Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (59 page)

Since Viti Levu, one of the islands of this group, is one of the larger islands of the Pacific Ocean, I had hoped to find on it a district far enough from the sea to make it necessary for the natives to have lived entirely on land foods. . .. By using a recently opened government road, I was able to get well into the interior of the island by motor vehicle and from this point to proceed father inland on foot with two guides. I was not able, however, to get beyond the piles of sea shells which had been carried into the interior. My guide told me that it had always been essential, as it is today, for the people of the interior to obtain some food from the sea and that even during the times of most bitter warfare, between the inland or hill tribes and the coast tribes, those of the interior would bring down during the night choice plant foods from the mountain areas and place them in caches and return the following night to obtain the sea foods that had been placed in those depositories by the shore tribes. . .. He told me, further, that they require food from the sea at least every three months, even to this day. This was a matter of keen interest and the same time disappointment since one of the purposes of the expedition to the South Seas was to find, if possible, plant or fruits which together, without the use of animal products, were capable of providing all of the requirements of the body for growth and for maintenance of good health and a high state of physical efficiency. . .. No places were found where the native plant foods were not supplemented by sea foods. Weston Price, DDS
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

LEFTOVER LEG-OF-LAMB SOUP

Serves 8

1 leftover
leg of lamb

leftover sauce from leg of lamb

¼ cup vinegar

3 onions or leeks, peeled and coarsely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 red or green pepper, seeded and chopped

3 turnips, peeled and chopped

3 zucchini, chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

filtered water

several sprigs fresh thyme, tied together

½ teaspoon crushed dried green peppercorns

¼ teaspoon dried red chile flakes

generous pinch saffron threads

1 cup brown rice

½ cup dried currants (optional)

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
) and pepper

This is a good way to stretch a leg of lamb into another meal. Leftover lamb meat, normally unappetizing when served a second time, becomes flavorful and tender when simmered with vegetables and seasonings. While not exactly gourmet fare, this soup always gets eaten to the last spoonful. It should be started in the early morning and allowed to simmer all day. This recipe uses all the vegetables and seasonings of couscous but substitutes brown rice for white-flour semolina.

Place vegetables in a large, stainless steel pot with the lamb, vinegar and leftover sauce. Cover with filtered cold water and bring to a boil. Skim before adding thyme, chile flakes and saffron. Cook gently, covered, about 12 hours or longer. At least 1 hour before serving, remove the lamb and strain the sauce into another large pot. Add rice and optional currants to this broth and simmer an hour or more. Meanwhile discard the cooked vegetables and let the meat cool. Remove the meat from the bone and cut across the grain into small pieces. When the rice is tender, return the meat to the broth and season to taste.

A recent research report has de-demonized, at least a little, one of our most important nutrients—cholesterol. The experts who have been telling us not to eat high-cholesterol foods, such as eggs, butter and T-bone steak (all the good stuff that made America great), are now saying it's okay to eat these foods—
if
you're over 70. The Yale University study reported in the November 2, 1994 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association
claims that people over 70 with "high cholesterol" levels do not have any more heart attacks than those whose cholesterol is considered normal or even low. They are no more likely to die of any form of heart disease or from any cause.

Dr. Stephen B. Hulley, of the University of California at San Francisco, said he was "deeply concerned" about the number of elderly people who were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs when "we actually don't know whether you're better off with a high or low [cholesterol], so there is no point in measuring it." William Campbell Douglass, MD
Second Opinion

Whoever is failing in his whole body and whose veins are withered should often sip the juice of lamb and of the soup in which it was cooked. Also he should eat some of the meat and, when he improves, he can eat even more of the meat if he wants.

St. Hildegard of Bingen

OXTAIL BARLEY SOUP

Serves 8

4 pounds fresh oxtail

filtered water

½ cup dry white wine

¼ cup vinegar

2 onions, peeled and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

fresh thyme sprigs, tied together

1-2 teaspoons dried green peppercorns, crushed

pinch red pepper flakes

l cup pearled barley, soaked at least 7 hours

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
) and pepper

chopped cilantro or finely chopped parsley for garnish

Place oxtail in a stainless steel baking pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour or until well browned. Transfer oxtail to a stainless steel pot and pour out grease. Add wine and a little filtered water to the baking pan and deglaze by bringing to a rapid boil, while stirring to loosen any coagulated beef juices in the pan. Pour this liquid into the pot and cover all the oxtail with cold water. Add vinegar, bring to a boil and skim. Add thyme, onions, carrots, celery, red pepper flakes and peppercorns. Simmer, covered, for at least 24 hours.

Remove oxtail and allow to cool. Strain 3 quarts of stock into another pot and add soaked barley. (Reserve any remaining broth for other uses.) Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour or until barley is tender. Meanwhile, pick the meat off the bones and chop finely. When the barley is tender, add chopped meat. Season generously. Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro.

Barley is one of the oldest cereal grains, used most frequently in the making of beer but also traditionally made into bread and gruels. It was the main food of the Greeks, who valued barley's ability to give physical strength and mental alertness. Barley water, a thin porridge made of barley, is said to be easy to digest and a tonic to the liver. In Britain it is fed to convalescents. Most barley is available to the consumer in "pearled" form, with the thick outer layer removed. Be sure to soak it before using it or the results will be difficult to digest. SWF

The recent national meeting of the American Chemical Society reported new studies on the effects of soluble fiber. Barley reduced serum cholesterol levels by as much as 15% in hypercholesterolemic persons in two studies cited by Rosemary K. Newman of Montana State University. She cited three reasons for this effect of barley. First, it contains beta-glucans and other viscous soluble fiber components which reduce absorption of fats and cholesterol. Other soluble fibers, such as those of oat and guar gum, also contain beta-glucans. Also, the fiber tends to bind to bile acids, which are removed from the body rather than recycled, thus requiring the conversion of more cholesterol to bile acids. Finally, barley contains fat-soluble antioxidants related to vitamin E called tocotrienols that reduce cholesterol synthesis in the liver. Newman says, "We have not seen any other grain that carries barley's double whammy"—that is, high beta-glucan levels as well as tocotrienols. James F. Scheer
Health Freedom News

MINESTRONE

Serves 6

2 quarts
beef stock

1 clove garlic, peeled and mashed

2 cups cooked kidney beans (
Basic Beans
)

1 cup buckwheat or brown rice pasta, broken in bits

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cup fresh spinach or chard, finely chopped

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
) and pepper

freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

This hearty soup is a meal in itself. As always, the secret is in the richness of the stock.

To peel tomatoes, see
Kitchen Tips and Hints
. Bring stock to a boil and skim. Add garlic, beans, pasta, carrots, tomatoes and spinach or chard and simmer about 10 minutes. Season to taste and garnish with cheese.

Little is known of the part potassium plays in the human body, but certainly it must be important as small quantities of it are present in all parts of the body, particularly within the cells. Osmotic balance between the contents of the cells and their surrounding fluids depends greatly upon potassium. When meat is being cooked, a considerable portion of the potassium content passes into the broth. When this is eaten in the form of a soup, bouillon or consomme, it results in a stimulatory effect upon the digestive organism. This is given as one good reason for beginning a meal with a meat broth soup. H. Leon Abrams
Your Body Is Your Best Doctor

SAUERKRAUT AND BEAN SOUP

Serves 4

3 cups basic small white beans (
Basic Beans
), cooked

1 quart
beef
or
chicken stock

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

pinch red pepper flakes

1 pound spicy chicken or beef sausage, sliced into rounds

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
) and pepper

2 cups
sauerkraut

Bring stock to a boil and skim. Add garlic, red pepper and sausage and simmer for 15 minutes or until sausage is cooked. Season to taste. Let cool until the soup can be touched without burning and stir in sauerkraut. Ladle into heated bowls and serve.

When harvested with dedication and care, the oceans give us a natural sea salt with the most exquisite taste and physiologically vital mineral mix. Today, every common table salt is artificial and pales beside the real sea salt. Out of the richest spectrum of 92 essential minerals found in the ocean, the industrial refined variety retains only two! Debased white table salt deserves all of its bad name and all the misdeeds as charged. Jacques DeLangre
Seasalt's Hidden Powers

PESTO SOUP