For my Food For Thought course, my classmates and I learned more about food, and what it has become today. We spent these last few weeks watching movies, studying readings, and discussing about how food has evolved over decades. We also wanted to get a better understanding about how the industrial revolution and the Green Revolution changed our food system. For this action project, my classmates and I were required to write a food review, comparing two of the same dishes, one home cooked and one in a restaurant. The food I chose was pasta, meat sauce, and garlic bread. I thought that this action project was very interesting because it gives us students a chance to compare and see for ourselves what dish we actually like best, similar to a critique. When going out with my family it made me realize that I had to not only eat the dish but, keep in mind how the dish looked, the flavors of the dish, and the quality. This unit definitely impacted the way I eat because after watching movies and, reading books about the American diet it’s almost sad to see what we are feeding ourselves, and the fact that people are letting this happen is terrible. Now that I have the right knowledge about where most poultry such as meat comes from, I now avoid fast food restaurants as much as possible because in the long run, their food can end up hurting you.
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For my food review, I decided to make regular pasta with homemade meat sauce, and garlic bread. I prepared my meal at home with the help of my mom. I decided to make and compare pastas because, most restaurants usually serve this dish and I thought it was simple to make and compare. The restaurant I decided to go to was Leona’s. I decided that going to a local restaurant near me would be a better option in case I had to extend my research.
Preparing my dish was harder than I expected, but I thought the outcome would be worth it. When I completed my dish it looked appetizing and flavorsome. The noodles looked neither under nor over cooked, they seemed just right. My pasta sauce looked fresh and very mouth-watering. Lastly my garlic bread looked homemade and also very delectable . Overall, my dish smelled really nice. The sauce blended well with the pasta, creating a hereby oily smell. When I ate my pasta it tasted great. I could really taste the sweetness and spiciness of my sauce and the moist noodles. The garlic bread tasted incredible considering I only used regular sliced bread and put butter and garlic powder on it. While eating the pasta it didn't have much of a sound but the meat sounded chewy, and the garlic bread was crunchy yet scrumptious.
For the most part, my dish tasted very flavourful and home cooked although my pasta did come in a box, but when I cooked it it tasted as if it was made from scratch. The meat I used was organic. Maybe by it being organic it brought out the flavors in my dish. Overall my dish didn't taste industrial nor processed. My dish tasted fresh and delightful. The pasta brand I used was Barilla. It contains the ingredient Thiamin, which is very safe for us although it adds small amounts of Nitrate to our food. In conclusion, my dish turned out to taste very good. It was the perfect combination in my opinion.
A couple days later I went to a local restaurant called Leona’s. When arriving at the restaurant I could already tell it had a home-like feel to it, the waitresses were very kind and let me take my time upon ordering. It took about ten minutes for my food to arrive and when it did the aroma smelled great, and the dish looked very well put together. When I took my first bite the pasta tasted decent, but the sauce did not blend well with the pasta. The sauce tasted a bit too salty as if they overseasoned it. The meat, however, was nice and well sauteed with the sauce. Lastly, the garlic bread was okay, it was a bit oily on the outside and very dry on the inside. I would say that this dish was probably processed because the sauce seemed to have come out of a can. It also tasted dry, as if it had been sitting on a shelf for days and the cooks just added salt to it. The garlic bread tasted like it was previously frozen, and cooks just put it in the oven. I then concluded that the garlic bread wasn't organic.
Leaona's (2014) Pasta.
A couple days later I went to a local restaurant called Leona’s. When arriving at the restaurant I could already tell it had a home-like feel to it, the waitresses were very kind and let me take my time upon ordering. It took about ten minutes for my food to arrive and when it did the aroma smelled great, and the dish looked very well put together. When I took my first bite the pasta tasted decent, but the sauce did not blend well with the pasta. The sauce tasted a bit too salty as if they overseasoned it. The meat, however, was nice and well sauteed with the sauce. Lastly, the garlic bread was okay, it was a bit oily on the outside and very dry on the inside. I would say that this dish was probably processed because the sauce seemed to have come out of a can. It also tasted dry, as if it had been sitting on a shelf for days and the cooks just added salt to it. The garlic bread tasted like it was previously frozen, and cooks just put it in the oven. I then concluded that the garlic bread wasn't organic.
The dish I prefered the most was my homemade pasta. I preferred this dish the most because it seemed more fresh and natural. It also seemed to taste better in my opinion. I think the restaurant’s pasta dish was also good but I feel as if they did not put much time into making the dish. I think that if they were to put more time into making my dish, and possibly changing some ingredients, then maybe the dish would have had a different outcome. This relates to a Michael Pollan reading my classmates and I read. Michael Pollan talks about how a modern American diet isn’t about the quality of foods, it mostly focuses on how fast you can produce your food, and make the most money.
Michael Pollan talks about five different ways the modern diet has transformed the way we eat today. One of his five food transformations is, quantity over quality. Quantity over quality means when we focus on mass production and try to produce the food quickly, we lose the nutritional value of the food. I feel that if the restaurant were to get all fresh produce then maybe this would change the way the the food taste. If the restaurant were to put more time and effort into making the dish then maybe the dish would have a different outcome. Maybe if the pasta was whole whole wheat instead of refined, then the pasta’s nutritional value would increase.
I honestly would not recommend any of these dishes to anyone because, I like my pasta sauce sweet yet spicy and sometimes one of those flavors is dominant over the other. I would not recommend the restaurant’s pasta because I would not want to recommend a dish that you would have to eat a high quantity to get a high nutritional value. I also wouldn't want anyone else eating food I don't feel okay about. The dish didn't seem fresh so I wouldn't want someone else consuming it. Overall, I thought this food review was very interesting, because it makes you think about what you are really eating and if you really like it.
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