tips.
It took about 4 months and we had two SCOBY in the gallon jar. Today we have spread our SCOBYs out into two, 1-gallon jars and invested in two Propagate Pro 10” round fermentation heating pads. This allowed us to move the brew jars out of the kitchen to our open pantry, and keep the Kombucha brew stations warm during cool to colder weather.
Kefir water makes a terrific electrolyte drink for the hot summer days as well as a way to keep your gut healthy. We are using the same Kefir grains we first purchased in the summer of 2016.
Lemon Ginger Kefir Water
3 1/2 cups 
water kefir
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Ginger root, 1-inch piece peeled and sliced into sticks
Pour the water kefir into airtight bottle (we use brown glass ½ gallon growlers).
Add lemon juice and ginger root.
Cap the bottle and ferment 1-3 days, depending on the desired level of carbonation.
Place the bottles of flavored water kefir in the refrigerator and serve chilled.
To naturally fermented drinks that build the microbiome in your gut for health.
For more on fermented foods and recipes order your copy of
Our Journey with Food Cookery Book
by Tammera J. Karr, PD
As with most, our family has traditional holiday foods we look forward to, on Christmas Eve, my mother would serve oyster stew, and on new year’s it was black-eyed peas and ham for good luck. Others in my family may have made tamales like my great aunt, using her mother’s recipes. All of us have foods that inspire warm memories or tears; it is food that invokes memories through taste, smell and color. Without a doubt, we are proud Americans, but we also use the holidays to remember who came before us and what gifts they brought with them that flavor the season.
Gingerbread
The cake-like consistency of gingerbread bears little resemblance to bread, it was originally, in the thirteenth century, gingerbread, a word borrowed from Old French which meant ‘preserved ginger.’ But by the mid-fourteenth century,…-bread had begun to replace -bras, and it was only a matter of time before sense followed form. (sorry I can’t help but laugh as I know a few of you will have way to much fun with the bras …hohoho) One of the earliest known recipes comes from the early fifteenth-century cookery book Good Cookery, and directs gingerbread be made with breadcrumbs boiled in honey with ginger and other spices.
“…most early American cookies were referred to as “cakes,” and gingerbread was assumed to be a form of cookie, as in Lebkuchen, a gingerbread cookie made with honey…Of all the Christmas pastries, the gingerbread cookie was the most loved by early American children. In American cookery, there are two distinct families of gingerbread cookies, the honey-based gingerbreads of Middle European origin–mostly Germany–and the molasses shortbreads that developed in England or Scotland. The other developed in the late seventeenth century, using molasses as a substitute for honey…The Germans in this country were the best honey cake bakers–they called the cookies Lebkuchen.”
Mincemeat
According to food historians, mincemeat pie dates back to Medieval times. In the Middle Ages and into Renaissance times and beyond it was commonplace to spice up or eke out meat with dried fruit, and it seems likely that the earliest mince pies contained a generous measure of such raisins and currants. The recipe did, indeed, include meat as did the mincemeat I grew up with; my mother would only use venison and suet; today I leave out the suet and dried fruit and use thickened apple juice, sliced apples, blueberries, and currents. It also often contained dried fruits, sugar, and spices, as was the tradition of the day. The distinction between mincemeat and mince was drawn in the mid-nineteenth century when meat began disappearing from the recipe, leaving the fruit, nut, sugar, spice, brandy and suet product we know today.
Oyster Stew
Fish (including shellfish) plays a critical role throughout the Christian calendar. “Meatless” day/periods were proscribed from ancient times forward for practical reasons: they regulated small early meat supplies and unified church members. For traditional Catholics in most countries, Christmas Eve, as with Lent, features fish. In Italy, the traditional Christmas Eve table features Seven Fishes. Baccala (salt cod). Oyster Stew is part of the Irish Christmas Eve tradition. Oyster dishes of all sorts are regularly found on French tables, so it is conceivable that oyster stew is a French tradition also with Northern French cuisine features many creamy, butter soups and stews. Until recently (last half of the 20th century forwards), oysters were commonly consumed, especially by people living close to ocean shores.
On Christmas Eve, many ethnic cultures enjoy seafood to save their appetites for Christmas Day dinner, according to food historian John Mariani. But oyster stew also is uniquely Celtic because it is a holiday connection to the old country — an Irish-American adaptation of a traditional Christmas Eve stew that was made in Ireland with a chewy Atlantic fish called ling. The ling was stewed with milk (or buttermilk), parsley, salt, and pepper because it was tough. It was similar in texture and flavor to the prized oysters that were an autumn delicacy of the Irish gentry.
When the Irish began flocking to North America during the Great Potato Famine, during the 1840s and 1850s, they couldn’t find ling in American fish markets. So they picked oysters to remind them of their families and Ireland on Christmas Eve. Americans, in general, were “oyster mad” in the 1800s, according to Mariani. Oysters were plentiful and were a big part of urban life, especially in East Coast cities where hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants settled.
Eggnog
The name eggnog and recipes for it first appear in print in the 17th century. Food historians confirm English recipes for posset (esp. sack posset) were very similar to later eggnog a popular and accepted American term to denote an old traditional English holiday beverage. “By the mid-1760s patrons were drinking eggnog, juleps, sling, and sanger in addition to the punch and toddy already available.”
In 1796, “Rich and creamy dessert drinks, such as eggnog and syllabub, reflect the English heritage in America, especially in the South. In England, posset was a hot drink in which the white and yolk of eggs were whipped with ale, cider, or wine. Americans adapted English recipes to produce a variety of milk-based drinks that combined rum, brandy, or whiskey with cream. The first written reference to eggnog was an account of a February 1796 breakfast at the City Tavern in Philadelphia. Beginning in 1839 American cookbooks included recipes for cold eggnogs of cream, sugar, and eggs combined with brandy, rum, bourbon, or sherry, sprinkled with nutmeg. Southerners enjoyed a mix of peach brandy, rum, and whiskey.”
The earliest reference to eggnog cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1825. The beverage is defined as “A drink in which the white and yolk of eggs are stirred up with hot beer, wine, or spirits.”
And since I am in Americas largest Irish community while writing this I bid you ‘Nollaig faoi shéan is faoi shonas duit.’
A prosperous and Happy Christmas season to You.
Now Available for the holidays through amazon.com and digital through yourwholenutrition.com
Excerpt from Our Journey with Food Cookery Book by Tammera Karr