Expanding taste buds

[MsPony]

While Sally Fallon books being read while watching Anthony Bourdain (hold on, *swoon*) I have decided to start expanding my taste buds. Since fiance and I can not travel for 3 months abroad at this time, we are going to local exotic restaurants. Last night we went to our favorite restaurant and I decided to eat a pastrami reuben. Not weird, I eat pastrami in my eggs all the time, you know, the aged, thinly sliced kind from Whole Foods? Yeah, they had REAL, thick, fatty pastrami at the restaurant I didnt eat it needless to say.

See, I dont eat meat, well except bacon, because of the fat. Its not a fear or hatred of meat necessarily, its the fat that I am afraid of. I freak, bad, if anything is of fat consisticancy. Now I am discouraged, because I cant go on this venture if I am afraid of the meat because I am afraid of fat.

So, what (cuts of) meats tend to be fattier? I know duck is greasy? What about lamb? What food dishes use more fatty meats, and what tends to be lighter? I know nothing about meat, teach me

 

[Wifezilla]

Fat is your friend. You need to get over that fear right now. Fat doesn't make you fat or cause heart disease. The human body evolved to run on mostly fat. Ever hear the term ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS? Yeah...ESSENTIAL is the key word there. You NEED healthy natural fats.

 

[ORChick]

Is your fear of fat because of the supposed health issues? Or do you just dislike the feel/taste? If it is the former there are many here at SS, as well as Sally Fallon, who will help ease your mind. If it is the latter, the only thing I can think of is to ease into it gradually. Will you eat beef? See if you can find a piece of beef with good marbling - fat throughout rather just in a strip on the side. That sort just makes the meat really luscious without giving the mouthfeel of a slab of fat.
If it is other flavors you are trying to teach your tastebuds, then again, easing into it is a good way to go. But don't give up after the first or second go - it takes awhile to retrain your taste.

 

[Farmfresh]

Preach it sister!

Fat is necessary to keep the joints moving smoothly and for your nervous system and brain to work at proper capacity.

We all need to take a BIG step back and really check out the food rules we were all raised to believe. Real eggs won't clog your arteries, Real butter is full of vitamins and is a healthy food and even the evil Chocolate has been studies recently and found to contain lots of health benefits.

If you are going to worry about anything those nitrates in bacon would bother me a lot more that the fat in it.

 

[Lady Henevere]

I don't eat meat, but my DH tends to ask for white meat when he orders chicken at Chinese and Thai restaurants, and sometimes at Indian restaurants. He finds that the consistency of the meat tends to be what he likes better, and he still gets all the delicious flavor of the dish through sauces, etc. Also, don't be afraid to try vegetarian options at new places to get used to the flavors. Lots of cultures are strongly vegetarian with fabulous food.

Enjoy your delicious journey!

 

[MsPony]

Hehe no no, I know fat is good now! I used to think it would make me fat, but yall changed that ;D Its the consistency actually. My cousin is HUGE of beef jerky and when I was 8 we were snackoing on some, which I chewed the same piece for like 10 mins and spit it out...it was fat, pure fat jerky. That's why my bacon HAS to be well done, I can't it otherwise.

Thanks for the suggestions ill run to whole foods and get myself some pieces of meat to play around with

Lady H: I completely forgot! I just always see meat as the maoin item on these travel food shows. But mmm to paneer masala! Do you have any good suggestions for restaraunts? I live about 1.5-2 hrs north of you depending on where exaclt you live.

(PS, sorry for spelling errors, I hate typing on BBs!)

 

[freemotion]

If you chewed that jerky for ten minutes, it was gristle, not fat, as fat is very tender...

I can't eat a hunk of fat, either, only crispy bacon. I don't eat the fat along the edge of a steak, but I will chew off the crispy portions. You don't need to eat a hunk of fat to get plenty of fat...

Some yummy ways to eat fat are within sauces and gravies, crispy chicken skin, and my favorite, to dip each bite of chicken in the golden fat that is in the bottom of the roasting pan.... Also cook fattier meats...forget the leanest cuts, like said, get marbled cuts instead of lean cuts.

Start cooking with lard and butter when you cook veggies. Salt pork is wonderful with greens and green beans and such. Cook your eggs in butter. Saute onions and peppers in lard or butter. Skip the veg oil, use that only for salad dressing.

Eat full fat dairy only.

 

[MsPony]

Thanks free!! I know Whole Foods has duck fat, mmm!

Lol, we switched to Whole Milk only I never told my fiance why. So as with most things (he *thinks* I'm brilliant LOL) he starts braggin to people that we ONLY drink/eat whole dairy fat because its healthy. Only he can't actually give a reason

I love being "brilliant"!

 

[Farmfresh]

Yea FAT!

Good... I was worried that you were afraid of the calories or something.

If you dislike the texture and consistency of fat I recommend buying pastured poultry products, pork and grass fed beef. The fat is FAR different in consistency than the fat in commercially raised meats and there is less of it!

Other meats like bison and venison are also quite delicious, nutritious and lean. Wild meat in general is less fatty. Rabbit meat is quite lean and makes a great substitute for chicken. Rabbit is nutrient dense and actually fills you up with less meat.

I am glad that you are trying to expand your taste buds. So many people get into rut and just eat the same things over and over. I believe very strongly that a wide variety in our diet helps us be stronger and healthier. :bun

 

[Blackbird]

Hot damn, Free! I haven't eaten any meat in over a week and you need to go and type that!