Pâté Saturday!

I wish that life should not be cheap, but sacred,
I wish the days to be as centuries, loaded, fragrant.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is probably nothing better than a glass of red wine and a slice of French bread with homemade Pâté! This may be one of the most romantic combinations of food available on the face of Estero Bay! Fodder for poetry, just begging for a breathtaking sunset accompaniment . . . Hemingway would be jealous!

Red wine contains many wonderful antioxidants. For women, one glass a day is all that you need. More than one glass a day increases your risk for heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer, and any number of horrible ailments. For healthy wine drinking, I refer to a culturally appropriate book, French Women Never Get Fat. The author describes the French effort of conscious consumption, taste awareness, and sensual appreciation.  And French bread is not hard to celebrate! There is some wonderful bread available locally: La Parisienne, Carlock’s Bakery, and the Old Cayucos Bakery and Deli to name a few!

Pâté may be harder to find, harder to understand the celebration if you’ve never tried it, but certainly worth the effort. Pâté usually includes chicken liver cooked with mushrooms and herbs then pureed and chilled into a sliceable and spreadable constitution. Liver, an organ meat, is extremely rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E & K, essential fatty acids, and trace minerals, copper, zinc, and iron. Clearly, it is best to buy organic, free range, grass fed liver as to avoid any stored toxic substances that the liver may harbor.

Unfortunately, pâté is not sold in any store around here. Trader Joe’s carries it on the winter season only. So, I made my own today!

Not a bad snack! Bring a notepad and pen because this meal is sure to have you hearing La Vie En Rose, smelling three different varieties of fresh ocean air, and falling in love with your taste buds all over again!

Sea Salt: The Salt of the Earth

The Cayucos sisters at the Brown Butter Cookie Company are on to something good! They just appeared on the Rachel Ray Show!!! But, by featuring real sea salt on their cookies, they’ve not only added taste, but nutrients that many of us may rarely encounter elsewhere. If you haven’t gotten on the sea salt train, let me entice you to come aboard!

Almost all traditional cultures use some salt. Salt provides sodium and chloride which aid in proper functioning of many organ systems, especially the brain. The chloride component activates amylases which work in the stomach and intestine to digest carbohydrates. Excessive intake of salt can be harmful, but complete deprivation of salt is equally disruptive to the system.

Why use sea salt? Sun dried sea salt is naturally occurring, comes in many colors, and appears wet. It contains traces of marine life, organic forms of iodine, magnesium salts, and nearly 80 other trace minerals. The best source comes from the Celtic Sea, is harvested according to ancient methods, and appears grey. But, most of all, it tastes better, richer, and “more complex”, to borrow from the vintner’s vernacular.

Sea salt has a dual nature in Eastern cultures. Its yin nature brings a person “down to earth”; it strengthens digestion and secretion. It is cooling, directing energy inward and lower. Salt is also thought to purify, cleanse, and counteract poisoning from poor-quality foods and unhealthy food combinations. It is thought to soften some areas of the body and tighten others. It is a “contractive” element rather than expansive.

What is wrong with table salt? Table salt is highly refined and altered to create the appearance of dryness, whiteness, and uniformity. The magnesium is removed; aluminum compounds are added. To replace the natural iodine salts, potassium iodide is added. Sea salt is truly a thing of great worth and reliability. It is good for cooking and seasoning. Try something new! It is an adventure! Once you try it, you’ll never go back.

When I asked one of the sisters at the Little Market why they used Sea Salt on their cookies and not table salt or kosher salt, she said, “Because we like the taste!”

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. Matthew 5:13 (NAS)

Sources: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford