Tuesday, September 23, 2008

life food cake


Another Juno post. This time about an article by Kate Wood, who writes about raw food. She wants to reclaim cake as an everyday food. But her recipe doesn't contain flour or saturated fats or refined sugars. This is no guilt cake. It contains foods I've never heard of: sweetened with Agave, a low glaecemic sweetener made from cacti, and xylitol, sold as Zylosweet, a plant derived sweetener with 40% fewer calories than sugar. There's bee pollen, containing all known vitamins and 27 minerals. Cacao nibs, a natural anti depressant and aphrodisiac. Goji berries, massive doses of vitamin C. Hemp seeds, full of the perfect amount of essential fatty acids. Lucuma, a fruit like carob, but with a shortbready, biscuity flavour! Things that grow in the Andes, maca and suma, powerful aptogens (what are aptogens?)


There may be issues with carbon footprints, and god knows, rainforest exploitation there, but still, the point is, everyday we eat food that is only moderately nutritious, often actively bad for us. We think protein/carbohydrate/fruit/veg but I can confidently say, myself included, that we're not hugely aware of what we're giving ourselves and what it does for or to us.


My diet is so basic, and doesn't give me most of what I need, I confess. People who eat health food are ridiculed - when I was making veg purees for my daughter, that she really liked, my mother in law who grew up on bread and dripping, would hold up a spoon of organice puree, and make icky bleh faces and noises (!). She's afraid to try anything unfamiliar, my husband won't eat salad or much in the way of vegetables. He lives on white bread cheese sandwiches. My daughter is tugging to go the same way.


All I'm trying to say in this post is that we have so much more options. There are foods out there that will flush out our free radicals and protect us from cancer - give us the B vitamins we need and guard against depression. And on and on. Yet we tend to avoid them, all too often.


It's also sad that 'health food' is so unavailable and viciously expensive here. A trip to the health food shop usually sets me back 50 - 80 euro. It's no wonder more people don't avail of it. Same with organic veg.


The thrust of the article is about reclaiming cake as healthy and celebratory every day food - and you know that will sit well with me! I will admit there's a chance it'll taste - horrible? Challenging? Perhaps just far from what we're used to.


here are the links from the article


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

If it tastes good I'd order it by the lorryload. Good-for-you-chocolate-cake? You bet your bippity I would!

What I sometimes do with my daughters - one who eats her veggies, one who doesn't - is put about a half cup of cauliflower puree into macaroni and cheese. They never even know it's there! I've often found out and out deceit works with children and food.

Jo said...

I'd like to make it - but I'm worried it will cost about fifty quid to buy the ingredients :)

tina said...

sounds interesting. i'd love the recipe, is it online? you can get agave in tescos and goji berries too. though in general, it annoys me how difficult it is to find some healthfood stuff in ireland, things that in other countries aren't even considered 'health foods' anymore, just normal food that you can buy in normal supermarkets. i think we're a bit behind in that sense.
i sometimes make wheat and sugar free muffins, sweaten them with apple juice and a banana - you wouldn't be able to tell that there's no sugar in them!

Jo said...

I"ll send it to you tina, it's not online but I"ll send you what's in the mag.

I"d love to know what you do with your recipe - I'm always uncertain with sugar substitute what to do instead the 'cream eggs and sugar' step?

tina said...

Jo - i don't know about creaming sugar and egg, i'm not much of a baker, tbh! i email you the recipe later on. was in a healthfood store earlier today and saw cacao nibs. they're expensive, about 10 euro for 150g!! i can do without them, thank you very much.