> I have a similar rule of thumb: if it's not part of any culture's traditional cuisine, it's probably unhealthy.
A similar thing I heard often is "don't eat anything your grandma wouldn't recognize as food", and it seems sensible, but the problem with this reasoning is the blurry definition of "traditional" and our general ignorance of food history.
For example, MSG is a fairly traditional ingredient in Japan, being used since 1909 (older than my grandma). Crisco would be considered the same in the US.
But hydrogenated fats have known unhealthy effects, while MSG has been proven to be mostly innocuous.
At the same time, candied fruit is super traditional in the mediterranean, and something like cassata siciliana[0] is candied fruit, marzipan etc.. basically sugar coated with sugar. Definitely unhealthy, though delicious and traditional.
I wouldn't describe Crisco as part of any culture's traditional cuisine. Paula Deen once led me to believe that American grandmas use butter.
Or was it lard?
I don't know any grandmas from Japan, but I doubt they would consider MSG to be a traditional food. Rather, it is an additive that tastes like seaweed. To call it "traditional" in Japanese cuisine would be akin to calling maple flavoring "traditional" in Canadian cuisine.
A similar thing I heard often is "don't eat anything your grandma wouldn't recognize as food", and it seems sensible, but the problem with this reasoning is the blurry definition of "traditional" and our general ignorance of food history.
For example, MSG is a fairly traditional ingredient in Japan, being used since 1909 (older than my grandma). Crisco would be considered the same in the US. But hydrogenated fats have known unhealthy effects, while MSG has been proven to be mostly innocuous.
At the same time, candied fruit is super traditional in the mediterranean, and something like cassata siciliana[0] is candied fruit, marzipan etc.. basically sugar coated with sugar. Definitely unhealthy, though delicious and traditional.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassata