I'm writing a book on the history of garlic so putting this list together is technically research. Enjoy and don't be surprised if you find yourself craving garlic bread or shrimp scampi.
Shallots are for babies; Onions are for men; Garlic is for heroes.
Author unknown
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.
The Holy Bible, Numbers 11
Since garlic then hath powers to save from death, bear with it though it makes unsavory breath.
Salerno Regimen of Health (12th century)
And, most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlic for we are to utter sweet breath.
A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
It is not really an exaggeration to say that peace and happiness begin, geographically, where garlic is used in cooking.
X. Marcel Boulestin, first television chef (1878-1943)
Without garlic, I simply would not care to live.
Louis Diat, chef of the Ritz Hotel (1885-1958)
A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.
Yiddish Proverb, Early 20th century
You're a monster, Mr. Grinch, Your heart's an empty hole, Your brain is full of spiders, You've got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch.
Dr. Seuss (1966)
Tomato and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.
Alice May Brock (of Alice’s Restaurant)
You can never have enough garlic. With enough garlic, you can eat The New York Times.
Morley Safer (1994)
Monday, March 15, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Three True Stories about Liechtenstein
The Swiss Accidentally Invade Liechtenstein (text from The Guardian)
The Swiss army is not renowned for its aggressive expeditionary adventures - but it does appear to have accidentally invaded Liechtenstein. According to the Swiss daily Blick, around 170 infantry soldiers from the famously neutral country wandered more than a mile across the unmarked border with the tiny principality. The incident happened yesterday morning and the Swiss troops turned back - probably slightly sheepishly - after they realized their mistake.
Last Military Engagement (from Bill Bryson in Neither Here Nor There)
“Liechtenstein’s last military engagement was in 1866, when it sent eighty men to fight against the Italians. Nobody was killed. In fact –- you’re going to like this –- they came back with 81 men, because they had made a friend on the way.”
Liechtenstein wins Ignoble Prize
The 2001 Ignoble Prize in ECONOMICS was awarded to Karl Schwärzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings
The best hotel in the tiny principality is the Park-Hotel Sonnenhof located in the capital of Vaduz. This elegant Relais & Chateau property is set within magnificent gardens overlooking the valley. Spacious rooms are appointed in rich colors splashed with boldly printed fabrics (sometimes animal prints). The restaurant has 1 Michelin star. www.sonnenhof.li
The Swiss army is not renowned for its aggressive expeditionary adventures - but it does appear to have accidentally invaded Liechtenstein. According to the Swiss daily Blick, around 170 infantry soldiers from the famously neutral country wandered more than a mile across the unmarked border with the tiny principality. The incident happened yesterday morning and the Swiss troops turned back - probably slightly sheepishly - after they realized their mistake.
Last Military Engagement (from Bill Bryson in Neither Here Nor There)
“Liechtenstein’s last military engagement was in 1866, when it sent eighty men to fight against the Italians. Nobody was killed. In fact –- you’re going to like this –- they came back with 81 men, because they had made a friend on the way.”
Liechtenstein wins Ignoble Prize
The 2001 Ignoble Prize in ECONOMICS was awarded to Karl Schwärzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings
The best hotel in the tiny principality is the Park-Hotel Sonnenhof located in the capital of Vaduz. This elegant Relais & Chateau property is set within magnificent gardens overlooking the valley. Spacious rooms are appointed in rich colors splashed with boldly printed fabrics (sometimes animal prints). The restaurant has 1 Michelin star. www.sonnenhof.li
Cruising the Tranquil Backwaters of Kerala
“Atithi devo bhava” is an ancient Sanskrit saying translated as “All guests are gods.” As if that weren’t reason enough to visit India, Oberoi Hotels has launched the M.V. Vrinda a motorized vessel that takes guests through the backwaters of Kerala. With its tranquil waterways lined with swaying palm trees, lush rice paddies, and small villages, Kerala is often referred to as “God’s own country.” While that sounds like hyperbole, it’s more like understatement.
As soon as I come on board the Vrinda, an elegant and intimate (eight-cabin) cruising vessel, I’m offered water from a coconut that the chef has just had one of the staff climb up and cut down. “That’s the sort of theft you see in Kerala,” he quips. Any notions of frenetic, overcrowded India disappear at once. Food on the ship is spectacular, and includes international and Indian choices. After lunch, it’s up on the deck for some sunbathing. At the end of the day, we return to the jetty to watch the sun slip below the horizon as fishermen spread out their nets.
Before dinner, we’re treated to a private onboard performance of Mohiniattam. This graceful “Dance of the Enchantress” is performed by women who sway their upper bodies and use their eyes, teasingly, to seduce the viewer. After dinner, I retire to my cabin, furnished in beige with teak floors, local artwork, and two picture windows overlooking the water. There’s also a TV, a DVD player, and a fully equipped bathroom.
The next day, we glide past the narrow canals of Alleppey, known as the Venice of the East. Midmorning, we transfer to a narrow rice boat, to navigate canals too small for the Vrinda. (Rice boats, held together with coir knots, are made without a single nail.) We visit a small temple housing a half statue of Buddha. (I expect some mystical explanation for the accident; it turns out an elephant ran into it during a festival and the other half was lost.)
P.R.S. Oberoi always loved Kerala and wanted to share it, luxuriously, with his guests. He named the boat Vrinda after the garden where Lord Krishna and his consort, Radha, spent their happiest days. With apologies to Herman Melville (and Lord Krishna), “Call me Radha.”
As soon as I come on board the Vrinda, an elegant and intimate (eight-cabin) cruising vessel, I’m offered water from a coconut that the chef has just had one of the staff climb up and cut down. “That’s the sort of theft you see in Kerala,” he quips. Any notions of frenetic, overcrowded India disappear at once. Food on the ship is spectacular, and includes international and Indian choices. After lunch, it’s up on the deck for some sunbathing. At the end of the day, we return to the jetty to watch the sun slip below the horizon as fishermen spread out their nets.
Before dinner, we’re treated to a private onboard performance of Mohiniattam. This graceful “Dance of the Enchantress” is performed by women who sway their upper bodies and use their eyes, teasingly, to seduce the viewer. After dinner, I retire to my cabin, furnished in beige with teak floors, local artwork, and two picture windows overlooking the water. There’s also a TV, a DVD player, and a fully equipped bathroom.
The next day, we glide past the narrow canals of Alleppey, known as the Venice of the East. Midmorning, we transfer to a narrow rice boat, to navigate canals too small for the Vrinda. (Rice boats, held together with coir knots, are made without a single nail.) We visit a small temple housing a half statue of Buddha. (I expect some mystical explanation for the accident; it turns out an elephant ran into it during a festival and the other half was lost.)
P.R.S. Oberoi always loved Kerala and wanted to share it, luxuriously, with his guests. He named the boat Vrinda after the garden where Lord Krishna and his consort, Radha, spent their happiest days. With apologies to Herman Melville (and Lord Krishna), “Call me Radha.”
Rock and Roll Hotels
Gone are the days when rock musicians slept on seats in the back of tour buses. Today’s rock stars live it up and some even share their lifestyle by opening their own hotels.
The Clarence, once a down-at-the-heels Victorian hotel in Dublin, is now a stylish, contemporary oasis thanks to its current owners: Bono and the Edge of U2. Located in the historic Temple Bar district, the interior of this light and airy hotel is warmly decorated with Arts and Crafts furniture, white oak paneling, stone floors and leather chairs decorated in rich jewel and earth tones. The unique rooms – no two are alike, are a pleasing amalgam of traditional and modern. Austere Shaker furniture and limestone tabletops are warmed up by leather and suede upholstery and lush velvet drapes. Each room is decorated in one of the hotel’s five signature colors: crimson, royal blue, amethyst, gold and chocolate. The colors are an homage to the priests and nuns who once lived at the hotel. Another ecclesiastical detail: phone booths resembling confessionals. The two-story Penthouse Suite has a baby grand piano as well as a terrace with a Jacuzzi. (Rumor has it that when Piano Men Elton John and Billy Joel were on tour together, they had a spat over who would get the suite. (Elton won. “The Bitch is Back.”)
What The Clarence lacks in glitz is made up in spades by the legendary Beverly Wilshire Hotel. This Italian Renaissance-style palace is a veritable way station for transient rock stars: Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Elton John have all been long-term guests. Elvis lived at the hotel for several years while filming at nearby Paramount Studios. Ten years later, when John Lennon was estranged from Yoko, he chose the Beverly Wilshire as his address because he knew Elvis had lived here.
No article on rock and roll hotels is complete without the legendary Hotel Chelsea and Chateau Marmont. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane, and Lou Reed all wrote lyrics about the Hotel Chelsea, where punk rocker Sid Vicious is alleged to have murdered Nancy.
LA’s legendary Chateau Marmont, is best-known for the demise of John Belushi, but it’s also where The Door’s Jim Morrison hurt himself trying to swing from the roof into his room and Led Zeppelin had to pay for TVs that miraculously flew out the window. Other notable rock and rollers include John and Yoko (together), Britney Spears and Sting (separately).
The Clarence, once a down-at-the-heels Victorian hotel in Dublin, is now a stylish, contemporary oasis thanks to its current owners: Bono and the Edge of U2. Located in the historic Temple Bar district, the interior of this light and airy hotel is warmly decorated with Arts and Crafts furniture, white oak paneling, stone floors and leather chairs decorated in rich jewel and earth tones. The unique rooms – no two are alike, are a pleasing amalgam of traditional and modern. Austere Shaker furniture and limestone tabletops are warmed up by leather and suede upholstery and lush velvet drapes. Each room is decorated in one of the hotel’s five signature colors: crimson, royal blue, amethyst, gold and chocolate. The colors are an homage to the priests and nuns who once lived at the hotel. Another ecclesiastical detail: phone booths resembling confessionals. The two-story Penthouse Suite has a baby grand piano as well as a terrace with a Jacuzzi. (Rumor has it that when Piano Men Elton John and Billy Joel were on tour together, they had a spat over who would get the suite. (Elton won. “The Bitch is Back.”)
What The Clarence lacks in glitz is made up in spades by the legendary Beverly Wilshire Hotel. This Italian Renaissance-style palace is a veritable way station for transient rock stars: Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Elton John have all been long-term guests. Elvis lived at the hotel for several years while filming at nearby Paramount Studios. Ten years later, when John Lennon was estranged from Yoko, he chose the Beverly Wilshire as his address because he knew Elvis had lived here.
No article on rock and roll hotels is complete without the legendary Hotel Chelsea and Chateau Marmont. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane, and Lou Reed all wrote lyrics about the Hotel Chelsea, where punk rocker Sid Vicious is alleged to have murdered Nancy.
LA’s legendary Chateau Marmont, is best-known for the demise of John Belushi, but it’s also where The Door’s Jim Morrison hurt himself trying to swing from the roof into his room and Led Zeppelin had to pay for TVs that miraculously flew out the window. Other notable rock and rollers include John and Yoko (together), Britney Spears and Sting (separately).
The Peabody Ducks
I know three things about ducks. It’s impossible to sneak up on them, they’re scared of umbrellas and they don’t like daylight savings time. These are the sorts of things you learn while hanging out with the official Duck Master of the Peabody Hotel in Orlando. He’s responsible for the Peabody Ducks, five famous mallards that entertain guests twice a day by marching down a red carpet to spend all day frolicking in the hotel’s fountain.
The March of the Peabody Ducks is a much-loved tradition that began in the late 1930’s at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. It began, like all good traditions, with Tennessee whiskey. After toasting a day of hunting with a few too many highballs, the hotel manager thought it would be fun to shock the guests by letting his ducks splash about the hotel’s elegant marble fountain. Far from being appalled, the guests were enchanted and the tradition lives on today at the Peabody Hotels in Memphis, Orlando, and Little Rock.
Each hotel has a duck team consisting of four hens and a drake. (Drakes are too competitive for there to be more than one in a group – even nature, it appears, loves a harem.) Following breakfast of romaine lettuce and live worms, the pampered poultry leave their glass and marble palace and waddle through the hotel into their specially-reserved elevator. They go down to the lobby, where they scramble down the red carpet accompanied by Sousa’s King Cotton March before plopping into the fountain. The Duck Master attired in a bright red jacket ushers in the ducks, his arms in a vee simulating the wings of a mammoth mallard.
Guests can call ahead to serve as honorary Duck Masters. As an honorary Duck Master myself (you get to ride in the elevator with the ducks), I feel obliged to let you know that you can’t sneak up on ducks because they have 360-degree vision, umbrellas scare them because they resemble swooping predators and as ducks are creatures of habit, daylight savings time just pisses them off. And don’t worry that you have to slum it to see the ducks; The Peabody is Orlando’s best hotel.
www.peabodyorlando.com
The March of the Peabody Ducks is a much-loved tradition that began in the late 1930’s at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. It began, like all good traditions, with Tennessee whiskey. After toasting a day of hunting with a few too many highballs, the hotel manager thought it would be fun to shock the guests by letting his ducks splash about the hotel’s elegant marble fountain. Far from being appalled, the guests were enchanted and the tradition lives on today at the Peabody Hotels in Memphis, Orlando, and Little Rock.
Each hotel has a duck team consisting of four hens and a drake. (Drakes are too competitive for there to be more than one in a group – even nature, it appears, loves a harem.) Following breakfast of romaine lettuce and live worms, the pampered poultry leave their glass and marble palace and waddle through the hotel into their specially-reserved elevator. They go down to the lobby, where they scramble down the red carpet accompanied by Sousa’s King Cotton March before plopping into the fountain. The Duck Master attired in a bright red jacket ushers in the ducks, his arms in a vee simulating the wings of a mammoth mallard.
Guests can call ahead to serve as honorary Duck Masters. As an honorary Duck Master myself (you get to ride in the elevator with the ducks), I feel obliged to let you know that you can’t sneak up on ducks because they have 360-degree vision, umbrellas scare them because they resemble swooping predators and as ducks are creatures of habit, daylight savings time just pisses them off. And don’t worry that you have to slum it to see the ducks; The Peabody is Orlando’s best hotel.
www.peabodyorlando.com
Monday, March 1, 2010
Best Hotels in the World, Pt. 1
Aman at Summer Palace is an exquisite resort in Beijing set in the courtyards where visitors would wait for their audience with the Dowager Empress in the 19th century. It has its own private entrance to the Summer Palace so you can slip in for early morning Tai Chi or to watch the sunset when the sun appears to slip into Kinming Lake.
You'll feel like an Emperor or Empress in suites are set in pavilions overlooking inside courtyards. The century-old original wooden beams that line the high ceilings are complimented by the clean lines and interlocking squares of the Ming Dynasty-style furniture. There's a cultural pavilion where you can try Chinese calligraphy as well as an outpost of renowned Hong Kong stylist, Kim Robinson, an Aman Spa, and a Pilates studio. At Naoki, the chef prepares traditional Japanese Kaiseki cuisine using French techniques. Kaiseki is like artistic tapas, small plates designed to stimulate the eyes as well as the taste.
I’ve been to all of the major hotels in Beijing for a piece I did for the late, lamented Cigar Report on the best places to enjoy a cigar during the Olympics (smoking ban be damned). The Aman at Summer Palace (which has a Cigar Room off the bar) is in a class of its own.
Aman at Summer Palace
No.15 Gongmenqian Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100091, China
http://www.amanresorts.com/amanatsummerpalace/details.aspx
You'll feel like an Emperor or Empress in suites are set in pavilions overlooking inside courtyards. The century-old original wooden beams that line the high ceilings are complimented by the clean lines and interlocking squares of the Ming Dynasty-style furniture. There's a cultural pavilion where you can try Chinese calligraphy as well as an outpost of renowned Hong Kong stylist, Kim Robinson, an Aman Spa, and a Pilates studio. At Naoki, the chef prepares traditional Japanese Kaiseki cuisine using French techniques. Kaiseki is like artistic tapas, small plates designed to stimulate the eyes as well as the taste.
I’ve been to all of the major hotels in Beijing for a piece I did for the late, lamented Cigar Report on the best places to enjoy a cigar during the Olympics (smoking ban be damned). The Aman at Summer Palace (which has a Cigar Room off the bar) is in a class of its own.
Aman at Summer Palace
No.15 Gongmenqian Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100091, China
http://www.amanresorts.com/amanatsummerpalace/details.aspx
Georgia on my Mind
I'm planning a trip to Georgia to do research for a book I'm writing on the history of garlic. The Georgian Embassy in Washington provides the following reassurance for travelers to the country: Georgian is pronounced just as it is written. ამერიკის შეერთებული შტატები ღრმად შეშფოთებულია ინფორმაციით ზედა კოდორის ხეობაში თავდასხმების შესახებ და გმობს ძალადობის ყოველგვარ მსგავ აქტს. ჩვენთვის ცნობილი გახდა, რომ –მა ზედა კოდორის ხეობაში გააგზავნა ფაქტების შემსწავლელი ჯგუფი, რომელიც.
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