How much of personality is involved in addiction? How much of it is psychological, how much is imbalance, how much is will power?
I read in an article written by a 40 year old recovering alcoholic that she explained her problem to her children by saying "my body has a problem with alcohol, the same way your dad is allergic to melon". The first time I read this, I thought it was brilliant.
Some people can drink, smoke, gamble, shop and eat all the while keeping their lives balanced in moderation, as part of a healthy life. Others can't ever engage in these behaviours without falling prey to becoming highly addicted to the next high.
The new book, Salt Sugar Fat : How the Food Giants Hooked Us (by Michael Moss) is one I am dying to read (no pun intended). It purports to expose all of the deliberate and premeditated ways that food companies have conspired to make people hooked on their products.
I am hooked on reading audiobooks in my car. My commute and driving time are usually great pockets of learning for me - keeping me informed on subjects I care about (Food Writing), keeping me entertained with fun distractions (I LOVE Sophie Kinsella / Madeleine Wickham books!) and time management (If you've not read David Allen's Getting Things Done, you must!)
Audiobooks, especially with the advent of the ipod, make learning more possible than ever. I have been in love with audio since law school, and I never tire of this kind of learning.
I have a pretty photographic memory, especially for words, but also for numerical sequences. So I keep seeing SALT SUGAR FAT whenever I think about my newfound passion for coconut bacon.
Salt - Tamari
Sugar - Sweet
Fat - Coconut
While I appreciate the cruelty-free difference between a vegan version of coconut bacon and the usual, saturated, sad and suffering kind of bacon, it is still VERY ADDICTIVE.
The entire bag of coconut was delicious in our CLTs today, but the few leftovers that are still on the counter have been routinely pillaged by Bill, Harrison and I. I am quite sure that there will be nothing left by the time someone has won the Master's and is donning the green jacket today.
But even if this product is equally addictive, focusing on the simple math, it is actually more fattening, saltening and sweetening than bacon. Here's why
BACON BITS - 200 grams
Fat 42.75
Saturated Fat 14.25
Sodium 4856
Calories 712
Sugar 0
COCONUT BACON - One 200 g bag
Fat 65
Saturated Fat 58.5
Sodium 6075
Calories 1126
Sugar 65
Coconut bacon fares worse on every traditional nutritional front. More saturated fat, more calories, more sodium and more sugar. But when one considers the environmental impact of pig farming, the massive amount of water needed to "produce" it, the bacteria and subsequent antibiotics necessary, not to mention inhumane practices like gestational crates, thumping and just plain old slaughter, I will take a shredded coconut any day of the week. (Go ahead...f you dare.. google "pig thumping" but be prepared for your bacon addiction to shrivel into oblivion). I might do a further post on coconut's healthy fats which distinguish it from animal saturated fats, but today's not the day for it.
They say pigs are more emotional and responsive than dogs. When I look into our beautiful girl's eyes, I sometimes see another world of emotion there. She can be excited to see us, jumping into the car with sheer exuberance. She loves a great scratch, howling with pleasure. She snuggles while watching TV, and dreams of other worlds - paws twitching, with the occasional yelp, howl or woof. People care for and nurture their dogs, and will agonize about giving them a dignified death - and yet our piglet friends do not get the same respect in life, or in death. Even as I went to capture this juxtaposition of coconut bacon and our dog, I see she is snuggled in for the afternoon with one of Harrison's shoes for company.
In the end, coconut bacon is the one for me. And if this is addiction, may I never recover.
So, for those of you who think you can handle it, here is my easy recipe for the most addictive thing I have ever produced in my kitchen. Please consume at your own risk!
1 bag flaked sweetened coconut
6 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp liquid hickory smoke
Mix everything together until evenly coated. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Take the mixture out of the oven to cool. As the coconut comes to room temperature, it will crisp and get sticky.
(* Note: I do want to work on a version with shaved raw coconut, so that I can avoid the "icing sugar, sorbitol, propelyne glycol and sulphites in the "sweetened flaked coconut", but Rome wasn't built in a day.)
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