Community center class: Yes, You Can Actually Cook
"Starch," Eliot said, as soon as it looked like they had all the students they were going to get, this week. There was still a large pile of vegetables on the front desk, and diced up waiting for the students at their work stations. There would always be a large pile of vegetables in this class. No one -- in Eliot's culture at least, and he was guessing several others, too -- ate enough vegetables. "It's cheap. It's filling. It's just nutritious enough to keep you going in a tight spot. There's a reason why various starches show up as staples in pretty much every region of Earth. Today we're going to deal with two of the more popular ones worldwide: noodles and rice."
Eliot held up a rectangle of tightly packed dried pasta. "Any of you who spent any time tryin' to keep yourself fed on a real tight budget in the US will probably recognize this. It's one of the cheapest things in most American grocery stores, clockin' in at less than a dollar for a 'full meal'." Oh yes, he was doing air quotes there. "Comes in a little brick just like this, cooks in about three minutes in boiling water, and is edible dry if you're too impatient for that. Has a little flavor packet that'll make your cardiologist cringe. This is American ramen. We basically owe the Japanese a big time apology for these. But if you toss out the flavor packet and use some fresh ingredients, you can make yourself something tasty that provides more than just the absolute basic calories you need to survive in no time at all."
He set the noodles down and picked up a mason jar of long grain white rice. "I'm hopin' any of you who've spent more than the last two weeks on Earth know what this is. It's one of the about ten or so cereal grains, mostly grown in Asia, and one of the three most cultivated food plants in the world. It can be a pain in the ass to cook the first couple of times you try it, involving a lot more precise measuring than noodles to get that perfectly tender result. Lucky for you, I have a nice, easy guide for you all to follow so you get something edible. Rice works as a base for any number of recipes, from stir fries, to chilis, to jambalaya. I've got recipes for all those up here, but stir fries are probably your best bet for something fast and flavorful.
"Now the real trick when it comes to making a starch for your meal is the timing. Boiling water can take awhile. And no, adding salt to the water does not make it boil faster, not without enough salt to ruin what you're tryin' to cook. Salting the water does cut down on the metallic flavors you can get from modern tap water, brings out the flavors of whatever you're cooking in it, and helps keep your pasta from sticking together. There's a reason salt was once worth more than gold on this planet.
"But that's enough from me. You got your choice of recipes at your station. If there are any terms ya ain't familiar with, ask. Best way to learn any cooking technique is to actually try doing it yourself. And the same rule applies as last week: cut off a finger or set anything on fire, and I will kill you."
Eliot held up a rectangle of tightly packed dried pasta. "Any of you who spent any time tryin' to keep yourself fed on a real tight budget in the US will probably recognize this. It's one of the cheapest things in most American grocery stores, clockin' in at less than a dollar for a 'full meal'." Oh yes, he was doing air quotes there. "Comes in a little brick just like this, cooks in about three minutes in boiling water, and is edible dry if you're too impatient for that. Has a little flavor packet that'll make your cardiologist cringe. This is American ramen. We basically owe the Japanese a big time apology for these. But if you toss out the flavor packet and use some fresh ingredients, you can make yourself something tasty that provides more than just the absolute basic calories you need to survive in no time at all."
He set the noodles down and picked up a mason jar of long grain white rice. "I'm hopin' any of you who've spent more than the last two weeks on Earth know what this is. It's one of the about ten or so cereal grains, mostly grown in Asia, and one of the three most cultivated food plants in the world. It can be a pain in the ass to cook the first couple of times you try it, involving a lot more precise measuring than noodles to get that perfectly tender result. Lucky for you, I have a nice, easy guide for you all to follow so you get something edible. Rice works as a base for any number of recipes, from stir fries, to chilis, to jambalaya. I've got recipes for all those up here, but stir fries are probably your best bet for something fast and flavorful.
"Now the real trick when it comes to making a starch for your meal is the timing. Boiling water can take awhile. And no, adding salt to the water does not make it boil faster, not without enough salt to ruin what you're tryin' to cook. Salting the water does cut down on the metallic flavors you can get from modern tap water, brings out the flavors of whatever you're cooking in it, and helps keep your pasta from sticking together. There's a reason salt was once worth more than gold on this planet.
"But that's enough from me. You got your choice of recipes at your station. If there are any terms ya ain't familiar with, ask. Best way to learn any cooking technique is to actually try doing it yourself. And the same rule applies as last week: cut off a finger or set anything on fire, and I will kill you."