Snacking In The Raw
J. Scott Wilson , Food Editor
When I was a young man, I set out around the country to have all the experiences required to fill out my resumé as a writer.
If you look at the bios of most popular writers, guys who actually pay the bills with money they get courtesy of people buying things they've written (wonder of wonders!), they've all worked as short-order cooks, farmhands, taxi drivers, valets, and a host of other menial jobs. I figured that if I wanted to be the next Dave Barry or Stephen King, I had to pile up the experiences.
It was this ill-advised course of action that found me, the summer of my 19th year, in a cornfield just across the Florida border in Alabama, working on a migrant corn-picking crew. I spent the better part of two months heaving wooden crates of Silverqueen corn onto trucks that were just this side of the junkyard.
It was the sort of job that every kid who's undecided about whether or not college is a good idea should have at least once. You'll never want to leave air-conditioning again.
My first day in the field, lunchtime came and I realized that we wouldn't be hopping out of the field to a McDonald's. I realized most of my fellow workers were busily chowing down on a few ears of the corn we'd been picking all morning. Raw.
Now, like most American kids, I grew up eating corn on the cob prepared by one of the two official Middle America-approved methods: boiled or roasted. The idea of gnawing on an ear of raw corn was completely alien.
Hunger is the mother of palate invention, however, so it wasn't long before I was shucking and gnawing.
It was GOOD! The sweetness was more subtle, the crispness refreshing and the overall flavor something I'd never even dreamed of.
Now, those of you who have read this column for any period of time know that I'm a very carnivorous fellow. I like to cook meat. I like to eat meat. However, especially as I get older, I understand that balance is very important. Getting those daily servings of veggies in will help me live longer, so I can eat MORE meat in the long run. It's all a matter of motivation.
I'm not into the whole "raw food" movement, although it sure does look healthy from the outside. There are just a few too many "save the world by eating carrots" sort of claims in there for me to keep a straight face. However, there's just no denying that the less most vegetables are cooked, the more healthful they are to consume.
When I stood in that hot field eating that raw corn, I was tasting something that most people never will, especially if they stick to buying all their produce at grocery stores.
For the best flavor, you want as little distance as possible between dirt and table. In other words, you want to cut out as many middlemen as possible. If you don't have your own vegetable garden, the best way to that is to find your nearest farmer's market or produce stand.
On a recent trip to one of the larger farmer's markets in Houston, I found a variety of vegetables unmatched in any produce department. There were purple-hull peas, heirloom tomatoes, beans of every size and shape, squash, corn and dozens of other selections.
On a set of shelves off to one side, I even found locally produced honey. I purchased a jar with an obviously homemade label affixed, with the beekeeper's home phone number written in ballpoint pen. It was cloudy and somewhat dark, not clear and golden like the highly processed clover honey you can find at the grocery store. The flavor was incredible. There were notes and layers of taste there that the refining process destroys.
Here, in no particular order, are my own personal five favorite raw veggies. These can be eaten out of hand, without dips, sauces or seasonings of any kind, or you can go the crudités route and make an appetizer tray out of them.
Carrots: One of the side effects of the popularity of "convenience foods" is that there are a lot of kids out there who think carrots grow in sticks. They've never even seen a raw, unpeeled carrot, much less eaten one. That's sad, because carrot-peeling is one of the greatest "kid jobs" in the kitchen. The taste of a really fresh carrot, just peeled, is amazing. It's sweet and crunchy, and there are only about a zillion vitamins and other healthy compounds present.
Green beans: Don't look at me that way. I know, you've tasted undercooked green beans and they were rubbery and tough. Try them fresh off the plant and you're in for a crisp, juicy, totally "green" experience. I DO like to trim the ends and pull the strings off, those can be the vegetable equivalent of dental floss.
Corn: You can do this "field style" and eat it straight off the ear or be more civilized and cut it off the cob to use in a fresh vegetable salsa or pico de gallo. Either way, you're in for a real treat. If you cut it off the cob, make sure to use a very sharp knife and cut plenty close to the cob. The sweetest sugars are the farthest down.
Tomatoes: OK, perhaps a bit of an obvious choice, but worth mentioning in the context of farmer's markets. You see, the tomatoes you find at the grocery store are picked LONG before they are ripe. That's the only way they survive the truck trip to the store. The problem is, while a tomato may turn red after it's pulled from the plant, it will not get any sweeter or more flavorful. If you don't have a friend who grows tomatoes, your best bet will be to find a fellow at the farmer's market selling them out of the back of a truck. They probably won't be the perfectly round, evenly red, personality-free globes you're accustomed to at the grocer's, and you'll soon come to realize what a truly wonderful thing that is. If you get really lucky, you'll find someone selling oddly shaped or colored heirloom tomatoes. If you find them, buy as many as you can carry and spend the weekend in tomato-fueled bliss.
Peppers: Here we venture into what can be a wonderful and dangerous realm. Sure, you can enjoy the crunch and light flavor of a green (or any other color) bell pepper, but why not put together a tasting tray of several different kinds of peppers and chiles? Get some serrano, poblano, jalapeno and even habanero or Scotch bonnet if you're feeling brave. Remember that almost all of the heat in a pepper is in the seeds and white zest along the inner ribs. Buy three of each pepper and try progressive degrees of heat until you find your comfort level. And don't forget the pepper rush, that wonderful flash of endorphins brought on by indulgence in spicy foods. A lot of chileheads will tell you that they live for that tingle.
So here you have a starting point for some raw explorations. Get into the phone book and find your nearest market, and go forth and enjoy the bounty of the season, whatever season it is.
Go Nuts!
While we're talking about crunchy snacks, I've got to tell you about a new line from Sunkist, the folks best-known for your morning glass of OJ.
Their new line, Almond Munchies, is an offshoot of the successful Almond Accents salad and meal toppers. These are whole almonds treated in ways you may never have tasted. My personal favorites are the Nudies, which are skinless almonds roasted and lightly salted, and Buttered Up, which are roasted and lightly dosed with butter. Almonds already have that slightly buttery texture, and a little butter on the outside makes for a supremely addictive snacking experience.
I was particularly surprised by the In The Raw flavor. These are just almonds as they come from the tree, and I'll confess I'd never tasted one before. Amazing! My mind started to whirl with the culinary possibilities ... but then the bag was mysteriously empty as I'd continued snacking while pondering.
Whether they're for road food, trail snacking or just having around the house, Almond Munchies are a low-carb, seriously yummy addition to the snack-food world.
http://www.wesh.com/food/2390866/detail.html
