Getting food right is one of the trickiest
challenges of event planning. Complicating matters is an endless
stream of conflicting dietary news, which makes staying up-to-date
on the latest dos and don’ts a must. What follows are five
not-so-little secrets or myths about food that every menu planner
should know.
Not-so Chilean sea bass
The first misconception about the famed Chilean sea bass
concerns its name: There is no such thing, according to the U.S.
Department of Commerce. In fact, the fish is not a bass and is not
caught exclusively in Chilean waters. “Chilean sea bass” is a term
coined by marketers for upscale menus, where the white-meat fish
has become increasingly popular.
A more accurate name for this aquatic denizen is toothfish,
which can live 50 years and weigh 200 pounds, usually caught in
dark, icy waters near Antarctica.
Another myth is that the Chilean sea bass is on the endangered
species list kept by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is
not. However, the Audubon Guide to Seafood says that due
to poor fishery management and high demand, commercial extinction
of the toothfish might occur by the end of 2005.
Raw sprouts: A raw deal?
Many believe raw sprouts represent the epitome of healthy
eating because they are low in fats and calories while high in
vitamins. Those crunchy little greens, found in sandwiches,
stir-frys and salads, are simply the germinating form of seeds
(like alfalfa, broccoli or sunflower) or beans (such as kidney,
navy, pinto and soy).
However, starting in 1995, a series of illness outbreaks blamed
on alfalfa and clover sprouts have marred the food’s reputation.
Mostly, the illnesses have involved the pathogenic bacteria
salmonella and E. coli. In July 1999, the FDA went so far as to
caution the public, “those persons who wish to reduce the risk of
food-borne illness from sprouts are advised not to eat raw
sprouts.”
Consumers should cook sprouts and request that raw sprouts be
left off their food when dining out or buying salads and
sandwiches, according to the government health experts. Meeting
planners also might want to leave sprouts off the menu.
Scuffle over truffles
According to an ancient myth, truffles were created when lighting
struck the ground close to trees.
Today, many people indulge a new myth when enjoying a dish
flavored with the subterranean fungus: that the rare and precious
truffle was excavated by a muddy-booted truffle-hunter and his
trusty pig or dog, somewhere in “Old Europe.” Certainly, in Italy
and France, truffles have been dug up for a thousand years by lone
trifolao and their truffle-rooting animals, and this romantic
notion has at times helped push the price of European white
truffles to more than $100 per ounce.
But today’s “truffles” are just as likely to have come from
China, Tasmania or even North Carolina as they are from Piedmont or
Périgord.
The Chinese truffle is plentiful and therefore cheap, but it
can be passed off as the more rare, expensive European variety by
unscrupulous vendors. “China makes a truffle that sells for $30 per
pound,” notes Peter Urbani, vice president with Urbani Truffles USA
Ltd., the country’s largest truffle importer. “The look is the
same, but the aroma and flavor are hideous. Some chefs will shave
them and throw some truffle butter on there and call them truffles,
but they’re not.”
Truth is, many truffled dishes, so popular around Valentine’s
Day, contain no fresh truffles whatsoever. Rather, many restaurants
use prefabricated truffle butters, artificially flavored truffle
oil and truffle essences to achieve that musky, earthy taste.
Better replacements for the real deal include dried truffles and
canned, sliced truffles marketed under the name truffle
carpaccio.
Tinkering with tuna
When selecting fresh tuna at the local supermarket or fishmonger,
most people look for one telltale sign: the color red. Tuna that
has been exposed to the air for a while, or frozen for transport
then later thawed, takes on the ugly brown hue a trained eye knows
to avoid. Put simply: Intense red color means a cut of tuna is
quite fresh; dull brown means it is not.
However, according to government health authorities like the
FDA and Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, it has
become increasingly likely that tuna’s appealing red hue comes not
from freshness, but from exposing the fish to carbon monoxide, or
CO. The flesh can be treated with the gas when fresh, prior to
freezing or after being thawed. Retailers in the United States then
buy the pretreated, ever-red tuna and sometimes pass it off as
fresh at a premium price.
“I feel that this is unnecessary and unacceptable,” says Anton
Brunbauer, executive chef with the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
in Scottsdale, Ariz. “A truly fresh fish will arrive properly cold-
packed with bright deep color, clear eyes and no fishy smell.”
While the practice of “clear smoking” fish has been “generally
regarded as safe” by the FDA in this country, Canada, the European
Union and Japan have banned it, citing fears the treatment can be
used to disguise spoiled fish. Indeed, CO does nothing to preserve
the flesh. Worse, rotten tuna can contain high amounts of
scombrotoxin, a common cause of fish poisoning.
Close scrutiny of a cut of CO-treated fish will reveal a too-bright
watermelon-like color, as opposed to a more natural red of
untreated tuna. Most experts say it is best to buy from a supplier
with integrity or from a trusted restaurant.
Bad science in soy sauce
In June 2001, the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency (the
British version of the FDA) advised consumers to steer clear of
many soy sauce products after high levels of cancer-causing
chemicals were found in 22 of 100 samples taken from U.K. retail
shelves. The main culprit: 3-MCPD, a chloropranol produced by the
addition of hydrolyzed vegetable protein in some soy sauce.
According to health authorities, 3-MCPD was shown to cause
cancer in lab rats exposed to high levels over their lifetime.
Worse, some soy sauces made in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and
Thailand contained 3-DCP, a chemical thought to be genotoxic,
meaning it disrupts DNA.
Clearly, soy sauce manufacturers were put on the defensive by
the 2001 advisory, and subsequent sampling found improvements in
the number of soy sauces containing 3-MCPD.
The American soy sauce producer Kikkoman felt compelled to
address the issue, despite the fact that its products were never
questioned. “All Kikkoman soy sauces are naturally brewed and aged,
never using the process of acid-hydrolysis and never adding
acid-hydrolyzed protein as an ingredient,” the company
asserted.
Yet, questionable soy sauce products are still in the
marketplace. A 2002 follow-up study by the FSA found high levels of
3-MCPD in several brands of Chinese-made soy sauce, including Gold
Plum Dark Soya Sauce Mushroom and Pearl River Bridge Mushroom Soy
Sauce.
While the FDA studies the issue, U.S. consumers are best
advised to use traditionally brewed soy sauce, and if a sauce
contains hydrolyzed vegetable protein, make sure it was made in the
States.