Beef bones broth, the "superfood" to include in the diet
What is Beef Bone broth?
Bone broth is an ancient preparation made by boiling bones, usually with attached tendons and cartilage, in water
Bone broth: Is it a superfood?
Let's take a look at the meteoric rise of the latest superfood. Alas, the past five years have been marked by obscure tropical berries, I’m sure you have heard of açaí, and algae with repelling colors like spirulina.
Today, wellness influencers, paleo-diet advocates, and followers of Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s infamous, esoteric website championing painless divorces and uterine vaporizations, have a new obsession: bone broth.
Does broth do healing?
Even without being overly seduced by these somewhat bombastic proclamations, keeping in mind that the very concept of superfood has a stronger tie to marketing than actual science, there’s still a lot to celebrate.
Gone are the days when broth was snubbed and humiliated in every way, when even famous chefs chose to overlook the basics of French cuisine, with its endless sources of inspiration.
We won’t soon see chefs advertising the attributes of the stock cube, promising a hasty umami shortcut while ignoring the cube’s dark sides, filled with glutamate, assorted industrial flavorings, and little else.
Broth in Italian cuisine
In Italian cuisine, bone broth has always enjoyed a privileged status, perched between gastronomy and medicine: from capon broth, star of the tortellini dish at Christmas lunch, to “brodino,” a nickname indicating a semi-seasoned meal of those convalescing.
Even in the more modern, science-based medical tradition, there are few ailments that a well-made brodino cannot remedy.
HOW DO YOU GET A REAL BONE BROTH?
Chicken and poultry bones only need a couple of hours of stewing time to create a flavorful broth both delicious on its own, as well as an excellent base for many recipes. Use poultry broth in recipes ranging from the classic risotto to a vegetable curry: always conserve your leftover roast chicken from a deli to use in prepping your broth!
In the case of larger bones, like beef, pork and sheep, you’ll need quite a long cooking time - if you go too short, your broth will wind up being tasteless. In a glance backwards towards earlier kitchen gadgets, slow cookers and pressure cookers both shorten the cooking time without hogging your cooking range for the entire day.
The same rules of eating meat also apply to bone use: it’s wise to consume smaller amounts of red meat, and make sure that you’re eating top-quality meat. Like everything else in the animal, including sweetmeats, the bones reflect the animal’s lifestyle and feeding patterns.
Why is US bone broth healthy?
In America, small artisanal producers of bone broth are widespread, catering to those who consider it an elixir of life, and drink it at breakfast - let’s call it the new green tea. Here in Italy, the great return of bone broth is still in its infancy.
Leading the way are the founders of Brodos, who produce slow-cooked bone broth, with a cooking time of up to 25 hours.
They incorporate bones from free-range animals on their farm in Cascina Lissona, Piedmont. The animals naturally have a diet of only grass and hay, eschewing any industrial feed or antibiotics.
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