Eating well in academia can be challenging. On any given day there’s probably pizza or donuts or cookies somewhere on campus. When either your time or your money (or both) are limited—and for students and faculty alike they often are—it’s hard to beat “free” and “right here.” But even with unlimited funds to buy whatever you wish and unlimited time for shopping and preparation, eating well still poses a challenge. There is an educational component as well; you have to learn or be taught what choices to make. And as this New York Times survey illustrates, sharing that knowledge is an imperfect and incomplete process.
[Read more…] about Science Corner: I Can’t Believe I Ate That Whole Thing
Feast
Feasts and Revelry: Good Food and the Grad Life (Scholar’s Compass)
I visited the Trade Winds Asian Market on a rare summer evening where time slows and places itself like infinity in your hands. I wanted to make green coconut curry before the summer ran out; summer always seems to run out before it has any right to do so. A friend and I drove to the market and wandered the aisles of unfamiliar labels and food types. We pondered the notations in Chinese characters of which green stalks were lemongrass and which was the Thai basil. Some others in the shop helped us make our choices. The internet gave suggestions on which brand of curry powder made it taste closest to the restaurant favorites I ordered “to-go†when time seemed thin and fleeting. We took an hour to then prepare the veggies and cook them to a spicy glory on the stove. There was more than enough for seconds and thirds. Dinner had turned into a feast of taste and quality time. [Read more…] about Feasts and Revelry: Good Food and the Grad Life (Scholar’s Compass)