Can You Whip Egg Whites with a Fork?

Oh, yes, I can, thank you very much!! And I can get it to be as stiff as I like.

I saw something on TV over 16 years ago in Brazil that made me feel glad I know how to do that. One Saturday night I was channel surfing and for some reason I got to this really silly show (Viva a Noite!) presented by Gugu Liberato and I had to watch for a few minutes when I saw what he was up to.

He had called two young women from the audience with their boyfriends or accompanying male friends. The first was blondish and looked very "upper middle class" whereas the other, who was darker skinned, looked like a "working class" young woman. The game was a challenge: he presented each of them with a bowl, an egg white and a fork and he said they needed to whip the egg until the plate could be turned upside down over the head of their boyfriends. Ha! I had to see this!

The "richer" girl tried to beat the egg whites with the fork as best as she could, but it was pretty obvious that she had never done that before in her life while the other girl was doing her job expertly. Several minutes went on and Gugu finally said that time was up. The embarrassed blond had no choice but to dump the still liquid egg whites on her boyfriend's head while the other young woman triumphantly turned the plate onto her boyfriend's head and the whites were so stiff they didn't fall at all. 

"Hey! I can do that too!" I exclaimed. And I felt just so relieved that I wouldn't have been embarrassed if I were in that situation. I mean, it was just a silly (and early) "reality TV" type game, but it made me feel that certain abilities (such knowing how to cook absolutely from scratch) can come in handy when you least expect it!

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I decided to write this totally random post today after reading these recipes in which the blogger mentioned her mother's wooden crank whip. I always  feel thankful that I grew up in a country in which most people still cook and bake most foods from scratch. This is slowly changing there, however, because today many people have a fast-paced life-style which doesn't leave time for cooking and processed food is becoming cheaper and more available in Brazil too.

I'm enjoying reading food blogs and I see that lots of people here in the U.S. (and all over the world) are enjoying cooking (Julie & Julia) is an example of the fascination with that subject. Last night I was reading the blog archives of a (much younger) friend I met last summer and I had to laugh when she described an experience she had back in 2005 in a youth hostel in Argentina -- she and her young American travel companions had never (!) popped corn in a pot before and they had help from an Australian traveler who gave them some hints about what to do. I, for one, won't eat microwave pop corn if I can avoid it. :)

Baking cakes from boxes, eating soup or beans from cans are very foreign things for me. Once in a while I'll do it (only garbanzo beans and brownies, though never, EVER! cakes, that's "anathema" to me! ;-)

Well, I think I could go on and on about this subject, but I have to get ready to go to my sons' "Talent Show" in school! Kelvin is playing the piano. oh, and I want to write another post to share some exciting "odontological" news. ;)