Artificial coloring, synthetic oils, counterfeit Twinkies, fake boobs, imitation flavoring. These are all familiar codes that we may or may not know have crept in to products that we use almost on a daily basis.
In keeping with our theme of Coca-Cola and the real thing, recently a few consumer groups have uncovered a startling revelation concerning ingredients in some of the everyday products that we use.
Even if a product is labeled 100%, doesn’t mean it is 100%. These products range from sushi to tea to cereal to juices. The U.S. Pharmacopeias Convention, whatever the hell that is, lists milk, honey, syrup and coffee as altered products that go against their claims. The National Consumers League have found different brands of 100% lemon juice that didn’t even contain fifty-percent of real lemon juice. They also claim the practice is widespread in olive oils.
Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats Blueberry Muffin flavored cereal contains. “Blueberry flavored crunchlets composed of sugar, soybean oil and artificial dye. General Mills’ Total Blueberry-Pomegranate cereal contains no real blueberries or pomegranates.
A juice labeled “Juice Cocktail” is thinned with other juices with water and sugar added. Even spices are laced with artificial food colorings that make their appearance more attractive.
This is just a short list of an array of products that are mislabeled. After all, pot pie doesn’t contain any marijuana nor does molasses have any trace of real mole asses in it. What has all this fake stuff have to with me?
About twenty years ago or so, a bunch of conservationists convinced the government that many species of wildlife were in danger of becoming extinct. This put one of my favorite soups on my own personal endangered food list.
Turtle soup.
I love it, and although turtles are cute and certainly have their place in the ecosystem, I still love a steaming bowl of turtle soup on a crisp day.
So what to do?
Well, they make all kinds of fake soups in a box or a carton out there with a list of ingredients that has little to do with soup itself. Salt, sugar, hydrolyzed corn protein, MSG, calcium silicate and host of dehydrated flavorings.
Why not a fake turtle soup to satisfy chumps like me? We could call it Mock Turtle Soup.
Mock Turtle Soup
1 Onion, Chopped
1 Tbs. Real Butter
2 Tbs. Real Olive Oil
2 lbs. Oxtails
1 clove Garlic. Smashed and Sliced
3 Whole Cloves
½ Tsp. Fresh Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
¼ Tsp. Allspice
1 Tbs. Flour
2 Cups Water
3 cups Real Chicken Stock
1 cup Chopped Tomatoes
Sea Salt/ Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbs. Chopped Fresh Parsley
3 Tbs. Sherry
2 Eggs, Hard-Boiled
Brown onion in the butter and oil, add the oxtails and brown slightly. Add the spices and herbs, then stir in the flour until it bubbles, adding more butter and oil as needed. Pour in the hot water and stock and bring to a boil. Add the remaining ingredients, except the egg. Simmer for 2 hours. Remove the oxtail, cut the meat and marrow away--add back to the soup and discard the bones.
When ready to serve, chop the eggs coarsely and stir into the soup. Ladle into bowls, stir in a teaspoon of sherry to each, top with parsley...and put a cruet of sherry on the table, for atmosphere if nothing else.
Be careful what you buy out there and read the labels everybody.
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