To a man with an empty stomach food is God.–Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi with textile workers at Darwen, Lancashire, England, September 26, 1931.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as “Mahatma Gandhi,” was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India. He studied law and became a defender of Indian rights both in India and South Africa, where he lived and worked for some 20 years. His method of opposing British rule and treatment was through mass non-violent civil disobedience, which has made him a model for peaceful revolution around the world.
Gandhi believed in living a simple life. He wove and made his own clothes, was a vegetarian and used traditional Indian fasts both for self-purification and protests against British discriminatory legislation against Indians. His philosophy of life and political “action” remain a beacon of hope for oppressed people around the world.
Food Art: Still Life with Mouse, Painting by Giovanna Garzoni
The female painter Giovanna Garzoni, an Italian Baroque painter, highly unusual for a woman of the period 1600-1670 during which she lived. Most her worked was commissioned by rich Italian aristocrats from all over the country, but she painted voluptuous still lifes, such as this Still Life with Mouse.
Foodalanches and Properly Packed Fridges / Food Storage
There’s nothing more amusing than looking up outlandish words and definitions about food (or other subjects) on the Urban Dictionary site.
Today’s word is “foodalanche,” meaning “an occurrence during the process of opening a fridge or similar container and having all the food fall on top of you.”
A properly packed fridge allows circulation of cold air around every article
Who amongst us hasn’t been guilty of filling the refrigerator so full that when we open the door, everything comes tumbling out like an avalanche? Just the vibration and movement caused by the opening of the door causes all those tightly packed goodies to come plunging forth into a pile on the kitchen floor, leaving broken jars, burst packages, and milk splashing onto our shoes and clothes. And then there’s the mess to clean up, of course…
An overpacked fridge like this does not allow circulation of cold air around articles, so cooling is inefficient. It also causes foodalanches!
It is important to realize that simple physics tells us that food doesn’t cool properly when it doesn’t have air around it, since the refrigerator cools the air, and the air in turn cools the food. But does that mean we’re not guilty of it?
Example of usage of the word
foodalanche:
Here we go again. There were so many beautiful fruits and vegetables at the farmers market today that I just couldn’t avoid buying them, so when I opened the door, there was a real foodalanche! (Yes, that’s really me talking.)
My first love for photography started with a little theft: as a little boy I stole my father’s Vöiglander and I started taking pictures on my own, just using my instinct. At that time my father’s camera seemed to me the best camera possible in the whole world, until I reached junior high school and I gave it up for a Bencini all my own. But my little theft came all back to me; my girlfriend to whom I had lent my camera never gave it back to me: that can be considered petty theft, no?
Growing up, I robbed again: in high school I stole time I might have devoted to photography and dedicated myself to my other passion, music. I studied drums and played jazz music. But it was just an infatuation, because I went back to my first love and never left it again. And as a pledge of love, I gave up my history studies in college, causing great distress to many people, but not to myself.
Today, I rob with no qualms, and I confess it with no shame. My spoils are my sensations, emotions, lines, colours, compositions: I catch everything that stops in front of my camera, I catch it with a click to close it in a graphic cage. It doesn’t matter if its a catalogue or a magazine. What I’m really interested in is the look, my view of the world. In the millions of images that pass in front of my eyes every day, that go on around me, that chase me in my silence. For this reason I photograph subjects of any kind and still do it every day without specializing in anything in particular. From a luxury hotel suite, to the sexy transparencies of Murano glass. From art exhibitions to a ballet. From a golf course to actors on a stage. The list can go on and on, while this bio must finish here. I hope that I haven’t once more been a thief, that I haven’t taken up to much of your time. If this was the case, please don’t report me to the police, because I will give myself immediately up: I’m Alessandro Boscolo Agostini!
There are a number of legitimate reasons for sending a wine back at a restaurant: the wine could be oxidised, be contaminated by ‘cork taint’, suffer from excess volatile acidity, or have unpleasant Brettanomyces aromas. One common cause for complaint, however, is the presence of tartrate crystals or ‘wine diamonds’. Wine diamonds in white wine are a natural occurrence.
These are clear crystalline deposits found usually in certain white wines, especially Riesling. They are either potassium bitartrate (a.k.a. cream of tartar) or calcium tartrate — both found naturally in grapes, and which follow through to the final bottle in the winemaking process. They are certainly not tartaric acid, sugar, or bits of glass! These wine diamonds are perfectly natural and completely harmless. In the glass, they sink to the bottom and will barely impose on your enjoyment of the wine. Or, the wine can simply be decanted, with the crystals remaining in the bottle.
Wine diamonds in white wine left over from a glass of excellent Austrian Gruner Veltliner.
These crystals can be removed before bottling, however it is an involved process involving chilling the wine and passing it through filters. This is energetically expensive and the filtration process can remove flavour compounds that give the wine its complexity and character. Producers of fine wines prefer to mess with the wine as minimally as possible to deliver the best possible quality to the consumer.
So if you do see some wine diamonds in your wine, this is not a cause for complaint. Rather, be assured that the winemaker cares about his wine so much that he has chosen not to remove them to deliver the best possible wine to you!
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James Flewellen is The Rambling Epicure wine columnist. James is a biophysicist at the University of Oxford. Originally from New Zealand, the huge range of wine James discovered in Europe spurred his interest in all things vinous. He became involved in the University’s Blind Wine Tasting Society and has recently completed a two-year term as its President. During this time he represented the University in a number of domestic and international wine tasting competitions, winning several awards. He is currently completing the WSET Diploma in Wine and Spirits. James has a passion for wine communication and education and runs the Oxford Wine Blog and wine tasting courses through the Oxford Wine Academy.
When you talk about rhubarb cream in Switzerland, you mean rhubarb cream, not pudding or custard. This naughty dessert is one of the easiest rhubarb desserts around, and is so thoroughly Swiss.
Recipe for Rhubarb Cream
Ingredients
Photo courtesy of Robin Stewart
1 lb. / 500 g rhubarb 3/4 cup / 200 g cane sugar 2 egg yolks Cinnamon or lemon juice, according to which taste you prefer 3/4 cup / 0.2 l whipping cream
Directions
Scrape or cut off any hard outer surface of rhubarb.
Dice rhubarb and put into saucepan. Add sugar. Cover with water. Cook until tender but firm, 5 to 10 minutes.
While rhubarb is cooking, beat the yolks until smooth.
Run cooked rhubarb through food processor or chinois to purée.
Add hot rhubarb purée to beaten egg yolks. Beat until thoroughly blended and eggs start to cool.
Mix in cinnamon or lemon juice. Set aside to cool.
Beat whipping cream. When it starts to form hard peaks, fold in cooled rhubarb and egg mixture.
Cool in refrigerator, either in individual serving dishes or in a large bowl.
My first love for photography started with a little theft: as a little boy I stole my father’s Vöiglander and I started taking pictures on my own, just using my instinct. At that time my father’s camera seemed to me the best camera possible in the whole world, until I reached junior high school and I gave it up for a Bencini all my own. But my little theft came all back to me; my girlfriend to whom I had lent my camera never gave it back to me: that can be considered petty theft, no?
Growing up, I robbed again: in high school I stole time I might have devoted to photography and dedicated myself to my other passion, music. I studied drums and played jazz music. But it was just an infatuation, because I went back to my first love and never left it again. And as a pledge of love, I gave up my history studies in college, causing great distress to many people, but not to myself.
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This egg-free quark chocolate mousse recipe was developed by Maison Cupcake, but the use of quark cheese is so incredibly Swiss, I thought I should list it as a “Swiss recipe”. Next week Maison Cupcake will be developing a rhubarb mousse using quark, so keep your eye on this site.
Daily Food Quote: Mahatma Gandhi on Hunger and Eating
There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.–Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as “Mahatma Gandhi,” was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India. He studied law and became a defender of Indian rights both in India and South Africa, where he lived and worked for some 20 years. His method of opposing British rule and treatment was through mass non-violent civil disobedience, which has made him a model for peaceful revolution around the world.
Gandhi believed in living a simple life. He wove and made his own clothes, was a vegetarian and used traditional Indian fasts both for self-purification and protests against British discriminatory legislation against Indians. His philosophy of life and political “action” remain a beacon of hope for oppressed people around the world.
