WORLD Archivi - Keep Calm and Drink Coffee

COFFEE IN THE SAND

Dec 3, 2022 | JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, WORLD

Sand coffee or, more precisely Turkish sand coffee is the typical Turkish coffee brewed in hot sand.

First of all, thank you Lu: inexhaustible source of tips, and in case you have not yet visited her blog The Caustic Misanthrope be aware that you are missing out on very interesting reading.

Bir fincan kahve i.e. the cup of coffee is brewed in the cezve.

The cezve is a kind of kettle pot with a classic pot-bellied shape on the bottom, long-handled with a spout designed specifically for making Turkish coffee.

Turkish coffee is prepared differently than ours: ground coffee and water are mixed directly in the cezve and the coffee powder is not filtered.

This is why it is sometimes sweetened or spiced first: when the coffee is ready, the coffee powder settles quickly to the bottom but you don’t have to stir it.

But speaking of grains, let’s come to the sand!

What does sand have to do with this?

Apparently, coffee was introduced to Istanubul by Syrian traders in the 16th century, however it was initially considered a drug, so it was forbidden.

However, coffee gained popularity and the ban was lifted.

Sultans and nobles began to have it brewed by their workers using the hot sand method.

Because in the hot sand the heat is enveloping and complete compared to the flames of a fire, it makes for a coffee with a creamy consistency.

In the following video you can see the process.

What do you think about?

Not to rub it in, but unlike our coffee, Turkish coffee has been added to UNESCO‘s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Perhaps we could try reading coffee grounds to seek more luck for the future.

RETURN TO TIFFANY

Nov 5, 2022 | FASHION, WHO CARES, WORLD

Return to Tiffany is Maison Tiffany’s iconic collection.

Its origins date back to 1966, when Tiffany first began selling key chains with the now famous phrase “Please Return to Tiffany & Co. New York.”

The key chains were assigned a unique registration number, which ensured that Tiffany & Co could trace the keys back to the owner if they were lost.

That’s why Return to Tiffany: because the prestigious Fifth Avenue store would be able to reunite the data through a precise and confidential serial number.

In the fifty years that have passed, the Return to Tiffany collection has made its mark as a symbol of the tradition of craftsmanship, a fundamental pillar of Tiffany.

A Tiffany advertisement showed the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day: a heart-shaped Return to Tiffany tag in 14-karat yellow gold, priced at $11 …

Over time, there have been several evolutions: in 1980, Tiffany debuted the first piece of jewelry incorporating the Return to Tiffany tag, a heart-shaped yellow gold pendant on a necklace.

The collection expanded to an assortment of rings, bracelets and earrings, each with its own personality, all engraved with the emblem reminiscent of Tiffany‘s unparalleled style.

Have you ever happened to lose something?

I’d like you to tell me that you found it or that it was returned to you by some good soul.

According to Article 928 of the Civil Code the delivery of the object found must be made known by publication for two successive Sundays and must remain posted for three days each time.

These seem like archaic concepts now that all kinds of information is disseminated online.

In Japan have a special name for lost or forgotten items: WASUREMONO 忘れ物.

Don’t you find it cute?

For them then, return is a very important issue; they are extremely precise and accurate.

The most commonly forgotten items are:

. cell phone

. bag

. train, bus, metro pass

. wallet

. umbrella

. keys

. electronic cigarette

Keys therefore come long after an object that did not exist in 1966: the cell phone, yet Tiffany’s continues to represent somewhat “the heart of New York.” Or not?

AFGHANISTAN WHERE GOD ONLY COMES TO WEEP

Jul 30, 2022 | BOOKS, WOMEN, WORLD

Afghanistan where God only comes to weep is the title of the book written by Siba Shakib that I read thanks to Vincenzo Franca e Francesco.

Also with Siba Shakib I share month and year of birth.

And in this video among other things she talks about sitting together and drinking coffee.

But this time the reading instead of a relaxing moment was particularly painful.

This book was still a journey, from which, however, I returned with a wound.

Afghanistan, where God only comes to weep.
I think the words chosen by the author as an introduction to her book are absolutely emblematic.

When I told about Denise Ho, Gabriella reminded how important it is to keep the focus on other realities as well, and surely the condition of women in Afghanistan is one of them.

On July 1, the Human Rights Council concluded its 50th regular session after adopting 23 resolutions and held an urgent debate on the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. In a resolution, the Council reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by all women, girls and children in Afghanistan, including the right to freedom of movement, the right to education, the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including their sexual and reproductive health, the right to work and the right to access justice on an equal basis with others. The Council asked the High Commissioner to hold an enhanced interactive dialogue during its 51st session, with the participation of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.

Yet these words seem sterile empty and useless: UN News on July 1 published a terrible “statistic”

The situation of women in Afghanistan is so desperate that they commit suicide at the rate of one or two a day.

BABY FORMULA

Jun 2, 2022 | CHRONICLE, ECONOMY, WORLD

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) defines infant formula: “Baby Formula” as a food that purports to be or is represented for special dietary use exclusively as infant formula by reason of its simulation of human milk or its suitability as a complete food or partial substitute for human milk.

It may seem strange, but in the United States the various brands of Baby Formula on the market are produced almost exclusively by the same company: Abbott Nutrition.

Leaving aside issues of monopoly, this caused a huge problem when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE) network, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local partners investigated consumer complaints and/or reports received by the FDA from September 2021 to February 2022 regarding illnesses among infants who allegedly consumed infant formula products from Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, MI, facility, advising consumers not to consume milk powder from certain batches.

Abbott initiated a voluntary, proactive recall of powdered formulas, including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare, manufactured in Sturgis, Michigan, one of the company’s manufacturing facilities.

Consumer complaints were related to Cronobacter sakazakii or Salmonella Newport found in infants who had consumed powdered infant formula produced at this facility.

This resulted in a drastic difficulty in sourcing powdered milk precisely because of the fact that virtually most of the production is from the same facility.

This is a huge problem, since infants whose mothers are not fortunate enough to have breast milk cannot feed on anything else.

Real special flights have been set up to solve this emergency: Open Fly Formula.

A protocol has been initiated to transport infant formula via an airlift procured by the DOD i.e., the Department of Defense.

The company that produces this infant formula reports that in order to move the infant formula from Zurich, Switzerland, to Plainfield, Indiana, in the United States, it takes about 21 days with a commercial plane to ship and clear customs so that it can enter distribution.

Instead, the cargo was transferred from Switzerland to Ramstein to be loaded onto two C-17s on Bravo alert in Germany and through USTRANSCOM i.e., U.S. Transportation Command, the transport was done under the auspices of this sort of motto:
Regardless of whether the needs are in Ukraine, India or even here at home, from deploying combat-credible forces, to providing vaccines, food, water and supplies during a pandemic or natural disaster, USTRANSCOM will provide.

Can you tell me exactly what “combat-credible” means?

Undoubtedly the milk emergency had to be solved, what puzzles me is the mixing of “aid” and “military.”

Meanwhile, a kind of chain of solidarity was created among parents to find advice through Facebook groups in which, however, scammers and profiteers took over.

How did we do it before milk powder existed? I wonder, too.
Were nannies the only alternative?

EGG COFFEE

May 6, 2022 | RECIPES, WORLD

Wandering around, unfortunately only in a virtual way, better than nothing, I came across the egg coffee.

Did you already know him?

I found it in Minnesota, where the tradition of this recipe is carried on, which is actually referred to as Scandinavian.

And at this point I would ask for Luisella‘s help.

In the Midwest, coffee with egg is also called Lutheran coffee or Church basement coffee and has become a local specialty, apparently no longer known in Scandinavia as evidenced by the tone of this Minnesota Brown tweet.

By the way Salem! Curious coincidence, isn’t it?

The connection between Scandinavia and Minnesota dates back to the mid-1800s when Scandinavian immigrants brought their method of making egg coffee to the Midwest of the United States to improve the suboptimal coffee available.

The egg absorbs the tannins and impurities that typically lend bitterness and unpleasantness to cups of low-quality boiled coffee.

Swedes and Norwegians invented this method of preparation, which requires breaking a whole egg into the coffee grounds with a little water, mixing everything together.

After bringing the water to a boil in a coffee pot, the coffee blend is added, which must remain in the infusion.

In this video that I found really interesting you can see the procedure well

It doesn’t look bad, what are you saying?

Joy K. Lintelman wrote a very in-depth article: A hot heritage – Swedish Americans and coffee, I particularly like the historical images.

Instead Joy Estelle Summers tells for Eater: I remember watching my grandmother who made us egg coffee when we visited his summer cabin on the orange shores of Lake Esquagama, Minnesota. She broke an egg into a small bowl and beat it until it was well blended, then mixed the egg with the dry coffee grounds …

This grandmother‘s memory is beautiful, right?

And your grandmother, what did she prepare?

REPAIR CAFÉ

Feb 18, 2022 | ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT, ITALY, WORLD

Repair Café is a fantastic idea that was born in Amsterdam in 2009 by Martine Postma.

But what is a Repair Café?

It is not just a hangout.

It is not just volunteering.

Repair Cafè has a very important social function.

Repair Café is a free meeting place where you can repair objects of all kinds together.

Repair Café is an organization that provides tools and materials to help carry out repairs on clothes, furniture, appliances, bicycles, dishes, appliances, toys, and much more thanks to the availability of experienced volunteers, with repair skills in all types of fields.

The success in the Netherlands has spread over space and time, forming a worldwide movement with the express purpose of preserving the ability to repair in society and promoting the recovery of objects that can continue to function.

There are organizations in Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Japan and many other countries around the world.

In this video Martine, Ginko and Therese explain also giving numbers

Isn’t it wonderful that coffee machines are among the most sheltered objects?

There is also a Repair Café in Pavia founded in 2015 by Irishman Mike Kavanagh and Australian Michael Richards.

The team, which also takes care of teaching the knowledge needed to repair, has since grown and organizes repair events in collaboration with various local associations.

In this regard, I would like to point out the appointment on Saturday 26 February: Activators Breakfast.

Are you for reuse?
Can you fix broken objects?
Is there a particular object to which you have given or would you like to give new life?

What if I tell you 金継ぎor kintsugi?