JOST A MON

The idle ramblings of a Jack of some trades, Master of none

Nov 30, 2010

A Last Lunch?

Towards the end of his life, Paul Gauguin was syphilitic, doped up on morphia, and a publisher of prurient gossip in Papeete. None of this stopped him from living the good life. In Waldemar Januszczak's TV biography of the great artist, Gauguin - The Full Story, we learn Gauguin and his journo cronies would gather for lunch every Saturday, and persuade their Tahitian women to get drunk and strip. Here's a hand-made menu by Gauguin for one of these lunches:
Saucisson d'Arles
Pâté de foie gras
Jambon d' York
Salade assortie
Fromage de Hollande
Omelette aux Confitures

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Nov 29, 2010

Fictionfood Back

With the best of intentions I started a blog to archive foodie references in popular culture. Now I'm shelving it. Far too much effort to keep it going. So I'll collapse it back into this one. Foodie posting here might be a tad sporadic in the future, but for the time being there's enough to cannibalise from the other place. Ciao, fictionfood.

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In Joe Haldeman's tough Vietnam-War-Set-in-Outer-Space novel The Forever Wa, William Mandella is alienated from Earth. Every time he goes off on a military mission to the stars, relativistic dilation means decades have passed in the home world, and nothing is the same when he returns on furlough. Here he has been assigned command of an assault force, and is sitting around getting sozzled.
Kynock finished his drink and asked the private to get him - I swear to God - a 'rum Antares.' 
... 
The rum Antares was a tall slender glass with a little ice floating at the top, filled with pale amber liquid. At the bottom was a bright red globule about the size of a thumbnail; crimson filaments waved up from it. 
'What's that red stuff?' 
'Cinnamon. Oh, some ester with cinnamon in it. Quite good .... want a taste?' 
'No, I'll stick to beer, thanks.'

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Spotted Dog

Jim Kershner, one-time columnist with The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, WA, compiled his outpourings into Mountain Goats Are My Weakness: And Other Tales of Life in the Northwest, where he discussed, among other things, 'spotted dick' and its relationship to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey series of maritime thrillers. Readers of O'Brian will no doubt recall his fetish for food (which also I have mentioned here). I would also point out two intrepid gastronomes (sisters-in-law, I suspect) who wrote a cookbook (which Kershner refers to in his own) Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which is a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels inspired by the concoctions served up in the 19th century Royal Navy.
...we finally settled on a menu which included spotted dog. This contains no dog, either, of course, but is what the British called a "pudding" or what we today would call a "lump of dough more dense than an intergalactic black hole, dotted with weird fruit chunks" (thus the spots). The only surviving modern-day equivalent is, of course, the fruitcake.
... So, anyway, we also settled on venison pasty, a dish which showed off the charming British penchant for putting chunks of meat in a pie shell. For our other main course, we settled on lobscouse, which is a mixed-up hash of corned beef, potatoes, onions and leeks. It was (and still is) a mainstay recipe for the seafaring nations of the Baltic and North Atlantic.

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Nov 27, 2010

Foodie Comics At L’Enclume

In the BBC series The Trip (directed by Michael Winterbottom – how about that?), Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon potter about the North of England, taking in the scenery, discussing life, and eating at some of the finest restaurants of the region. In Cartmel, they partake of the tasting menu at L’Enclume, where a French waiter describes to them each dish they have:

tapioca crackers There we have some little canapés to begin with. A little duet of tapioca-based crackers, spiced popcorns and the lollipops are made out of duck fat with peanuts.

mallowleafliquor There we are gentlemens. To begin with we have a nice little appetiser. We have liquor made out of mallow leaves, topped with a fizz which is made out of ginger beer, whiskey, as well as chilli.

It’s a Cote du Rhone Guigal winemaker 2006, will be a blend of Viognier, Roussane and Marsanne, a fresh, floral and rounded, and you will find a nice crisp finish as well.

shreddedradish There we are, gentlemens, at the bottom of those little sacks we got some diced smoked kale as well as shredded radishes, covered with very smooth duck foie gras mousse.

humphriespool There we are gentlemens. Your next course is what we call the Humphries Pool. It’s a shellfish broth made out of mussels, clams, cockles which are cooked in their own juices, before to be garnished with a shred of local seaweed.

goatcheesemousse So what we have at the base of the dish, we got a goat cheese mousse and globe artichoke puree, and is garnished with deep-fried globe artichoke leaves, as well as baby Jerusalem artichoke.

manxqueenies It’s a cold dish this one, you’ve got some Manx queenies, which are baby queen scallops. They are resting on griddled baby gem and parsley coulis as well as a light creamy horseradish sauce.

To follow with that, a red, which is from France, Loire Valley which is in the northwest of France, Cabernet from grape, 100%, light fruity easy to follow.

cutofskate Here is your next dish, gentlemen, which is a cut of the skate, pan-seared, served with a little langoustine, which are resting on a base of cauliflower puree and some baby celery stems.

pippinsorbet I have a Pippin apple sorbet, served with a apple cake and butterscotch powder,  and a roasted quince.

candlemintcake More little goodies for you. Candle mint cake.

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Nov 26, 2010

Investor Guff

I am never disappointed when a bunch of investment types are thrown into a room with a 'senior' figure of philosophical bent. They strive to outdo each other in demonsrating just how deeply they have thought about matters of economic and historical import. They ask five-minute long questions. They look around the room after their questions, less interested in the answer than in the admiring reactions of their peers. Above all, they try to show the guru that they are no less knowledgeable than he is, and if he says, 'That is a good point!' they look smugger than a successful mugger.


Invariably, of course, the questions are the sort that one often finds discussed just that week in the Financial Times or the Economist. There are few original thoughts in the world, and those among investment managers are less original than most.


And so it turned out at George Magnus's lunchtime talk the other day. He himself spoke only for about a quarter of an hour, and then opened the floor to debate. After the usual hesitant silence, the alpha males started talking at once. One (with a heavy accent) said, "Everyone believes that in the next few decades, China will be bigger than the US. Historically, no handover from one superpower to another has happened peacefully, or without serious geopolitical risk. In lieu of war, how do you see the transition from US to China?"


Magnus, and some of the others who jumped in, thought he had said 'in view of war', so they spent the next few minutes debating possible escalations of violence between the two countries.


When the discussion faltered to a halt, the fellow said, "I said 'in lieu of war'." Were there any bashful faces? No.


Magnus brought up the Washington Consensus, and how there appears to be a less well-defined Beijing Consensus, and another worthy piped up. "Who'd want to live under a Beijing Consensus? The US has always been a benign superpower, so the Washington Consensus totally makes sense."


I've not heard the US being called 'benign' by too many people, but the fun didn't end there. Another fellow jumped up. "Two million Vietnamese killed. 'Benign'? Now China - there's a civilisation that's not bellicose."


Amazingly, Magnus seconded that view. Clearly nobody thinks the view of the countries around the South China Sea, or Vietnam or India, or Korea, or even Russia, or Tibet, is worth anything. The Chinese are no less 'benign' than the US, if by 'benign' you mean 'kick 'em in the teeth.'


Of course it's true that while the US hegemony is constantly chafed under, and people like to bash the Americans as often as they like to drink Coke, they also like to run to the Americans for security every time someone else flexes their muscles.


(But I can barely understand why an economic idea such as the Washington Consensus was suddenly interpreted as US hard power.)


Someone else popped up with: "But George, how can we convert your compelling ideas into trades?" Well, as it happens, George was speaking in the long run, ten to twenty years out. Which investment manager has that kind of horizon? They'd just like to make money in the next couple of years before their luck turns.


There was more such guff, but I tuned out shortly thereafter.

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Nov 25, 2010

George Magnus at Lunch

UBS organised a lunchtime session yesterday with George Magnus, their Senior Economic Advisor, and author of the recent Uprising: Will Emerging Markets Shape or Shake the World Economy. While Mr Magnus spoke, several investment managers nibbled delicately on Poached and smoked Loch Duart salmon rillete with buckler sorrel, Classic lamb navarin with autumn root vegetables and ratte potato puree, finishing off with White and dark chocolate mousse with chocolate sable, and some coffee. Magnus himself had to pass on his starter, barely got into his main course, and smacked his lips only once upon the dessert.

The question he sought to answer in his book was its subtitle: ‘Will Emerging Markets shake or shape the world economy?’

He broke up the prognosis into 3 indicators:

1. Demographic change: while many Emerging Market (EM) countries are aging rapidly, others (e.g. India, Indonesia, Turkey) are having a boost in working age populations that will continue to last over the next 10-20 years, and can provide a big increase in growth and productivity if they are all gainfully employed. If they aren’t employed, of course, there can be serious social problems.

2. Technological catch-up in EM: some EM countries attain excellence in some aspects of technology (e.g. green tech in China, biotech in India, …). But there isn’t that depth of cultural and social infrastructure that enables them to consistently beat the developed world at all aspects of technical prowess. The catch-up means – for the most part – that the revenues will likely continue to flow into the developed market countries that produce most of the technical knowhow.

3. Climate change: while the worst affected countries by climate change are all EM, they will possibly spend large amounts to develop infrastructure to resist the worst of its effects.

The EM world has developed its manufacturing capacity to supply a world growth rate of about 6% p.a, which was the sort of growth seen in the two decades before the credit crunch. If world growth slows, then this overcapacity can lead to economic problems in the EM as well. And if developed world begins to save more, EM needs to spend more, otherwise we will end up with de-globalisation, protectionism, … As Magnus points out, despite noises at G20 meetings supporting globalisation and open markets, there has been a trend in protectionist measures over past two/three years already impacting about 2% of world trade.

The Chinese seem to understand that they have a part to play in the rebalancing of the world economy, but whether they will actually do anything other than mouth platitudes at 5-year plan announcements remains to be seen.

I got a copy of his book (signed, but not addressed to me) and stepped back into the cold streets of the City. At that same time, another demographic challenge was revealing itself. Students had taken to the streets of London too - only they were protesting increases in their tuition fees as part of UK's fiscal austerity. It's a sad truth: the babyboomers have enjoyed a long, long boom, and will continue to reap its dividends long into retirement, while their children and grandchildren face years of unemployment and relative indigence.

The generational struggle can only get worse.

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Nov 23, 2010

Not Corian

The recent contretemps between North and South Korea reminded me of my old colleague Jaekyeong. A few years ago we shared an office cubicle, and he would regale me with stories of life in his peninsular country. The southern one, I mean. I don't think there were any North Koreans in Illinois, leave alone in our office.

It used to be the done thing, he said, for graduating high school students to be taken to the 38th parallel to see for themselves the demilitarised zone, the no-man's land, the fortifications on the Southern side, and the stern North Koreans gazing at them from across the frontier.

At least that's what they were told - that the Northern soldiers were all marauding murderers who hardly cracked a smile. When they got to the border though, they were to be astonished.

The North Koreans knew we were coming, Jaekyeong marvelled. They put up big signs of welcome, and yelled greetings over massive megaphones. Welcome, welcome, senior students of Incheon School number 21! Have a pleasant day today! We wish you all success in your lives ahead!

They always knew! said Jaekyeong. They knew when my sisters' classes went. They even knew at any given time which school's students were approaching the walls, and who was leaving. Amazing intelligence! he said.

For a half-starved people, they sure put on quite a show.

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Nov 14, 2010

Equindia

You may recall that Afanasii Nikitin came to India in the 15th century trying to make his fortune after a concatenation of circumstances resulted in him losing all his worldly goods. He heard that there was a big demand for horses in India, and thought to bring along a colt to sell. 

Of course, he was absolutely right. Horses from Arabia or Persia were most highly coveted among the kingdoms of the subcontinent. There were Indian varieties available, termed kuhi (from the Northeast of the country), but the tatari (Central Asian) and the bahri ('from across the Seas' - or Arab/Persian) were better rated. 

It is interesting that when Benjamin of Tudela toured these lands in the 12th century, he made no mention of the equine trade. Scarcely a century later, Marco Polo was complaining of the way Indians treated their steeds,  pointing out that they had hardly any skilled horse-keepers. The Gulf tradesmen was smart - they were happy enough to export horses, but not the breeders or trainers that might create a competitive breeding business in India.

It was not just the lack of horsekeepers in the subcontinent that caused such a toll in the livestock. The climate was barely conducive to the health of the Gulf horse. And so over time, the import demand for horses continued to rise, much to the glee of the Gulf traders.

The volume of trade was staggering. Chinese manuscripts and Ilkhanid chronicles, besides Marco Polo's texts, especially are illuminating in this regard. One recounted story (by the Ilkhanid historian Rashid ad-Din Fazlallah) is about the trade with the Pandyan kingdom (Ma'bar, as he called it):
...the brother of Shaykh Jamal ad-Din, ruler of Kish, Malik Taqi Allah, who was an important official in Ma'bar decided to acquire 1,400 horses from his brother’s stud farms annually and send them to Ma'bar. Additionally, 10,000 horses should be bought from other places in the Gulf as Qatif, Lahsa, Bahrayn, Hormuz, Kalahat and others. The price for one horse should be 220 dinars and the merchants should be compensated for any loss or death of the horses. The annual price for these 10,000 horses was thus 2,200,000 dinars. In the historiography of Vassaf almost the same text can be found. At first glance this transaction seems to be a deal between the two brothers at the expense of the treasury of the kingdom of Ma'bar, whose rulers, however, had to consent. According to the above mentioned numbers, if we make the generous calculation that 100 horses could have been loaded onto one ship, we could conclude that at least 100 “horse-ships” annually took to the sea from the Persian Gulf to Ma'bar! 1
The price of the horse multiplied crazily once it arrived in India. Ibn Battuta talks some numbers: the best bahri horse was valued at up to 4000 tanka, as compared to the middling tatari, which cost only about 100 tanka. The top-class bahris were not for war - most were kept as luxury items coveted by the rich; only the tataris were destined to be warhorses.

References
1. Ralph Kauz, "Horse Exports from the Persian Gulf until the Arrival of the Portuguese", in The Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, and the Maritime World, 2009.

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