Small portions on the plates of gourmet cuisine are rapidly becoming a running joke: On the miserliness of the kitchen, it seems a little high price to sell.
Here, the demand of superior cuisine is of course exactly the same as the indigenous food, namely: It makes it possible that no guest leaves the restaurant hungry.
A culinary evening in the gourmet restaurant should just be a completely perfect experience – that starts with the Ambience, goes through an unobtrusive attention of the Service, and has its main focus on taste – multi-variant – wholesome – and of course to be served in such a way that it leaves a good feeling. Cooking light is no longer a foreign word, rather has become a habit these days.
Since you often do not know in advance, what portions you get served, a good host should see it as his task not to let you eat more, even if it is good for them.
The positive effects of cooking light will often be overlooked on the guest’s satisfaction, often because the clientele is also the predominant, albeit short-sighted belief that more (on the plate) goes on increasing (inn experience). In that case the huge cutlets are sold at bargain prices, as if we would have starved in this country. With quality, it can be easily figured out by everyone that it has little to do.
In the Gourmet-Gastronomy the approach is different: It is expected that the guest not only come in order to be fast simply to be full, but that’s about the experience of the artfully prepared meal. And in several courses – often even more than three. Thereby it is consistent to offer small to extremely small portions, resulting in the sum of a balanced and adequate meals.
The great art of logistics also lies here in the gourmet cuisine. Either, one offers coordinated menus on the most consistent and simplest way to get to the round experience in itself – however each guest does not want that, often because he feels overtaxed quantity and cost are related to it, or because he does not simply like some courses.
Cooking Light at the a la carte ordering is quantitatively a challenge: As the guest also determines the number of courses, the cook must find a middle course, so that all are sated, but not oversaturated – and thus leave the restaurant with a bad feeling – even if everything else was fine.
Cooking Light – when do I eat what?
The three main meals traditionally anchored in many cultures are breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has a good reason for it.
Breakfast
It is important enough to have breakfast, to be fit during the day. Overnight, the energy storage empties itself, and the blood sugar level is low. In order to get it back to a reasonable level, you can have breakfast if possible, within the first half hour after getting up, and that is sufficient.
To accomplish impending physical and mental tasks, we primarily need readily available energy in the form of carbohydrates (proteins are not always very unimportant). A good measure always depends on the person and their individual needs, about 50g (1, 7 oz.) – 100g (3, 5 oz.) bread (equivalent to 1-2 buns) or you can certainly still count cereals for light breakfast. Tolerate it; it can also be something more.
Without any problems is too much, especially too much fat in the morning. If you feel dull after breakfast, you certainly had more high-fat foods (butter, cheese, sausage, eggs) than you can handle easily. Your body now demands its resources for digestion and circulation beyond measure of what they have eaten. To eat vegetarian, sugar and low fat spreads, or simply eating less, may be helpful.
Slow-acting carbohydrates, such as Whole grain bread is again beneficial for small fluctuations in blood sugar levels. White flour products (bread, croissants) and sugar (such as in jam, fruit juices, cereals) are of course a part of leading a quality life, but slightly to a more rapid rise and fall of blood sugar levels, and thus to cravings.
Lunchtime
You should not wait for lunch until you are hungry, because that usually leads to uncontrolled eating. Eat on time (rather too early – that of course depends on when you get up – about 12 to 14 hours) and whenever possible at the same time. So avoid “forgetting” to eat and get late for lunch, already hypoglycemic, to kick over the traces.
Dinner
For good sleep, it is advantageous to have last meal of the day, preferably three to four hours before bedtime. Because digestion is physical work, and it is not favorable to let your body manage, when it needs energy for regeneration i.e., sleep. A very late meal simply means that we relax less while sleeping.
Do we need carbohydrates at night? Great benefits have usually not been rendered at this time. Let off the carbohydrates in the evening, which cause a drop in blood sugar, thereby increasing the release of glucagon (this also causes partly increased protein intake). Glucagon promotes the breakdown of endogenous fat reserves.
My opinion? Want to lose weight, try it out! But do not stiffen it. A diet is useful if you can practice it permanently. It is difficult to implement an all carbfree diet for a long time, because you have to give up on a large part of traditional dishes – no pasta, no desserts in the evening? This is cumbersome and not very enjoyable. A light cuisine with reduced carbohydrate food, however, is always possible. Especially at times when you can’t play sports, it’s a method I keep applying from time to time, but certainly not every night.
Carbohydrates are also important to form the sleep hormone melatonin, together with tryptophan. Here may be a cause if you cannot fall asleep without carbohydrates.
In-between meals
Even snacks can easily be a part of cooking light. Because they slowly raise the blood sugar levels and ensure a uniform level. Beneficial here are low-acting roughage, such as vegetables and fruit with coarse-fibered structure (carrots, apples, etc.)
Cooking Light, thanks to Fiber
Dietary fibers are the ingredients of the food that the body cannot use directly, but are still of great importance for light cooking. You can bind toxins and bile salts, which are thus finally transported out of the body. They also stimulate digestion and cause processes that ensure the supply of the cells of the intestinal mucosa. In addition, the colorectal cancer risk is reduced by high fiber diet.
Dietary fiber can bind a lot of water: Dry fibers such as flax seed or wheat bran have a positive effect on digestion only through increasing fluid intake at the same time. On the other hand, they can also lead to constipation. With most of the fiber-rich foods you don’t have to think about the adequate intake of fluids -Vegetables, fruits or whole grains inherit a lot of water with them and thus have a positive effect of the water balance.
Fibers in addition to their cleaning effect have another effect that might be interesting for those who want to lose weight: First, they provide a feeling of satiety and thereby they alone can already reduce the consumption of sugar/carbohydrates and fat. Besides carbohydrates, which are rich in fiber, get absorbed more slowly, which is like playing yoyo against blood sugar.
How to cook vegetables tasty
Dietary fiber and vegetables is an important key to cooking light. The one who likes vegetables, there are good chances that he would be slightly nourished and respectively the step towards cooking light would not be a big change for him. If vegetables and salad have been so far rarely on your menu – perhaps it’s because you have had a bad experiences with vegetables, or simply you have not used them.
Appetite for vegetables can be learned. If you eat more vegetables, it would not be difficult; to keep portions of carbohydrate or meat (fat) small, and you will not have a feeling after food that you have to do with less.
How does one go about it?
Fresh vegetables by itself are a taste experience that brings a lot of flavor with it. But amazingly, frozen vegetables are not the worst choice because it is frozen immediately after harvest, thereby it loses a few vitamins and flavors.
Fresh market – or yet better, if possible, home-grown – Vegetables of course, has its special charm. Often a little salt, pepper, may be a little lemon juice or a handful of herbs are good enough. Get yourself informed through cookbooks or Internet, which herbs and spices harmonize best with which vegetables, or experiment it by the aroma and feel. Less is usually more.
It is important that the vegetables are cooked or fried properly (as long as it is not eaten raw):
Strong heat here rarely does well. In order to denature vegetables gently, and get valuable content and flavor, best is to cook them on low to medium heat. In case you want to fry vegetables, it has to be of course cooked on more heat, which should then be reduced accordingly, as soon as the desired effect is reached.
When cooking in the water: As most of the flavors devolve in the cooking water, take as little water as necessary, which is less salty. Cooking in steam is less invasive method.
Cooking times and methods vary depending on individual vegetables – rule of thumb: The more coarse-textured a vegetable, the longer it takes, and fine vegetables comparatively are done quickly. Every kind of vegetable tastes best, if it is soft but not too soft: A certain bite provides structure in the mouth, and is also a good sign that the vegetables were not cooked any longer than necessary.
What about the spices? Woody herbs such as thyme or rosemary should be cooked right from the beginning- many herbs and spices start fuming when added early (pepper, nutmeg, parsley, lemon, etc.)- season it until the vegetables are finished cooking. This is how you get the flavor and all the valuable ingredients.
Finally, often a little fat is added to it – in the form of butter, olive oil, cream, cheese or coconut milk for example. Because it helps fat-soluble flavors, and thus releases all the flavors of the vegetables.
Do not be too economical in terms of cooking light but do not overdo it as well.
Back to part 1: Basics of cooking light
Back to part 2 of cooking light: How much of protein, carbohydrate and fats is healthy? And: Interesting discoveries about cholesterol.
Back to Healthy Eating
Back to Gourmet-Food-Channel – Homepage
Cooking Light, Part 3 – Top
Cooking light – it’s all about quantity
Small portions on the plates of gourmet cuisine are rapidly becoming a running joke: On the miserliness of the kitchen, it seems a little high price to sell.
Here, the demand of superior cuisine is of course exactly the same as the indigenous food, namely: It makes it possible that no guest leaves the restaurant hungry.
A culinary evening in the gourmet restaurant should just be a completely perfect experience – that starts with the Ambience, goes through an unobtrusive attention of the Service, and has its main focus on taste – multi-variant – wholesome – and of course to be served in such a way that it leaves a good feeling. Cooking light is no longer a foreign word, rather has become a habit these days.
Since you often do not know in advance, what portions you get served, a good host should see it as his task not to let you eat more, even if it is good for them.
The positive effects of cooking light will often be overlooked on the guest’s satisfaction, often because the clientele is also the predominant, albeit short-sighted belief that more (on the plate) goes on increasing (inn experience). In that case the huge cutlets are sold at bargain prices, as if we would have starved in this country. With quality, it can be easily figured out by everyone that it has little to do.
In the Gourmet-Gastronomy the approach is different: It is expected that the guest not only come in order to be fast simply to be full, but that’s about the experience of the artfully prepared meal. And in several courses – often even more than three. Thereby it is consistent to offer small to extremely small portions, resulting in the sum of a balanced and adequate meals.
The great art of logistics also lies here in the gourmet cuisine. Either, one offers coordinated menus on the most consistent and simplest way to get to the round experience in itself – however each guest does not want that, often because he feels overtaxed quantity and cost are related to it, or because he does not simply like some courses.
Cooking Light at the a la carte ordering is quantitatively a challenge: As the guest also determines the number of courses, the cook must find a middle course, so that all are sated, but not oversaturated – and thus leave the restaurant with a bad feeling – even if everything else was fine.
Cooking Light – when do I eat what?
The three main meals traditionally anchored in many cultures are breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has a good reason for it.
Breakfast
It is important enough to have breakfast, to be fit during the day. Overnight, the energy storage empties itself, and the blood sugar level is low. In order to get it back to a reasonable level, you can have breakfast if possible, within the first half hour after getting up, and that is sufficient.
To accomplish impending physical and mental tasks, we primarily need readily available energy in the form of carbohydrates (proteins are not always very unimportant). A good measure always depends on the person and their individual needs, about 50g (1, 7 oz.) – 100g (3, 5 oz.) bread (equivalent to 1-2 buns) or you can certainly still count cereals for light breakfast. Tolerate it; it can also be something more.
Without any problems is too much, especially too much fat in the morning. If you feel dull after breakfast, you certainly had more high-fat foods (butter, cheese, sausage, eggs) than you can handle easily. Your body now demands its resources for digestion and circulation beyond measure of what they have eaten. To eat vegetarian, sugar and low fat spreads, or simply eating less, may be helpful.
Slow-acting carbohydrates, such as Whole grain bread is again beneficial for small fluctuations in blood sugar levels. White flour products (bread, croissants) and sugar (such as in jam, fruit juices, cereals) are of course a part of leading a quality life, but slightly to a more rapid rise and fall of blood sugar levels, and thus to cravings.
Lunchtime
You should not wait for lunch until you are hungry, because that usually leads to uncontrolled eating. Eat on time (rather too early – that of course depends on when you get up – about 12 to 14 hours) and whenever possible at the same time. So avoid “forgetting” to eat and get late for lunch, already hypoglycemic, to kick over the traces.
Dinner
For good sleep, it is advantageous to have last meal of the day, preferably three to four hours before bedtime. Because digestion is physical work, and it is not favorable to let your body manage, when it needs energy for regeneration i.e., sleep. A very late meal simply means that we relax less while sleeping.
Do we need carbohydrates at night? Great benefits have usually not been rendered at this time. Let off the carbohydrates in the evening, which cause a drop in blood sugar, thereby increasing the release of glucagon (this also causes partly increased protein intake). Glucagon promotes the breakdown of endogenous fat reserves.
My opinion? Want to lose weight, try it out! But do not stiffen it. A diet is useful if you can practice it permanently. It is difficult to implement an all carbfree diet for a long time, because you have to give up on a large part of traditional dishes – no pasta, no desserts in the evening? This is cumbersome and not very enjoyable. A light cuisine with reduced carbohydrate food, however, is always possible. Especially at times when you can’t play sports, it’s a method I keep applying from time to time, but certainly not every night.
Carbohydrates are also important to form the sleep hormone melatonin, together with tryptophan. Here may be a cause if you cannot fall asleep without carbohydrates.
In-between meals
Even snacks can easily be a part of cooking light. Because they slowly raise the blood sugar levels and ensure a uniform level. Beneficial here are low-acting roughage, such as vegetables and fruit with coarse-fibered structure (carrots, apples, etc.)
Cooking Light, thanks to Fiber
Dietary fibers are the ingredients of the food that the body cannot use directly, but are still of great importance for light cooking. You can bind toxins and bile salts, which are thus finally transported out of the body. They also stimulate digestion and cause processes that ensure the supply of the cells of the intestinal mucosa. In addition, the colorectal cancer risk is reduced by high fiber diet.
Dietary fiber can bind a lot of water: Dry fibers such as flax seed or wheat bran have a positive effect on digestion only through increasing fluid intake at the same time. On the other hand, they can also lead to constipation. With most of the fiber-rich foods you don’t have to think about the adequate intake of fluids -Vegetables, fruits or whole grains inherit a lot of water with them and thus have a positive effect of the water balance.
Fibers in addition to their cleaning effect have another effect that might be interesting for those who want to lose weight: First, they provide a feeling of satiety and thereby they alone can already reduce the consumption of sugar/carbohydrates and fat. Besides carbohydrates, which are rich in fiber, get absorbed more slowly, which is like playing yoyo against blood sugar.
How to cook vegetables tasty
Dietary fiber and vegetables is an important key to cooking light. The one who likes vegetables, there are good chances that he would be slightly nourished and respectively the step towards cooking light would not be a big change for him. If vegetables and salad have been so far rarely on your menu – perhaps it’s because you have had a bad experiences with vegetables, or simply you have not used them.
Appetite for vegetables can be learned. If you eat more vegetables, it would not be difficult; to keep portions of carbohydrate or meat (fat) small, and you will not have a feeling after food that you have to do with less.
How does one go about it?
Fresh vegetables by itself are a taste experience that brings a lot of flavor with it. But amazingly, frozen vegetables are not the worst choice because it is frozen immediately after harvest, thereby it loses a few vitamins and flavors.
Fresh market – or yet better, if possible, home-grown – Vegetables of course, has its special charm. Often a little salt, pepper, may be a little lemon juice or a handful of herbs are good enough. Get yourself informed through cookbooks or Internet, which herbs and spices harmonize best with which vegetables, or experiment it by the aroma and feel. Less is usually more.
It is important that the vegetables are cooked or fried properly (as long as it is not eaten raw):
Strong heat here rarely does well. In order to denature vegetables gently, and get valuable content and flavor, best is to cook them on low to medium heat. In case you want to fry vegetables, it has to be of course cooked on more heat, which should then be reduced accordingly, as soon as the desired effect is reached.
When cooking in the water: As most of the flavors devolve in the cooking water, take as little water as necessary, which is less salty. Cooking in steam is less invasive method.
Cooking times and methods vary depending on individual vegetables – rule of thumb: The more coarse-textured a vegetable, the longer it takes, and fine vegetables comparatively are done quickly. Every kind of vegetable tastes best, if it is soft but not too soft: A certain bite provides structure in the mouth, and is also a good sign that the vegetables were not cooked any longer than necessary.
What about the spices? Woody herbs such as thyme or rosemary should be cooked right from the beginning- many herbs and spices start fuming when added early (pepper, nutmeg, parsley, lemon, etc.)- season it until the vegetables are finished cooking. This is how you get the flavor and all the valuable ingredients.
Finally, often a little fat is added to it – in the form of butter, olive oil, cream, cheese or coconut milk for example. Because it helps fat-soluble flavors, and thus releases all the flavors of the vegetables.
Do not be too economical in terms of cooking light but do not overdo it as well.
Back to part 1: Basics of cooking light
Back to part 2 of cooking light: How much of protein, carbohydrate and fats is healthy? And: Interesting discoveries about cholesterol.
Back to Healthy Eating
Back to Gourmet-Food-Channel – Homepage
Cooking Light, Part 3 – Top