One of the best things about riding a bike is that it’s a solitary sport that gives you time to think, on your own, outdoors, away from the hustle and noise of the workaday world. I’m not necessarily talking about deep thoughts, either. Sometimes my biking brain will just make lists of the inanest crap you can imagine – one-word song titles (“Twisted,” “Mercy,” “Creep,” “Hurricane,” “Loser”), alliterative sports names (from Alvan Adams to Zinedine Zidane), favorite animals (rhino, bull, buffalo, tiger….).
And food. Lots of food thinking on a bike – like during today’s ride.
This morning, while pedaling around a nearby park, I tried to come up with the 10 food items I would choose if I could only eat those and those alone for the rest of my days. Five have to be solid foods, and five have to be spices, condiments or seasonings.
It’s not as easy as you think. I kept changing the list as I rode, over and over. Garlic. No, onion. No, neither – ginger instead. Lettuce. No, cabbage. No, lettuce. Pork. No, chicken. Curry powder. No, chili powder. No…..
Try it sometime. It will drive you bloody mad.
Today’s blog is devoted to this topic. As the cook of the house and an obsessive eater, I found it kind of fascinating. I settled on the 10 food items (five solid, five the other) for the rest of my life, but it wasn’t easy.
My beloved onion did not make the cut. I’m not sure I want to live in a world without onions. But you have to weigh its genius as a flavor enhancer against the fact that as a solid food, it simply doesn’t add a whole lot else.
I will have to say arrivederci to Italian food because the list does not include garlic, basil, pasta, oregano, or tomatoes. A truly frightening thought….
First, a couple ground rules:
- The list does not include beverages, so just assume you can drink whatever you want.
- In terms of solid foods – you could choose prepared items like fresh or dried pasta, bread, chocolates, etc., which means you don’t have to worry about having to make your own breads or cakes or pastas from scratch.
But enough prelude! Let’s get to the list, shall we?
Solid Foods
Rice: This is the second-easiest pick on the list. Rice is the world’s superfood, eaten by half the global population every single day. Rice is your best food friend, whether you realize it or not. It’s diverse. It’s good for you. It’s delicious. It’s cheap. Growing up in America, certain parts of the country prefer potatoes over rice. But I grew up down South, where rice rules the roost. I could eat it every day, no problem. Plus if I got really ambitious maybe I could figure out how to make rice noodles.
For this category you can choose any kind of rice – white, brown, black, wild, short-grain, long-grain, parboiled, jasmine, basmati, arborio, etc.
Chickpeas: I originally gravitated toward red beans or pinto beans, which are a staple in Southern soul and country cooking. But chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) are more versatile. You can serve them cold in a salad (as I do every weekday for lunch), warm as a main course or side dish (especially curries), pureed into hummus, or roasted in the oven for a nice snack. Beans and legumes are a cheap and tasty source of fiber, protein and vitamins.
Cabbage: I eat lettuce every day of my life (roughage, roughage, roughage!). But I had to go with cabbage here as my leafy green of choice – again, for the versatility. It can be served raw and chopped as a salad, steamed as a side dish, or sauteed as a main course or nice accompaniment to a stir fry. Plus, it can serve as a sandwich or taco wrap if necessary.
All cabbages are fair game: green, purple, red, napa, savoy, bok choy, danny boy, whatever.
Chicken: I debated going with only plant-based foods, but that debate ended quickly. Pork, beef and seafood have their charms, and I would miss them. But I have to come back to versatility. Chicken is a staple in cuisines around the world, every single country I can think of. It works well in everything from enchiladas and gumbo to stir fry, curry, schnitzel, pasta, soup – tons o’ dishes. And you can serve it as a main course either roasted, broiled, sauteed, grilled, fried….oh, I’m hungry now.
Pineapple: This was maybe the toughest pick on the list – the final solid food. I could have gone a hundred different ways with this, and might come to regret this pick after only a few weeks. It breaks my heart not to include tomatoes, because they work as both a fruit and vegetable (and a sauce, salsa, salad item, breakfast food, snack…). I would miss bread and pasta to the point of weeping.
But, I feel like some kind of fruit is necessary for the vitamin C. Moreover, pineapple can serve as a main breakfast course, a dessert, a source of sugar and juice, and an ingredient in prepared foods like stir fry or stewed chicken.
Condiments, Spices and Seasonings
Salt: This was the easiest pick on here. I could have nine other food items on this list but I could not do without salt. Neither could anyone else, probably. Salt is essential for maintaining fluid balance and proper nerve and muscle function, the internet tells me. It’s also the most important seasoning in the world, bringing any dish to life. One of the world’s saddest things is undersalted food.
Olive oil: I use olive oil in pretty much everything, all the time, every day. It’s a great salad dressing and marinade, not to mention a flavor enhancer. Plus, you need some kind of oil for frying, roasting, grilling.
Cumin: The one spice I don’t think I could live without. When you only have five solid foods to work with, you are going to need a strong flavor producer, and cumin is one of the best. It’s a staple in Latin American, Middle Eastern and South Asian cuisines – three of my favorites.
Hot sauce: This is probably a luxury I should skip. But I cannot bear the thought of not having some serious spice kick in my life, the kind that makes you grab the beer or water after every bite. I debated putting chili powder on the list, but hot sauce is probably more versatile as a cooking ingredient because there are so many varieties. And it’s a yummy condiment.
Granulated ginger: Okay, maybe this was the toughest call. With no raw onion or garlic on the list, I could have gone with granulated onion or garlic. But I decided on an Asian spice to satisfy those Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino and Vietnamese cravings I’m bound to have. I’ll just have to figure out a way to get along without soy sauce.
*****
One thing the above list tells me is that I have a real bias toward cuisines with bold flavors. That makes sense, because if I were to pick my favorite cuisines, among the leaders would be Mexican, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, and Indian – all of which make heavy use of spices.
There are no sweets on my list, which would likely horrify people who can’t imagine a world without chocolate.
I wonder whether anyone else in the world would have these 10 exact and specific items on such a list. It would be cool to find out. In the meantime, what’s on your list?
Vance Cariaga 