7 Foods You Really Should Eat Before You Die

Stupid things are sometimes far more compelling to me than smart ones. For instance, I seldom think about the themes in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s epic Three Colors trilogy, but to this day I don’t understand why, in The Blues Brothers, the Good Ol’ Boys arrive at Bob’s Country Bunker at 3 a.m., ready to play a show in the middle of the night. Likewise, I can’t stop thinking about the idiocy that is the latest viral food meme, the 100 Foods to Eat Before You Die list that keeps bubbling up on Facebook

The list, which has been ricocheting around for several months, looks like it took about six minutes to think up. You could have created the whole thing while listening to “Aqualung.” It’s simply a bunch of unconnected foods, listed alphabetically, without any kind of qualifier. Oh, I’ve had a piece of supermarket sushi; therefore I can cross No. 31, eel, off my list. What’s next? Eggs Benedict. The fact that almost any food can be wonderful or inedible, depending on where it came from, how old it is, who cooked it and approximately 800 other factors, seems not to have occurred to the person who wrote it, or to the millions of people who have passed it along viral social media. It’s the list of a chain-gang prisoner who never expects to have anything but salt pork and hardtack for the rest of his days. But it got me thinking.

(MORE: Ozersky: The Problem with the American Steak House)

In the 1980s, a man named E.D. Hirsch had a best seller called Cultural Literacy. In the book were a number of key referents that every literate person was expected to know — who Emma Bovary was, what a catch-22 was and so on. I think that there probably are certain culinary dishes so universally admired, and so much a part of our global heritage, that you should be considered something of a rube if you haven’t eaten them. I don’t have room here to submit 100, but I’ve thought about it and come up with seven. The list excludes geographically scarce delicacies like Scottish langoustines or Umbrian truffles, which are magnificent, but by no means the stuff without which a life can be called incomplete. And weird or hard-to-like dishes are out too: the world is full of acquired tastes, but nobody regrets on their deathbed not having eaten more durian. These foods listed below, however, are the ones you should eat often and rely on for your happiness and sustenance. You need to have the good version of them before you die — or sooner.

Hot fresh bread. Freshly baked bread, still hot and liberally slathered with salted butter, is one of the best experiences the world affords. And it’s something that a lot of people never experience. Hell, even I only rarely experience it. We buy sliced bread in bags, or whole breads from supermarket bakeries, but hardly ever get to feel it, pull at it, smell it, and burn our hands on it when it’s fresh. And it’s never the same after.
 

Where to get it: Your local bakery, early in the morning. Also, some grocery stores sell frozen par-baked breads that are easy to finish in your oven.

Pit barbecue. There are very few places outside your backyard where you can eat pork or beef that has been exposed to low heat and soft smoke for a long, long time. (Restaurants tend to nuke baby back ribs in the microwave, or smoke them in a gas oven that has a twig or two in it somewhere, before slathering them in sweet, sticky sauce.) To do, say, smoked brisket right, to get it meltingly tender but also deeply smoky, you need to cook it for 15 hours — and then it only tastes really great for the first 20 minutes or so. It’s not fair, I know. But that makes it even more worth it.
Where to get it: Learn to make it yourself. I recommend using one of these (unless you can get one of these.)

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Raw milk cheese. Imagine that the only beers you had tasted were Coors Light, Bud Light, Old Milwaukee and Miller Genuine Draft. That’s roughly your situation as a cheese eater in America, where the cheeses we eat are all pasteurized, an unnecessary treatment that kills flavor along with germs. Blame the USDA. That’s what the dairies do, and they make a pretty compelling case.
Where to get it: There’s a black market. Get online and find it.

Georgia peaches, New Jersey corn, California melons, Oregon morels, New England blackberries. You get the point. You can get any of these types of foods in any supermarket, of course, but shipping them halfway across the country (or the world) renders them dead, shameful simulacra of what they used to be. You need to pluck these things off tree branches or out of the dirt they live in, and experience them in the full bloom of their distinct flavor. I know this sounds obvious, and yes, it’s been said a million times, but that doesn’t make it any less true — or any easier to experience.
Where to get it: Georgia, New Jersey, California …

Prime beef. As I pointed out in my steak-house column last week, few diners outside of New York City and the military get to eat real “prime” beef. (Grade inflation, it seems, isn’t just a problem in schools.) Prime steak doesn’t need to be drowned in butter or A.1. Steak Sauce, like lesser meats are; it tastes — and, more importantly, it feels — special. The abundant amounts of intramuscular fat, instantly recognizable to a USDA inspector, make it so. There’s nothing like it in the world — not in France, not in Argentina, not in Kobe. America’s singularly lush, sweet, copiously marbled beef has a mineral tinge to it like the taste of blood in your mouth. Accept no substitutes!
Where to get it: I can vouch for the quality of the steaks sold online by Lobel’s, one of the oldest New York City butchers.

(MORE: Ozersky: Recipes for the Black-Iron Heart of America)

Great olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You hear so many cooks go on and on about olive oil, and there are so many brands of expensive, gorgeously packaged olive oil that it’s hard to believe how crappy almost all of it is. Half the time it’s adulterated with vegetable oil; the rest of the time it’s stale. Even among the few fresh oils, many are bitter and grassy when what you want is nutty and sweet. Likewise, balsamic vinegar is a “gourmet” ingredient that is generally dull and nearly always watery. The real item is amazing, acidic and as concentrated as pancake syrup.
 

Where to get them: California is making some of the best olive oil in the world right now; here is my favorite. The best balsamic I know is the one created by Italian superchef Massimo Bottura for export. It’s wildly expensive, but a drop changes a dish — and the way you think of balsamic vinegar.

Fresh mozzarella. I’ve written about this before. But I never tire of paying homage to good mutz. It’s irreplaceable, but so hard to find that it’s irresponsible of me to bring it up.

Hygiene Standards in Catering

When working within a commercial catering environment, suitable food hygiene practices are necessary. Such practices are necessary to reduce the risk of contamination or harm to both customers and employees, as well as being a legal requirement.

One of the most vital methods to reduce chances of contamination is storage of food within the correct environment. The danger zone for multiplication of harmful bacteria is roughly between 5 and 60 degrees Celsius; above this temperature bacteria will begin to denature. Frozen foods should be stored between -18 and -23 degrees, chilled foods should be stored between 0 and 5 degrees and fresh foods should be stored at a temperature no higher than room temperature (23 degrees).

All refrigerated and frozen foods should only be removed when required, and immediately put back once finished. Any food which has been exposed to air should be covered with clingfilm and used within the time frame specified; this is generally between two and three days. It is important to make sure that the food is thoroughly covered with no gaps to prevent production of bacteria.

In the case of heated food, it is important that the core temperature of the food reaches a safe temperature before being consumed. This can vary depending on the food, however, it is generally agreed that for any cooked meats, the core temperature should reach at least 75 degrees for a period of thirty seconds. Any cooked foods must be stored at a temperature of at least 63 degrees.

Whilst working with food it is essential to either wear gloves or wash hands thoroughly before any food is handled; this prevents bacteria carried on the hands from being transferred. It is also important to wear an apron whilst dealing with raw meats to prevent clothes becoming contaminated. Avoid touching bacteria hot-spots when handling food, such as inside the nose or under armpits, as this is both unhygienic and unprofessional.

Cleaning work surfaces thoroughly is also essential when maintaining a commercial kitchen to reduce the risk of contamination. COSHH (Control of substances hazardous to health) guidelines should always be followed when dealing with chemicals, as using incorrect cleaners can result in further harm.

Stainless steel is an ideal material for surfaces within a kitchen for numerous reasons. As it is a solid, non-porous material, absorption of moisture is impossible, preventing bacteria being held within the surface. It can also be exposed to high temperatures, water and chemicals with little risk of damage due to its durability and is remarkably easy to clean and maintain.   By Colin McDonald

Milk Diseases and Milk Hygiene

Although  scientists have made great strides in milk hygiene and technology after Second World War, milk-borne zoonosis diseases are still very important in human health. That is why milk hygiene and control is very important part of the food science.

Milk is contaminated by bacteria and viruses via unhealthy animals, people hands, milking utensils or water. Milk is very suitable medium fr microorganisms to grow.

For food safety, milk must be healthy to produce milk products. Although animal doesn’t show any disease symptoms, its milk can contain pathogen microorganisms. For instance, foot-and-mouth-disease viruses contaminates milk long before animal shows disease symptoms. So viruses can contaminate humans and spread environment very easily.

The other important pathogen which exist in animal’s normal intestine flora is E. coli 0157:H7. This bacterium doesn’t cause disease while it is in the intestine but cause bloody diarrhea, renal failure and even deaths when it contaminates milk.

Tuberculosis is another milk-borne disease. Tuberculosis occurs in udder and may not be determined by the owner for a long time. Brucellosis is very common zoonosis in the world. It causes important economical lost and spreads easily.

To insure milk hygiene;

• Disease that can contaminate milk must be prevented
• Animals and people who make milking must be healthy.
• Barns must be very clean, well kept and not invased.
• Contagious animal diseases must be detected and struggle with the disease.
• Environment must be very clean.
• Milk must be saved against microbial contamination.
• Milking utensils must be cleaned and disinfected.

Meat and meat hygiene

The Food Standards Agency is responsible for meat inspection duties in fresh meat premises in England, Scotland and Wales. It is the role of Agency to help ensure that the meat industry safeguards the health of the public, and the health and welfare of animals at slaughter.

To achieve this, the FSA delivers 'official controls' in approved fresh meat premises. The FSA is the central competent authority in the UK responsible for carrying out official controls. These controls require specified inspections of all animals, carcasses and offal through risk-based audits to verify that approved fresh meat premises comply with EU Food Hygiene Regulations.

The FSA also undertakes official controls on behalf of Defra on animal health and welfare (see link below) to ensure compliance with legislative requirements.

The FSA carries out these controls in slaughterhouses, cutting plants, farmed and wild game facilities and co-located minced meat and meat products premises. The FSA has a statutory duty to provide these services on demand, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

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Hygiene of fruit and vegetables

In 2004, the European Parliament and Council reached an agreement on a new legislation for the hygiene of foodstuffs. This new regulation will have an impact on hygiene conditions applicable for the fresh produce sector. The new legislation will be applicable in the EU as of 1 January 2006 (European Parliament and Council Regulation 852/2004/EC on hygiene of foodstuffs).

Besides, the European Union also finalised a new text on official controls (European Parliament and Council Regulation 882/2004/EC).

The European Commission is also working on a range of guidelines to assist the food industry to implement the European hygiene legislation. The guidelines applicable to the fruit and vegetable sector are listed below and available for download:

- implementation provisions of hygiene legislation ;

- guidence document on food hygiene;

- requirements for imported products ;

- implementation HACCP and

- facilitating the implementation of HACCP.

Food Hygine is........?!

Food Hygiene^[1] is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards.

Food can transmit disease from person to person as well as serve as a growth medium for bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Debates on genetic food safety include such issues as impact of genetically modified food on health of further generations and genetic pollution of environment, which can destroy natural biological diversity. In developed countries there are intricate standards for food preparation, whereas in lesser developed countries the main issue is simply the availability of adequate safe water, which is usually a critical item.^[2] In theory food poisoning is 100% preventable The five key principles of food hygiene, according to WHO, are:^[3]

1. Prevent contaminating food with pathogens spreading from people, pets, and pests.
2. Separate raw and cooked foods to prevent contaminating the cooked foods.
3. Cook foods for the appropriate length of time and at the appropriate temperature to kill pathogens.
4. Store food at the proper temperature.
5. Do use safe water and cooked materials.