FULL MOON SOON

“There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.” - Joseph Conrad

Back home in Melbourne and to a beautiful Spring day: Sunny, warm and fair. We went out to do some shopping this morning and it seems everyone else had the same idea as it was so very busy even quite early. Unusual, as on Saturdays people take their time and it is rarely so busy before 10:00 a.m. I suppose between now and Christmas it will start to get busier and busier, crazier and crazier…

The rest of the day just flew with chores, gardening and fixing a few things around the house. At least this evening was beautiful as usual on Saturday nights. The full moon in the sky brings to mind a good old song, play it Glenn Miller!




"Moonlight Serenade" by Glenn Miller

A FORMAL DINNER IN ADELAIDE

"Too many people just eat to consume calories. Try dining for a change." – John Walters

As I wrote yesterday, on Wednesday night I attended a work function and dinner at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide. There were 100 guests and the event was highly successful, not only because it was organised faultlessly with a good selection of speakers, panel members and guests, but also because of the wonderful venue. We were in one of the main function rooms of the Wine Centre and the sit-down formal dinner was exquisite. Of course, it was accompanied by excellent South Australian wines from the Torbreck Winery of the Barossa Valley.

The Spring evening was delightful and we started off by meeting and greeting the guests in the garden, while sipping a glass of chilled bubbly. The perfumed air was wafting from the botanic gardens adjacent to the wine centre and the air was mellow, but had a slight edge, making for comfortable dining with the doors of the function room wide open to the gardens outside.

The menu consisted of:

On Arrival:
Selection of wines and locally brewed beers, canapés

Entrée:
BBQ King prawns, Thai Snapper Cake, Pea Vine Salad and Citrus Aioli

Main Course:
Crispy Skin Duck Breast, Twice-Baked Duck Leg, Pistachio & Orange Risotto, Sticky Port and Quince Glaze

Dessert:
Baked Individual Toffee Apple Tart, Peanut Brittle Parfait & Amaretto Crème

Beverages:
2009 Woodcutter’s Semillon
2007 The Steading GSM
Locally Brewed Beers
Soft Drinks

Coffee & Tea with Handmade Pralines

It is extremely civilised to sit down and formally partake of a carefully prepared gourmet meal, which is punctuated by conversation with compatible people. Furthermore, it is even better if one’s mind is further stimulated by listening to a fascinating panel discussion in between courses, and to cap it all off having a distinguished after-dinner speaker.

In our case, the speaker was Tim Jarvis, a well-known South Australian explorer and adventurer who regaled us with amazing stories of his expeditions to the North and South Pole. As all adventurers are concerned, completely crazy, but wonderful-crazy!

The night concluded with drinks back at our hotel and I dare say, a sleep-in the next morning with Eggs Benedict and strong, freshly-brewed black coffee for breakfast!

“WINE TO GLADDEN THE HEART OF MAN”

“Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune.” - Giuseppe Garibaldi

Last night we had a work function and dinner at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide. The National Wine Centre is adjacent to the Botanic Gardens and is a collaborative initiative of the Government of South Australia and the University of Adelaide. It is housed in a remarkable complex of buildings that have been constructed so as to make the most of the views of the Botanic Gardens. The architects have drawn inspiration from a wine barrel (an exploded one!), but I always feel the interior is more impressive than the exterior… The building is designed and uses building materials to reflect items used in making wine – wood, especially features prominently. Planted outside the building are rows of grapevines, showing seven different varieties of grapes to visitors who are unfamiliar with vineyards and grapevines.

The Centre consists of a cluster of exhibition halls, function rooms, displays, tasting rooms, bars, cafés, restaurants and allows visitors to enjoy wine and winemaking from the ground up. It has an excellent interactive Wine Discovery Journey and Exhibition, which showcases the complete wine making and drinking experience. Other facilities of the National Wine Centre of Australia include on-site educational services, wine tourism information and the wine retail store.

After having finely tuned their senses in the Wine Discovery Journey, visitors are ready to taste the extensive selection of wines available from the Australian wine regions in the Centre's Concourse Cafe, which is open daily for wine tastings and great food. The wine is complemented by a selection of Australian cheeses or if something more substantial is desired, the visitor can select from the seasonal lunch menu. Australian wines are showcased and available for tasting, being changed regularly to allow the exploration of different wine making regions and grape/wine varieties.

When the Centre was developed by the Olsen Liberal State Government, the project was shrouded in controversy and it was labelled as a white elephant by the Labour Opposition. It eventually opened on 7th October 2001 after enabling legislation created the concept in the National Wine Centre Act (1997). After a number of problems with funding, management and profitability, the Wine Centre operation was taken over by the University of Adelaide on 1st July 2003. It now offers some of the university’s oenology courses, as well as the public face of the wine industry in Australia.

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, typically made from grape juice that has been allowed to ferment. The composition of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients. Various types of yeast that are added to the crushed grapes, cause them to ferment. Yeast consumes the sugars found in the grapes and converts them into alcohol. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are used depending on the type of wine being produced. Different production methods will give rise to red or white wines, still or sparkling. Although other fruits such as apples and various berries can also be fermented, the resultant wines are normally named after the fruit from which they are produced, for example, elderberry wine. These are beverages that and are generically known as fruit wine.

wine |wīn| noun
An alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice.
• [with adj. ] An alcoholic drink made from the fermented juice of specified other fruits or plants: A glass of dandelion wine.
• Short for wine-red .
verb [ trans. ] (wine and dine someone)
Entertain someone by offering them drinks or a meal: Members of Congress have been lavishly wined and dined by lobbyists for years.
• [ intrans. ] (of a person) Take part in such entertainment: We wined and dined with Eddie’s friends.
PHRASES
“Good wine needs no bush” proverb: There’s no need to advertise or boast about something of good quality as people will always discover its merits. [ORIGIN: a bush was an innkeeper’s sign, originally depicting a bunch of ivy used (in place of grape leaves) to show that the establishment sold wine.]
DERIVATIVES
Winey (also winy) adjective
ORIGIN Old English wīn, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wijn, German Wein, based on Latin vinum, from Greek (w)oínos.

POSTCARD FROM ADELAIDE

“People don’t come to church for preachments, of course, but to daydream about God.” - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

I am in Adelaide for work for a few days and it has already been quite hectic. Many things to do, as well as some social functions for Marketing and PR. I always enjoy visiting Adelaide, which is a gracious, beautiful small state capital city that has a distinctive atmosphere and people that are friendly, fun-loving and relaxed. Adelaide is frequently given the appellation “City of Churches” as there are so many 19th century churches around the city, almost one on every block!

Part of the attraction of Adelaide lies in the wine growing areas relatively close to the city, including the world-famous Barossa Valley where some delectable vintages are made. The Adelaide Hills, very close to the CBD provide a beautiful alternative to suburban living and there are many delightful small towns and villages that offer numerous tourist attractions for the visitor. One of my favourites is the old German village of Hahndorf, now a haven for artists and craftspeople, with many galleries, artist studios and fine gift shops.

A poem by Edith Sitwell today, resonating perhaps a little with the “City of Churches” reference:

Bells of Gray Crystal

Bells of gray crystal
Break on each bough –
The swans’ breath will mist all
The cold airs now.
Like tall pagodas
Two people go,
Trail their long codas
Of talk through the snow.
Lonely are these
And lonely am I...
The clouds, gray Chinese geese
Sleek through the sky.
                        Dame Edith Sitwell

Edith Sitwell was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, on 7th September 1887 the only daughter of the eccentric Sir George Sitwell, 4th Baronet, of Renishaw Hall. She had two younger brothers, Osbert (1892-1969) and Sacheverell Sitwell (1897-1988) both distinguished authors, well-known literary figures in their own right, and long-term collaborators. Edith never married but had an association with Russian homosexual artist, Pavel Tchelitchew. The poems she wrote during the war were much praised. Many of her poems have been set to music.

In 1948 Sitwell toured the United States with her brothers, reciting her poetry and giving a reading of Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene, which brought her great notoriety. Her poetry recitals were always occasions; she made recordings of her poems, including two recordings of Façade, the first with Constant Lambert as co-narrator, and the second with Peter Pears.

Sitwell became a Dame Commander (DBE) in 1954. In August, 1955, Sitwell converted to Roman Catholicism and asked author Evelyn Waugh to be her godfather. Around 1957 she was confined to a wheelchair after battling with Marfan’s syndrome throughout her life. Her last poetry reading was in 1962. She died of cerebral haemorrhage on 9th  December 1964 at the age of 77.

DAY FOR TOLERANCE

“The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.” - Ralph W. Sockman

Today is the International Day for Tolerance. In 1996, the General Assembly of the United Nations invited its Member States to observe this Day for Tolerance every 16th November, with activities directed towards both educational establishments and the wider public. This action came after the United Nations celebrated 1995 as the Year for Tolerance as proclaimed by the Assembly in 1993, on the initiative of the General Conference of UNESCO. The 2005 World Summit Outcome document outlines the commitment of Heads of State and Government to advance human welfare, freedom and progress everywhere, as well as to encourage tolerance, respect, dialogue and cooperation among different cultures, civilisations and peoples.

Tolerance is defined as the ability or willingness to accept something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. The various usages of this word promise, perhaps falsely, to reveal some hidden truth about what has become its most common use, that is, the freedom from racial and ethnic prejudice, the willingness to accept the differences between ourselves and our neighbors. In its other meanings, tolerance refers to (amongst other things) as a measure of physical space, most often narrow… This is perhaps a helpful reminder that tolerance (in the sense of open-mindedness) may require an amount of unusual endurance, and that it has something to do with how much room we have, with the space we are obliged to share with the neighbour whose differences we must learn to tolerate…

The day is an opportunity for everyone to learn about recognising and respecting the rights and beliefs of others and a time for reflection and debate on human rights. Tolerance means an appreciation of diversity and the ability to live and let others live. To do this we must have a fair and objective attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, religion, and nationality differ from our own. It is not just agreeing with each other, but more so showing respect for the essential humanity in every person, while acknowledging and respecting differences.

The day today enshrines a message for us to live together peacefully in a society where people can feel valued and respected, in communities where there is room for each to have their own ideas, thoughts, hopes, beliefs and dreams. Tolerance is a mark of civilisation and self-confidence. To tolerate others we must first accept ourselves and learn to live with our own shortcomings. If we acknowledge and accept our own weaknesses, our faults, our failings, our inherent imperfection, we can tolerate and accept other people’s.  Intolerance is rooted in ignorance, fear, small-mindedness, prejudice and is linked to an exaggerated sense of self-worth and pride. Intolerant people are not very pleasant to live with or to befriend. They regard all other “different” human beings as failed copies of themselves and they set out to destroy anything that doesn’t mirror their own faults and imperfections.

Events in one part of the world, however isolated, eventually affect the entire planet and each major local problem can become a global concern. More than economic and political alliances, tolerance creates a society in which people can feel valued and respected. Time and effort, with great commitment is required in building tolerance. Trust added to tolerance, achieves the kind of peace we all need. More than ever, tolerance is needed nowadays to make the world a better place to live in.

CULTURE CLASH

“A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes.” - James Feibleman

Growing up as a child in Greece I was surrounded by history, breathed in myth, conversed with the gods of old in the friendly neighbourhood museum and trod the same streets as the philosophers of old. I gazed at the Acropolis from my bedroom window and each bit of stone or fragment of marble breathed out the living tradition of centuries. No wonder I wanted to become an archaeologist when I was growing up!

Greek myths are powerful enough to have survived for centuries and to have inspired many artists worldwide to create masterpieces. This of course began in ancient Greece and Rome where statues, frescoes, mosaics, pottery and paintings brought to life the gods and heroes that were the subject of Greek mythology. The Renaissance subsequently revived the Greek myths and the new wave of creation continued the tradition for centuries up until the modern day. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, Dali, Picasso, etc, etc, etc have all contributed to the iconography, while famous composers were inspired to create music, song and opera that had as its subject matter mythical heroes, heroines, gods and goddesses. Literature was uninterruptedly inspired by mythology and even today the Greek myths stimulate the creative juices of many an author.

More recently Hollywood has taken Greek myth as inspiration and has created some films that brought the mythology to life in interesting ways. At the weekend we watched the 2010 Louis Leterrier film “Clash of the Titans” and were greatly disappointed. The movie stank! This was Hollywood at its worse, spending an enormous amount of money to make a third-rate Sunday matinee movie that only kids and people unfamiliar with history, mythology, culture, traditions, art would think represented a passable depiction of a Greek myth on screen.

Not only was the story mangled by the terrible trio of screewriters: Travis Beacham, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, but it was obvious these people had no sense of history, geography, literature, chronology and cultural awareness. The result of this puerile attempt at re-writing Greek myth was comparable to the cultural bathos of “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”. This “Clash” was a really bad movie! I would have forgiven it if it had any trace of humour in it, as the previous 1981 Desmond Davis movie “Clash of the Titans” did. At least one could forgive it the Hollywoodisation as it did make us laugh. All the 2010 version of the “Clash” did was make me grumpy.

The casting was pitiable and the costumes, settings and “creatures” were lamentable. The departures from history were unforgivable, for example:
•    The Saddhu (Indian holy man) priest-activist in mythical ancient Greece!
•    The “christening” of Perseus’s adoptive father as “Spyro” (a Greek Orthodox Christian name)…
•    The lamassu (Assyrian winged bulls) depicted in Greece!
•    Argos (sitting in the Argive plain 3 km away from the sea) depicted as a sea-side cliff-perched city!
•    Casseiopeia and Cepheus being queen and king of Argos (whereas in the myth they were rulers of Ethiopia)!
•    The Kraken (a sea monster of Norwegian myth) having holidays in the Aegean!
•    Io as the love interest of Perseus – you have to be kidding! She was star of another Greek myth and lover of Zeus, not Perseus…
•    Andromeda as the “communist” daughter of the kingly couple! Ridiculous!
•    Calibos? Who the hell is he? A runaway from another movie (B-grade horror flick)
•    Acrisius was Perseus’s grandfather and the father of Danaë, Perseus mother – not her husband!
•    Danaë survives with Perseus, she is not dead in the floating casket, as in the film…
o    And the list goes on and on and on…

It was embarrassingly bad… Not even as a fantasy movie, “inspired” by Greek myth was this palatable. Sam Worthington as the hero Perseus looks remarkably unhero-like and sullen for the whole movie, while his unwashed, unkempt, unattractive and unlikeable companions can’t make up their minds whether they are pious or impious, with him or against him – quite tiresome really. The Olympian gods are most ungod-like and except for Zeus and Hades hover in the background generally uninterested in any of the goings-on (probably quite wise of them). Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes look so much like one another under the make up and beards that I thought they were the same actor playing a double role. Gemma Arterton as the waif-like protectress of Perseus looked curiously oriental – I half expected her to walk out with a kimono in a number of scenes. Oh bad, bad, bad…

If you are interested in the real myth, Wikipedia does it well but even better is to read Robert Graves’s excellent book “The Greek Myths”.

Now for the good parts of the movie, hmmm let me think...

I’m thinking, I’m thinking…

Still thinking…

OK, computer-generated imagery – yes they were good, as one would expect nowadays with any of the fantasy films. Medusa and Pegasus were OK…

It is really not worth watch this bombastic, self-touting film, we thought it was a waste of our time. If you do watch it, do it with a group of friends and play spot the silliness while quaffing beers and eating pizza and laughing and joking. Should be a good night then...

WORLD DIABETES DAY

“They are sick that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing.” - William Shakespeare

Today is World Diabetes Day, quite an important observance given the epidemic proportions that diabetes mellitus has reached in the industrialised, western-type countries around the world. Although there are congenital forms of diabetes, the most common type is the acquired, obesity-associated disease, which is causing a problem not only in adults but also in children.

Diabetes mellitus is a disease of disordered metabolism due to a relative or absolute lack of insulin in the body.  Diabetes literally means “siphon” in Greek and is in reference to the increased quantities of urine produced by the body in the disease.  Mellitus means “honeyed” and refers to the glucose lost in the urine of the afflicted.  Increased urine production and wasting away of the body tissues were noted as features of the disease even in ancient times and Aretaeus in the second century AD described the disorder as “...a melting down of the flesh and limbs into urine...” Thomas Willis discovered in the seventeenth century that the urine of diabetics was sweet.

Type II Diabetes mellitus accounts for 85% of cases of the disease and obesity predisposes to the development of the disease as do frequent and large meals. Genetic predisposition makes the development of the disease more likely in people who gain weight and have a poor diet, in terms of load and high content of processed, simple carbohydrate loaded meals. Unfortunately, diabetes is a disease that has systemic effects throughout the body and every organ system is affected. Most diabetics die of cardiovascular system complications: Heart attacks, strokes, gangrene, aneurysms, small vessel disease are all common causes of morbidity and mortality.

Treatment of the disease depends on whether blood-glucose levels can be lowered by diet, diet and drugs, or whether insulin injections are needed. In all cases a healthy diet and exercise are beneficial.

As it is Art Sunday today, pardon the obesity take on Michelangelo’s David, but unfortunately we are becoming a fat society and obesity carries with it an increased risk of all sorts of diseases, not only diabetes. Any day that raises awareness of these diseases, using every means that will get the message across, deserves to be widely observed…

IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING...

“Don’t threaten me with love, baby. Let’s just go walking in the rain.” - Billie Holiday

We are having a very wet weekend with lots of rain that’s keeping many people inside. We went out briefly this morning and came back home wet and cold, to stay inside for lunch. More rain forecast for tomorrow. The garden is getting a good soaking and our water reservoirs are over 51% full. That’s a lot more water than they have had for quite a few years…

For tonight, here’s Greek singer’s Notis Sfakianakis’ cover of Uriah Heep’s 1972 song “Rain”. For a very special someone whose favourite it is…

TLC AND CHICKEN SOUP...

“I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.” - Samuel Butler

We have quite a few people at work, off sick at the moment. Our highly variable weather may have something to do with it, but also there must be some viruses going around. Most of these illnesses are the common cold and of nuisance value only, although some other infections can be a little more worrisome if they develop into bronchitis or a bronchitic-asthmatic attack. In Melbourne we have a very high incidence of asthma compared to other parts of the world and this is combination of our climate and the gene pool of the population.

Fortunately, most of these springtime infections are short-lived and all they require is a day or two off work (which will do much to help prevent the spread of infection, as well as contribute to recovery). This is especially true of course, if at home one does indeed rest and gets spoilt with lots of TLC, drinks lots of fluids and eats strengthening foods. Orange juice and other drinks and fruits containing vitamin C are touted to be wonderful in not only contributing to a speedy recovery, but also preventing many of these nuisance infections. Vitamin C was first recommended as a treatment for the common cold in the 1970s. However, despite its widespread use, experts say there’s very little proof that vitamin C actually has any effect on the common cold. It has been investigated widely for its effects on the immune system, but the results are equivocal, at best!

The good news is that vitamin C is an important vitamin and antioxidant that the body needs to maintain healthy function. Vitamin C is used in the maintenance of connective tissues such as bones, muscle, and blood vessels. Vitamin C also assists in the formation of collagen and helps the body absorb iron. Its deficiency leads to a very serious disease called scurvy, but nowadays this is a medical rarity. Consuming lots of orange juice or other juices and fruits high in Vitamin C when one has a cold certainly helps in keeping the body hydrated and well supplied with vitamins and simple nutrients.

Now you have probably all had your mother or grandmother giving you the good old homely chicken soup when you have a cold. This is actually very good for colds! University of Nebraska researchers tested various chicken soups made with different recipes and found that its effect in the body was physiological: When people with a cold consumed chicken soup, it was found to block the migration of inflammatory white cells from blood vessels into tissues. This is an important finding, because cold symptoms are a response to the accumulation of inflammatory white cells in the bronchial tubes. The amino acid cysteine, released from chicken during cooking, chemically resembles the bronchitis drug acetylcysteine, which may explain the results. The soup’s salty broth keeps the mucus thin (and thus easily expelled), the same way cough medicines do. Added garlic and onions, and various spices can increase the soup’s immune-boosting power and some even have direct antibacterial effects!

So chicken soup it is! Here’s a recipe:

Cold-Fighting Chicken Soup
Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions – diced
4 garlic cloves – diced
1 jalapeno pepper – diced
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons of fresh, chopped rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
6 whole berries of allspice
2 large bay leaves
3 teaspoons salt
3 large carrots – diced
4 stalks celery – diced
1 large turnip – diced
1 potato – diced
1 whole chicken and 1 chicken carcass, chopped into pieces
10-12 cups of water
1/2 cup rice (or noodles)
Chopped fresh parsley for garnishing

Method
Use a large stockpot and gather all of your ingredients together.
Add the olive oil to your stockpot and heat it, adding the onions, garlic to cook until slightly golden.
Add the chicken and carcass pieces and brown all over.
Add the spices and herbs and stir through.
Add the vegetables and cook until they are slightly wilted.
Add water to the stockpot enough to cover the ingredients and bring the water level to about 5 cm from the top.
Allow to come to a boil, then lower heat and allow the soup to simmer for at least 90 minutes.
Add more water if needed.
Strain the broth reserving in the stockpot, and throw out all solids except the meaty chicken pieces. Let cool slightly so it is easier to remove meat from bones.
Boil the strained broth again and add the rice (or noodles).
While the rice (or noodles) is cooking, remove the bones and skin form the chicken and chop the chicken meat into small pieces.
When the rice is cooked add the chicken pieces and stir through.
Serve up in bowls, garnish with a little chopped parsley.

Bon appétit and get well soon!

THE ELOQUENCE OF SILENCE

“Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today is Remembrance Day, with the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marking the signing of the Armistice, on 11th November 1918, to signal the end of World War One. It is a special day set aside to remember all the men and women who were killed during the two World Wars and other conflicts around the globe. At one time the day was known as Armistice Day but was renamed Remembrance Day after the Second World War. Wreaths are laid beside war memorials by companies, clubs and societies. People may also leave small wooden crosses by the memorials in remembrance of a family member who died in war.

The “Last Post” is traditionally played to introduce the minute’s silence in Remembrance Day ceremonies. It is usually played on a bugle. (In military life, “The Last Post” marks the end of the day and the final farewell.) The sounding of “Reveille”, ends the minute’s silence, followed by the recitation of the “Ode of Remembrance” (“For the Fallen”) by Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943).

The Fourth stanza of this ode is the most famous and reads:
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”

Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy Day, because it is traditional to wear an artificial poppy. The link between Red Poppies and war is usually attributed to a Canadian physician and soldier, Lt. Col. John McCrae, through his famous poem about WW1, “In Flanders Field”; published in Punch Magazine in 1915. The obvious symbolic correlation between red poppy and blood spilt with loss of life on European battlefields, had already been noted by the end of the Napoleonic wars at the beginning of the 19th century.

I would not describe myself as a redneck, as a nationalist, as an extremist or a fascist. I have always thought of myself as quite democratic, perhaps leaning towards the side of socialism and humanism. I feel that extreme acts of nationalistic pride are quite old-fashioned and out of place in the modern world, where national frontiers are being broken down and world populations are becoming increasingly mobile and have begun to mix freely. Extreme religiosity and fanaticism about religion is insulting and intolerant to the extreme and religion is the cause of much violence, pain and hardship. Most religious fanatics go against the basic tenets of their faith in their extremism; and that goes for any faith, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or whatever else.

However, reading an article today in the newspaper I was quite annoyed and even angered. VicRoads, one of our Government Departments that looks after our roads admitted that they forbade their staff to observe the minute’s silence for Remembrance Day. The excuse they gave was that they “did not wish to offend people from different cultural backgrounds…” I have not heard a more offensive reason! What about the offence that such rubbish causes to the Australian population, whose young men died in their thousands in wars thousands of kilometers away over the past century or so?

If one migrates or visits this country, they do so bearing in mind that they are coming into a country where certain laws, by-laws, traditions, culture and language are in force. Most people come to Australia, precisely because of what this country has to offer in terms of safety, respect, lifestyle and an environment and where they can have freedom to retain their own culture, religion and language. However, if the lifestyle, customs, culture and language of this country offends them, then perhaps they have chosen the wrong country to come into. If someone is offended by having to hold their tongue for a minute as a mark of respect for the fallen of all wars around the world, there is something wrong.

Even if this is cause of distress or offence for anyone, then by all means let them take a sick day and stay at home and shout to their heart’s content on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month! You cannot please all people all of the time, so you try and please most of the people as long it is reasonable and fair and equitable to do so.

My workplace is multicultural. There are Australians, Italians, Greeks, Indians, Spaniards, South Americans, Germans, New Zealanders, Indonesians, Japanese, Serbs, Ethiopians, South Africans. We all observed the minute’s silence, most people wore a poppy on their lapel. We were silent and we paid tribute to our dead, even if they were on opposing sides in past wars. We lamented the wasted lives and the youth that were robbed of the contentment of old age, the joy of seeing their descendants carry their families on. We remembered irrespective of race, religion, politics or other persuasion. We shared our humanity that silent minute and reflected on the futility of war, all wars, all countries. I don’t think we offended anyone…

A ROAD POEM

“Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment; Chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.” - Jean de Florian (1755–1794)

The joys of love are few and the pains of love endless in number, but in the reckoning, those few pleasures always manage to cancel out the infinitude of torments. Love shared between two is paradise, love unrequited is hell. Love’s triangles hide other agonies, duplicity, betrayal, faithlessness, perfidy. Love conquers all, or rather, all are conquered by love… Love is an ember, a warm glowing hearth, a wild fire uncontrolled or a conflagration – love like fire easy to spring into existence, easy to douse, but once started in earnest, easy to burn out of control and leave behind only cold ashes. Love can warm us, love can burn us. Lack of love can make us freeze all over or its escape can leave us burnt out.

A poem from two decades ago, from one of my journals…

The Long Ribbon of the Road

I count the minutes as they pass
The road stretches ahead an endless ribbon unfurling.
I count the seconds as they linger on
The road heartless, the miles to you unending.

The long ribbon of the road unwinds
And I attempt to catch the loosened end.
The ribbon of the road stretches ahead
My love for you like it, is inexhaustible.

Biding time as the road stretches ahead,
I weather storms, battle with windmills,
Cheat the hours, lie to myself, swallow my pride,
All just to be in your embrace for a stolen night.

THE CASE OF THE FORGETFUL VIOLINIST...

“We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget.” – Joan Didion

Coming home on the train this evening I read a news story about a German musician who forgot his violin on the train. I nearly skipped through to the next article, but then the value of the violin caught my eye! It is worth about one million Euros ($1.4 million dollars) as it was made in Italy in 1748 and is a valuable heirloom piece as well as a superlative musical instrument. Good violins get better the more they age and a good Stradivarius can be worth several millions of dollars.

The forgetful musician had been performing in Asia and had just got back in Munich, taking the regional train to return home. One can imagine his exhausted and dazed state as he was getting out of the train, struggling with luggage, and one can understand him forgetting the violin case behind him – easy enough to do, or is it? For a musician of his stature his violin would be his most precious possession worth more than the monetary value. For a violinist the violin is almost an extension of the body, part of oneself, an appendage that forms part of one’s soul, not only one’s body.

His reaction was understandable once he realized that he had left his instrument on the train. He became physically ill and required treatment by a doctor. The police in the meantime began the investigation and fortunately the lost violin was recovered on the train seat exactly where it had been left, untouched and in its pristine condition. Needless to say the anxious violinist was a very happy man once he was reunited with his violin.

All of us can be very forgetful sometimes, some of us more than others, more so as we age or if we are tired, distressed or anxious. Trains seem to be good places to lose things and I have forgotten many an umbrella in a train carriage (no, not a single Stradivarius umbrella!). Hundreds of items are handed into the lost property offices in train stations each week by rail workers who find them abandoned on trains. Umbrellas, mobile phones, spectacles, and jackets are among the most commonly forgotten items but more bizarre articles are also left stranded in carriages: From musical instruments to animals, wheelchairs and bikes.

In Edinburgh last year, a passenger left half of a shotgun, along with the licence and ammunition, while a trumpet, two clarinets and two violins caused confusion when they were all handed in on the same day. It seems that a chamber orchestra decided to get forgetful all at once! In the same office a package containing a large dead octopus was handed into the lost property department. Obviously someone’s gourmet dinner got mislaid. As fresh foodstuffs are only kept for a day, the octopus had to be disposed of!

Lost property found abandoned in stations or trains are stored securely for several weeks to months (depending on the rail service and country), after which time items that haven’t been claimed are “disposed of”. Typically, this means they are auctioned, with the proceeds going to charity.

One thing I did do when it was time for me to get off the train at my station today was to check very carefully that I had all my belongings with me: Briefcase, coat, glasses… Yes, all there! Then I got off the train.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

We watched the 2009 Niels Arden Oplev movie “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” at the weekend. The film is from Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name, and part one of the “Milennium Trilogy”. I haven’t read the book and I am always a little reluctant to see a movie before I read a book, especially in the case where the book is a best seller and there has been so much publicity surrounding both book and movie. However, as I don’t have time at the moment to read the book and seeing that that the movie was on special at our DVD store, it was to be an exception to the rule. To this end, this is a film review and not a book review.

First, this is Swedish film and hence subtitled. I love subtitles, but realise there are many people out there who hate them with a passion. I often find that I have to watch even English-speaking film with subtitles nowadays, as the diction and accents are so bad and the sound effects and/or music so loud, that trying to make sense of what everyone is saying is an effort. In fact I always ensure that there are subtitles with all DVDs we buy. We are rather spoilt that way now with DVDs…

Swedish films of course have a great legacy – all I need to mention is the magic name Ingmar Bergman – and all new Swedish films have a certain yardstick with which one measures them. Having said that, let’s forget all about it! This is no Bergman movie, although it is a very good movie. Bergman’s films were about relationships and emotions, human nature and character, with little action and yet curiously absorbing and riveting. “The Girl…” is an action-packed thriller, violent and raw. It explores the dark beastliness of ugly humans and lays bare cruelty, madness, brutality, sadism, perversion, ruthlessness and lack of basic humanity. This is not a film for the squeamish and explores those black parts of the human soul that most of us hunt for within us in order to eradicate. But, as one of the characters says in the film: “Everyone has secrets…”

The story (and I won’t spoil it for you) centres around Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative reporter for a current affairs magazine, who is convicted for libel after being framed. As he is waiting to serve his sentence he is approached by the elderly Henrik Vanger, of the filthy rich Vanger clan. Henrik wants Mikael to investigate the murder of his young niece, Harriet, a crime that happened 40 years previously. The reluctant Mikael accepts and just when he thinks the task is impossible, given the tight-knit protectiveness of the inimical Vanger clan and the length of time that has elapsed from the crime, he gets a cryptic email that presents to him the first clue towards finding out the truth. The email is from Lisbeth Salander, a troubled young woman (yes, she has a dramatic dragon tattoo on her back) who makes a living as a computer hacker/private investigator with no scruples, it seems. The two are brought together and begin to uncover the dark secrets of the Vangers.

The film is directed impeccably by Niels Arden Oplev, and gentleness is superimposed with violence, cruel rapes contrasted with scenes of immense tenderness, passion with stirrings of love. The actors are all excellent and the cinematography wonderful. Top marks go to the starring duo of excellent actors, Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace who play Mikael and Lisbeth, respectively. The music by Jacob Groth supportive and appropriate, never intrusive. We enjoyed the film, although it was a full 152 minutes long (the Swedish version is three-hours long). It is an excellent thriller, although replete with violence and images that shock and disturb. I recommend it to adult viewers who are not shocked by violence and confronting themes.

Now, will read the book? Probably not! However, I look forward to watching the other two parts of the trilogy: “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who kicked the Hornets’ Nest”.

ART SUNDAY - CARAVAGGIO

“The artist does not see things as they are, but as he is.” - Alfred Tonnellé

For Art Sunday today, Caravaggio – or to give him his correct name: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). He was an artist who achieved one of the most important revolutions in painting. He came into a world where the classical idealism of Michelangelo was still the norm (all the more so in the depiction of the human body), and where the peculiarities of his successors, who did not paint from life at all, distorted what the eye actually sees.

Caravaggio (so-called from his town of birth, near Bergamo) rejected both of these notions completely His realism was immediate until then unequalled. His painting style was so novel and influential, that it had an immediate, profound and lasting impact. All the great painters of the first half of the seventeenth century paid homage to it and it helped shape the golden age of European art in the decades ahead.

Caravaggio’s technique was as spontaneous as his temper. He painted straight onto the canvas with minimal preparation, contrary to what his colleagues were doing at the time, who spent much time in sketching, making studies and underpainting for days or weeks before starting the painting proper. Sometimes he abandoned a disappointing composition and painted new work over the top. Much to the horror of his critics, he used ordinary working people with irregular, rough and faces full of character as models for his saints and showed them in recognisably contemporary surroundings. This offended many people who saw prostitutes dressed up as saints and neighbourhood drunks posing as apostles.

His paintings are characterised by their dramatic, almost theatrical lighting and Caravaggio is acknowledged as the master of “chiaroscuro” (a light and shade effect of high contrast created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something). Caravaggio created his own style, flouting convention and breaking all the rules in the book. This turned his life first into anarchy, then tragedy, but also made him an artist of astonishing originality and creative power. He destroyed the old order and imposed a new one.

The work illustrated above is “The Musicians”,  was painted in 1595-1596 for Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, one of the leading connoisseurs in Rome. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

REFLECTING

“Gratitude…
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson


What a perfect Spring day today! Fine and sunny, a temperature in the mid-twenties, all the flowers in bloom, the leaves on the trees green and new and the birds fluttering about and twittering. We went out for some shopping this morning and then back home to sit in the glorious garden and have lunch. This afternoon, doing the cryptic crossword and then a beautiful evening. It’s good to be alive!

Here’s is some wonderful night music. It is Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel” (Mirror in a Mirror).

HAPPY DIWALI!

“Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light” - Maurice Freehill

At work today, an Indian colleague mentioned that it is the time of Diwali (or Deepavali), a significant Hindu festival. This is one of the highlights of the Hindu year and is celebrated with great enthusiasm and much happiness in India, but also by Indians living abroad. The festival is celebrated for five continuous days, where the third day is celebrated as the main Diwali festival or “Festival of Lights”. Different coloured fireworks of all varieties are always associated with this festival. On this auspicious day, people light up diyas (clay oil lamps) and candles all around their house. They perform Laxmi Puja (a special prayer) in the evening and seek divine blessings of Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Laxmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm.

The festival of Diwali is never complete without exchange of gifts. People present diwali gifts to all near and dear ones. The date of Diwali changes every year as the day is calculated according to the position of the moon. According to Hindu reckoning, the date of Diwali falls on 15th day of the dark fortnight in the auspicious Hindu month of Kartik or the month of October/November in the Gregorian calendar. This year the third day of Diwali day falls on the “amavasya” or the night of the new moon, which is tonight.

Here are some Indian sweets to make especially for Diwali!

Malpua
Ingredients

1/2 kg maida (finely milled wheat flour)
750 grams sugar
500 mL milk
1 cup grated coconut
6 bananas
100 grams chopped dried fruits
1/2 teaspoonful ground cardamon
1 litre vegetable oil

Method
Boil the milk and stir it till it becomes thick. Then cool it.
In the milk add maida, sugar, chopped dried fruits , coconut and cardamon.
Stir it till it becomes a paste.
Mash the banana into a paste and add it into the mixture.
Heat oil in a pan. Make round shaped balls of the paste.
Fry the balls till they are golden brown.

Wheat Laddu
Ingredients
1 cup wheat Flour
1/4 cup Gram Flour (flour made from ground chick peas)
1.5 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup chopped dried fruit, almonds, raisins, cashews, etc
1 cup Ghee (clarified butter)

Method
Heat the ghee
Put both types of flours in the hot ghee
When roasted add the coconut and chopped fruit and nuts in the mixture
Add the icing sugar and stir thoroughly
Take off from the heat quickly and roll into small balls
You may roll in toasted coconut flakes if you like.

Besan ki Barfi
Ingredients
1 kg Gram flour (chick pea flour)
1 kg sugar
500 mL water
1 kg ghee (clarified butter)
For garnishing: Pistachios, Almonds

Method
Fry the Gram flour in ghee on low flame for about 30 minutes till it becomes golden and ghee separates
Mix sugar and water into a syrup
Add this syrup to the Gram four and ghee and mix well
Pour this mixture into a greased tray
When it cools cut into cubes and garnish with pistachios and almonds.

Here is Aishwarya Rai from the film Devdas with a diya, celebrating Diwali.

HOLOGRAM TECHNOLOGY

“Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it.” - Max Frisch

I read in the paper today that American researchers have developed a holographic system that can record a moving 3D image of a person or object in one place and display it at another location in close to real time. The technology involves a “clever” plastic material that updates the 3D holographic image every two seconds and is the basis of the new system developed by a research team led by Nasser Peyghambarian, of the University of Arizona. The researchers said that although the system was still slow, and the 3D image produced so far was very small, they demonstrated that it could be done and was no longer something in science fiction.

Increases in image size, updating speed and wide colour range were needed before the system would become a commercial proposition, possibly within seven to 10 years. Professor Peyghambarian predicted there would be many applications, including telemedicine, advertising, teleconferencing, entertainment and engineering design. A demonstration of the technology, using a model jet plane, is reported in the premier science journal “Nature”. In the prototype system, 16 cameras were used to take pictures of the subject from a variety of angles. This information was fed into a computer and sent down a fast internet connection to a different location where lasers produced a coloured 3D image of the subject in the 25 centimetre photorefractive polymer screen.

The 16 pictures that are captured are sent to the laser recording system, which imprints the view into the special polymer at a four-inch-squared size (made up of 120, 3D pixels, called hogels). Each hogel looks different from different angles. The next image is taken and used to refresh the display two seconds later. The more cameras that are used, the more life-like the image would be, with up to 100 different perspectives possible with the holographic technology, compared with only two in 3D movies, such as Avatar, the researchers stated.

This is the first time researchers have demonstrated an optical material that can display “holographic video,” as opposed to static holograms found in credit cards and product packages. The prototype looks like a chunk of acrylic, but it’s actually an amazing material, called a photorefractive polymer, with remarkable optical properties making the rendering of holographic images possible.

The pace at which technology is advancing is quite amazing! When super 8 movies became available for home use, as I remember from my childhood, I thought it was a fantastic thing. Then of course we had video tapes and video cameras, which were a further advance, so much easier, cheaper and simpler to use. Everyone was astounded! We then had the advent of digital recording on USB sticks and memory cards, DVDs and further ease of quite high-powered video and editing capabilities put in the hands of the ordinary person. Now there is 3D technology afoot, and soon 3D holograms! In 10 years the world will be an even more fantastic and amazing place with half of the things that we see now as the peak of scientific and technological advancement being already obsolete. Just when you thought it was safe to upgrade your DVD collection to BluRay, think again!

technology |tekˈnäləjē| noun ( pl. -gies)
The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, esp. in industry: Advances in computer technology | Recycling technologies.
• Machinery and equipment developed from such scientific knowledge.
• The branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied sciences.
DERIVATIVES
technologist |-jist| noun
technologise |-ˌjīz| verb
ORIGIN early 17th century: From Greek tekhnologia ‘systematic treatment,’ from tekhnē ‘art, craft’ + -logia ‘branch of knowledge’.

MY HEART, LIKE A POMEGRANATE

“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I have had a very busy day today with meetings, individual telephone calls, conference calls, scores of emails and much proof-reading to do. Although I was in at work at 7:00 am and kept going without break until 5:00 pm, I still had a mountain of unfinished business on my desk. But, that was it, I’d had enough and decided to leave it all – tomorrow is another day…

A poem from my old notebook today, speaking of the trials and tribulations of young love. Pomegranates figure prominently in Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern lore and traditions both as symbols as well as an essential item of the diet. The pomegranate is symbol of both life and death, hope and fortune, as well as symbol of loss and deception.

The Pomegranate Tree

My heart a pomegranate fruit,
Cracked open wide,
Bleeding blood, drop by drop,
As each grain of fruit’s released.
A drop that falls, transforms
Into a blood-red anemone in my hand.

I kiss the flower and give it you,
And you accept it absently.
You pluck each petal nonchalantly,
And I stumble on each of your “loves me nots”.
Each petal flies away to become a moth
That loses itself in the shadows,
Like my hopes that flee at night:
Bluebirds vanishing high up.

My love under its greenwood veil,
Hides within a fresh, living leaf,
Which under autumn skies ages,
Yellows, withers, falls…
Falls like the sea-salty tears
From my eyes that water
With toxic drops
My single-fruiting
Pomegranate tree.

A MOVIE ON MELBOURNE CUP DAY

“And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honour and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand.” - George Bernard Shaw

It was a public holiday in Melbourne today, this being the day of the running of the Melbourne Cup, “The Horserace that Stops a Nation”. It was the 150th time this famous horserace was being run this year and despite the cold, grey and wet conditions, the flooded car parks and the threat of much disruption to the racing, the crowds turned out in the tens of thousands to participate in the festivities and mayhem of this most famous horse racing event in Australia. The winner of the 2010 Melbourne Cup, “Americain”, was an American-bred, Australian-owned horse trained by a Frenchman and ridden by a Hong Kong-based jockey exemplified that this horse race is a global event. As was usual, the favourite (Bart Cummings “So You Think”) failed to win and was relegated to third place.

For someone who is not a gambler like me, the Melbourne Cup is a curiosity and a welcome excuse for a holiday. I just pity the poor horses running the races… In any case I had taken work with me and spent all morning doing it, but it was a luxury not to actually go in to the office. A special friend came around for morning tea, so we turned out the freshly-baked scones, jam and cream, this being a very pleasant diversion. As the day became more rainy and grey, we decided to stay in and after lunch watched a movie.

It was the classic action thriller, star vehicle, Michael Mann’s 1995 “Heat”, starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer. It was a bit of an odyssey, with 170 minutes filled with violence, swearing, killings, guns, cops and robbers, murderers and amoral psychopaths in a horribly seamy Los Angeles that is not given much of a chance to be a place likely to attract tourists. This is not the sort of movie that will make you say: “I want to visit Los Angeles soon!”

Yes, the acting and direction were good, the action scenes well-handled, the “private lives” of both cops and robbers inserted seamlessly into the action, but it was neither original as a story nor engaging enough to be seen as an exceptional film, even in its well-worn genre. It is rated 247th in the top 250 films and it is hardly surprising given its subject matter, its moral ambiguity and the sheer unattractiveness of its characters. Ugh!

I sometimes think that if more enlightened times come in the future and the human animal ever becomes evolved into a higher type of spiritual and intellectual being, whether these film seen by our descendants will be reason for them to hide their head in shame and bemoan the fact that they are descended from such savages. I suppose it is the same way we now feel about cannibalistic savages that enjoyed killing and eating their neighbouring tribe, or the way that we feel about Hitler and his killing sprees, or what the way that we view the ethnic cleansing of the former Yugoslavia, or the way the Conquistadors subjugated the Americas, or, or, or, or…

Come to think of it, maybe even to think of the human animal as ever being a more intellectual or spiritual species is a joke!

BYZANTINE MEATBALLS

“Time in its irresistible and ceaseless flow carries along on its flood all created things and drowns them in the depths of obscurity.” - Anna Komnené

The Byzantine Empire succeeded the Roman Empire and officially began when Constantine the Great (St Constantine - 272-337 AD) moved his capital in 330 AD from Rome to Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople (now Istanbul). Constantine had chosen the site for his new capital with care. He placed Constantinople on the frontier of Europe and Asia, dominating the waterway connecting the Mediterranean and Black seas. It was a crossroads of trade, of cultures and with a great tradition going back to prehistory. From 330 AD to 1453 AD Byzantium reigned supreme, and while Western Europe languished in the dark ages, Byzantium flourished.

The most salient aspect of Greek Byzantium was the transmission of classical culture. While classical studies, science, and philosophy largely dissipated in the Latin west, Byzantine education and philosophy still zealously pursued these intellectual traditions. It was in Byzantium that Plato and Aristotle continued to be studied and were eventually transmitted first into the Islamic world and then back into Western Europe. A basic education in Byzantium consisted first of the mastery of classical Greek literature, such as Homer (largely unknown in the West during this period) and almost all of the Greek literature we have today was only preserved by the Byzantines.

The Byzantine emperors reigned over a vast empire of fabulous wealth. Life in Constantinople was extremely civilised and the emperor’s court and his nobles lived a lavish existence, dressed in silks, adorned with gold and precious stones and eating the best and freshest foods spiced with the richest condiments the Orient had to offer.

Nicholas Tselementes (1878 - 1958) the most distinguished Greek chef of modern times, traced back to Byzantine times such dishes as Keftedes (fried meatballs), Dolmades (grain and/or meat stuffed into vegetables or plant leaves and cooked), Moussaka (a layered dish of meat, cheese and pasta or grain), Yuvarlakia (meat and/or grain dumplings cooked in broth), and Kakavia, the Greek version of Bouillabaise (mixed fish soup). He also traced back to the ancient Greeks the making of white sauce - using flour and fat to thicken a broth or milk mixture.

Although some of these dishes are now known to the world by Turkish or European names (even the Greeks call white sauce “béchamel”), their origins are Greek. We know that Byzantine Greeks ate three meals a day - breakfast, lunch and supper. They had many fast days that coincided with the church year cycle, similar to what modern Orthodox Greeks observe now. While the lower classes made do with what they could get, the upper classes were served three courses at their midday and supper meals consisting of hors d’ oeuvres, a main course of fish or meat and a sweet course.

The Byzantines ate all kinds of meats including pork, and numerous types of fowl. They ate large amounts of fresh fish and seafood. There were many types of soups and stews and salads were popular. They liked a variety of cheeses and fruits were eaten both fresh and cooked. Fruits included apples, melons, dates, figs, grapes and pomegranates. Almonds, walnuts, and pistachios were used in many dishes as well as being eaten by themselves.

Here is a Byzantine dish that would have been enjoyed by the middle classes of merchants and shopkeepers, but which in its modern Greek version is still staple fare:

KEFTÉDHES (BYZANTINE MEATBALLS)
Ingredients

• 500 g lean beef or veal, ground
• 1 large onion, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 egg, beaten lightly
• 3 slices of bread, crusts removed, soaked in water and squeezed lightly
• 3 tablespoonfuls finely chopped parsley
• 2 sprigs fresh mint
• 3 tablespoonfuls red wine
• 2-3 tablespoonfuls water, if necessary
• Freshly ground cinnamon (pinch)
• Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
• Freshly ground nutmeg (pinch)
• Freshly ground allspice (pimento - pinch)
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup of barley, powdered in the blender
• Olive oil, enough for a frying depth of 2 cm

Method
In the authentic recipe, the meat would probably be pounded or finely minced with a knife instead of ground.
Mix all ingredients except barley and olive oil, and refrigerate for an hour.
Pinch off small pieces of the mixture, the size of walnuts, form into a ball and dredge in the barley flour.
Heat the oil to a smoking point and fry the meatballs until crisp, turning constantly. Remove and drain on absorbent paper.
Serve with a green salad and crispy bread, accompanied by a gutsy red wine.