I always assumed that my ancestors were rice-eaters, and that rice was naturally good for me. We ate mashed potatoes with our turkey at Christmas - a dutiful interpretation of the mainstream holiday. A few hours later, mom clicked on the ricecooker. Over time, Mom gave up, and eventually, we could skip the mashed potatoes and go straight to the Japanese rice and gravy - the best part of those celebratory days. It made sense - Japanese have eaten rice pretty much forever, right? Only recently have I wondered, exactly when “forever” began. In grade school, we learned that agriculture began near the Euphrates River, transforming hunter-gatherers into farmers around 10,000 years ago. What was happening in Japan, where my ancient ancestors were figuring it out? Turns out that rice was a latecomer to the table of my progenitors.

In some things I tend to obsess. In others, I am able to be the light-hearted dancer that I imagine skips happily through life. I don't obsess about my weight, or really cleaning the outside of my pots and pans. And, I haven't obsessed about non-nutritive sweeteners - also known as intense sweeteners, alternative sweeteners, very low-calorie sweeteners, and artificial sweeteners. My approach is similar to my relationship with my bicycle or car brakes. I don't have the technical knowledge about how it all works, try to take some reasonable precautions, which for the car means buying a brand that is well-reviewed, and maintaining it. I used Equal tablets (aspartame) in my agar dessert, and as promised, here is my current thinking about this sweetener.

If you have a question or something to share, please drop me a line by leaving a comment, or by email at foodarazzi@gmail.com. I can’t promise to answer all mail, and certainly don’t have all the answers, but would love to hear from you.