Eating Bacteria

While looking through the internet I came across an interesting article titled "Better Eating, Thanks to Bacteria" by Sandor Ellix Katz. It caught my attention immediately as soon as I saw the title. Katz love fermented foood, such as, sauerkraut, kimchi, you name it. Something I found really interesting about this article was that I had no idea that people would eat mold. While Katz was at home he invented a lot of new recipes, specially one that he learned from the Cherokee people. The food came out so good that he decided to share it with the chef of a restaurant called Momofuku Noodle Bar. Excitingly they combined new things creating new kind of food plate such as, mold and beans, mold and pine nuts, etc. Katz commented about fermentation, "There’s no denying that fermentation has drastically expanded the spectrum of what’s available to the human palate". Fermentation did broaden the spectrum. 

If you want to read the article here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/dining/fermentation-guru-helps-chefs-find-new-flavors.html?pagewanted=2&n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Microbiology&_r=0

Microbial Control

Most people see microbes as bad organisms but, in reality not all microbes are bad. Some microbes are help such as the one in our intestines. Microbes can be controlled, there are 5 was to control microbes. The first one is Sterilization- killing all microbes. Sterilization simply means to kill ALL microbe, without exception. Another way to control microbes is with Disinfection- the use of chemicals to kill, inactivate, destroy or limit growth. Disinfection is typically used in inanimate objects. Sanitation simply means the removal of pathogens. One of most recommended one is Degerming- this means physically removing microbes, such as, washing your hands.  Last but not least, Antiseptic is using chemical or antibiotics to limit growth, inactivate, laminate, etc.