Let Food Lift Life

(Ref post no. 17, Edible oils: An introduction, for most clarifications that you may need here. Referring to other relevant posts may also be useful). In the previous post, we saw what technology is and how it grows in dimensions with time. In this post, we will see how ‘hydrogenation of edible oils for food uses’ took birth as science, became a technology and set off in its own special trajectory. There is also a semi-personal history behind my passion…

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Prelude: This post is meant to be a primer to the posts to follow and starts with the removal of ‘innovation’ from a pedestal and introduces it as something that you can make a way of life. This is meant to explain how that spirit led to some ‘original’ thinking on some intricate aspects of a particular chemical technology – presented later – and created useful insights. Also an introduction to the nuances of the term ‘Tehnology’ and its evolution…

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The fixed composition of oils vs. the consumption recommendations: The idea of ‘ideal’ oil consumption is a relatively recent construct that stemmed from the developing insights in our physiology, especially metabolism.  As already noted, it immediately got complicated because of the immense variety in body types and, within each, variables like environmental factors, heredity, pre-existing conditions, physical activity levels etc. This was largely circumvented by basing those quantity recommendations on the individual’s ‘calorie requirement’, tacitly factoring in most variations stemming…

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Here are details of just how Geeta estimates her total visible oil consumption at home thru calculation of depletion of her stocks which, being mathematical, is reliable and relatable. But apportioning that total quantity to individual members is a delicious challenge. A couple of comparable real life parallels: 1. How to allocate your net income to expenditure and savings and savings to fixed and variable income instruments of investments. 2.  Determining how your staff sees its working conditions. So we…

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The utility of even approximate individual oil consumption: Expectedly, it is difficult to accurately calculate consumption of oils in terms of quantities by individual members of the family. Undaunted, we have worked out the modalities of closely estimating it given its importance. Oil/fat consumption is an important dietary determinant of an individual’s physiological-analytical parameters like the blood lipid profile, externally observed features like BMI and felt experiences like agility or lethargy. These, in turn, can be strong predictors of serious…

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We now understand that oils are our friends if we have insights in their nature as cooking media. Obviously, smart coking with oils must start with using the right oil in every cooking episode. As a refresher,  the following conditions must be met concurrently for that: The oils should not be altered harmfully during cooking i.e. the cooked food, with oil as a part of it, should be safe as well as tasty (or, at least, free from off-flavors) to…

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How Indian domestic cooking with edible oils is different: In the last post, we noted how industry treats edible oils for its product offerings which is different from what we do at home. HoReCa and organized, billed distribution of ready-to-eats understandably have cooking features borrowed from the industry and domestic cooking. They also have some special (and sometimes unscrupulous) tricks, given their compulsions and freedoms. However, it is interesting to note some specialties of Indian cooking with edible oils at…

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Though the essential similarities between domestic cooking with oils and industrial processing are obvious, it would be surprising if the industry didn’t do anything different beyond scale, continuous processes and automation. That is indeed the case: Industry uses them more technically with emphasis on cost, conservation, compliance with law and suitability for each process. Industry uses refined oils for larger, if somewhat bland appeal. Industry has some special products and processes that are beyond the scope of homes; this post…

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Oil and water as cooking media – nature’s amazing scheme: Oils and water are the only two liquids in our food-life against a slew of solids. The comparison between ‘boiling in water’ and ‘frying in oil’ has been touched upon in the last post. The divergent characteristics of water and edible oils hide an amazing natural scheme that makes all cooking possible. There is hardly any served dish in which both don’t have role and are not a part of….

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Cooking: general and oil-mediated – an overview: Our cooking modes are any one or a combination of some of the following: Cooking by boiling is essentially heating food in direct contact with water, e.g. rice, khichadi, Rajasthani gatte. Par-boiling of potatoes, blanching of tomatoes and spinach and cooking of kheers, porridges, firni, chickpea flour mass for Gujarati ‘khandvi’ or ‘patavadi’, daal making etc are versions of boiling. Dry roasting, e.g. peanuts, fennel seeds, dry spices before grinding, aubergine (brinjal, eggplant)…

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