Hey, You Going Eat That?

Titanium Dioxide

Titanium Dioxide is more commonly known as the pigment that makes white paint “white,’ but it has many additional uses. Its brightness makes it the most widely used white pigment with over four million tons of it used annually. Titanium dioxide is used in paints, precision coatings (dielectric mirrors and some gemstones like “mystic fire topaz,”) plastics, inks, toothpaste and so forth. It is also used in consumable products such as pills and tablets, cosmetics and other HBA (Health & Beauty Aids) such as styptic pencils.

 Titanium dioxide is often used in skim milk to ‘whiten’ it making it more palatable to the consumer. -Skim milk is actually slightly blue-ish when viewed under bright natural light and thus, needs to be ‘colored white’ for consumer confidence. Titanium Dioxide is also used as a colorant for cheese cream which, among other uses, makes cottage cheese the familiar ‘bright white’ color. Otherwise, cottage cheese would be of a slightly yellowish color owing to the butterfat content of the dressing used.

 Generally for consumable food use, titanium dioxide is not listed on the label of ingredients because it is considered a ‘manufacturing aid’ and not an ‘ingredient’ specifically. A minor technicality of legalese, but true.

Image via Wikipedia

Yes, that which makes white paint ‘whit’” also makes cottage cheese ‘white.’

When Was This Bread Made?

You don’t have to squeeze the loaf to determine if the bread is fresh. Bread is delivered to stores fresh every day or so, but is tied with a different color tag or twist-tie to indicate on what day of the week it was made. These codes are not so much for you and me to understand (you’ll never have to choose between BLUE tag and RED tag, for instance.) You will only ever see ONE, possibly TWO colors in use for any given day. That is, the current freshest delivery and maybe a few holdovers from the previous delivery day.

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These color tags (or twist ties) are more for the stock helpers and delivery people’s use, for them to determine freshness and remove any unsold old bread. It is easier than trying to find a minuscule ‘SELL BEFORE:’ date stamped on the package.

Often, grocer will have a ‘day old bread’ sale bin with the previous production days’ bread located there, marked down substantially. It is unlikely therefore that you will ever end up buying a truly stale loaf of bread. But for your enjoyment, here are the codes used.

Monday, the tag color is BLUE

Tuesday, the tag color is GREEN

Thursday, the tag color is RED

Friday, the tag color is WHITE

Saturday, the tag color is YELLOW

The Devil’s Fart?

Image via Wikipedia

And while we’re talking about bread, what’s the deal with Pumpernickel bread? According to Wikipedia, pumpernickel bread derives its name from a synonym in New High German for ‘flatulent’ or, in vernacular English, ‘fart .’ And ‘Nickel’ (a form of “Nicholas” the goblin, devil or “Old Nick.”)

So, “pumpernickel” literally means “devil’s fart.’ I know that this stuff is hard to digest but it a bit of factual data.

Blood Sausage, Anyone?

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The name sounds like it could be something the STAR TREK alien race known as Klingons would eat, yes? But it is Earth-local. The English ‘black pudding’ is a sausage made from the cooked coagulated blood of usually pig, cows with sheep or goat sometime used. The blood of poultry, horses or other animals not listed are more rarely even used.

 The blood is warmed in a pot and gently stirred and as it thickens (coagulates) it is mixed with an thickening agent, a filler that is usually meat, fat, bread, barley, oatmeal, and other items can be used as well. This sounds really gross but you know what? It is similar to “black pudding,” German blutwurst isn’t that bad so long as you keep your mind off the fact that you’re eating coagulated blood product. Blutwurst is pork rind, pork blood and a filler grain such as barley. It is bought pre-cooked and can be eaten immediately, but warming it often makes it seem more palatable.

Wiki tells us that in Berlin, hot blutwurst when mixed with liverwurst and potatoes is called by a even more bizarre name; “Tote Oma” which translates to “Dead Grandma.” –Okay, with respects to dear ol’ grandpa and grandma with a show of hands here folks, -who did not have enough food on their plates to have thought up this disgusting idea for a name? Eww!

IKEA Lutefisk?

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Have you ever shopped at that bastion of Swedish mercantilism IKEA? The name means “common sense” and if you’ve ever shopped there, you know what they mean. Good products, cheap. You assemble most of them yourself. The well-stocked showroom floors are opulent and spacious. But somewhat barren of sales associates (reminds me of Wal-Mart actually, you can never find any floor staff there either!) There is very little floor staff at IKEA for a smart reason; to help keep prices lower. You wander around like tourists in a strange land, and write down the item number of whatever you are interested in, the aisle and bin number from the product’s tag and you go to their warehouse near the checkout and get it off the racks yourself!

 Well, IKEA also sells packaged foods; often featuring tasty items from Nordic countries and of course, mostly Sweden fare. Ah Sweden; the motherland of IKEA! They have many types of fish, pickled, frozen, breaded, more. Anyway, “lutefisk” might be just one such item available. I have not yet seen it offered, but have not gone out of my way looking for it, either. It is fish that has been soaked in caustic LYE soda, derived from potash. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t LYE what you use to unclog the bathroom sink and boil-out the radiator on your car? Although, “lye” will damage head gaskets on cars so it is not advised to be used. Generally, a muriatic acid solution for boiling-out automobile engines, radiators, etc., is better and safer for the delicate materials like the copper/brass of radiators and headgaskets.

 At any rate, the caustic lye soda softens the salted, dried fish. The soaking and changing of lye water rinses causes the fish to swell larger than the original size, the protein content is reduced by over 50% and it becomes ‘jellied’. The fish is then soaked in daily rinses of clear, clean water for another four to six days to make it edible again. Only then is the lutefisk ready to be cooked. Okay damn! -You have to wait about  12-days for this to be fit to eat? I think I’ll just hit McD’s for a Fillet-o-fish instead.

Wasabi Tempura Seaweed

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I think that these are Wasabi leaves (not real seaweed) although seaweed consumption in Japan is common. Wasabi leaves can be deep fried and eaten like potato chips. Wasabi is hot like horseradish but unlike most hot spicy foods of this genre, the hot burning sensation dissipates quickly with a drink of water. Other spices like pepper and capsicum tend to spread around with water, making the burn feel worse.

Wikipedia mentions that wasabi vapor is like ‘smelling salts’ and can rouse people quickly, and attempts are being explored to use wasabi as a smoke alarm for the deaf. Cited is one participant whom woke within ten seconds of wasabi vapor being sprayed into the sleeping chamber. I don’t know… if I was deaf and it comes to be fire-time I would want WATER to be sprayed into my sleeping chamber not hot sauce vapor. –How about it?