The Point of the Seemingly Pointless

This morning, before my worship service, I started a stock made from the carcass of a roasted chicken, some mushroom stems, the trimmings from some leeks, salt, and some fresh thyme.  That is all.  No garlic, no carrot, no peppercorns, no coriander or allspice seeds,no ginger, no parsley.   No celery.  The chosen ingredients are now at a slow simmer in the crock pot.   This stock is somewhat of an experiment, and as I was adding the ingredients into the pot, I did entertain the notion of adding one celery stalk.  I decided against it as I could not figure out what it might add.  

I have now returned home for lunch, and as Tyler is out, I decide to take my sandwich outside and read a bit more in the wonderful book, Cooked, A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan. I just read this passage in a chapter about onions, about four hours into my stock making process: 

"As for the seemingly pointless celery, it too, may contribute umami to a pot dish, and not just by supplying lots of carbohydrate-stiffened cell walls and water to a mirepoix.  My Web surfing eventually delivered me to an article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry written by a team of Japanese food scientists and titled, fetchingly, 'Flavor Enhancement of Chicken Broth from Boiled Celery Constituents.' These chemists reported that a group of of volatile compounds found in celery called phthalides, though completely tasteless by themselves, nevertheless enhanced the perception of both sweetness and umami when they were added to a chicken broth.  Way to go celery."   

 

You now know what will be in the next chicken stock, even if there is no carrot, parsley, garlic, ginger, peppercorns, allspice or coriander (Sooner or later all of those will make their way back in the pot. They always do).  And I just realized that I am sitting here sending this post with my apron on.  Yes, the book is that good.  Hopefully, my celery-less stock will be as well. If not, you know why.   Most of us can cook our whole lives and not know about phthalides.   However, we very much need the reminder that real food always has a place in the pot, and on the table.  Really, read the book, cook some food, and share what you can.  Reverse the order; that might be even better.  Few people will complain even if you do leave the celery out.  They will be too busy being grateful for your love. 

  

I know I am.   

    

Blessed be.  The way to go.