Peking Duck

This past week in Beijing has been amazing. I never thought I would eat so many different parts of a duck. Chinese cuisine has continued to stretch and surprise me.

While in Beijing I wanted to have Peking duck. Along with the roast duck which is served with scallions and a sauce in a thin pancake, we had duck feet, which were rubbery though tasty, but the large serving of mustard that went with them made my nose feel like it was on fire; duck intestines, which I was hesitant to try, but ended up being my favourite; and a duck broth, which was incredibly rich.

Also on the menu, but didn't get a chance to try, were duck liver, heart, neck, and head. I guess there only so many parts you can have at one time.

I did try duck tongue, when my travel companion wanted to grab some snacks one afternoon. When I heard snacks, my mind didn't immediately go to duck tongue, but I gave them a shot and ended up eating a few.

There was a psychological barrier I had to get over before biting into it, I usually like to get to know someone before I allow their tongue in my mouth. They were spicy and savoury, but a bit of chore to eat with some inedible cartilage.

I'm starting to remove any limitations on the type of food and how it is prepared that I may have had in Canada. It has opened up a world of flavours, and I'm starting to understand how little I knew about Chinese food before I came to China.

Hutongs in Beijing

So I ran into some difficulty posting my blog, as it turns out the google blogger website is blocked, forcing me to send my posts to my sister in Canada to put them up. Just another interesting part of life in China.

In Beijing the hutong alleyways that are being slowly replaced by new developments, are full of small family run restaurants, many of which are packed at peak hours. The hutong restaurants often spill out onto the sidewalk where you find groups of people playing poker on their table following their meal.

I have never seen so much traffic on such tiny streets. You have to be aware of your surroundings or risk being hit by a scooter carrying a family of three, or a government issued Audi that may only give you a quick honk before running you over.

Once you've come to terms with the fact that you may have to risk your life to get to one of these tiny restaurants, it is amazing. The hutong have an old-school charm and the food is incredible. 

We found one little place near our hotel that serves Sichuan style food. We joined several other people outside that were waiting for a table, before finally being asked if we minded being seated at a table with two other people.  We were shown to our table, which was down another alley beside the restaurant, in a small room barely big enough to fit the two tables inside.

The meal was incredibly spicy. I think my tongue reached its breaking point, and just felt numb soon after we started eating. I was told that our meal was only the medium spice level, which was great but still painful. I couldn't imagine going up to the spiciest. I think it is a good warm up for when we travel to Sichuan.   

Chinese food 101

When we think of China, and Chinese food, we tend to think of a few dishes commonly found in North America. Sweet and sour pork, ginger beef, chow mein, and fried rice are the most common dishes, with a handful of sauces that can be used interchangeably. This is largely due to the North American palate, which is far from adventurous. What we don't realize, and I am excited to explore, is that China's culinary diversity is more similar to Europe than it is to North America.

The diversity of China's cuisine is impossible to summarize in this blog post, but briefly, there are four main regions of cooking.

The North: While we tend to think of rice when we think of Chinese food, rice paddies are only seen in the south of the country. In China's vast Northern Territory, wheat, maize, barley are much more common. Flat breads, noodles, and dumplings are characteristic of Northern style cooking. A sub-category of Northern cooking is the imperial style, which is found in China's capital Beijing. Traditionally the imperial style uses ingredients from all over China that make its way to the capital. The most famous imperial style dish is Peking duck, tender duck served in a pancake like piece of bread, with a number of toppings. Other influences in Northern cooking come from Mongolian, and Muslim groups. Mongolian hot pot, and lamb or beef kebabs from China's muslim population add a distinct flavour to China's North.

The Southern school of Chinese cooking is one we are much more accustomed to. This is due to the large number of Cantonese people that have immigrated to North America, and founded "Chinatowns" in cities all over North America. However, there is more to South China cooking than what we are familiar with. Dim sum, and it's dishes, are probably the most famous of Cantonese food. Often served with rice, South China cooking is distinguished by it's attention to freshness, and tend to have less salt, and flavour than other Chinese regions. That's not to say it is any less tasty, as anyone who has had good Dim sum can attest to.

Western China cuisine has been heavily influence by China's minority populations. While ~92% of Chinese people are of Han descent, a large portion of China's minority ethnic populations live in the Western provinces. Sichuan, and it's fiery flavour, is often what people think of when they refer to Western style Chinese food. One unique aspect of Sicuanese food is the use of huajiao, a "flower pepper", which actually numbs your tongue, and leaves your mouth tingling. I admit I was a little freaked out when I had huajiao for the first time. Another popular dish is Sichuanese style hot pot, comprised of meat and vegetables added to boiling water, which, of course, is also spicy.

The final region is the East. The dishes of this area often involve fish and rice, and tend to be more oily and sweet. Shanghai is the major city in the East, and is famous for its fried fish, and hairy crab, which are abundant from October to December. China's best soy sauce is also produced in this area, who's flavour is commonly found in stir-fried dishes.

While I've had some of these regional dishes. I'm sure the restaurants in Canada will fail in comparison to anything I have in China. My lovely personal tour guide, Bingqing, and I will be travelling from Beijing, working our way West to Xi'an, and south on to Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guanxi provinces before making it to our final destination of Hong Kong. I'm going to be blogging during the trip, mostly about food, to keep people informed, mostly my mother, about my whereabouts.

Food is central to Chinese culture, and I'm so excited to have a chance to explore the great culinary diversity, in such a vast country.

Last thoughts from the Factory

The three months I spent in Moose Factory were a great experience, and it is amazing how much my perception of the community changed since I first arrived. Admittedly I was nervous and timid at the beginning, but my comfort level grew over time.

My fear of the dogs definitely improved, to the point were I was gaving a few of them treats. I stopped that pretty quick though because it got to the point where a pack of them would follow me home, fighting each-other for my attention. But I was just happy to have reached the point were I'm not taking a 20 minute detour because I see an unfamiliar dog on the road.

As I write this, I am back on the Polar Bear express. The incredibly slow train that is the only land connection to Moosonee, outside of the winter months. It turned out that even reaching the train from Moose Factory was a bit of an adventure.

With the weather forecast predicting 30cm of blowing snow, which turned out to be true, I was unsure how I would get off the island if the helicopters were grounded. Fortunately, since it has been so cold, the ski-doo taxis were still running, allowing me to get over the river to Moosonee.

I had no idea what to expect out of a ski-doo taxi, but as you can see from the photo, it is just a crude box with benches inside, hooked onto the back of the ski-doo. It was a bumpy ride over, but I figured it was a fitting ending for my time in the community.

From a work perspective my time in Moose Factory was challenging, but well worth it. It is incredible how many challenges the community faces when it comes to food. As I mentioned in a previous post, as a dietitian you are working with so many limitations, due to the cost, quality, and availability of nutritious food.

I have to wonder how helpful the advice we give is. Even if someone is able to make positive changes to their diet in the short-term, how long will it last if they struggle to afford healthy food, or do not have a supportive home environment to sustain the change.

That is not to say the role of a dietitian in the community is not useful, just that healthcare services should be more involved with community initiatives to improve the community food environment. However, this is not an easy change, as hospitals and health services, tend to be oriented to treat the sick, not preventing illness.    

I'm going to continue this blog while I'm back in Saskatoon, and while I tour through China this summer. Focusing mainly on food issues, and anything else I find interesting along the way.

Cheers,

JK

The spring goose hunt

I’ve been warned that there will be significantly less people coming to appointments in the next few weeks. The spring goose hunt is just around the corner and is a major event in the community. As families hope to get enough geese, which is smoked, dried, and canned, to last the entire year.

Many families congregate at their camps, some just near the town, others a hundred or so kilometres away. The hunt offers more than just food for the community, as family members who don’t see each other often come together to live off the land, for a few weeks. Community members also share what they can with elders, and others who couldn’t take part in the hunt.

The hunt is more than just a ritual, many families rely on the food to supplement their diet for a good chunk of the year. One client bemoaned the poor output from last year’s hunt, as she found it difficult to feed her large family. Most of us in Canada aren’t used to experiencing seasonal food shortages; at least not anymore. Supermarkets seem unaware of the concept of seasons, as you can get pretty much anything year round. Relying on the local environment for food is a foreign concept for me, but it brings with it many positives, such as fresher food, better nutritional quality, and a connection to your surroundings. The uncertainty of the harvest is the downfall.

With the high cost of food in Northern communities, living off the land is crucial. But food procured through hunting is hardly free. People invest heavily, with their time, (a couple of weeks to a month), and money, including the cost of ammunition, camping supplies, fuel, and transportation. Many people snowmobile out, but on the way back it is no longer possible, as the ice has broken up. Either boat, or helicopter is then needed to transport your stuff back to town.

 Petty much everyone here is talking about getting their camp ready. The Geese usually come early to mid April. Though last year there were Geese sightings as early as mid March leaving many people unprepared. I've already heard many goose calls as people practice their best imitations.

I was also able to check out the traditional goose decoys used by the Cree people. They are made by fashioning stick together with twine. Once completed, they are placed in various positions in the field, when the migrating geese see the decoys, and hear the hunters’ goose call, they will fly down to the field. Once in shooting range…well you get the rest.

(Miniature Goose decoy)

Spring in the Factory

With Spring here in Moose Factory, the snow is beginning to melt, and everything is being covered in mud. The 7 ft. piles of snow are down to 5 ft, and the dirt roads are covered in water. There is now a lake on Hospital drive. As I walked by on the snow bank, I witnessed a van attempting to get to the hospital, determined to get through the water up to its bumper. Better hope you don't try to to get to the ER in a sedan.

Now that it is warming up it is also helicopter season. Meaning that the ice road is no longer passable, though even it's officially closed people will continue to use it by snow mobile, right until the ice breaks up. The closure of the road makes getting on and off the island expensive, as a helicopter trip to Moosonee is around $40 one way.

This also creates issues for getting supplies, food or whatever else. Most places stock up before the road closes, but in the case of food you can only do this for non-perishables. For the Northern grocery store, and the hospital food service, they rely on helicopters to deliver fresh food. The food is put into a sling, which dangles precariously under the chopper.

While using a helicopter is a much more exciting way to deliver goods, it's not without its problems. I've been told there have been times when the sling has snapped, leaving mail or whatever else, raining down onto Moose Factory. However, I've been reassured this has only happened a couple of times. To be honest I wouldn't mind the scavenger hunt, to find my missing mail.

I also had a chance encounter with Margeurite Wabano, known as Granny Wabano in Moosonee, she is the oldest survivor of Canada's residential schools. She is nearly 110 years old now, and I briefly introduced myself while we were on a home visit at a seniors' complex.

Margeurite Wabano was invited to Ottawa when Prime minister Harper issued the apology, on behalf of the federal government, on its residential school system. Apparently Harper offered his hand to Margeurite, as she walked up a set of stairs, and she promptly knocked his hand aside. Hand holding is not a part of First Nation culture, even between husband and wife. So it was more of a cultural misunderstanding then a slight, but entertaining nonetheless.

Demand for nutritious food in low income neighbourhoods

An explanation I often hear as to why there is so much processed and fast food available, whether it be here in Moose factory or in underserved neighbourhoods in cities, is that there is simply not a demand for fruits and vegetables. This is a phenomenon I have struggled to come to terms with for some time.

A recent report from the Food Ethics Council out of the UK, provides an explanation as to why sustainably grown food still represents the minority of products on grocery store shelves. The report also explains why processed food thrives and nutritious food struggles to find shelf space in some communities.

First of all, while there may be a perceived lack of demand for fresh produce in low income communities, it is likely more to do with purchasing power than there being a lack of desire to consume healthy foods.

Excerpts from the report in italics:

This is not to say that people don't want to buy sustainable products – they do, but they don't see why they should have to pay more money for them, and many cannot afford to do so. Society's attachment to, and dependence upon, cheap food is a critical barrier in moving towards a sustainable food system.

Looking at Northern communities in particular, the quality of fresh food adds another dimension to food choice. Fresh fruits and vegetables often arrive in poor quality, and are sometimes left to rot on the shelves.

The other issue, raised in the food ethics council's report, is that too much responsibility lies with the consumer. Consumers are relied upon to pick which foods are available, but most consumers are more interested in price, than sustainability or health. That is not to bash people's food choices, it's just that our current food system is tilted heavily towards cheap processed food.

As things stand, there simply isn't sufficient demand for sustainable food to drive the required transformation in the food system. Price, quality and value are still the most important determinants of food purchasing decisions. So there is a problem: business and government both look to consumers to lead the way on sustainable consumption, but consumers do not want to assume this responsibility.

A recent study suggests that purchases of fruits, vegetables, non-fat dairy, and other healthy foods will increase by as much as 10%, following 25% price reduction. Making fruits and vegetables cost competitive with processed food may lead to increased consumption of healthier food.

What both business and the public need is a level playing field. A food system that internalizes the costs of food production and health outcomes. Unfortunately that is the role of neither. Government needs to step in to allow citizens to be able to pick healthy, sustainable food that doesn't make them ill.

Most damagingly, government has not provided the coherent, joined-up, long-term food policy that businesses – and other sectors of society – require in order to develop their own strategic responses to the challenges confronting the food system.

While increasing the availability and accessibility of nutritious food is an excellent place to start. It may not be enough to entice people to buy nutritious foods. If people are not accustomed to eating these foods, do not have proper cooking equipment/facilities, or cooking skills, then food may still lie untouched. No one solution is a panacea, but incorporating multiple strategies may increase the consumption of nutritious food.

The bottom line is people do not want to be sick. Unfortunately our food system gives some people no other option.