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I've heard it millions of times - chew your food properly. 20 times till you swallow? 40? But instructions always lacked a convincing argumentation. Till now. Chew it properly or you might be dead. Delicious but deadly mochi: The Japanese rice cakes that kill http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42537953
Two people have died in Japan and several are in a critical condition after choking on traditional rice cakes as part of the new year celebrations.
They may seem harmless, but each year the hard-to-eat snack claims several lives, prompting annual warnings from officials.
What is a mochi?
The cakes, known as mochi, are cute round buns made of soft and chewy rice.
The rice is first steamed and then pounded and mashed.
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Mochi-pounding at a shrine in Tokyo
The resulting sticky rice mass is then formed into the final mochi shape and baked or boiled.
Families traditionally celebrate New Year by cooking a vegetable broth in which they heat the mochi.
How do they kill?
The buns are chewy and sticky. Given they are far bigger than bite-sized, they need to be laboriously chewed before swallowing.
Anyone who can't chew properly - like children, or the elderly - will be likely to find them hard to eat.
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
If you can't chew them, please cut them, emergency services urge
If not chewed but simply swallowed, the sticky mochi gets stuck in the throat - and can lead to suffocation.
According to Japanese media, 90% of those rushed to hospital from choking on their new year's dish are people aged 65 or older.
What's a safe way to eat them?
Chew, chew, chew. If that's not possible, the rice cakes need to be cut into smaller pieces.
Each year, authorities issue public warnings in the run-up to the new year festivities advising that people - especially the very young and elderly - should only eat mochi cut down to smaller little chunks.
Yet despite the warnings, each year there continue to be deaths linked to the dish.
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Dear Kindle,
Leo Burnett once said "We want consumers to say, 'That's a hell of a product' instead of, 'That's a hell of an ad.'"
He didn't even think of an ad when consumers would be saying: "What the hell?"
Well done, Kindle. Let me congratulate you with a new approach to advertising "Are you in or are you out?" by Tanya Kosh. It might be not necessarily the book the poor Kindle reader would ever buy. But clearly the one which would be hard to forget.
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Let us know what you think about table manners.
Continuing the topic of fast food.
In-depth interviews are the best method to get to the heart of the matter. They are long, they are expensive, they are hard to conduct sometimes. Especially if the incentive you offer to the respondent is to buy them lunch. Not the best choice, I agree. How can you ask your questions with a mouth full? How can you understand the answer if the person opposite the table is trying to combine the process of being interviewed with claiming his incentive? But depending on the topic, this could be your best choice ever. And how else can you get an opinion from a hard working young men (apparently the most underrepresented group in any research).
"Hi, Ben," - I say. "can I invite you for lunch? Need to ask a couple of questions for my forthcoming book".
Ben is young, smart and busy.
"Of course," - he says. (I am his mother's friend. Recruitment is easy). "But I have a rather short lunch break. Shall we go for some quality-fast ?"
There is even a Facebook page called "Quality-Fast". Or should I say was? (translation on the picture below is provided by Facebook itself).
Ben is still to select his quality-fast (good food with blitz-service).
But I have some findings already: Quality-Fast is useful. Not easy to find, at least in the viscinity of Ben's office. Doesn't work in French (see the Facebook screenshot above).
Celebrities do help to sell. Quite a few years ago I talked to the editor-in-chief of one of the many glossies about writing columns. She said that the rules are simple - a bit about celebrities, a bit about yourself, something useful for the reader [to learn], something funny to laugh about, something glamorous to enjoy [and somehow to relate to]. And don't forget the loop - finish with the reference to what you started with. What she forgot to mention was, in my book, the most important rule - a strong opinion. And that's what I have today. I strongly believe that boiled beef in Plachutta, " a synonym for Viennese cuisine" (their own rather humble statement) is nothing else but fast food. A glamorous version of it with several outlets in Vienna.
Yes, it takes a while to boil beef. But if you put it on the hob in the morning, it is ready by lunch time. You don't even have to do much. Add some vegetables to bones and meat, roast them slightly before putting into the pot with water. Add herbs, salt, pepper to the pot, stir and remove the froth when it boils (or strain it) for clarity. This is nearly it. And then simmer and simmer and simmer... for a very long time. The later you order your lunch there, the softer the meat. Tried and tested. Dinner's beef is impeccable. It melts in the mouth.
Boiled beef and accessories (e.g., potatoes and spinach) concept is simple. It is the same recipe cooked for years. It nears perfection. No extra movements, no frills, no extras, no need for special staff training. And it shows. Meat (they call it "tafelspitz") is served within five minutes of ordering. More difficult with drinks - the lack of training shows. The young, friendly and by the end of the evening slightly embarrassed waiters (all men. No women - this is, I believe, another part of the concept) come to our table at least five times with other people drinks.
Boiled beef concept is clearly cost efficient. Guaranteed volumes and consistency of orders are clearly reciprocated by discounted prices of suppliers. The relationships are long-standing and rather close. Plachutta claims they can trace each cow they boil to its birth. It remains unknown if the employees have to visit the calves and bring them carrots. Or whatever alpine cows consider to be a treat. Possibly not, as it would add to the cost. Prices in Plachutta are high for fast food, but reasonable for a tourist trap.
Boiled beef is a status food. Lunch time choice for business meetings in the centre of Vienna. You have to book well in advance. You don't expect the favourite dish of the Austrian Emperor to be readily available at a short notice, do you? Even if takes no time at all to get it to you when you are at the table.
Boiled beef is a powerful concept. Emperor's favourite food doesn't leave much room to anything else. Pudding (desert) is obviously a poor relative whose name no one knows. How otherwise you can order soufflé and be presented with something remotely resembling Victoria Sponge with some custard filling?
How it works/ the table manners for long-boiled beef (do not read if even the thought of offal makes you sick):
I am waiting for Plachutta's drive-through openings, though I am a bit wondering whether it would be only Bentleys and Porsches allowed to get a take-away. OK, and horse-driven carriages. There are plenty of those in Vienna.
Fast food is food. Fine if you want it fast. But it remains what it is - fast food. Even if there is an imperial touch to it.
Quiz: Can You Identify These Breads from Their Pictures?
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