A while ago I finished reading the heavy book about Ultra Processed Food - it didn't worry me too much as I soon realised that by eating lots of home made and basic foods not a lot of weird ingredients were included in my diet. Ever since I did that month of using value range basic food and preparing more main meals from scratch I'd stopped buying most of the ready prepared vegetarian shove-in-the-oven things and that had cut out several strange, chemical, unpronounceable 'stuff'.
(In my little book about Suffolk Words and Dialect it says that Suffolk people use the word 'stuff' for all sorts of random collections of items, more than any other part of the country!).
Just to prove that, I kept a piece of paper in the kitchen and made a note of anything eaten which had an ingredient that was something that you wouldn't normally have in your kitchen or be able to buy. Then took a few photos of some of the things noted (Too much time on my hands?)
Pataks Naan Bread
Willow 'butter' spread
Hellmanns Mayo
Aldi Mayo has other things
Coffee sachets
The food I eat with no strange additions...... Home made bread and marmalade. Honey, butter, nuts, fruit and vegetables and herbs and spices. Home made pickles and chutneys. Cheese and milk and eggs. Frozen Fish and canned fish. Things using home made pastry (pasties and quiche). Home made cakes and biscuits. Pasta in various forms. Rice and home made curries.
Checking labels of some things I had in the freezer and cupboards it was interesting to see how many additions there are to the sausages and sausage meat which are from a local producer using their own pork. Do I dare go into a butchers with the list of ingredients and ask them which they use in their own sausages?
A month or two ago I bought some 'artisan' burgers from the Wyken Farmers Market. Nothing weird in them but the Lamb and Mint had no flavour of mint and were really greasy. The Pork and Apple were pretty tasteless too and I don't like beef burgers so for the odd occasion -perhaps just once a month - I want a burger I'm going to carry on buying the Linda McCartney (just waiting for someone to tell not to eat a burger then!)
Below is a list I cut from something I've never bought before and never will again (shouldn't have gone shopping without breakfast).
An amazing list.......... could you guess what they were from this?
On my shelves for so many years that I can't remember how long, is this set of 7 small books about food and cooking through the ages from Prehistoric to the 19th Century.
They are fascinating and no mention of Xanthum gum or aspartames anywhere!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
