BRAISED FENNEL

Fennel, or Florence Fennel, is a much neglected vegetable. Whenever I buy one at the store the person on the checkout looks at me and asks "What is it again?" When I was a kid the Italians that lived all around us ate it all the time. We Australians regarded it as strange and exotic. But, of course, we were wrong. It is a beautiful vegetable, very healthy and has many uses. Here is a pic:

A basic way to proceed is braising. That is, we lightly fry the vegetable in a heavy pan beginning with a little oil and then reducing it down in its own liquid. First, dice into pieces, including the feathery tops:

Put into a pan with a little olive oil. Put on a low to medium heat and slowly braise. 

At the end, add some chopped parsley. I also stir through a light sauce made from tapioca starch. That is, one teaspoon of starch to half a cup of water. Add to the hot pan and stir. Here it is (steaming hot):

Lunch. Brown rice. Braised fennel. Baby carrots. Broccoli. A miso and lemon sauce. A rocket and lettuce salad. A few pieces of crumbed fish (in this case, ling). 

SANE MACROBIOTICS

It was put to me recently that there are a high proportion of "nuts" in the macrobiotic fraternity. The person who reported this had ventured online and had delved into various macrobiotic websites or blogs, or rather one in particular, and found it... well... "nutty". That is to say, paranoid, extremist, immoderate, given to bizarre theories, and so on. What reply did I have to this, they wondered?

My reply: yes, there are plenty of crazy types who hang out on the fringes of contemporary macrobiotics, just as there are on the fringes of, say, the raw food movement, or similar alternative food movements. It is an unfortunate fact of life. In fact, there is no shortage of crazy people in just about any walk of life, and macrobiotics is no exception. So, yes, you will find health nuts, food puritans, conspiracy theorists et al. among the macrobiotic fraternity. 

The best antidote to this is simply to read widely. Don't stop at one website. Explore further. There are a wide range of opinions and a wide range of temperaments out there. Do not judge macrobiotics by just one website or by one book. Be suspicious of people who say their way is the only way. Be prepared to encounter crazies, yes, but if you look deeper you will find plenty of sane, sensible, sincere people who advocate and enjoy this type of cuisine. Avoid extremists. Use common sense. 

That is the best advice. If someone tells you to eat nothing but brown rice as a means to communicating with higher intelligences from outer space - get another opinion! 

Hopefully, you will find an eminently sane and sensible approach to macrobiotic food on this present blog. Over the years, and through much reading, I have learnt to avoid extremes, to embrace compromises and to find a middle path to health and delicious macrobiotic cooking. For a start, I distinguish between macrobiotic cuisine and macrobiotic therapeutics. The therapeutic side of macrobiotics may sometimes seem extreme - but that is because it is for sick people. For example, fasting on nothing but brown rice may be useful for someone who is sick. But it is not a recommended practice for a healthy person and it is not part of macrobiotic cuisine. The cuisine is rich, varied, healthy and beautiful - not extreme at all. There are always fanatics who will try to impose their extreme views on things - avoid them and seek out sane voices. 

ENDLESS RICE BALLS

Rice balls are an endless treat, one of the staples of macrobiotic cuisine. They can be prepared in a thousand different ways and enjoyed all year round. The basic technique is very simple and is capable of endless variation. You can whip up some rice balls any time and keep them in the refrigerator to be enjoyed later either hot or cold. They can be used as a snack, a stand-by or as an acompaniament to other dishes. It is therefore an important thing to master. You should spend some time learning how to make good rice balls. 

The main ingredient, of course, is rice. Brown rice is our staple grain. Soak the rice for a few hours and cook it in a pressure cooker with a pinch of salt and a strip of kelp seaweed according to standard macrobiotic practice. Drain well and let cool. Best if it is refrigerated overnight. This then forms the basis of the balls. You can add a myriad of additional ingredients to it. In the pictures below we are using: finely chopped spring onions (scallions), finely chopped broad-leafed parsley and finely chopped and sauted leek, since these ingredients are readily available from the garden. Best to lightly fry off the sliced leek, although this is not essential for the spring onions and parsley which can be added raw. 

Using wet hands, knead the additional ingredients into the rice mix. Use a scruntching motion of the hands, pressing the mass together. If the rice is too dry, add a tiny amount of water. (If the rice has been undercooked the balls will not hold together. Best if the rice is slightly overcooked and starchy.) 

Now set the mix aside for a few hours. Again, best to put it in the refrigerator. (Time is an ingredient, don't forget. And yang. Many things improve over time, especially flavours and textures. Give the rice time to absorb the flavours of the other ingredients.) 

Rice balls can be deep fried without batter, but in my experience are best done tempera. In the picture below I am using a besan flour batter, i.e. a chickpea flour batter. You can add a little self-raising flour if you must, or a few spoonfuls of sourdough leaven, in which case you leave the batter in a warm place for a few hours before using. 

Now, dip the balls in the batter, deep fry in a good quality oil and drain on absorbent paper. 

Besan flour makes a lovely batter and, moreover, is an additional protein since chickpeas are a legume. Two-thirds besan and one third wholewheat is good too. Experiment with different flours. Be sure to have the oil hot (but not smoking) or else the balls may end up oily. That is the secret to all tempera foods. Having the oil at the right temperature is crucial to avoid oiliness. We want the food to cook in the oil without absorbing the oil - the key to this is temperature. 

Should we be eating so much oil-cooked food, you ask? Well, tempera is a basic cooking method in traditional Asian cuisine, and since macrobiotics is very light on fats we can afford to use deep frying as a basic cooking method. The Japanese, remember, are among the longest lived people on Earth and deep fried (tempera) dishes are a standard part of their diet. Don't be afraid of deep frying. If your diet is otherwise high-fibre and low-fat then you can enjoy deep-fried foods in moderation. Deep frying adds flavour and texture and crunch, as long as it is not over-done. Just be sure to use a good quality oil that is fresh and not rancid. 

Deep fried rice balls can be eaten with confidence. They are healthy and delicious. 

Again, there are endless variations possible. For a start, use coriander (cilantro) instead of parsley. Or add some finely chopped ginger. Or some crumbled tofu. And so on. Then try different batters. Use rice balls as a staple dish. It is a great way to eat more brown rice. 

SIMPLE PAN-FRIED TOFU

I was talking to a fellow kitchen worker lately and he confessed to me that he had never tasted tofu. I was surprised and though 'Where have you been?' but it seems that it is still something that is omitted or skipped over in cooking trade school. 

He asked me, "What is the best way to cook it?" The answer to this will depend on your tastes and what you want to achieve, of course. Tofu is wonderfully versatile. To my taste, it is best deep fried. But lightly pan fried is excellent and very simple too. Here is an example in the picture below:

Cut a firm or semi-firm tofu into one centimetre thick slices. Heat a heavy iron griddle and oil lightly with a good quality sesame oil. Fry on each side until just golden. That's it. Serve with stir fried rice and season with some soy sauce. A basic food.

THE JOY OF MILLET

Macrobiotique cuisine is essentially grain based. It is a reworking of the traditional foods of the great grain-based civilizations of the world. In this respect it is most definitely not "paleo" - a diet and a philosophy that is essentially pro-primitive and anti-civilization. Macrobiotic cuisine revolves around the use of wholegrain staples, and brown rice in particular. In some ways this is a historical accident. It so happens that modern macrobiotics was formulated by Japanese pioneers and so they naturally drew upon rice as their staple food. Had they been northern Europeans their staple grain would have been rye. If they had been northern Indians it would have been wheat. If they had been South Americans it would have been maize, and if they had been Tibetans it would have been barley. If they had been Africans it would have been millet. George Ohsawa (and after him Michio Kushi) were Japanese, and so their version of "macrobiotics" - which is to say a modern reformulation of traditional diets - is rice-based. It so happens, of course, that rice makes an excellent staple grain and in nutritional terms, and in terms of yin and yang, it is very balanced. It remains the foundation of macrobiotic cooking, and rightly so. 

Other grains should not be overlooked, though, if only for variety's sake. It is good for a macrobiotic chef to have expertise in a range of whole grains as well as brown rice. The one that I recommend is millet. This is a very ancient grain, is very nutritious, very delicious and has the added advantage of being strongly alkaline (non-acidic). I usually have millet-based meals two or three times a week, just as a break from rice. Here below is a simple millet dish:

Lightly fry a chopped onion in a little oil in a saucepan. Add two or three handfuls of millet grain. Cover with any suitable vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer. Stir constantly and add more liquid as necessary. Towards the end add some finely chopped flat-leafed parsley. It takes about twenty minutes on a low heat. This is a basic recipe. From there you can improvize. It is a wonderful, versatile grain that should be enjoyed more widely than it is.

SOBA NOODLES WITH STIR-FRIED KALE

 Lunch on a chilly day. Soba noodles are excellent in the cooler months. Kale thrives in frosty weather, too. This is soba noodles with stir-fried kale and shiitake mushrooms with rice balls, croutons and a daikon radish pickle.

Boil the soba noodles until ready. Stir fry the fresh kale (straight from the garden) along with the sliced mushrooms in a wok with a dribble of sesame oil. Dress with a little sesame sauce. 

Rice balls for all occasions. The rice balls in this case are: brown rice, crumbled fried tempeh, chopped coriander and hijiki seaweed with a wholewheat batter. I use a heavier and more substantial batter in cool weather. The croutons are wholewheat bread cubed and lightly sauted in a little olive oil. 

SOURDOUGH PUMPKIN MUFFINS

More pumpkin fare. These are all-purpose sugarless sourdough muffins, i.e. yeasted muffins risen with a sourdough batter, in this case with mashed pumpkin.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups of wholemeal flour
1 cup of plain flour
Half a teaspoon of sea salt
2 teaspoons of Dutch cinnamon
2 cups of mashed pumpkin
1 egg
Half a cup of almond milk
Half a cup of rice syrup
Half a cup of corn or sunflower oil
A good handful of dried sultanas or currants
Enough sourdough batter to render into a cake mix consistency

METHOD

Mix all dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Warm the bowl and the dry ingredients in a very low oven.
Add the oil, mashed pumpkin, egg, rice syrup and almond milk. Mix.
Add portions of sourdough batter until it forms into the cake consistency. It should be runnier than a dough but thicker than a batter. Add more flour if necessary.
Set in a warm place for about six hours. It may take longer. It should expand and show air bubbles - evidence of active yeast.
Spoon into an oiled muffin tray. Let stand in a warm place for a bit longer.
Preheat the oven. Bake at 200 deg. C. for about 25 minutes.

Add more cinnamon if you prefer or more dried fruit for sweeter muffins.
You can replace the rice syrup with maple syrup - excellent!
You can use stewed apple 50/50 with mashed pumpkin. I just happen to have a huge pumpkin harvest on hand.

These muffins are yeasty, moist and chewy and not too sweet - quite different to your standard muffin.

A POACHED CHICKEN DINNER

It is moving into short days, long nights and cold weather here down south. It is time for more substantial foods including some occasional white meat. In this picture poached free range chicken breast, a brown rice pumpkin medley with bok choy and shiitake mushrooms, homemade sourdough croutons, a short cabbage pickle and a tahini sauce. Almost all of it homegrown and in season.

Poaching chicken breast. It has a reputation as an invalid food but it is really an excellent way to prepare chicken. Use a heavy metal skillet. Fill with enough water to cover the chicken and a good pinch of quality sea salt. Bring to boil. Place in the chicken and set it to a low heat. Cover with a lid. Simmer very slowly. Don't bring it back to the boil since this will tend to make the meat tough. Use free range chicken - it's worth the extra cost.

A short pickle? It's what I (usually) call a short-term pressed salad. Slice a cup or two of cabbage, place in a bowl and cover with a mixture of brown vinegar and several teaspoons of quality salt. Place a plate and a heavy weight upon it and leave for anything from two hours to a few days. In this case it was 24 hours. Drain, rinse in running water, store in the refrigerator. A short pickle. Best to use brown rice vinegar, but otherwise any good quality brown malt vinegar will do, or perhaps an apple cider vinegar if you prefer.

The tahini sauce. Two tablespoons of unhulled tahini. Two tablespoons of soy sauce. Stir and moisten with the water from the shiitake mushrooms or any suitable stock. Keep adding liquid and stirring until you have a sauce/gravy consistency according to your preference.

Wholemeal sourdough croutons fried in corn oil (or olive oil if you prefer) add another texture and another grain to the meal. It's baking weather these days so I always have sourdough bread on hand. Croutons are a great addition to cold weather meals.

The bok choy is booming in the garden. It will start to bolt soon but is still tender and an excellent green to add to brown rice.

OBSESSING ABOUT HEALTH - A CULTURE OF NARCISSISM

Speaking at a public lecture on the philosophy of George Ohsawa and macrobiotics a few nights ago I made the statement "I'm not really into health!" It was intended to be provocative. I then qualified it by saying that, of course, I would be into "health" if I was sick and that that was exactly my point - health is for sick people. Health is a proper aspiration for someone who is ill. Unfortunately, the health food subculture is full of perfectly healthy people who spend their time and their money obsessing about "health". Which is very unhealthy. It is symptomatic of a culture of narcissism and self-obsession. It is as true of macrobiotics as of any other "health" modality. You are very likely to meet very healthy people at health resorts - they devote their time and money to worrying about imaginary ailments and having their cholesterol levels taken every five minutes. It's neurotic. You are very likely to find macrobiotic people like this. Their whole mind-set and their conversation revolves around this abstract notion of "health". They are constantly talking about health - all the latest reports in the media, all the latest research, all the latest fads. It is, as I say, unhealthy. It is not good to obsess about health. 

Health, rather, is a platform from which to move forward to other, greater things. It is not an end in itself. This is the symbolism of the spiral, a motif to which George Ohsawa often referred. Obsessions go round and round in circles. Real health moves forward in spirals. It is unfortunate that macrobiotics has tended to degenerate into just another "health" fad. This has particularly been its fate in contemporary America. People think it is an anti-cancer cure or a weight loss program. They have lost sight of what lies beyond health. Health is a meager objective. Health is only the first step. There has to come a time when you stop obsessing about health and start looking to the Great Life (macro + biotic) beyond it. The question is: what are you going to do with your health? To what noble purpose will you apply your vitality?  

On a side note, the spiral was adopted as a symbol by the premier Australian macrobiotic supplier, Spiral Foods Inc. Their products are highly recommended. Top quality. Their logo quite properly underlines the *spiral* nature of Ohsawa's "oriental dialectics". The dialectical process moves from thesis to antithesis to synthesis. It is two steps around and one step forward. Yin and yang are not cyclic. Their dialectical complimentarity generates movement and vitality, life. The best symbol of the process is the spiral. Spiral Food's logo explains it precisely. Health is one thing, but life is another. The point is not just to be healthy - the point is to live! The proper aspiration of a healthy person is the Great Life. In traditional oriental spirituality, such as in Taoism, there is a continuum of life that goes: health - longevity - immortality. Macrobiotics is much, much more than a "health diet". It is sad to see it reduced to a health diet these days. Rather, it is a philosophy of life that just happens to take the form of a dialectical cuisine. Look beyond "health", I say. Extend your reach to the Infinite. That's what macrobiotics is about. Circles are static and self-obsessed, rank, fetid and closed. This is why George Ohsawa said that dualism is the first and last enemy of humanity. Systems of two (duality) rot. Spirals grow. 

If you are looking for more on macrobiotic philosophy, I recommend the account given by Phiya Kushi at her website. 

https://phiyakushi.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/the-philosophy-behind-macrobiotics-understanding-yin-and-yang/

PUBLIC LECTURE IN BENDIGO - Slide Show

On Monday 13th April I gave a one hour presentation on George Ohsawa and his philosophy at the Bendigo Public Library as part of their Philosophy in the Library Series. The slides below are from the presentation that accompanied my talk. There is not much you can say in one hour, and the emphasis was necessarily on philosophy, not cooking or cuisine, but these slides give some indication of what was covered. 

I began with a brief introduction to George Ohsawa the man - a short biographical sketch. 

I talked about the background to macrobiotics in the work of Dr Sagan Ishizuka. 

I mentioned Ohsawa's family background and the impact of tuberculosis. 

I talked about Ohsawa in Paris. 

I mentioned the possible precedents of macrobiotics in the work of Christoph Hufeland. 

I noted that Ohsawa was a pioneer in the struggle to bring Oriental medicine to the West.

I talked about Lima Ohsawa. 

I talked about Ohsawa's experiences during the Second World War and the impact of the War upon him. I then turned to aspects of his philosophy. 

I noted that Ohsawa's philosophical position is essentially non-dualist. 

To underline the non-dual theme I pointed out that the notion of non-dualism and the expression of a philosophy through food is not alien to Western concepts. 

I noted other philosophical diets. I emphasized the idea of "the radiant mind" - a diet that looks beyond mere "health" to aspects of consciousness. There was some discussion about how macrobiotics has become just another "health fad" when in fact Ohsawa's vision extended far beyond the idea of "health". 

I discussed how Ohsawa had inverted traditional poles of yin and yang and gave a quick sketch of the philosophical basis of this. 

I discussed the yin/yang polarity issue in relation to tradition ideas of the "inverted plant" analogy, especially as it is found in Plato. 

Regarding the issue of vegetarianism, I discussed the much broader matter of taboos on meat-eating in relation to an evolutionary scale. I discussed, for example, an historical Japanese taboo on eating monkeys and pointed out that such taboos, like the Semitic taboo on eating pork, possibly have a basis in taboos on cannibalism. In any case, as Michio Kushi explains, it is better to eat creatures that are distant from us on the evolutionary scale, crustaceans, fish, birds, rather than mammals. 

PUMPKIN TIME

It's pumpkin time! The harvest is in. This year I only planted two pumpkin plants but the results were very good - a whole year's supply of long-keeping pumpkins. The variety is Queensland Blue, an old Australian favourite with hard blue-green skin and rich orange flesh. It needs a long growing season, but here in Central Victoria that is not an issue. The pumpkins can range from 2 to 6kg in weight and will keep in good conditions for a long time as long as the "plug" in the top is intact. The growing technique I use is Chadwick's double-dug raised beds with compost, soil from the chicken yards and a liberal dose of blood-and-bone meal. Water well. Hopefully, we will be enjoying homegrown pumpkin for up to ten months or more, certainly all through the Australian winter.

In this climate pumpkin is probably the most high yielding vegetable we can grow. The crop is relatively low maintenance but the yield is substantial and long keeping. You really only need to grow a dozen Queensland Blues. Cut into quarters and use one quarter each week. 12 x 4 weeks = pumpkin for a year.

Here is a recipe for a good quick pumpkin soup:

INGREDIENTS

1 leek, sliced
A good amount of pumpkin, skinned and cut into 2 inch pieces.
A teaspoon of caraway seeds
1 clove of garlic
Half a teaspoon of fresh black pepper
A good pinch of mace (or nutmeg)
A sprig of fresh rosemary
A teaspoon of good quality sea salt
A 3 inch strip of kombu seaweed
1 dried shittake mushroom
A dribble of sunflower oil

METHOD

Oil the bottom of a pressure cooker.
Lightly fry off the leek, garlic and spices
Add the pumpkin, seaweed and mushroom
Just cover with water.
Add the salt.

Pressure cook on full pressure for fifteen minutes.
Blend with a blender stick or similar until a smooth consistency.
Serve with chopped parsley and sourdough bread.
Excellent as the day's grow shorter and the night's grow colder.

STILL HUNGRY?

A friend related to me that some time ago she and her man travelled to visit her sister (and her man), the sister being on a so-called "macrobiotic diet". But the food at the sister's was so meager and so unsatisfying that my friend (and her man) were compelled to drop into a fish and chip shop on the drive home to fill up on greasy potato and low-grade shark. She laughed. "We were famished!" she said. The only cure was a good dose of comforting junk food.

Similarly, another acquaintance reported to me recently that when she (and her man) were "into macrobiotics" years ago they were "always hungry" - the food just wasn't sufficiently satisfying. "All we could think about was food," she complained. Their "macrobiotic diet" left them feeling under fed.

 My response to such accounts is simply that, if macrobiotic food leaves you feeling hungry then you are doing it all wrong. For a start - as I insist in other posts - macrobiotics is not a "diet" - unless you are on some therapeutic regime because you are sick. Rather, it is a cuisine, and like any cuisine you should eat enough of it to feel satisfied. The idea that macrobiotics is some sort of starvation diet is wrong, although there are people who impose it upon themselves in this sort of way. Macrobiotics is, properly speaking, a mode of cuisine, an approach to food (and much more!) and you should eat your fill. If not, you're doing it wrong.

How much is a "fill"? That depends on numerous factors. There are no general prescriptions. Again, macrobiotics is not a "diet" in that way. It is an art form. There are guidelines but no set rules. One such guideline is that you should eat what you need. If you don't, then you will be left hungry. This is bad in all sorts of ways, not least because you are then likely to binge on junk food. How much do you need? It depends on your build, your metabolism, your occupation, your age, your climate - dozens of variables. The whole idea of macrobiotics is not to follow some "diet" but to develop sound judgment and a knowledge of your own true needs.

That, certainly, is my advice. Eat what you need. You should not feel deprived. Go ahead - have another bowl of soup or an extra serving of brown rice. Don't leave the table until you've had enough. At the same time, of course, be careful not to over eat - but don't ignore the dangers of under eating. It's no good if, like John and Yoko, you raid the refrigerator to gnaw on chicken drumsticks in the middle of the night. Meals should be planned and organised such that people are well fed and satisfied according to their needs.

One point to bear in mind, perhaps, is that the 'standard' macrobiotic meal is very Japanese inspired, yet Western people generally are bigger boned and fuller framed than the relatively petite Japanese. Europeans tend to need larger portions. This is quite natural, and meals should be adjusted accordingly. Don't under feed yourself or your guests. Macrobiotic cuisine is supposed to be a joy and a celebration, not a punishment. Eat as much as you like. It is all good and wholesome. Don't over eat or gormandize, but don't leave yourself empty either.

If you are sick and come to macrobiotics as a food cure then that is different. You may need to be on some controlled "diet" with particular foods in particular quantities. But for healthy people cuisine macrobiotique is a feast - the feast of the good earth - and you should feel satisfied and reenergized after every meal and not need to go looking for more. This is very important if you want to change your eating habits for the better long term. To avoid lapsing into bad habits and binges, don't under eat. Serve yourself - and your guests - generous portions such that no one goes wanting.

OHSAWA ON SUGAR

CARROT WAKAME SALAD

A carrot and wakame salad. Happily, carrots have been prolific in the garden this year and so have appeared in salads and all sorts of other dishes. This is a simple salad. Carrot and wakame make a very good combination. Reconstitute the dried wakame with boiling water. Let it sit for half an hour. Cool and wash under cold running water. Then combine with grated carrot and finely cut carrot tops. That is, use the whole carrot, tops and all. Use a combination of sesame oil and brown rice vinegar as a dressing, or some other suitable dressing, and top with a good sprinkling of gemasio, i.e. roasted sesame seeds ground together with sea salt.

Wakame is commonly referred to as sea lettuce. It is one of my favourite seaweeds. It is an excellent basis for summer salads.

MACROBIOTIC STOCKS

The father of modern European cuisine, Auguste Escoffier, began his Le Guide Culinaire with a codification of sauces and stocks - the bedrock of French haute cuisine. Stocks are foundational. This is true in cuisine macrobiotique as well. Stocks are the basis of most dishes and the key to flavour. A wise chef begins here. The first thing to do is to create a basic repertoire of stocks around which everything else is constructed. In macrobiotics, of course, whole grains are the true foundation of everything, and so stocks are relatively less important than they are in the meat-based cookery that Escoffier codified, but it remains true that making stocks is a primary activity for the macrobiotic chef - it is the groundwork for everything else.

In conventional cookery we have beef stock, fish stock, chicken stock, and so on. Animal based. As you'd expect, macrobiotics is different in that it is based upon a range of (mainly but not exclusively) vegetable based stocks. Here, for the record, is a repertoire of the main ones. Learn to make these:

THREE FAMILY BROTH

A vegetable broth using the three main family of vegetables, the celery family, the cabbage family and the onion family.

GINGER BROTH

A broth with intense ginger flavour.

KOMBU BROTH

A subtle clear broth prepared from kombu seaweed (kelp).

MUSHROOM BROTH

The strong flavours of dried shiitake mushrooms.

SPRING ONION BROTH

Essence of spring onions.

VEGETABLE BROTH

A general all-purpose vegie broth from mixed vegetables and kitchen scraps. Similar to, but more ragged than, three family broth. Endless variations.

DASHI

The classic Japanese fish broth using kombu and benito shavings noted for its smokey flavours.

These are the main ones. There are others. I personally include a light chicken stock among them, and a seafood stock prepared from the heads and pieces of prawns etc. I prepare all of these - except dashi - in a pressure cooker. The pressure cooker produces the fullest and deepest flavours - an essential item of equipment in a macrobiotic kitchen, in my opinion. Acquire and learn how to use a pressure cooker.

All of these broths can be enjoyed on their own or, more commonly, with the addition of miso of which there are many different varieties. Miso soup is foundational in itself; it is part of most well-prepared macrobiotic meals, except perhaps in the heat of summer. But miso is not a broth in itself. It is added to one or other of these broths to make a basic soup which usually functions as an entrée.

Otherwise, one of the most common uses of these broths is as a liquid base for whole grains. Typically, for example, we have precooked brown rice, or millet, or some other grain. It is reheated, ready to eat, in a pan with the addition of a small quantity of stock in which other ingredients, such as vegetables and leafy greens, are simmered as well.

There is the temptation to meld all of these different broths and stocks into one common product. The key to success is to keep them quite distinct. Don't go adding ginger to the spring onion broth, for example. Make the spring onion broth most decidedly onion-y. Make the ginger broth gingery. In any cuisine the chef should labour to create a distinct spectrum of flavours - this is also the case in macrobiotics.

All of these stocks are seasoned with a quality sea salt. As well, I like to add ground black pepper to the all-purpose vegetable stock. This helps to differentiate it from the others. It is more peppery with more complex flavours.

JOHN DOWNES - NATURAL TUCKER BREAD BOOK

Wandering through a secondhand store the other day I picked up an unscuffed copy of John Downes' Natural Tucker Bread Book for the grand sum of $1. What a bargain. This is the third copy of this culinary classic I have owned - I gave the other two away to people who I thought needed them more than I did.

I really had no idea about home baking until I read this book. Downes initiated the sourdough revolution in Australia sometime in the late 1970s. For some time he ran various bakeries and introduced wholegrain sourdough bread to the Australian public - a great achievement. I remain a great fan of Mr Downes. With macrobiotics as his inspiration, he has been a true pioneer in wholefoods in Australia and singlehandedly changed the landscape of Australian cuisine.

It is only a short book. 128 pages. But it is packed with recipes, instructions and advice all replete with the author's undoubted expertise and wide experience. Throughout he is guided by an unerring commitment to classical authenticity and the best of traditions. A sure sign of his expertise is his endorsement of Demeter Brand biodynamic products in Australia. It is remarkable how many wholefood "experts" I come across who do not know the difference between biodynamic quality produce and produce that is merely 'organic'. I take it as a tell-tale sign as to whether someone really knows their stuff or not. Downes clearly does. Australian grown BD flour and wholewheat is a superior product for dedicated home bakers.

This is a great book. Although written long ago it remains the best introduction to homebaking in this country. But its value is not limited to Australia. Anyone anywhere who is interested in genuine bread baking should have a copy of this classic.

Here's the basic leaven instructions from page 40:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups good quality wholewheat flour
3 cups water

METHOD

Mix flour and water into a medium batter. No lumps.

Place in a glassware bowl and cover with a cotton cloth.

Leave for two to five days until bubbles appear and the batter is obviously active.

Mix this with the same quantity of flour and water and let ferment again.

The leaven is now ready to use.

Store in the refrigerator.

Catch a wild yeast. Simplicity.

QUALITY SALT

Salt is a lot more than sodium chloride. If it was just sodium chloride then there would be nothing to choose between different brands. I have encountered this point of view often. People will scoff at the idea that one brand of salt might be better than another and say, "Bah! It's all just sodium chloride anyway!" 

This might be true of standard commercial salt to some degree. Most of them are industrial grade sodium chloride packaged along with free flowing agents, anti-caking agents and other adulterants most of which are by-products of the aluminium industry. Such cooking and table salts are very harsh on the tongue and are indeed essentially industrial chemicals. But in nature there are many different salts and sodium chloride is only one constituent in them. Almost always, sodium chloride is found in combination with a wide range of other mineral salts, and consequently different combinations have different tastes and different properties. Good chefs know their salt. Quality cookery deserves quality salt. The industrial grade stuff won't do. 

The best general purpose salt I've found is macrobiotic sea salt. Locally it is available under the Lotus Brand label. (See picture above.) This is a high grade sea salt that has a complex flavour on the tongue. By analysis it contains magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium and other trace minerals as well as sodium chloride. It is an unrefined sea salt that has been extracted from sea water by the natural processes of sun and wind. The drying process is gentle and leaves about 5% moisture by weight in the finished product. It has no additives whatsoever: no flowing agents or other chemicals. It is slightly grey in colour. It hasn't been bleached. This is always a good sign in salt. Avoid salts that are stark white.

What about pink salts and others? Much depends on where it comes from. Very often novelty salts are just scams carrying a high price. The popular pink salt comes from salt mines in Pakistan and is not really worth the money. It is attractive but it is 99% sodium chloride and is coloured pink by iron oxide. You should certainly question anything labelled "organic" salt! But there are local salts in various locations that may be worth trying.

It is important to learn how to use salt. Many chefs don't know how to do it - they throw in huge handfuls of poor quality cooking salt into just about everything they cook. Salt is used to cover a multitude of sins. Conversely, many health-conscious or science type of people fear it and regard it as a demon based on simple-minded science thinking. In perspective, salt is the most ancient, most traditional and most universal of all flavouring agents in human food - using it properly is a lost art in our times. It is especially important in grain-based diets because it makes our wholegrains more digestible, as well as acting as a catalyst for flavours. It renders food more alkaline. The traditional Japanese diet is high-sodium and yet the Japanese are among the longest lived and healthiest people on earth. Macrobiotics is generally regarded as high-sodium cuisine, but it is undoubtedly healthy, especially regarding cardio-vascular health.

It is impossible to make generalisations regarding salt. Meat eaters generally eat too much common salt - refined from inland deposits - to compensate for high meat consumption. This type of salting is no doubt very injurious to health. Moreover, adding salt at the table, rather than in cooking, has a very different outcome - it is always best to add salt to food during cooking because of the transformations that occur at higher temperatures. Covering food with salt at the table is no doubt a bad business. Then there is context. Salt is best taken, in most contexts, combined with sea vegetable (kelp) or sesame seed (gemasio). It is an art. I will add more posts about salts and using salt in the future.