The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| In California, juice fans trumpet “reboot” detox Posted: 03 Oct 2013 09:57 PM PDT "I like to do it twice a year, it's like a reset button. You have an opportunity to think about your relationship with food," the 44-year-old told AFP in the trendy ocean-front district. "It's a wonderful way to get powerful nutrients in your body," added Miller, whose house has been transformed into an ashram, a place of peace away from the bustle of Los Angeles, half an hour away. Juice bars are everywhere in southern California, which has long embraced New Age culture. In upmarket areas like Santa Monica or Beverly Hills, they are on every street corner. And it's not uncommon to see Angelenos saunter down the street with a polystyrene cup full of vegetable juice, instead of coffee. "It's the new wine," said Miller, serving up a greenish brew to two visiting journalists. Veggie juices can contain anything from kale to ginger, mixed with beetroot, carrots, coconut milk or almonds. For fruit lovers there are dates, nuts, bananas and apples, while cucumber or celery produces lighter juices. Lose 10 kilos in 5 days And while some limit themselves to occasional juice at a neighbourhood bar, others have turned it into a lifestyle option, with "cleansing" or "juice detox" regimes lasting three, seven, or even 30 days. Fans say such "cures" are a kind of spiritual experience. On a more practical level, others note that a five-day "cleansing," consuming nothing but juices, can help one shed 10 kilos. Heather, a 42-year-old physiotherapist, has just finished a 72-hour juice detox - and raves about the experience. "It makes me feel so good it's almost addictive. I feel closer to myself, I feel clear-headed, I feel more energized and my body gets the chance to reboot," she told AFP. Indian juice bar manager Baba Ji has opened two outlets in the last two years in the hipster areas of Silver Lake and Los Feliz, just east of Hollywood. "In the last few years juicing has exploded - everybody wants to open a juice bar. Everybody wants to do a detox," he said. Depending on where you go, a three-day juice "cure" can cost between $120-250, he said. The price can go up to $400 for five days. His customers say they are convinced it has changed their lives. "I have been drinking green smoothies every day for the past two years and the results have been phenomenal. Higher on energy, decrease need for sleep and I just feel healthy," said yoga instructor Dharan Avtar, 40. It changes your life David Goodman, 37, an inventor and musician, added: "You feel more energised, you sleep better and sleep less. I felt younger when I was 30 than when I was 16 just because of all the juicing. "I've done one for a month, but over the last seven years I did a lot. It's great, it changes your life." In July, financial news weekly Barron's estimated the value of America's juice industry at $5 billion, with annual growth of 4-8 percent. The country has some 6,200 juice bars, concentrated in Los Angeles and New York. And in a sign that the trend is really taking root, a branch of the national Walgreens drug store chain in Hollywood has a juice bar. And cafe giant Starbucks opened its first juice bars this year in Seattle and San Francisco. But nutritionists, while welcoming the growth of vegetable juices, warn against taking it too far with juice-only diets. "It is kind of extreme, and for the general population it's not necessary to exclude all food," Julieanna Hever, a dietician specialized in plants, told AFP. "Why not just eat a more balanced overall diet? Unfortunately people eat what they want to eat, and then they feel they have to detoxify from it ... we all would be better off if we ate healthily all the time." She added: "Our body is made to detoxify. It's got kidneys and a liver and our skin. "Our organs are made to constantly detoxify. So if we stop putting in all the toxins we are going to get healthy anyway. We don't need to go to a special juice cleanse to detoxify." – AFP, October 4, 2013. |
| Asia’s libido-boosting foods Posted: 03 Oct 2013 09:08 PM PDT Penises and testicles from donkey, goat, dog, bull and deer, the other contributors to the $200 (RM639.90) feast are laid out on a kitchen table, like a sorry-looking row of odd-sized sausages and veiny, oval vegetables, all waiting to be sliced up by his looming, intimidating cleaver. "The (horse) texture and the flavour are both very good. It is also good for one's health," said Xiao, who has been preparing male organs since he was 13, using skills handed down in his family for several generations. Sourced from some of Asia's wildest and most rugged terrains, the organs are chopped up before being arranged on a bed of lettuce around an elaborate glass stand, more akin to something that might display fairy cakes or scones in a high-class cake shop. The unique dishes at Guolizhuang, China's only penis speciality restaurant chain, are popular among business parties and government officials, Li Yanzhi, manager of the Chaoyang branch, told AFP. The vast majority of customers are male, she added, many of them searching for increased potency and sexual prowess at the restaurant, which also serves organs from ram, yak, seal and snake - which have two penises each. "Chinese people believe we can replenish different parts of our bodies by using the same ingredients, which means whatever you eat is nutritious for that part of your body," said Li. "Eating penises and testicles can make a man stronger and enjoy a wonderful sex life." Potent in bed There is no orthodox scientific evidence for such claims, but across Asia there are various versions that come with similar boasts. In Pakistan's business capital Lahore, Takatak - a dish whose name is derived from the sound of the clanging knives used to make it - consists of chopped goat and sheep hearts, brains, kidneys and testes. "Basically men eat it so that they can be potent in bed," said Faher Hayat, a chef whose roadside restaurant serves the specialty with onions, tomatoes, ginger, pepper and coriander. "The brains give energy to the head, while the testicles have a power of their own." On the side of traffic-clogged roads in Jakarta's old town, men looking to improve their sexual performance flock to stalls to drink snake blood. Customers pick out a snake, which go for 70,000 rupiah (RM19.46) each, before a vendor carefully hauls out the selected serpent, hacks off the head with a meat cleaver and grips the snake's headless body vertically to allow its blood to drip into a teacup or glass. A spoonful of honey is added to sweeten the bitter mixture, seen not only as a virility booster but also as a remedy for diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments. At the Beijing penis restaurant, customer Wei Jingsheng, 47, is a devoted believer. "It does work very well," said the 47-year-old construction businessman. "After I took it, my hair stopped falling out, and now I feel very energetic the whole day. Before, I needed to sleep at noon to not get tired, now I don't need to. Every aspect of my life has become fantastic." Embarrassing questions The restaurant's nutritionist says that its most popular dish is deer, seen as particularly effective due to each breeding male having scores of sexual partners. "One deer penis has the same potency as three bull penises," said Du Yuemei, who goes to each table to enlighten guests on the supposed health benefits of the dishes and regale them with tales of the animal's vigour in the wild. With a hint of a smile, she admits to being asked embarrassing questions by some customers, but is immune to attempts to make her feel uncomfortable. "I know my job is kind of unusual, but it makes me feel good though, that I am involved in dietary therapy for men. It's very unique," she adds, before curtseying and leaving the room, a signal for the waitress to begin placing the ingredients into the boiling soup, made up of deer heart, duck stock and Chinese medicine. The first to emerge - steaming hot and the slices slightly shrivelled compared to their earlier appearance - are the goat and bull penises. The bull, having curled into a squid-like ring from the heat, had a familiarly beefy flavour, but with a firm texture not easy to swallow. The goat was tendon-like, rubbery and slightly stringy, like a flavourless, flaccid stick of liquorice. Both donkey and horse penis were presented in bacon-like strips, but the neutrally flavoured donkey was dark, while the intense, meaty horse was easily the most distinctive ingredient of the meal. In contrast, the testicles had lighter textures, varying from flaky to somewhere between tofu and pate, and often delicate tastes. The deer penis was slightly frayed and another rubbery offering, while the wild Russian dog had a spicy, almost zesty flavour, despite looking like slices of undercooked pig-skin. It was the only imported dish on the menu and the only animal to have a penis bone, ceremonially presented in a red gift box at the end of the meal for good fortune - albeit not the original owner's. – AFP, October 4, 2013. |
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