[shel]

A few days ago I had a small bowl of Quaker oatmeal. I've never had Quaker products - I buy all my oatmeal and porridge items from the bulk bins at a local, organic grocery. This Quaker stuff was terrible! It was lacking in any depth of flavor, was on the dry side, and had a somewhat greyish color. The oats I buy have a deep, rich oat flavor, a smoother more refined texture, and more of a brown color.

I understand that Quaker oats are considered a standard of sorts for a commercial product. If this is what America eats, I feel sorry for America. The stuff is flavorless cr@p - akin to what I imagine it's like to eating cardboard.

Every time I try a commercial product I am disappointed by the flavor, texture, ingredient list, and so on. What the he!! has happened to American food? Is it all so insipid and lacking in robustness? Feh!

Commercial chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, leafy green vegetables, cereals, eggs - all thingsd that I've tried in the last year or so, and all of it awful. Even commercial organic food is little or no better than the typical corporate garbage found in supermarkets.

Long live the farmers' markets and the small, quality driven independent food producers.

OK, my morning rant is over ....

scb

[food-macro]

I completely agree with you iv tried either quaker or some other brand name, it was bad we put brown sugar to maybe get flavour but it was still $h!t i wouldnt buy it again no matter what.

[foodnfoto]

While I agree with you both, I also think, what do you expect? Is it really any surprise that large scale produced packaged foods are not as tasty?

The thing is, during the depression the only food a person could get was locally grown, and either there was not that much of it or it was too expensive for many people to buy. Many people went very, very hungry.
In comes the development of large scale agriculture and food distribution. Through economies of scale, food became more available and less expensive, but at least thousands did not go hungry.

Now the pendulum has swung the other way and mass produced cheap food leads to malnutrition in the form of obesity-especially in the lower socio-economic strata where this is all many poor people can afford. At the same time our expectations of food have risen from basic sustenance to some kind of skewed art form where each bite is expected to be a religious experience (a la A. Bourdain).

To illustrate my point, I offer a little anecdote:

Last summer I was helping myself to the abundant wild raspberries and blackberries that grow just down the road from me. I had about 3 quarts in my basket when a lady walked by and remarked "Oh it's hardly worth picking all those berries you've got. I find their flavor kind of weak and bland." I popped a few in my mouth and offered her some with stained and scratched fingers. To me they tasted like juicy little flowers with an herby sweetness-not slap-you-in-the-head raspberry like a popsicle.
"Yeah, bland" she offered.

"Good, more for me" I thought; and did again as I munched on raspberry cobbler for dinner that night.

[Mezzaluna]

I use Quaker Oats (the old fashioned, not the quick cooking) in recipes only. When I eat oatmeal, I have Bob's Red Mill extra thick rolled oats. I like the cereal barely cooked, quite chewy, so this one is my fave:

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill extra thick rolled oats
1 tablespoon raisins (I'm diabetic- have to limit this)
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Put the above ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Add boiling water to just cover the oats. Cook uncovered on high power for about 1.5-2 minutes. Stir; cook longer if you like the oats less chewy. The water will be pretty much absorbed.

Stir; add milk, some Splenda or sugar, and enjoy a bowl of cereal that tastes like you're eating an oatmeal raisin cookie.

[shel]

Originally Posted by Mezzaluna

When I eat oatmeal, I have Bob's Red Mill extra thick rolled oats. I like the cereal barely cooked, quite chewy, so this one is my fave:

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill extra thick rolled oats
1 tablespoon raisins (I'm diabetic- have to limit this)
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Put the above ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Add boiling water to just cover the oats. Cook uncovered on high power for about 1.5-2 minutes. Stir; cook longer if you like the oats less chewy. The water will be pretty much absorbed.

Stir; add milk, some Splenda or sugar, and enjoy a bowl of cereal that tastes like you're eating an oatmeal raisin cookie.

I've not tried Bob's oats, but have enjoyed one or another of the multi-grain cereals. They were pretty good, as I recall.

I used to make my hot cereals in the microwave, similar to the method you described, but lately I prefer cookin' 'em up the old fashioned was, in a sauce pan on the stove. I used to zap the grains in a 1-qt Pyrex measuring bowl - was always afraid of getting a plastic taste or chemical-infused cereal with plastic microwave materials.

I understand about the raisins - gotta be careful of how many you eat. I like to get a small to medium appropriately ripe banana, slice some of it very thin, some thicker, and let itcook with the oatmeal. The thin slices melt into the porridge, the thicker slices add a nice texture, and the sugars are pretty low.

scb

[shel]

Originally Posted by foodnfoto

At the same time our expectations of food have risen from basic sustenance to some kind of skewed art form where each bite is expected to be a religious experience (a la A. Bourdain).

I'm not looking for a religious experience, just food that tastes good, that tastes real, that's not laden with chemicals, and that is nutritious. For me, food ain't an art form - it's just nutrition, and good, healthy, simple food is what I like best. What can be simpler than a bowl of oatmeal?

scb

[Maywen]

I visited the states a few years back with a television crew and felt ill for three days until we became accustomed to american food (fresh and packaged) I thought perhaps it was the water the fresh food was rinsed in or the artificial additives used in production.
Anyway, we were real glad to get back to Australian food......laws are pretty strict here. Our organic industry is only just starting to get legs but no matter where you live, you just cant beat growing it yourself.
Maywen

[OregonYeti]

How about all those fruits and veges bred to look good more than anything else, or turkey or pork with no more than 20% of a solution of . . .

We have good stuff but you have to search it out. I wish the crap was harder to find instead.

[MaryB]

I buy organic meats for my own use but for large BBQ's I have to use grocery store meat. I refuse to buy any thats injected with whatever. It changes the taste and texture of the finished product and not in a good way. The garden is slowly getting planted for home grown veggies. Not quite past a possible killing frost here so all thats in are cold tolerant veggies like peas, radishes, and lettuce.

[MikeLM]

Well, Shel-

That's easy for you to say, living in the Land of Fruits and Nuts with your year-round farmers' markets in almost every town. When we visited our daughter in Walnut Creek, where she lived for five or six years, we hit the local farmers' market every Sunday, summer or "winter."

That's harder to do in the frozen Midwest. The only thing that makes it bearable is August and September when the corn and tomatoes come into the local farmstands.

Mike

[Ishbel]

I use oat products from Alford Mill - and do not buy 'ready rolled' oats like Quaker or Scott's, both of which are available in the UK.

Don't know whether AMill's products are available in some US healthfood stores, but if so, then I warmly recommend them. Best porridge in the world!

The Oatmeal of Alford.

[shel]

Originally Posted by Ishbel

I use oat products from Alford Mill ... I warmly recommend them. Best porridge in the world!

The Oatmeal of Alford.

Thanks for the tip. I found a place in NYC that sells the product and will probably order a package at some point. Seems like a good, well-regarded product based on what I've read.

scb