Culture
Ohio University’s Seema Mahato Explores Possibilities of Food Dehydration
By: Emily Votaw
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When one thinks of dehydrated food, most likely what comes to mind are raisins, maybe dried prunes, perhaps apple chips. However, dehydrated food as a category also includes the likes of the beloved Ramen noodle, which sustains college students and those on a budget alike with it’s dried vegetable essences, as well as many other foods you likely never considered.
Ohio University’s Seema Mahato has spent the past several years exploring what possibilities food dehydration may have as a method of dealing with food insecurity, and her resulting cookbook, entitled The Studio Group Cookbook: Quick Tips for Drying Seasonal Surplus and Preparing Seasonal Meals presents some of that research in a very practical, concise way. The cookbook is named after the group at ATCO that Mahato worked with on a weekly basis, testing out various dehydrated food recipes in a group setting.
WOUB’s Emily Votaw interviewed Mahato about the long and winding process that ultimately led to the cookbook, as well as her future hopes for the uses of food dehydration.