I’m Feeling Lucky

Lazy gene favours adventurous choices
IN A restaurant, do you order the dish you know you love or try a new one, in case you like it better? The level of the reward chemical dopamine you have in a brain region may determine your reply.

The COMT gene codes for an enzyme that breaks down dopamine in the prefrontal cortex. People with a less efficient version of COMT have more dopamine in this region, and this makes them good at storing multiple ideas in the short term…The team concludes that high levels of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex make people more adventurous, even when the status quo is fine.

^{– Read the full article at The New Scientist}

What does this have to do with Google’s food? Well, every day has a different menu. Unlike some corporate cafeterias which have pizza on Monday or hamburgers on Tuesday every week, Google’s changes daily. In fact, once I found a repeated menu 2 months later and jokingly complained, it caught the attention of our Dining Services masters in Mountain View. Given this mercurial menu, there’s two different strategies one can employ: Stay with the few constants (there’s always hamburgers available) or choose the most eclectic mix. I employ the latter tactic and next time, I’ll mention why (apart from maybe just having lazy genes).

With the hot weather (and random illnesses), I’ve been eating somewhat lighter foods which means I’ve been looking at the Raw and Antipasti stations with more interest. For some reason, I’m not that big on making my own salad. I think it’s because the ingredients usually available at a salad bar are unimaginative or don’t actually go together. For example, sometimes the salad bar here has roasted butternut squash. Great, I love squash, but what in the world am I going to put it with? Carrots and ranch dressing?

My first stop was therefore the Raw station which, as I mentioned, follows dubious principles like “no heating food over 115°F”, “vegan” (what’s a raw bar without shellfish?), and “don’t feed after midnight”. I’m sure there must be some Googlers who are Raw food devotees. I’ll punch them when I see them. Anyway, at least the food is interesting. On offer were Raw “Swedish Meatballs” with Gooseberries; White Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Sorrel Truffle Dressing; Wax & Green Beans with Mustard Vinegar; Apple, Cabbage, and Golden Raisin salad with Caraway Seed; and Candy Cane Beets with Cucumbers & Mint Dressing. I picked up some of the Swedish Meatballs, Asparagus Salad, and Apple Salad.

(Above: Raw Swedish Meatballs with Gooseberries)

Continuing on to Antipasti were a variety of items: A chicken tortellini salad, a beef fajita salad, some mini zucchinis in chili sauce, couscous, roasted peppers, balsamic marinated roasted mushrooms, broccolini, and, I think, a tomato salad. Here I took some of the fajita salad and mushrooms.

(Some of the many choices available at the Antipasti station)

Lastly I stopped off at Home which had the theme “Puebla”. I grabbed some Pork Tinga which is sort of a shredded pork with cumin, oregano, and paprika, completing my plate:

(Clockwise: Roasted Mushrooms, Fajita Salad, Raw Swedish meatballs, Asparagus Salad, Pork Tinga, and Apple Cabbage Salad)

Not the most common or consistent mix but it’s all going in my tummy so who cares? That said, the results of this experiment were mixed. The most disappointing item was the meatballs. I’d guessed that they would be made from nuts (they were) but I found them very salty. While they get lots of points for concept and presentation, I only ate 2 of them and gave up. The best (unsurprisingly) was the Pork Tinga. I’m a big fan of piggy goodness in a myriad of forms (except ham. What’s with ham?) and this was no exception. The pork was very tender, falling apart into bits, and the spices gave it a good flavor. It wasn’t as good as carnitas but it’s Mexican pulled pork instead of a braised pork dish. There’s rumors of a small taco made after as dessert to replace the meatballs but these are unfounded.

The salads were each good but admittedly fell slightly short: The flavor of the fajita salad was excellent but I personally don’t like cold beef: the fat re-solidifies and causes it to sort of coat one’s mouth with a greasy paste. Still the onions and peppers in it had a good lime, spice, and cilantro flavor. The asparagus salad was really good but on the whole, I prefer green asparagus to white. Every time I’ve had it, I’ve concluded white asparagus has a less pleasant texture (it’s firmer and stringier) and less flavor than it’s green counterpart. It could be that I grew up with substantial amounts of green asparagus (my family used to grow some) and white asparagus is just “not asparagusy” to me. Lastly, I enjoyed the apple/cabbage salad but not for the apple, cabbage, or raisins. While I was eating it, all I could think was “Mmm, pumpernickel” as I munched through apple and caraway seeds, cabbage and caraway seeds, and raisins and caraway seeds. Basically, put caraway with anything and *poof* instant rye bread flavor! Since I really like rye bread, it wasn’t a problem. The salad is losing points simply because the butter wouldn’t melt after I buttered it. Hmph.

Tomorrow looks to have an 80% chance of piggy goodness since we have a guest chef from Porchetta coming in. Maybe I’ll mention it next time!