Food Tips for Dancers

I had a banana, peanut butter and date sandwich for breakfast and it was rather yummy. More interestingly it sustained me for the whole morning and well into the afternoon. That made me think about dance food. I can’t think of a better time to write this post.  It's  Ramadan for Muslims around the world .The first food that is eaten to break the fast each day is that great super food the date. Feeding the body with much needed energy.

It is always important to eat well and it is particularly important for those who require physical activity and concentration. That of course includes dancers. They need to eat well to replenish all the energy that they use up. However, foods that feed our body with energy and other vital nutrients require a little bit of understanding. Making the right food choices is not always easy.

So here are some tips for you as dancers to consider:-

1 Try to eat little and often.  It helps to keep your fire burning. It eliminates hunger pangs. It also stops you feeling sluggish which also happens if you eat too much in one sitting. It keeps you sustained.

2 Choose foods which are filling, healthy and unprocessed. Not only will that help keep you sustained, it will also supply the nutrients that build up muscle and bone strength and keep those organs working properly. In Hindu culture it is sometimes referred to as a "cleaner diet". The body then can then process nutrients from these foods more efficiently and transport the nutrients to the parts of the body where they are needed. Such a diet helps dancers to mobilise their bodies to the fullest extent possible.   After all, your body is your temple. It enables you to undertake the rigorous training that a dancer has to undergo.

3 Try to eat foods that fit your mood.  This is a rather important part of eating for anybody. Getting In tune with your body helps you make better food choices. Mood is usually an indicator that the body needs more of one nutrient than another. I was craving for some fish the other evening. I needed protein as I had not eaten any that day. Although it’s not only fish that gives us protein my body has become used to getting its protein from fish. Protein needs replenishing every day as the body can not store it. Protein builds and repairs tissues in the body which is very much needed for dancers. By no means are they the only benefits too.

4 Cook your food healthily. Steam or grill your food or even eat it raw. Think about what you desire to eat and visualise it your plate. Colour, texture and indeed taste helps are bodies to relax when eating and fully to enjoy the experience.  In terms of pleasure savouring well cooked food is not far removed from watching a dance performance. It is like appreciating the choreography and construction of the performance together with the lighting used and costumes worn and indeed how these costumes move on the dancers as they perform their piece to bring it all together.

So why eat dates?

Firstly dates are a super food as they have many nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Dates give dancers a boost of energy  as they contain natural sugars and are easy to carry around.  They are free from cholesterol and contain very little fat. They are a good source of fibre to help maintain your digestive system and avoid bloating. They have both soluble and insoluble fibre which helps the metabolism. They are a rich source of B vitamins which boost the nervous system that controls your thoughts and movement. In particular vitamin B6 which helps the body retain protein and carbohydrates - another very good source of energy.   They also taste delicious and are very plentiful in the shops this time of the year.

So why not snack on a few in between training this summer and see how you find them. There are many varieties to choose from and they are grown in many countries.

Many consider that the best dates come from Medina in Saudi Arabia which is where the Prophet lived and also where he died. 

Finally,  the best dates are enjoyed uncooked. I know some people like date pudding but to me stewing dates is rather like deep frying truffles. My favourite is the Medjool  variety

If you want to discuss this article or food and recipes in general email me at gita@gitamistryfood.co.uk. There’s lots of other information about food and recipes in my own blog and website.

Films and Farhsan

Who loves a good movie? What type of movie is your thing? I am lucky enough to have the National Media Museum on my doorstep. Spoilt for choice with films to watch and auditoriums to watch them in! 

For starters, there is the Imax which is the first of its kind in the UK, showcasing some incredible movies. One of my favorites is an amazing documentary called The Hubble   

Then there is Pictureville proudly claiming to be one of the best-equipped cinemas in the world.  Actually, that was the city's old Library Theatre.  I used to dance on its stage - much against my family's wishes. Love to dance! Yeah!  

I love salsa and old Indian classical traditional folk dance from Gujarat and Garba Ras amongst many other styles.

Then we have the Cubby Broccoli cinema. Cubby Broccoli was famous for making Bond Movies. 

But I wouldn't take broccoli to snack on at the flicks though, would you?

My first ever experience of hitting the flicks was as a child to see Mother India in the early 1970s.  Bradford became very famous for its Asian picture houses and our local was The Arcadian. Not always an Indian film cinema but that's how I knew it in the '70s. The Asian cinema house was demolished in 1987. I cried as I  watched the building tumble, such a sad day for me. 

A few of my favourites foodie films are Fried green tomatoes, La Grande Bouffe Chocolat, and A Private Function really  appropriate for this year's Diamond Jubilee

                     

Gosh, it was packed most nights. There was dancing, hands clapping ..... Oh! And that was just from the audience ..... talking right through the movie and shouting out the plot as the audience got carried away. If mobile phones had existed. I dare say lots of colorful ring tones would have joined in too! Not that folk seemed to mind.   All part of the excitement and occasion. As they joyfully watched.

My mother thought the pictures were for those with nothing better to do with their time and money.   "A respectable reputation may be lost if seen there too often."   So the only time she went to see a film was when she went to see Mother India.    She made an exception for that film because it had a good, moral story and was thus acceptable. 

It was never a dull moment.  Fahsan ( snack food spicy and crunchy) is usually all homemade and of course, washed down by a glass bottle of Coca-Cola.  The food was amazing: samosa, fresh chapati rolls (biri),  Bombay mixes of all types and descriptions, a whole variety of Indian snack bites, and roasted peanuts with chili. There was no end to the variety and it was such a great social affair.   Like one big living room!   You would see rows of families and friends passing around tubs of homemade goodies and sometimes the bowl tub would get past all the way down the row so you would get a bite of someone else s food.   My Mum's food was enough to impress anyone. It was even being offered in exchange for cinema tickets. She never took them up on it, but I did!

My favourites had to be samosa.  A treat to which I never said no. I loved them so much that I learned so much about them.  They took the best part of a day to make - preparing the mixture, making the pastry, filling them, and finally cooking them.  
we only made them as a treat food and on special occasions because it came from another region and took so long in the process. Indian food varies from region to region as much as Turkish food varies from Spanish.  Subtleties that we in the west have yet to discover and understand fully. Next time I will take through my recipe....

St David's Day

Today is St. David's Day. I have been trying to think of something funny to say about Wales but not a lot springs to mind. I googled "Welsh humour".   And what came up? "Llareggub!" And I'm not referring to Dylan Thomas's masterpiece.
My late partner's dad was Welsh.  Indeed, his name was Evans.   He had no particular affection for the place.  When I once asked him why he replied "Nowt much happening in Wales. It's always shut, isn't it."

Same with Welsh food. Welsh rarebit, laver bread and apparently shepherd's pie.  So I was going to let the day pass until I learned of the Welsh community in Patagonia.   They make a really yummy fruit cake called torta galesa (literally "Welsh cake"). Here's a recipe in English.


Now I have never heard of Welsh cake in Wales and that got me thinking about the transplantation of cultures. How people from one continent have to adapt to their environment when they cross to another.


Take the first Thanksgiving, for example.   According to Wikipedia:

"The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash."  

One year out and the Brits had already abandoned their meat and two veg.  The same sort of thing has happened with Indian food in Britain. "Balti" comes from Birmingham and hit the British scene in the 1970's not Baltistan. The idea of serving food in a cooking vessel would just not happen where my folks come from.

Returning to things Welsh I love daffodils.  My first daffodil flowered today.