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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels August 3, 2004 The Kitchen Coach You can use foods to keep your cool Rebecca Wood It's fascinating how some foods warm you up and others cool you down. This isn't new information. In early Persian, Indian and Chinese literature, foods were ranked according to their ability to influence body temperature. Fortunately, this wisdom is resurfacing. Let's examine its basic, common-sense principles. First, there's how you fix a food. Raw foods are more cooling than are cooked foods. Additionally, a chilled, iced or frozen food is more cooling than the same food served warmed or at room temperature. Cooking energizes by adding heat and partially breaking the food down which aids digestion. Consider a carrot. A carrot soup conveys more warmth than does a grated carrot salad. Carrot juice is more cooling and refreshing than carrot salad. That same carrot cooked in today's stew is more warming than if it had been previously cooked and refrigerated (or frozen and then thawed), warmed and served. Freshly cooked foods are more warming and enlivening than are leftovers. To enhance a food's warmth, cook it with more time, more fat or oil, at higher temperatures, under greater pressure or with less water. Thus a grilled or fried carrot is more warming than a steamed or boiled carrot. Additionally, consider the range you're using. Foods cooked over gas or wood heat impart more warmth than foods cooked with electricity. A microwave-cooked food holds and conveys even less warmth than if cooked on an electric range. Recall how quickly a microwaved cup of tea loses its heat and becomes tepid. Thus, one excellent way to support your thermal comfort is to adjust your cooking techniques according to the season and to whether you're feeling steamy or chilly. A second tool is to examine individual foods. According to traditional culinary wisdom, foods are hot, warm, neutral, cool or cold. Spices tend to be warming and fruit tends to be cooling. Garlic, for example, fires you up while peaches cool you down. If I were a football coach, I'd rouse my team with garlicky buffalo stew. Not peaches and cr�me fraiche. To assess a food's thermal properties, you don't have to memorize endless food lists. Rather, use the following guidelines for your enhanced comfort and well being: Growth time Foods that grow quickly, like bean sprouts, cucumbers and summer squash, tend to be more cooling than foods that take longer to grow, like cabbage, carrots and winter squash. Color Blue, green, or purple colored foods are typically more cooling than similar foods that are red, orange or yellow. Thus, a lime cools more than a lemon. Blue fish is more cooling than salmon. Region Tropical and sub-tropical foods tend to be more cooling than temperate-zone foods. Strawberries and cherries are more warming than are mangos and pineapple. Water content Juicy foods tend to be more cooling than dry foods. Therefore, Chinese cabbage is more cooling than is cabbage and milk more cooling than cheese. Using these guidelines, plus your intuition, test yourself by considering the thermal properties of foods on the following recipes. If you're not sure, cook them both and see how your feel. Note that both recipes use garlic - it's a reminder that food is more about enjoyment rather than about following rigid rules. Spinach and Sprouts 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter 1 garlic clove, pressed or diced 1 bunch spinach, stems removed, leaves washed but not dried 1 cup bean sprouts Naturally fermented soy sauce or sea salt to taste Warm oil in a wok or wide skillet. Add the garlic, cook over medium heat until it is aromatic and turns light gold, about 1 minute. Add the spinach, bean sprouts and soy sauce or salt and lightly cook for about 3 minutes or until the spinach is bright green and limp and the sprouts are translucent. Season with pepper. Remove to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 2 to 3. Barley Cod Chowder 2 tablespoons sesame oil, butter or ghee 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1 onion, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1/4 cup pearl barley 6 cups water, fish or vegetable stock 1/2 pound fresh Pacific cod, cut into small chunks 1/4 cup light miso 1 scallion, chopped Heat the oil, garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, onion, carrot and barley in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Saut� for about 5 minutes or until the onions have softened and the mixture is aromatic. Add water or stock, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for at least 45 minutes but for as long as 3 hours. (With long simmering, add additional water if necessary.) Add cod, cover and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove _ cup of the broth and place in a small bowl with the miso. Using a fork, puree the miso until smooth. Return the miso mixture to the pot and cook for one minute. Adjust flavor with additional miso if necessary. Remove from the heat. Serve hot, garnished with scallion. Serves 4. Local resident Rebecca Wood is a personal chef, kitchen coach and author. Her book, "The Splendid Grain," won both Julia Child and James Beard Cookbook Awards. You may reach her or visit her many recipes and articles, at www.rwood.com. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams