Knowledge Base > Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

This event was on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern

Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to co… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

It is my understanding that in plant-based eating, all oils are excluded. Why then is oil included in many of the tasks in the Plant Plus course?

— Audi Lung

Answer:

So to use oil or not to use oil, right? That is the question, uh, I understand. And, um, that, uh, is a separate issue from cooking vegetables or cooking things that are plant-based, okay? Um, you know, in fact, right, in the broader, um, I'll say vegan world, uh, things like, um, highly processed foods that are based on fats, uh, are super duper common. Um, so then if we start to bring that back home where we have more control over our cooking, uh, it, it's totally up to you right? On whether you want to include added oils or not, and maybe how much if you wanna work in, in the middle ground here, where, you know, often the more interesting solutions lie. Um, there are many of our students, um, enrolled specifically in the Forks Over Knives course, uh, that are, that came to us, uh, motivated by a health concern, and it's because of that specific health concern that they opt to eliminate oil or to decrease oil in some fashion. Okay? Now, throughout the, uh, the cooking experience, right? If, if you're going from eating, um, uh, an, an added oil diet and you shift to a no oil diet cold Turkey, um, it can be difficult. You know, your, your body craves, uh, fats and, uh, maybe just your habits, right? So that we get back to that 90% mental, um, connection here. Uh, we, you know, we crave certain things. And so a lot of people find that, um, well, I can actually live with, with something in between here, my own compromise where I'll add oil to certain preparations because I really want that flavor that I've enjoyed all my life. But with some of these other preparations, I'm okay with decreasing the oil or eliminating the oil, um, because they don't have that emotional connection to this, this particular preparation as I do this one over here. And, um, so, uh, you get to find how you, um, solve these, uh, issues, okay? But, uh, do keep in mind that excluding added oils is a separate issue from eating plant-based foods.
Eric Wynkoop

Eric Wynkoop

Director of Culinary Instruction

rouxbe.com