Nazanin Behdad
Missy Donegan
ENGL 106
28 May 2014
Lavashak: A Healthy Snack
With a Persian Twist
As
all of you know the thought of being healthy and of living health oriented
lifestyle is easy. Making it a reality is, however, somewhat more difficult. I
can’t help but think of all the fast food locations I see on my way to school
or work daily. Combined with the incessant marketing of fast food companies,
junk food manufacturers and other food or drink producers designed to convince
us that their products are safe, healthy and good. We are inundated with
options for an unhealthy lifestyle. Overcoming these weaknesses to well-being,
health and a positive lifestyle is difficult to be sure but not impossible.
In my view, achieving this type of
healthy and fit lifestyle is even more important for college students. This is
because of the likelihood that economics and peer influence increases the
likelihood that their diet will be bad. I will admit, being a college student
myself, there are times that budget has influenced some of my meal choices and
selections. According to Topp et al, in their fit into college article, some researchers have pointed out that
dietary choices and selections made early in a person’s life often go on to act
as an indicator of later obesity, health issues and even morbidity in some
cases (Topp, Edward, Ridner, et al,p.69). Thus, given the opportunity to
introduce people to a healthy snack choice that is both low-cal and low-cost, I
would jump at such an opportunity.
And
this leads me to the subject of this particular blog post. Just what is a
healthy snack option for people who are busy and constantly on-the-go? Well,
actually, if one just has a little guidance and knows where to look (like my
blog for example), then one may find that there are a multitude of choices out
there. The easy choice is of course just to tell someone, “oh, just go buy some
nuts” or “eat raisins” or some similar suggestion that lacks any grounding in
practicality. Yes, these are always good snack options to be sure, but the fact
is that they lack any sense of variety and adventure. People like variations in
their palate and without this variation and diversity they tend to fall back
into old, established dietary routines. The fact is that individuals’
perceptions of the food that they eat can and do affect their lifestyle
patterns: Topp et al mentioned that“...the samples perceived benefits of fruit
and vegetable intake at baseline was appeared to be approximately half that of
the perceived barriers to fruit and vegetable intake” (Topp, Edward, Ridner, et
al, p.76). In essence, this study proved that the perceptions that fruit and
vegetables are good for a person as a motivator to eat them is only half as
strong as the perceptions that eating fruits and vegetables is too difficult as
a rationale to not eat them.
Given
this reality of achieving a more healthy diet in practice it is helpful to be
armed with practical options for eating healthy snacks from fruits and
vegetables. That’s where I come in. You see, I have a secret. As you know I am
Iranian and as such I was exposed to a more traditional lifestyle and diet that
emphasized natural health and food preparation. As a child, one of my favorite
snacks that my grandmother and mother often made me and my siblings was a
healthy fruit snack that we in America would call a fruit roll-up but it is not
the fruit roll-up we are all familiar with that is inundated with food dyes, artificial
sweeteners and little if any “real” fruit. Instead, this snack, called Lavashak,
is made of only real fruit, contains no artificial anything, and is actually
what would really be referred to as a real fruit roll-up. And what is more
impressive, anyone can make it and I’m going to teach you how.
Lavashak is an Old Iranian snack
that uses only fresh picked fruits that ripen during the summer months. Hence,
it is made from light, sweet and natural fruits that are rich in vitamins and
full of flavor. One of the most common fresh fruits that we used when I was
growing up was plums. Plums have a natural tarty flavor and that gets stronger
as they ripen on a countertop or in the sunlight for a few days extra. This
crispness of flavor shines through when they are made into Lavashak, and kids
can never seem to get enough. Even now I make this snack a couple of times a
month just to break-up my diet. Furthermore, I change up the fruit that I use
just to spice it even more, and you never know what wonderful flavors are going
to shine through as you experiment with different fruits.
So how does one actually make
Lavashak? Well, it certainly does require one to be a rocket scientist that is
for sure. So let’s begin with a fruit, which we’ll stick with plums since that
is the most common type of Lavashak. Basically, all you have to decide is how
much Lavashak you want. I’ll give you a little secret—don’t make too much or it
will lose its freshness and therefore much of its natural flavors and appeal.
Let’s start with say twenty fresh plums and organically grown ones would be
best. Next, buy some lemon juice and best would be fresh squeezed lemon juice.
You will need about one tablespoon of lemon juice so plan accordingly since
this would be just one or two fresh lemons if you squeeze the juice yourself.
Then, all that is required is about a half-a-cup of water. That’s it. Simple
you say! Well it is simple to make Lavashak in terms of the ingredients, but as
with most things that are delicious there is an art form to its preparation.
Once you have all of your Lavashak
ingredients together, you have to wash the plums really well and then remove
their pits. Once the pits are removed select a fairly large pot that is
non-stick preferably and put the plums, the water and the lemon juice together
within the pot and cook the mix on a low setting for around half-an-hour to
sometimes 45 minutes based on the consistency. You want to ensure that the
plums themselves are thoroughly cooked and that the juice is almost completely
gone.
Also,
don’t just stick the pot on the burner and walk away either. You have to pay
attention to the mix and stir it constantly so that it does not burn or stick.
Once the plums have cooked completely, you will take the remaining mixture and
put it in a food mixer and mix it on a puree setting. The mixture at this point
will be a paste-like substance or a heavy liquid with a thick consistency. The
next step relates to the preparation and cooking of the mixture. Take a regular
cookie pan and place a sheet of foil on it and spray it with a relatively thin
coating of Pam or brush on some regular cooking oil. This is to keep the final
snack from sticking to the foil. The plum mixture can then be poured onto the
sheet and spread in an even, thin coat over the foil on the pan. The next step
is optional but I always use it just because I get excited over the final outcome!
After the plum mixture is spread evenly over the foil place the pan in the oven
and cook the mixture on a medium setting or about 250 degrees for half-an-hour
to an hour. Then, remove the pan and cover the plum mixture with a layer of
cheese cloth and put it out in the sun for several days. Bear in mind that if
you skip the oven step in this process then the final step in the sun has to be
increased in duration. Generally, two days works for me but if you decide to
skip the cooking step plan on probably four days of sitting the Lavashak out in
the sun.
The outcome is a wonderfully
delicious and healthy snack that is peeled away from the foil and eaten like a
regular fruit roll-up. Lavashak has a burst of tartness associated with fresh
plums but warm feel to it that is infused by the sun. Furthermore, it provides
you with a profound sense of satisfaction because not only did you make it
yourself but you were able to delay the gratification process which makes the
final consumption part even more rewarding. In fact, it is this process of
making and preparing this snack over time that makes it so effective in
improving one’s diet and lifestyle from a behavioral perspective as well. Based
on Topp et al this is because its entire process mirrors the Trans theoretical
model of health behavior which argues that healthy behaviors consist of
precontemplation, contemplation and preparation as necessary steps in affecting
lasting and positive change (Topp, Edward, Ridner, et al, p.70). So please, I
implore, go out and buy some fresh fruit today and enjoy your own homemade
Lavashak and help yourself ignore all those barriers to a healthy diet and
lifestyle that we are faced with on a daily basis.
Works
Cited
Topp, Robert V., Jean
S. Edward, S. Lee Ridner, Dean E. Jacks, and Karen Newton. "Fit Into
College: A Program to Improve Physical Activity and Dietary Intake Lifestyles
Among College Students." Recreational Sport Journal 35.1 (2011):
69-78. Print.
