Category: Q & A

My gurt has plenty of toes. Thanks for asking.

I cannot comment on the main question, since the answer varies by brand and type of yogurt.

As for the followup in the question details, you're right – the live cultures in some yogurts continue to break down lactose, and these yogurts have significantly lower lactose levels – usually to the point where they are a safe and healthy way for the lactose-intolerant to get our daily calcium fix.

Two guidelines for finding lower-lactose yogurts:

• European, or Greek-style yogurt removes much more of the whey from the yogurt, making a more solid/firm texture… Since the whey is basically milk solids, this means less milk in the yogurt, and thus less lactose.
• Lactose is a form of sugar. Sugar is a carbohydrate. The lower the carbs in your yogurt, the lower the total sugar, and in almost all cases, less lactose.

You might look into one of the more popular commercial brands available in most supermarkets, like Fage and Chobani… Or just use the above two points to narrow down the less-well-known varieties you find in alternative/ethnic groceries, farmers markets, etc.

Oh, and if your intolerance is severe: avoid inactive yogurt, including frozen yogurt – freezing makes bacteria pretty darn inactive, which means more yummy lactose for you and your irritable digestive system.

How much lactose is in yogurt?

Japanese KitKat flavors, ditto Pringles. Probably up in the hundreds of each over the years, with around a half dozen options at any given time. It's junk, sure, but variety is the spice of empty caloric life!

What are some amazing foods sold in other countries that haven't made it to the US in any meaningful way?

Two reasons:

• People like a variety of foods, and
• Brick and mortar restaurants have a tendency to stick to a single menu.

The combination of these two factors means that mobile food trucks have a greater ability to meet a fluctuating market demand for their food.

A taco truck can sit on the same curb for 5 years, or quickly drive a mile up the way to be the only source of mexican food in a given neighborhood. Indeed, they can do both – sticking to a few "set" locations on particular days of the week, and being more flexible, or catering specific events the rest of the time.

This is great because if the local officeworker population knows your truck will only be nearby on Thursdays, then they may well hold off on eating Mexican food the rest of the week, if they really like your truck's tacos. This sort of "predictaburst" traffic also helps in reducing food waste loss – worst case scenario, you won't have enough supplies, and have to close shop early.

And that's just from the "truck perspective" – if as a worker/eater you get a different truck in your office parking lot every day, then you get the ability to eat a wide variety of lunches/snacks without travelling far… Much more so that you would get from a single café nearby. Don't get me wrong, such establishments, done well, are sure to sustain traffic and interest – but even the best restaurants eventually "get old" after 3-4 lunch meetings there a month.

In short, food trucks have greater mobility, that helps them find friendly pockets of consumers; and diners get to mix up their cuisine routine much more than they otherwise would. Everybody wins!

Why do people like mobile food trucks so much?

Depends a lot on your definition of food, but I'd be hard pressed to find an easier-to-construct dessert with as universal appeal as "Rice Krispie Treats":

• Butter,
• marshmallows,
• puffed rice cereal,
• and a heat source.

Not counting cleanup, takes as little as 3 minutes and a microwave to throw together a small batch, and just about every buffet or cafeteria serving breakfast foods will have the required ingredients. Especially impressive to locals in Eastern Europe and East Asia.

What is the easiest delicious food to make?

After a little research, I found a brief reference on Wikipedia* to the following:

methanol is added to denature the product, which essentially is intended to make it too toxic to be drinkable

This would seem to indicate at least slight toxicity – nothing significantly dangerous for an open-air burn, but which may create a toxic residue when used in a smoking-type application.

Even so, it's unlikely that "Sterno Smoked" food would be any more toxic than food slow-cooked in a cheap non-stick pan, for example…

Given how "generally unsafe" your rig sounds in terms of avoiding potential ignition of the wood chips, or insulating the surrounding environment from the heat buildup, I wouldn't recommend it. Smokers aren't that expensive, and the overall regulation/predictability they provide will do wonders for increasing your smoking skills. Once you are more experienced, it'll also be easier to think up optimal improvised smoking rigs for the inventor/survivalist in you.

(* Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterno)

Is it safe to use sterno in a closed grill?