Happy Wednesday. Ready for your reading assignments today? Let's start with Michaele Weissman's story about Michael Twitty, a culinary historian from the Washington area who has made it his mission to teach about the African roots of Southern food. Move on to Andrew Jenner's story about two Virginia farmers who have pinned their hopes on raising water buffalo for meat and cheese — and on mastering the making of authentic bufalo mozzarella. And don't miss Tim Carman's preview of local chef-restaurateur Mike Isabella's biggest project yet: a 10-part food emporium at the upscale Tysons Galleria mall, to open next year.
We're lucky to have Michael Twitty with us today for the Free Range chat. It starts at noon, as usual, so be sure to tune in. Got culinary questions? Get them in early, then settle back and enjoy the show. I'll get things started with this leftover question from last week's chat:
I have half a container of Greek yogurt but noticed a blue mold spot when I last opened it. Can I scoop that out and use the yogurt?
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Here’s a quiz: In the back of your refrigerator you find a carton of milk and a container of yogurt. One sniff tells you the milk has gone sour. One glance reveals a spot of mold on the yogurt. Which one is safer to consume raw?
Share this articleShareEven assuming you scrape off the mold, the sour milk — though not tasty — is a safer bet. I'm basing that on what food-waste Dana Gunders told writer Jane Black in an interview last year, when she said sour milk is "very safe. Pathogens like salmonella or e. Coli don't thrive in milk. If you drank really sour milk, you might gag, but it won't make you sick."
But what about that yogurt mold? It’s just a small spot, after all, easily scraped off. Well, here’s one thing about mold: What you see is just, as they say, the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface, the mold has sent down tiny filaments that you can’t see, and they may have invaded quite a lot of the yogurt.
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So what's the harm? That's hard to answer, because different molds have different effects, but the USDA notes that some molds produce poisonous substances that can make you sick. In 2013, yogurtmaker Chobani recalled several varieties of its Greek yogurt after consumers reported finding mold in some of yogurt containers. More than 400 people reported that they had developed gastrointestinal problems after eating the yogurt.
Of course, some molds are not a problem — on hard salami and dry-cured country hams, for example, where you'd scrape them off, and on brie, where you'd eat them. The USDA isn't concerned about those. But the agency has a chart titled "Moldy Food: When to Use, When to Discard," and here's what it says to do about moldy yogurt: Discard. It explains that "foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Moldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mold." Same goes for jams and jellies, peanut butter and baked goods.
We’ve probably all unwittingly eaten mold at one time or another and have suffered no ill effects. But why tempt fate? Because it carries a risk, it seems smarter to be safe and toss the moldy yogurt.
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