Happy with Happy Fried Chicken in 2024
Tauhid Nur Azhar
All praise be to God, I still have enough teeth, my tongue is still sensitive, and I can still savor the aroma of a bowl of soto, its heat sending a message in the form of aerosol molecules that make our saliva flow. I am happy to be able to chew, swallow, and digest. All praise be to God, I can still appreciate the happiness of a piece of fried chicken.
Happy…
This morning, the first day of 2024. And also Monday, which is usually the first day to work. But today is special, not because it’s a new year, but because I have the privilege to relax and enjoy a slow vacation until the afternoon, typing on my phone while feeling the pleasure of it. Sitting quietly in a peaceful place.
Perhaps some of us let out our joy last night with the grandeur of fireworks or the merriment of a party with loved ones. Perhaps some others went on vacation to the beach, climbed mountains, or hid away on quiet islands. All of this certainly has its own good reasons and may also represent various ways to unload the burdens of life through mechanisms that bring happiness and benefit. What’s important is not to overdo it or get lost in hedonistic escapism that makes us unrealistic.
Others, including myself, try our luck with delicacies. Savoring food, or internalizing the knowledge of the worldly science of culinary arts. A taste battle involving the composition of the main ingredients, the combination of spices in the form of herbs and minerals, up to the processing of materials and cooking skills with god-level skills.
My teacher, Dr. Andry Dachlan, who is wise, accurately predicted that I would definitely choose the Ninja path in the worldly culinary journey.
So, it would be fitting if I also tried to answer the anxiety of my friend, a true broadcaster, a radio announcer and MC who is loved by the Nusantara’s hawa jelita community, or women who are mature yet still have charm, Hilang Pambudhi from Delta-Prambors radio. She is anxious and asks, “Can this culinary art become our way of worship?”
Of course, that’s my answer in a nutshell without giving any explanation. Fortunately, Dr. Andry Dachlan, an extraordinary doctor with extra capacity and talents who is multi-tasking, a true explorer and mountaineer, kindly shared his knowledge which has clearly entered the class of mumpuni (expertise).
According to Dr. Andry, chewing is also an advanced mechanism that requires a detailed system design so that all elements of chewing are integrated.
First, chewing requires innervation from the trigeminal system or the 5th cranial nerve which has sensory and motor branches.
In the realm of culinary arts, or in scientific terms it is called mastication, the nervous system will stimulate motor movements carried out by a group of muscles such as the temporalis, masseter, and lateral and medial pterygoid muscles.
It doesn’t stop there, we also need lips as the gate to the mouth and chemical-physical sensors to avoid danger from incoming visitors who will enter the digestive tract, or the long channel of the digestive system.
Therefore, the lips are also innervated. Its motor nerves come from the facial nerve branches, buccal and mandibular, while its sensory nerves come from the infraorbital and mental branches of the trigeminal nerve.
The nutrition and oxygen supply to the lips come from the superior and inferior (upper and lower) branches of the facial artery.
It’s not just the lips, right? Chewing without using teeth is impossible. That’s why we are endowed with 32 teeth, complete with upper and lower, left and right ones. Our teeth are distributed into 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, and 12 molars, including wisdom teeth which often experience eruption deficiency or impaction conditions.
Don’t be mistaken, teeth are also innervated. So that when there is a cavity due to tooth decay, etc., it will hurt and we will realize that our teeth are having problems. Because if left untreated, a decayed tooth can become a gateway for bacteria to enter and cause prolonged infections. Including triggering infections and immune responses in other organs of the body because it is systemic. Spread through the bloodstream.
The sensory nerve fibers that are attached to the teeth, both upper and lower jaws, are also connected to the eyes through the trigeminal nerve (nerve V/ganglion gasseri). The ophthalmic branch of nerve VI, nerve V2 branch maxillaris, nerve V3 branch mandibula and maxillaris (upper jaw) and mandibular branches.
The maxillary branch provides sensory innervation to the maxillary teeth, palate/roof of the mouth, and gingiva/gums.
Then there’s the tongue, of course. Because with the tongue we get taste sensations that can touch the soul.
In the 2/3 anterior part, general sensation is innervated by the trigeminal nerve (CNV), specifically the lingual nerve, a branch of the mandibular nerve (CN V3).
Meanwhile, taste perception in the 2/3 anterior part is supplied by the facial nerve (CNVII). In the petrous part of the temporal bone, the facial nerve releases three branches, one of which is the chorda tympani. This runs through the middle ear and continues to the tongue.
There are several types of papillae or taste buds on the surface of the tongue. Among them are the fungiform papillae, which have taste receptors inside, helping to taste. The fungiform papillae also have receptors for temperature and pressure. So, fungiform papillae help detect temperature and pressure as well.
Then there are the circumvallate papillae, which are the largest papillae and contain about 100 taste receptor buds.
There are about 10 to 12 circumvallate papillae that form a V near the posterior boundary of the tongue (back of the tongue).
Papillae that do not have a taste function are filiform papillae, papillae of the tongue that are shaped like cones or threads of hair. Filiform papillae are located around two-thirds of the front of the tongue.
No less important is the relationship of this culinary art, that is, the process of chewing and biting is actually a method of stress coping, because the act of chewing is actually connected to the HPA axis, which is the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, in the brain.
Recent studies have shown that stimulation of chewing or biting during stress conditions suppresses hyperactivity of the HPA axis through glucocorticoid or G receptors in the hippocampus. Through this mechanism, chewing/mastikasi can improve cognitive deficits that depend on the hippocampus caused by chronic stress. (Azuma et al, 2017)
Hollingworth in 1939 demonstrated the relationship between chewing and cognitive function through electroencephalography and stated that there was an increase in cognitive function performance during chewing.
While in 2002, Wilkinson et al conducted an experimental study between the chewing and non-chewing groups, and found an increase in episodic memory, spatial, and numerical in the chewing group when compared to the control group that did not chew.
Chewing from several publications of research results has been proven to activate various cortical brain areas marked by an increase in brain oxygen levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) areas.
This condition is suspected to be related to an increase in activity in the learning and memory formation process. So, badhogism which is reflected from the context of eating and eating, the important thing in badhog is a noble value in efforts to enlighten human resources as a valuable national asset.
Listening to the explanation of Suhu Kang Dr. Andry above, my heart felt right to continue savoring a piece of fried chicken happiness accompanied by 2 skewers of satay, sambal, and pete (natural substance that induces endorphins, the happy hormone). After being happy with the chicken, will we go to Santa Maria? Spirituality? Precisely, spirituality through the journey of delicious fried chicken known throughout Cirebon Raya as Santa Maria fried chicken.
