In today's Curious Cook column I write about the elusive flavor advantage of organic foods, and about a simple treatment that can increase the flavorfulness of basil and quite possibly other herbs and vegetables.
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P. Maeder et al., Wheat quality in organic and conventional farming: results of a 21 year field experiment. J. Science of Food and Agriculture, 2007, 87, 1826-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2866
H.-J. Kim et al. Effect of chitosan on the biological properties of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). J. Agriculture and Food Chemistry 2005, 53, 3696-3701. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf0480804
A last installment (for the time being) of rice news.
Old and new Japanese rice As I've mentioned, Japan generally prefers their rice as fresh as possible; new-harvest rice is prized. Japanese scientists looked at the flavor changes that take place during aging, and found some pretty significant changes.
Red rice: I've enjoyed this exotic premium rice from Bhutan for years without realizing that in much of the rest of the world, the U.S. included, it's a troublesome weed.
Last week I wrote in the New York Times about the distinctive aroma of Himalayan basmati and Thai jasmine rices and the chemical that contributes it. I've collected several other interesting studies of rice over the last few months. They come from labs all over the world: not surprisingly Japan and Korea and Thailand, but also France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium--and Arkansas. Here's some of their news; more tomorrow.
Acrylamide is the industrially useful but toxic chemical that reared its ugly head among our potato chips and fries in 2002, when Swedish food chemists first thought to look for it in foods. Acrylamide is known to cause cancer and other illnesses in animals, and nerve damage in humans. It's suspected to be a human carcinogen as well. Acrylamide concentrations in drinking water are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Swedish chemists found food levels hundreds of times higher than the EPA limit.
Since 2002, we've learned a lot about acrylamide in food.
