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Have you ever heard of William Banting? In May of 1869 his "Letter On Corpulence" was published. It's a sensible treatise on dieting and being obese.In the preface and the actual open letter his tone is humble and self effacing. He writes about his battle with corpulence and all the things he did to lose weight. Finally, he gets put on a plan by a doctor who specializes in the treatment of diabetes. Essentially, he went on a high protein low carbohydrate diet and lost 50 pounds in about a year. He even includes what is probably one of the first actuarial tables for ideal weight according to height. It's an amazing work, his ideas while couched in wordy Victorian style seem so modern, he repeatedly advises checking with your physician before starting any plan, that I thought maybe this is an elaborate hoax.
According to the Wikipedia article his name became synomous with dieting, people asked each other "Do you Bant?". Banting is very appealing to me but the amount of alcohol he drank on a daily basis would have my head reeling.
When I was vegetarian, I used to jokingly say that I was a dairy-a-terian because I lived on cheese and pasta (I guess I could have styled myself a Pastafarian, but that was already taken). Looking back I realized that I really ate a lot of quiche and broccoli with cheese sauce, Frances Moore Lappé was my idol. Diet for a Small Planet and Recipes for a Small Planet shared space along side of Laurel's Kitchen. I had the complementary protein chart memorized and always tried to combine my proteins. In spite of all that cheese, I was thin then.
While I have no interest in becoming a vegetarian again, I am interested in eating in a more healthy way. I think I shall Bant but with a slant. Nothing new here, no resolutions just a confirmation on the views that I have been slowly building up to.
Speaking of resolutions, I decided that I was going to eat more soup. I have an old paperback cookbook. I bought it while I was in Junior High School in the 60's from the monthly book fair. We'd get a catalog and order books in our homeroom. This book has the my sort of title. "Soup" by Castle is all it says on the binding. I have no idea what Bogracs Gulyas means but it's billed as a Hungarian soup. Up to now the only things I associated with Hungary was Paprika, goulash and the Folkwear pattern for a Hungarian Szur that I gave away when I moved here.
I hope all your resolutions as as delicious as this soup.
29 December, 2010
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13 comments:
Theresa,
Sounds like a hearty soup we'll enjoy up here in Chilly NC! Thanks! We'll give it a go next Monday (Our Soup night!)
Cheers!
Dan in NC
I fear I banter far more than I Bant.
Like Dan, I am putting this goulash on the menu for next week. It will be a good followup to my modified white chili.
Hi Dan, It was really good,I hope you enjoy it.The caraway is an interesting smell, unusual for me but oh so good.
Steve, ask your butcher for carne para guisar. That means stew meat. I don't think ham will work this time!
regards,
Theresa
A high protein food that really works? Don't wince when you read this: tofu. Now, I don't like tofu, generally. But I've found one that tastes really good because they've seasoned it boldly, thus overcoming that blandness so typical of tofu: SoyBoy brand Carribean. (Their Tofu Lin is also quite tasty.)
Just think of it as cheese made from vegetable protein instead of dairy protein. Certainly few people would reason thusly: "I don't like cheese of any sort." Try some of this seasoned tofu, if you can find it!
Has anyone seen either of these products in Merida?
~eric.
eric, you can buy tofu at Costco and at Mega for sure. I think you can probably buy it at a lot of grocery stores. There is even a lady that sells homemade tofu at the Slow Foods Market on Saturdays!
I use it in some recipes and interchange it with panir in Saag Panir sometimes. Pan frying it in ghee and seasoning it with garam masala and salt, yum.
regards,
Theresa
Ah, but so much tofu is so bland. This is the only brand that I've found that has any flavor to speak of. Plain tofu simply won't do (for me).
I remember wanting to like eggplant for so long, because they were so beautiful. But the texture was like sponge, and the flavor in most dishes reminded me of vulcanized rubber for some reason. But then I got married, and my wife Mary found a few eggplant recipes that are amazingly tasty. And we've lived happily ever after — 33 years now.
Cooking counts! On NPR a few days ago there was an interview with cookbook author Marcella Hazan which contained a recipe for chicken with two lemons — almost nothing more. She got 42 letters reporting that "I made your chicken for my boyfriend, and he proposed to me." The publisher changed the name of the recipe to "Engagement Chicken" in later editions of the book. Here's a link to the recipe:
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/28/132227815/long-view-marcella-hazan-brings-italy-to-america
And you may still be able to listen to the interview.
~eric.
Happy New Year, Theresa, to you and your husband! I'll most certainly be Banting with you this year. I thought I was the only one who ever read about that guy! Thanks for reminding me.
Eric, tofu isn't supposed to have a taste of it's own. I like it that way, otherwise it wouldn't assume the taste of the seasonings. Have you tried the Sichuan Eggplant recipe on my blog?
Regardless, I appreciate your viewpoint.
Madame Pliers, I found Banting because I was reading a book called "Good Calories, Bad Calories" Previous to reading that book I was convinced that it was quantity not quality that made a difference. My current thought it that it's a combination of the two. It matters how much you eat, but it also matters of what. Life is never as simple as I would like it to be.
regards,
Theresa
Happy New Year, Theresa!
I love that recipe for Bogracs Gulyas. Think I'll have to try it. "Gulyas" in Hungarian is "goulash" ... pronounced sort of like "gull-yosh" if I'm remembering correctly (no idea what "bogracs" is, however).
I won't be banting with you, but I'm resolved to cooking more, and that usually results in some unintentional weight loss for me (less over-processed food does the trick!).
Happy 2011
Hi Girl Griot,I played with google translate until I found out that gulyas has a written accent on the a, and bogracs means either kettle or cauldron. how does it measure up to the food you ate when you were there?
I think home cooking is almost always healthier due to the lack of artificial ingredients.
I am shocked at the caorie counts of food in NOB restaurants. I just read about the pizza hamburger that Burger King is offering in NYC. Wow,I got full just reading about it.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
regards,
Theresa
Bant
I have been banting since diagnosed as a diabetic.
Diabetes is under control
It is not just high protein, it is also higher fat and way lower carb. It is healthy for me
Ron, Banting's diet was originally conceived as a diabetes diet. The theory being that the mechanism that causes obesity is the similar to the one which causes diabetes.
You look great, the living proof of the value of this sort of diet. I appreciate the validation.
regards,
Theresa
I really like your blog and i really appreciate the excellent quality content you are posting here for free for your online readers. thanks peace sandro
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