Somethin' to say? Was zu sagen? Des choses a dire?

Follow mrlemarquis on Twitter If you want to make a comment but can't find the "make a comment" box, which keeps on disappearing, just send it either to twitter, facebook or to me at: iwmpop@gmail.com , and I'll maybe publish it for you....Only said maybe....! Here's the latest one: (Who IS this guy called Keith.....) "I just wanted to leave a comment to say that (from personal experience), although you get a bit stinky for the first few weeks, after that you don't get any stinkier! And those olives do look nice, don't they? All the best" Keith

hungry?Thanks to Tina Concetta Marzocca.

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Due to illhealth I have decided to post my articles here:Just click on the link....


Depuis peu vous pouvez suivre des liens par voie du "Twitter" vers des articles amusantes et/ou intéressantes.......... Allez-y.... essayez. C'est en haut...
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For some time, you can follow links chosen by mr le marquis and presented on "Twitter". These links are intended to inform and amuse you - every day, or nearly, new ones ....Try it out! It's just above...
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Zeit einige Wochen Können Sie interessantes oder amüsantes Verfolgen durch "Twitter"... Fast jeden Tag was neues von mr le marquis ... Versuchen Sie es...Zu finden oben...

here it is....you wanted it....!

somebody (!) wanted to know so here it is...

simple local vegetables

Saturday 4 June 2011

Why...Pourquoi....Warum...?

..."GOURMANDISE" is really something opposed to this charming looking little beastie, but we're all affected by our eating habits, Gourmands or Gourmets, or just "sandwich eaters"......
http://www.freep.com/article/20110604/NEWS07/106040326/Germany-s-E-coli-outbreak-spreads-11-more-countries
Many questions have to be asked and answered, not only in this latest outbreak of dangerous things dealing with one of our most pleasurable and basic occupations.....buying, preparing and consuming..........FOOD.........!

Cucumbers are for sale Friday at San Miguel market in Madrid, Spain. They were cleared of blame for causing the outbreak. Health officials still aren't sure what the contaminated food was or is.

Without question, the German Authorities were too quick to find a guilty party, but the fact does remain that we must find out - where, why, when and how these things happen.
Often the reasons are simple......greed, and not greed in the sense of over-eating, but greed in over-producing, too quickly, in an un-natural way, using chemicals and other materials we don't understand sufficiently, to satisfy our greed for money.

_MG_6367Image by MattersMind.com via Flickr

Now - these people in the image do not produce in the unbelievably high quantities we produce in "the civilized world".
They produce sufficiently to nourish themselves, their families and if possible to be able to sell something to satisfy other needs.
In our "civilized world" we over produce everything, and often end up still having the highest prices world wide, the most dangerous products worldwide, and always end up destroying vast quantities as "unsellable" because the products don't meet our mental image of what we want, ...... or because they are simply too dangerous to consume...malformed and unsellable due to the products used to satisfy the money bug, and destroyed at high cost and no profit. When someone  can explain the logic....I would be thankful.
I recall, many years ago now, visiting Croatia and other "Eastern" countries where vegetable, fruits - even animals - were produced in the basic fashion, no funds were available to purchase the fertilizers and other aids. Strange things did happen - fruit and vegetables were invariably much smaller and more often deformed than in the Western world, but strangely - they tasted of what they were supposed to be!
Of course, the basic rules must be applied, nowadays even more strictly, washing, peeling - if in doubt - throw away - longer cooking, but all these precautions take their toll on the usage, taste and nutritional value of the item, and badly cooked non nutritional foods almost always lead to this  ....!
Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, most fruits and many other standard items were created to be eaten raw! Cooked cucumber...?   Well, yes, it CAN be done, very carefully and generally very quickly, one of the nicest actually is cucumber cooked in butter, lightly so it doesn't brown or lose too much of its value, then incorporated into a cream and chilled to give a quite delicious summer soup. Of course, there is still the little problem of the "garnish" - normally raw diced or chopped cucumber and herbs....with the e-coli present?    Another delicious summer thing is the Russian "bortsch" (beetroot soup) which can be served chilled or hot, but the vegetable in question has always been cooked for a long period.
The famous "Gazpacho" (chilled tomato soup) is, quite frankly a total delice, particularly in summer, but the last time I made it, the French left it on one side - wasn't French and looked like a soup - too hot to eat!  I loved it and finished it off using the left overs for tomato sauces of a different kind. It is also so easy to make. The problem of "garnish" doesn't exist, just a spoonful of "crème fraîche" and a sprinkling of chopped, fresh raw herbs will do the job for the eyes and the taste. It can also be served in various forms   and if you can get your guests to try it, maybe with a touch of Worcester Sauce or similar, they will swallow it with gusto.
On the other hand...cooked lettuce is not quite as simple. I do use any left overs when I prepare small garden peas "French style" 
in actual fact, the addition of normal green strips of raw lettuce into the preparation actually brings out strongly the true taste of the peas - try it, you'll be surprised!
At the end of the day, there are many dishes these  "possibly infested with deadly bugs" salad items can be safely used for.
The problem is that most of us can't imagine a Summer without "salads" prepared in the normal way - with raw ingredients,
and I agree wholeheartedly! 
Well in this case, we must accept the minimal risks, do the maximum  in cleaning and correctly preparing, chilling and serving - and tell ourselves that  it only happens to others - leading to this... and in extreme cases worse......but really, relatively seldom. Mind you, when it does happen, you - like me - probably feel that death would be more agreeable!
 
In fact, I think that the amateur chefs who trot out their summer Barbecues and impress us (and our stomachs) with "burnt on the outside - raw on the inside" - meat and fish, are probably responsible for most of these "summer attacks" - particularly fascinating are those plates of meat and fish lying around in the hot sun, being verociously attacked by flies and other beasties....A real appetizer!
 
Now I know it's almost lunch time, so I'll close this article now and wish you "Bonne Appétit" - if you're invited to a Barbecue, make sure you get a "digestif" (a little cognac or other high powered alcoholical drink) after the meal....Our ancestors weren't stupid,
and they enjoyed and suffered less than us - the "Modern Man"....

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iwmpop(mrlemarquis)       -       Vauvert, France    -   Juin 2011

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Lecker...Tasty... Appétissante

Des bonnes choses - de presque partout...! Leckereien von fast Uberall...! Tasty things from almost everywhere...! *********
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******* iwmpop (mr le marquis)- Vauvert, France - Janvier 2011