Hot weather calls for cool food, not cold in itself like ice cream, but foods that actually cool down the body, like air conditioning. And there is a vast repertoire of them because so many cultures have developed them over time as survival measures. Some dishes replace vital moisture lost by sweating. Some literally lower the body temperature by making you sweat. And some have been found to reduce heat and not require much of the metabolic energy that produces it. (Metabolism is our internal combustion engine.)
The people of the northern Mediterranean coast, from France to Turkey, have what they call olive oil foods. These are dishes glistening with an abundance of oil deliberately used to lubricate muscles and ligaments when the body is sweating out water. Probably the best known is ratatouille in which summer veggies--bell peppers, eggplants, zucchini and tomatoes--and herbs--basil, parsley, garlic--are braised and swimming in olive oil. Another famous dish is Turkey's Imam Bayaldi, which literally translates as "the imam fainted." The traditional explanation is he fainted from his host using so much expensive olive oil in one dish. I have recipes for both in my book, Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking and have posted them earlier and often. Also the recipe for Armenian green beans in olive oil.
Yogurt is probably the oldest, most widely used food to cool the body. It's known for cooling in ancient Ayurveda medicine. From Greece to Nepal, everyone has some form of a condiment or sauce in which yogurt is paired with another known cooling food, the cucumber. This vegetable is essentially water, something the sweating body needs, something that cools it down much like jumping into water cools you down. This combos most familiar names are raita and tsatsiki. The Turkish version, cacik, is made more with mint than dill. You can do what you please working with what you have.
If you surprise yourself hankering for salty foods like potato chips and pickles in summertime, you're normal. Our bodies crave salt when they are losing moisture because salt is what retains the body's moisture in the first place. Thus the use of capers, olives, salty feta cheese and salted fish around the entire Mediterranean basin.
If you find yourself eating more fish in summer than in January, that's normal too. Fish are a watery food. This makes them not only moisturizing but because water makes them lightweight, they are less trouble to the metabolism. It doesn't heat the body trying to digest fish. Several weeks ago I posted a pile of easy glamour fish recipes.
And finally, for the last 500 years, the world's go-to food for cooling has been the chili pepper. That's why all those Thai, Vietnamese, Malay, south Indian and southern Mexican dishes are so fiery. The heat of the chili pepper raises the body temperature momentarily, causing it to pour out sweat, which-- surprisingly-- is what cools it down. The chili pepper works in the body exactly like an air conditioner works in a room: it pulls out the humidity/moisture. So fire up!
Here are a few ways to keep your cool:
Mango Salsa
1 yellow mango, ripe
1 serrano chili pepper, seeded
1/4 c red onion, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves only (maybe 1/2 c)
1 lime, juice only
1/8 tsp salt
Peel the mango and cut the fruit from the stone.
Combine everything in a food processor or chopper and pulse to a chopped up stage, not a puree.
If you are not eating it right away, store covered in the fridge up to 3 days.
Mango Lassi
4 servings
9 fluid ounces plain yogurt
4 1/2 fluid ounces milk
3 fresh mango, stoned and sliced
4 teaspoons sugar, to taste,
Optional: cardamom or cinnamon
Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve. Feel free to try salt and cardamom or cinnamon. The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
Fiery Szechuan Eggplant
