Fake Food?

Today is a topic that I have realized in the last few years is of great interest to me: gastronomy. I like to cook, but am by no means a good one. I like to try different types of foods but will openly admit to be cowardly or squeamish to the idea of certain eats. The one idea about food that I’ve known subconsciously since a child: it brings people together. Be it in a restaurant or in someone’s home, a meal with family and/or friends is always welcomed.

And tonight, I had the privilege of dining with Maggie’s family at Koon Bo on Fraser and 41st. This is a group of people who I enjoy spending time with, will be “officially” calling family soon, and who have accepted me over time (and by default, lol). With the Mid-Autumn festival just recently behind us, came the token topic: moon cake. I personally have no love or hate for moon cake. It’s just some odd pastry that I was given a little wedge to nibble on as a kid every autumn, but I never really thought much about it. What I know did NOT float my boat about moon cake was the yolk. I don’t know why. (It was thanks to John, Maggie’s older cousin Sara’s husband, who started the topic.) Now, in recent years, the whole scandal of fake egg yolks being used for moon cakes and other mass produced items has been rampant. And as always, the key player in all of this: China. So as the topic about where and what came into play regarding moon cake, I grabbed my iPhone and did a search on “how to make fake egg yolks china”. After waiting for my EDGE phone to finally do something, I managed to find a link that gave the play-by-play on the process. This disturbed me (and John) greatly. Honestly: “WTF is the sh!t going into it?”

Then another troubling thought popped into my head: how different is this to what Ferran Adria does with his caviar? It’s almost similar because the ingredient (from what I found via inter-webbing) that Ferran uses to form his individual caviar is also what the Chinese use to form the yolks: sodium chloride. Are the Chinese knocking off yet another brilliant idea? What else is new? Honestly though, this is one knock-off I’d rather live without. The concept is almost identical (assuming you ignore the whole fake egg shell thing). When you break down what is the apple, mango, whatever bits and juice that Ferran is using for his caviar: isn’t that stuff just a bunch of chemicals too? I have no clue what most of the chemicals going into the fake yolks are, but I know a tiny part of me would feel better knowing it was bone marrow or some food related by-product. It’s almost like eating crappy hot dog wieners: that sh!t isn’t good for you but as long as you don’t think about it, it won’t hurt you? I don’t know, is ignorance really bliss when it comes to food?