On Pigs and Caviar

Expressions are very interesting to hear… and hopefully to understand. French are saying: “ne donnez pas du caviar aux cochons” which integrally translate by “do not give caviar to pigs”, although the meaning of this phrase is worth more than a quick translation.

This expression define the swine as eating about anything one would give, including caviar, having no mind as being an animal and consequently no relation with the value of food or concern about taste. Hogs are sometime used to find the rare truffles in the forests as their olfactory senses are extremely developed and able to smell the uncommon fungus hidden a few inches underground. Although, they are to be very closely monitored as the pigs would eat the rare mushroom in one swoop with no second thought… in fact with no thought at all.

Giving caviar to a pig would be a waist as this animal would eat most anything with the same appetite. This observation have some parallel with people of little or misconstrued social behaviors and not connected with any tasting exercise, “grabbing” food and “gobbling” as it comes to them.

We see these people in grocery stores, going from a sampling stand to another, emotionless most of the time or rarely with a feint facial expression showing some forms of reaction to the basic recognition of sweet, sour, salt, bitter and hot spice. No appreciation for the offer or interest for the brand or recipe, only the most basic pig feeding behavior.

We also see them at parties, “locking on” some “grabs”, reaching the already opened mouth set to process the “whatever” that was captured. Chin up, they chomp the food while instantly returning to their conversation, although keeping an eye on the next feed arrival. Again, very little appreciation, if any, for the food or the taste.

A cheap dip would do well, as a rare caviar would leave them with question marks on why that thing is so expensive to end up tasting fishy and salty. Some “tasters” would know the monetary value as the point of interest but still without a sense for subtle and uncommon palate feelings.

Appreciating a taste takes more than the fraction of a second that commercials led the crowd to believe, as our taste buds on our tong, soft palate, esophagus and epiglottis are processing, from one area to another, each with a specialty, before sending a detailed report to our brain to appreciate the specific flavors. Taste change as we say and taking time to let the nuances being defined by our gustatory system is allowing us to expend to a wider range of appreciation.

The Slow Food movement was conceived to protect local business equilibrium and food quality. We should reflect on the concept of a Slow Tasting movement to restore our capacity to the myriad of savor experiences offered to us on this planet, as a human characteristic to distinguish ourselves from what pigs are and do so well, provide us most appreciated food.

What about concluding with a toast of each protagonists, caviar and pork, Beluga on one and Rillettes on the other, although should we start by eating piggy first? In any case, I’ll begin with a glass of Brut Champagne and decide after that!

Happy and blissful New Year to all.

Italian Pronunciations

More than one person asked me how to pronounce this or that in Italian. I do not speak this language but will find a way to answer, including for myself. I would start by shortening some of the rules that I have been reading, for the sake of simplifying life and to give a chance to remember. I think one of the main concern is to know what to do with the “C” and the “CC”. Looks like we can extend the rules to “G”.

“C”, “CC” and “G” are pronounced differently whether these consonants are before the first group of  “A”, “O”, “U”, “HE” and “HI” or the second group of “E” and “I”. OK, why not saying group one is everything, except "E" and "I" and obviously the second group is about "E" and "I".
“C” and “CC” are pronounced “K” before the first group and “CH” before the second group.
“G” is pronounced  as in “Good” for the first group and as in “General” in the second group.

I sincerely hope I am correct and if not, I will have to deal with the impulsive volatile reactions of my dear Italian friends. Love you guys… Guido, my friend Guido, where are you? Please help me… pleeeaaase!

Retro References

I am meeting a friend at a restaurant, half football field behind a McDonald. Interesting way to locate a place, as each McDonald became a landmark for direction and a football field for a distance.

I am not sure that people would necessarily recognize the size of a football field outside of a stadium, being sober, quiet and at street level. I even doubt that too many people would know the dimension it represents. I hear the field being the reference for a linear dimension and it seems logic that it relates to the length, which is 300 feet, although if we include the end zones, we increase the distance to 360 feet, but no one seems to know which number to consider. I would think it takes some imagination to project a distance into a football field, not knowing exactly which measure it is, although it gives a chance to make everyone right!

Same for a stone’s throw as it refer to someone throwing a stone, which at that point has to do with his or her momentary ability to throw as far away as possible… and measure the outcome. The first writing reference of this kind of distance was made in England at the end of the sixteenth century, with the same lack of defined dimension.

The amusing fact is that stone throwing became a sort of sport of tossing over water. Here, an exceptional distance was established and recorded by the venerable Guinness World Records to 250 feet and mind you, 51 skips. This represents about 83% of a football field without the end zones; not bad!

Tree, standout architectural component, picket fence of a certain color... all of that is now replaced by McDonald as the location marker. Another surprise is that we have now an “Economist’s Big Mac Index” calculating people’s purchasing power of …Big Mac as a reference point to compare Countries!?!

After this, I would be afraid to ask: What’s next?

Coffee Lingo

We went from something as simple as… a cup of coffee with no other distinction than being black or complemented with sugar, milk or half and half, to a new patchworked world of coffee for blooming connoisseur happy to pay three times the price for a little recognition for their new status. I personally have never liked the fast dripped beverage, making it weak, as the quality, or the lack of it, made it bitter and prone to create urinary urges, generally at the wrong time.

Fast processing made it that way with artificial drying and hasty roasting. I always believed that the cheap drip coffee had more caffeine effect than the European steamed coffee method. And now we read that the good ol’ cup-a- joe has between 115 and 175 milligrams of caffeine for a 7 oz cup, compare to 100 mg for an espresso serving. The brewed coffee, which can be French press made, contain between 80 and 135 mg for a similar cup.

We went from such a cheap hot drink to a mass marketing, labeling the steamed high pressure coffee as a sort of upper class beverage. Italians, and they are not alone, would never understand that good coffee would need to be served in such big cups and cost as much as we pay here. Better than that, they would have a fit, if they had to wait that long to get a cup being served as we do here so patiently… not! Coffee machines are ahead there of what we have here.

What we call barista here with one more class etiquette, is simply a professional bar employee in Italian, really meaning bartender serving any drinks including... coffee. Some of the espresso barmaids or barmen have been handing out more than a million of these small cups, or larger ones topped with frothed milk. Here, in a fast pace living, it seems that coffee drinking got people slowing down, small sips at a time… although still hurrying up for a hamburger and fries gulp fest. Nevertheless, the slow coffee pace didn’t alter the bad habit of using plastic or treated cardboard cups, as it seems that some consumers have the urge to carry that drink to sip while walking and driving, spilling out their way to the land of distracted and stained drivers. Half of the cups are being drank lukewarm if not cold. What a treat for three and half bucks!

Starbucks did an ever dominating job at marketing the reinvented American coffee, although their way and in the mix, decided to start a new lingo now followed religiously by millions of customer asking for a “tall” cup and to receive a short container. Strange world! The next size is a “Grande” meaning tall in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Same name, different sizes! Now, the real tall cup is called “Venti”, meaning twenty in Italian, suggesting the 20 fl. oz. liquid content of the cup. Why not “Dodici” for the twelve oz. and “Sedici” for the sixteen oz.?

We are also using French to order a redefined brew. “Café au lait” is now a drip coffee with hot milk, a far cry from the steamed French roast coffee and milk consumed in France. This drink is also called “Misto” at Starbucks, meaning mixture in Italian or mixed in Portuguese. One would have to assume which misto it is. After all, I wish we would become even more international in our coffee denomination. It might help the population to learn words of emerging worlds. “Qahwa Haleeb” is an Arabic “café au lait” with the powder-like bean grind sticking at the bottom of the cup, if one is paying attention.

Back to known territory with the “cappuccino” served with more milk foam than a classic “caffe latte”, which simply mean coffee-milk or… “café au lait”. Confused yet? The ‘cappuccino” name came from the resemblance of the drink - mind you, served in a porcelain cup - with monks of the Friars Minor Capuchin order, characterized with the top of their head shaved, exposing their white skin in contrast with their plain brown tunic. ...Completely lost the meaning when served in a “to go” cup and covered with a plastic top!

Northern Italians order a “cappuccio”, integral translation of headgear, and end up receiving an “espresso”. A “macchiato” is an “espresso” with a dash of hot foamy milk and a “marocchino” is a small “cappuccino” with some cocoa powder. A “cappuccino d’orzo” is a coffee substitute made from barley. Probably what people were drinking during WW2.

A dash of French vanilla does not mean much as France do not produce the spice. Although, saying vanilla from Madagascar is a little better but should be called Madagascar-Bourbon as the popular name for the Planifolia variety growing in Madagascar, which was a French territory till 1958. This Country is the biggest producer of this tasty bean, although its origin is from Mexico where it was discovered by the Spanish and baptized “Vainilla” for little pod. The plant producing the beans is a variety of orchid, as what the vanilla history is not as… vanilla as some people would think, but in any case, certainly not French.

A smidge of nutmeg is also of interest as this nut can transport you to the “Lala” land, although it would require absorbing 5 or more teaspoons of this ground nut to have any psychedelic effect. The problem is that you might have the hangover of your life after dizziness, nausea and paranoia as a few of the side effects. A smidge is good!

When you dab the cocoa powder in your preferred personalized drink, remember that chocolate was discovered at the same time vanilla was by Hernan Cortez’s army in the 1520ies, as for the coffee, it was first used in Ethiopia during the ninth century. The name Mocha used to qualify a coffee quality is a sea port in Yemen, from which coffee was exported to Europe under the lead of Marco Polo. The history of the nutmeg consumption is even older and could have been an incense used by Roman priests and certainly as a spice during medieval times.

One suggestion, try some “chai” tea with espresso and you will have an even older beverage to talk about. Chai means tea in Hindi. Yet more ancient history there!  Bunn is not only the family name of the company's founder producing the famous coffee drip machines but is also the name of the coffee bean in Arabic and other Eastern African languages... I wish my name was Gold!

Nevertheless, beside history, fun facts and lingo, a new generation a coffee shop was born in the USA with a friendlier trend allowing anyone to enjoy coffee and life at one's pace. Some shops are better than others and personally, I would favor small businesses as they need all the support we can give. I have found my spot in Indianapolis: BJava, owned by one of the most knowledgeable and coffee passionate person I have met so far and BJ's coffee is one of the very best I have been drinking.

And maybe this is the sign of renewed passion with wonderful smell and taste over money making with no odor!

On French Words, Expressions and Behaviors

The English language gradually became a “de facto” “lingua franca”. From an early Anglo-Saxon dialect, it endured the infiltration of the Celts, followed by the Viking invasions, the Roman occupation and the Norman conquest, which led to an important influx of French words of about ten thousand. Ultimately the Latin influence that had started with the Romans deepened, weakening even more the little left of the ancient Germanic origin. Fifty five percent of the language is Latin based and probably close to forty percent is Norman-French origin.

No wander why today English speaking people are fascinated by French words and expressions covering a wide range of meanings, although occasionally adapting the definition and having to cope with unusual pronunciations.

Genre is a funny one where the “re” is more pronounced than the “gen” part of the world making it something like “genREH”. In French, the E after R at the end of a word is not pronounced, making it more a “genrh” where the R is blurred, a tapered speaking, a quiet purr, a sexy French purr, not a rogue throat clearing.

Another amusing French assumption-turning-to-joke; well, let me tell you, sometime irritating after having heard the same one the past… 27 years and still going strong. The interestingly famous French “HHAN, HHAN” with the second “hhan” even louder than the first, sort of a horselaugh, not to confound with the French Cancan, a cabaret dance during which the ladies kick up one leg at a time (I am glad for them!), showing off their undergarments to the pleasure of the tourists experiencing the Paris night life.

A French friend who has been living here for a few years, asked me about the infamous “hhan-hhan” that people have been serving him since he got here, saying that he had never heard any French doing so, except maybe for someone sick with a cold and using an handkerchief. Intrigued, I decided to search and find out what is the origin of such a legend. Knowing that some Americans still think of French wearing a beret and listening to Edith Piaf’s tunes, preferably with an accordion playing a sad song, although Edith died in 1963, it gave me the idea that the source of the hhan-hhan legend should be searched in the 50ies or 60ies.

And sure enough, I ended up remembering Maurice Chevalier playing in Gigi, an American 1958 musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli with good ol’ Maurice starring with Leslie Caron and hhan-hhan-ing as much as he could. “Hhan-hhan… my littell Gigi!” He played in so many movies from Innocents of Paris in 1929 to The Happy Road in 56 and up to Monkeys Go Home in 67.

Maurice was an eternal optimist and besides his idiosyncrasies, loved to say things such as: Old age is not so bad when you consider the alternative! Nevertheless, he left us with his theatrical, burlesque character and foibles that have impacted a few American generations to still portray French people as hhan-hhan-ing with a loud and enthusiastic voice. I think Maurice did more single hhan's, although he might have made some triple ones as well...

Looking at French expressions, experts have counted about 150 of them and among which the well known adieu, aide-de-camp, à la carte, and for the people watching the Japanese Iron Chef on TV: à la cuisine (but it is not necessary to throw a fit for such a simple command!), à propos, au jus (please, not “a jus” as read on some menus), au pair, bon appétit, café au lait (which is served mainly with steamed or pressed coffee, not dripped as we do here, although cheap but similar to what we call here “latte” that we pay with 3 or 4 single green notes, as if it was some rare exotic drink). 

Let’s continue our short list: chic, coup de grâce (pronounced “coo deh graaass”, not “coop deh graah”, as “graah” could mean fat), crème brulée, cuisine, déjà vu, du jour, encore, esprit de corps (nothing to do with corpse!), faux pas, fiancée, force majeure, haute couture, je ne sais quoi, maitre d’ hotel or maitre d’ as an abbreviation (the capital D is only adding an unnecessary snobbism... that you pay later on your bill), matinée (meaning morning, which makes me laugh every time I find out that the matinee's are scheduled early afternoon!), ménage a trois (I cannot pass this one as the expression was popularized in France after the 1962 movie Jules et Jim, Catherine being the third party of the ménage. The relations between the 3 main characters were more intense than what people might think à priori. Jeanne Moreau, one of my preferred actresses, was sublime in this complex role. She also played in one of my favorite and intriguing movie The Trial with Orson wells, Tony Perkins and Romy Schneider). 

Running down the alphabetic order: nouvelle cuisine, papier maché, petits fours (it took me years to understand that the “pettit_force” was in effect the “pehti foor”!!!), raison d’être, RSVP (which means Répondez, s'il vous plait or please answer), soirée, souvenir, touché and the very famous voilà, mainly used as et voilà (meaning "and here it is").

Obviously, the list is not complete and whatever makes the 150 or so counted names or expressions, are used more or less frequently. One term I have not head here, although mentioned as an existing French to English idiom, is nouveau riche and I wish to spend some time with it, as it should be of some interest for any amateur sociologist.

French did use this expression to define people who distant themselves from others by noticeably and loudly exposing material signs of possession as a mean of superiority to separate themselves from people of lesser materialistic ownership. No interest for the soul here! The nouveaux riches can be found in any American towns and cities, buying adult “toys” as they say and any necessary imposing paraphernalia, distinguishing people from people as portrayed by the dominant monkey awkwardly holding a stick as a sign of superiority.

Some of the nouveaux riches have to sell their possessions these days. The American economy… and the French expression did court them by surprise, now to be distinguished for their superficiality. A fatalistic expression might help them coping with the hard times they are experiencing: c’est la vie. And to finish with a kind thought: Bonne chance.  A bientôt.