Posts Tagged ‘France’
“You know why the French hate us so much? They gave us the croissant… We turned it into our croissandwich”*…
There’s a looming crisis in France. Over the last year, the wholesale price of butter there has almost doubled, to over $5,000 per ton. Exploding demand in Asia and a shifting of producer priorities to cheese and cream help explain the spike.
But whatever the reasons, it’s creating a tight squeeze for the 30,000 bakeries in France (a $9.5 Billion industry); butter is 25% of the ingredient make-up of a croissant.
More at “Croissant Apocalypse.”
* Denis Leary
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As we eat ’em if we have ’em, we might recall that today– the birthday of Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of vitamins– is National Vanilla Milkshake Day.
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”*…
The Chapman University Survey of American Fears Wave 3 (2016) offers a look into the fears of average Americans. In April of 2016, a random sample of 1,511 adults from across the United States were asked their level of fear about 79 different potential sources across a huge variety of topics– crime, the government, disasters, personal anxieties, technology, and others.
As readers can see in the highlights chart above, the top anxiety suffered by Americans is “corrupt government officials”; fully 63% of respondents ranked it “Afraid” or “Very Afraid.” That said, as readers will also see when they click through the link that follows, 10.2% percent of Americans are “Afraid” or “Very Afraid” of “zombies.”
Peruse the results at “America’s Top Fears 2016.”
* Plato
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As we overcome our wistfulness on remembering that this is Oscar Wilde’s birthday, we might recall that it was on this date in 1793, nine months after her husband, the former King Louis XVI of France, was beheaded, that Marie Antoinette followed him to the guillotine. (Readers who are parents– or collectors– can find commemorative dolls here.)
Helpful Hints…
C’est ne pas fixer une passagère avec insistance, quand bien même elle aurait les yeux revolver. (Don’t stare at a female passenger, even if she has eyes like a revolver)
Being stuck in a grimy, crowded metal box deep underground doesn’t bring out the best in the average subway commuter. And Parisians aren’t exactly known for their willingness to keep their complaints to themselves.
Last year, the regional transit authority Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens launched an ad campaign to discourage rude behavior on the Paris subway. They used images of hens, warthogs, and sloths to scold riders for holding loud phone conversations, eating gross foods, and taking up too much space.
When public shaming failed, RATP turned to an equally Parisian solution: charming PSAs that look straight out of the Belle Époque. The newly released ebook Manuel de Savoir-Vivre a l’usage du Voyageur Moderne names 12 essential, if slightly tongue-in-cheek, rules for getting by on the subway. Local graphic designer Marion Thomas-Mauro created some very French illustrations to accompany the rules, offering a slightly wacky take on the recommendations…
C’est les jours de grosse chaleur, tel le manchot empereur, bien gardes les bras le long du corps et prendre sa meilleure prise en bas du poteau, pas tout en haut. (On very hot days, be like the emperor penguin — keep your arms along the sides of your body and grip the lower handholds, not the ones on top.)
Read the full story, see more of the instructive illustrations, and find a link to the full guide at “Keep Your B.O. to Yourself, and Other Friendly Tips for Paris Metro Riders.”
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As we just say “non,” we might recall that it was on this date in 1944, that Glenn Miller and the plane on which he was flying disappeared over the English Channel. The musician, arranger, composer, and bandleader– the biggest star and best-selling recording artist of Swing Era– had put aside his career when the U.S.. entered World War II to enlist and lead The Army Air Force Band. He was on his way to Paris to perform for troops there; the wreckage of the plane was never found, and he remains listed as “missing in action.”
Eating like it’s your last meal…
A pair of scholarly siblings compared 52 artists’ renditions of “The Last Supper,” and found that the size of the meal painted had grown through the years. Over the last millennium they found that entrees had increased by 70%, bread by 23%, and plate size by 65.6%. Their findings were published in the International Journal of Obesity.
The apostles depicted during the Middle Ages appear to be the ascetics they are said to have been. But by 1498, when Leonardo da Vinci completed his masterpiece, the party was more lavishly fed. Almost a century later, the Mannerist painter Jacobo Tintoretto piled the food on the apostles’ plates still higher.
Read the LA Times story here. (Via Slashdot)
As we think twice about “super-sizing that,” we might recall that it was on this date in 1309 that Pope Clement V (best remembered perhaps for suppressing the Knights Templar, executing many of its members, and thus, securing the career of Dan Brown) excommunicated the City of Venice– all of it, every last resident. Indeed, he decreed that Venetian citizens captured abroad could be sold into slavery “like non-Christians.” He was a pawn of French King Philip IV; still…
Red food, blue food…
Hunch is a website that uses uses multiple-choice questions to help its users make decisions… The crowd-sourced brain-child of Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr, and several of the folks who built SiteAdvisor, Hunch gets “smarter”– more effective– as more folks use it… kind of “Aardvark meets Wikipedia“…
Now the Content Lead at Hunch, Kelly Ford, has applied the site’s preference assessment algorithm to a question that has lain unanswered for far too long: how do food preferences vary by political ideology?
Abstract
* This report examines the differences in selected food-related preferences and choices made by self-described conservatives and liberals.
* The report draws on aggregated data collected between April 2009 and November 2009 from Hunch, a website which aids in decision making.
Key Findings
* While there is significant common ground in the food choices made between the two groups, there are also important differences. Liberals show a consistent tendency to enjoy more international and exotic cuisines, with conservatives often leaning more towards mainstream, comfort food staples.
* Significant differences also surface between the two groups in consumption preferences for meat, vegetables, fruit, and “healthy alternatives”, with conservatives generally choosing the less healthy options.
For example…
Preferred French Fry Type
Conservative
McDonald’s
Liberal
Bistro-style
Summary and conclusions
The data in this report shows a consistent pattern for conservatives to trend towards “homey”, familiar, comfort foods and meat-heavy options. They are more likely than liberals to indulge in fast food and enjoy splurges like cheeseburgers, hot dogs, deep dish pizza and sugar soda. Their idea of international food is a “mainstream” option such as Italian.
Liberals are more likely to be adventuresome eaters, choosing international options such as Japanese or Thai. They eat fast food less frequently than conservatives, and when they do splurge on fast food they have a tendency to favor specialty, regional chains. Liberals are more likely to be vegetarians and to choose healthier options such as whole grain bread, darker greens of lettuce, and more frequent servings of fruit.
The food preferences expressed are no doubt heavily influenced by the regional tastes of areas which are relatively more conservative or liberal. For example, fried chicken is a staple of the conservative American South. “In-N-Out” burger, favored by liberals, is a popular chain in the liberal state of California.
More on the methodology and results here.
As we decide whether to lick the left or right side of our lips, we might note that it was on this date in 1380 that French King Charles VI declared, at a celebration of his coronation in Rhiems at age 11 a week earlier, “no taxes forever”… known thereafter alternately as “Charles the Well-Beloved” and “Charles the Mad,” he clearly begged to differ with Jesus, Defoe, and Franklin. In any case, it didn’t work out that way: until Charles took complete charge as king in 1388, France was ruled by his uncle, Philip the Bold. Philip raised taxes and also overspent money from the treasury to pay for the continuing Hundred Years War with England. Indeed, it was Charles who was on the losing side of Henry V’s famous triumph at Agincourt.
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