On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 475

seeds—grains,legumes,nuts—havespecial
properties,andaredescribedseparatelyin
chapter9.
TheOriginalFood
The idea that plants are our original and
therefore only proper food has deep
culturalroots.IntheGoldenAgedescribed
byGreekandRomanmythology,theearth
gave of itself freely, without cultivation,
andhumansateonlynutsandfruit.Andin
Genesis, Adam and Eve spend their brief
innocenceasgardeners:
AndtheLordGodplantedagarden
eastwardinEden;andthereheputtheman
whomhehadformed.Andoutofthe
groundmadetheLordGodtogrowevery
treethatispleasanttothesight,andgood
forfood…AndtheLordGodtooktheman,
andputhimintotheGardenofEdento
dressitandtokeepit.


The Bible doesn’t mention meat as food
untilafteritrecordsthefirstkilling,Cain’s
murder of his brother Abel. Many
individualsandgroupsfromPythagorasto
the present have chosen to eat only plant
foods to avoid taking the life of another
creaturecapableoffeelingpain.Andmost
people throughout history have had no
choice,becausemeatisfarmorecostlyto

producethangrainsandtubers.
PlantsasFood

TheNatureofPlants

Plantsandanimalsareverydifferentkindsof
livingthings,andthisisbecausetheyhave
evolveddifferentsolutionstoasinglebasic
challenge:howtoobtaintheenergyand
substancenecessarytogrowandreproduce.
Plantsessentiallynourishthemselves.They
buildtheirtissuesoutofwater,minerals,and