Living in a Foodie Town, Slow Food v Fast Food, The Mediterranean Diet and A Simple but Nutritious Recipe

.You Are What You Eat

Photo - own, taken standing on a hill looking across at the town and the hills byond.

Living in a Foodie Town

As we go into September, here in the town where I live, plans are underway for the second food festival of the year. The main events will be held in the castle, but local shops will take part in “food trails”, such as the sausage trail. Visitors come from all over to this popular festival and the town will be heaving. It’s a tourist town so we locals are used to sharing the streets with crowds of sightseers. I’m including myself in the term “locals” but no doubt those born here would take umbrage with that assumption. After all, fifty years of residence is not a lifetime.

The visitors to the town usually come to see not only the castle, which was built in the 11th century to keep out the marauding Welsh, but the other buildings of historical interest. The streets were planned and built to a grid system surrounded by a wall with seven gates. There were many inns built just outside the gates and around the walls to house latecomers to the town when the gates were shut at curfew, and there are still a fair number within the town.

A few decades ago, a couple of well-known chefs came to live here and separately opened restaurants. This led to the town becoming known as a food town and it eventually joined the Slow Food network. The website for this movement says, “Slow Food is a global, grassroots movement………that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. It was founded in 1989 in Italy.” Locally sourced food is encouraged in Slow Food towns.

The chefs moved elsewhere eventually, but the food connection still lives on, as do the Food Festivals. Some streets in this town have unusual names like Silk Mill Lane and Harp Lane, while others have a food link: Fish Street and Pepper Lane. I tend not to go to the food festivals, but my family are avid attendees. My relationship with food is complex, having been a hungry child. For me, eating is a pleasure to be enjoyed, but its main purpose is to fuel our bodies and help us maintain good health. I subscribe to the view that there’s a strong connection between diet and health and you are what you eat.

Slow Food versus Fast Food

Science tells us what’s necessary to live a healthy life as we age and food that is unprocessed is important in this aim. Processed food usually contains sugar, sodium, high levels of fat, preservatives and little in the way of nutrition. We tend to call processed food fast food as it’s usually made for quickness, whereas aptly named slow food is the opposite and more wholesome in its authenticity.

I gave up eating meat thirty-four years ago for a variety of reasons and haven’t deliberately eaten it since. However, I did start to eat fish about nine years ago. As a vegetarian, I had to learn a little about nutrition and especially sources of protein to ensure there was sufficient in my diet, meat being one of the few foods to contain all nine amino acids that make up a first class protein. When I became aware something was lacking in my food intake that was resolved by consuming fish oil pills for omega 3 it occurred to me I might just as well be eating fish. As my conscience was one reason for giving up meat, including fish, it was a tough decision to make, but I’m now a pescatarian, eating fish a couple of times a week.

Illustration courtesy of Getty Images via Canva.com

Scientific research studies constantly find that the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest for longevity, which is fortunate for me as it’s my favourite food. This way of eating is mainly plant based and includes extra virgin olive oil, vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils, nuts, legumes, whole grains, a moderate amount of fish and a little meat. Eating a combination of these foods as unprocessed as possible, leaving fibre intact, is good for gut health.

A recipe that I frequently use is a bean and brown rice salad. Combining beans and rice provides a first-class protein, as each contains several amino acids, but not all nine. The dried beans are soaked overnight and then cooked before adding to the cooked rice. The combination is left to cool. For speed, canned beans could be used if well rinsed and I do use them sometimes. I add various ingredients, using what I’ve already got in, and some bought especially. Here’s the recipe:

Beans and Rice Salad

Ingredients:
4 oz beans - black beans or adzuki beans (or any you have in the larder)
4oz wholegrain brown rice
Sun-dried tomatoes chopped
Grilled halloumi chopped (or feta cheese)
2 Stalks Celery chopped
Green or black olives (only if you’re not including a salty cheese)
Half a cucumber chopped
A red or yellow bell pepper chopped
4 spring onions chopped
Ground or fresh coriander (cilantro)
Lime juice (alternatively, a dressing can be folded in made from 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar and 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, whisked together)

Mix the above ingredients, or any of your choice that you have in the fridge, with the beans and rice. When the flavours have been given sufficient time to meld serve with a green salad and sourdough bread or rolls.

I sometimes add a tablespoon of sauerkraut to my plate with this salad for extra gut health. It makes about four portions, depending on the size of each obviously.

Local Eateries

We are spoiled for choice when eating out in our little town. We already have numerous eateries, but a new gastropub has recently opened in the square near where I live. It’s had many incarnations, previously having been a pizza restaurant, but many years ago it was a traditional pub, then called The George and this name has been resurrected for the new venture. In 1992, it was used in the film “Howard’s End”, adapted from the book of the same name by E M Forster. In its new guise, the pub serves Mediterranean-inspired food so I’m looking forward to trying it out.

If it provides as good a meal as the one I had with a friend at Sourced, a longer-standing local restaurant recently, I will be delighted. It was a sourdough base pizza topped with Shropshire mushrooms and accompanied by locally sourced shredded green cabbage covered in a delicious olive oil-based dressing. Sourdough is the best bread and pizza base as, if it’s authentic, it only has three ingredients: flour, water and salt, no sugar or other unhealthy additions.

When I first gave up eating meat over thirty years ago, eating out was difficult as chefs didn’t know what to create for you; it was often a disappointing experience rather than one to be enjoyed. Now there are many more people with diverse culinary tastes, and most restaurants can cater for them. Though, judging by the number of requests from newcomers to the town on Facebook wanting to know where they can get a Sunday roast, traditional food is still popular, and it’s readily available here. Living in a town where food is a big attraction means that fresh, locally sourced fruit and vegetables are easy to come by and eating healthily is easy, I’m happy to say.

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