| Eat Local - Local Sweet Stuff |
Why is it that all the fun stuff is bad for you? Take refined sugar, it's been linked to all the worst things killing us off. Why? Well mostly because we eat too much of it. Quite often you're eating sugar these days without even knowing it. You'd be amazed how many teaspoons of sugar are in each normal serving of fruit yoghurt, bread, breakfast cereals, sauces and soft drinks. |
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The good news is that if you eat local foods across a large part of your diet, you're eating less processed food and therefore less sneaked in sugar ...
...which means when you do need sugar you can go hard out !
As I'm writing that I can hear my niece saying "that's a sometimes food Aunty Heather". Well yes and sometimes you just need a Rosy Glow Caramel Walnut Log. |
OK, so we're spoilt for choice with local chocolatiers like Rosy Glow and Kersteins but if I'm really following this eat local dogma to it's limit then what am I going to use to sweeten my cooking?
I'll have to bin the bag of Chelsea from the cupboard and investigate locally produced sweeteners.
Maple Syrup takes my fancy to start with. Sugar Maple trees are beautiful and grow really well here. Dave de Gray planted 200 sugar maple trees in the Moutere Hills 26 years ago and he's now tapping the trees for maple syrup which he extracts by boiling the raw syrup down.
It's a long term project though. He thinks these trees could be tapped for up to 400 years and we should be planting hillsides of them for future generations. |
Source: Nelson Mail, Vanessa Phillips 2009.
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I planted a few sugar maple trees 4 years ago so I've only got another 20 years to wait until I can start tapping them.
For a more instant sugar rush I've been growing the perennial herb called Stevia. Used for centuries in it's native Paraguay, Stevia is sweeter than sugar - some studies say as much as 300 times sweeter. Take my advice, don't bung a whole fresh leaf in your mouth to see what it tastes like!
Keep it out of frosts, pick the leaves in autumn and dry them in the full sun for a day then crush them up and store in a jar for use through the year.
It's great for sweetening sauces and dressings that don't need sugar for setting and for use in stewed fruit. I still don't like it in teas but a lot of people do. We sell the seed and the plants. |
If you're a real locavore disciple then Sugar Cane does grow in New Zealand. According to Kay Baxter it grow's anywhere you can grow a tamarillo plant.
Apparently if you run the canes through a ringer you get a litre of juice from each cane. You can use the juice for baking, bottling, drinks and brewing and it's very yummy.
If anyone wants to try and grow it let me know. I can get some canes for you to give it a go. |
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Did you know beekeepers live the longest of any profession? Honey and bee pollen are so good for you.
I must admit to being a bit of a sook when it comes to bee's - something about the stinging end of them actually. So the hives on my place are managed by Matt Wells and Catherine Gordon from Urban Bees.
Matt will come and manage a hive or hives on your property, even if you're in town. In return you get around 10kgs minimum of honey each year.
And if you can't have a hive at your place then head to the Nelson or Mot market on the weekend and be spoilt for choice from several local honey producers offering their wares. |
So you've got your Honey and your Stevia sorted out - what's the nicest thing you can make with all this sweetness? Ice Cream.
Home icecream machines are one of those things many people buy, use once or twice, and bung on Trade Me. Take a look at what is actually in most commercial ice-creams and you'll decide making your own is worthwhile - even if you only use it once every couple of months.
Then you taste the ice-cream and it's so good. My two favourite home made icecreams are Feijoa & Maple Syrup and Boysenberry & Honey.
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| So there is a tour of local sweet treats for you. Heaps of options to get your sweet fix in your month of localism and I didn't even mention fruit - one of the sweetest treats around. |
