Cultural Delicacies: Dogs (and cats!)

by Brenda Yun on

It is not uncommon for people to eat dog meat in parts of China, Korea, and the Philippines. Historically, in times of famine people in France and Germany ate dogs too. As a pet lover, I can’t bear the thought, but I know this practice is more far-reaching than meets the eye. Earlier this year, Honolulu experienced its own case of dog-eating men who stole, killed, and ate a couple’s beloved poi dog.

When traveling in third world countries and observing the poor treatment of street dogs, it is easier to understand the apathy that most possess for canines. I think it’s acceptable, too, that in desperate times people take desperate measures to stay alive. It’s unfathomable, however, that people would knowingly steal a pet for consumption. It doesn’t matter where you are or what your culinary practices are.
Complicating canine consumption with feline consumption and you now have a serious case on your hands. This is exactly the latest news coming from China: cat owners are now scared to leave their cats alone now because they disappear. People steal domestic cats now, killing them, and selling them for $1.32 per pound (the same price for lamb). Pet owners in China are speaking up. It appears even the Chinese are developing a conscience nowadays.

The eating of dog meat — or cat meat, for that matter — is a cultural practice that Westerners may never come to accept or understand. Maybe one day we can all be green-eating, tree-hugging consumers in a free world.

Pilot tells passengers “I am not qualified to land the plane”

by Josh Lew on

A Flybe Airlines flight from Cardiff to Paris had to turn around because of fog at Charles De Gaulle Airport. The fog did not force the airport to close. Rather, the pilot, a man with 30 years of experience, had never completed low-visibility training for the particular aircraft that he was flying.

Passengers on the flight were stunned when, 20 minutes shy of De Gaulle, the pilot got on the PA system and, instead of announcing the imminent arrival, said the following:

‘Unfortunately I’m not qualified to land the plane in Paris. They are asking for a level two qualification and I only have a level five. We’ll have to fly back.’

And fly back they did. The bizarre incident is nothing if not humorous, but I doubt the passengers on the flight were amused.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said that such a situation was rare, but not unheard of. “There are different classifications of aircraft and when an aircraft is updated, pilot’s who have flown an older version have to completely retrain.”


Think that pilot pulled an unusual stunt? What he did is nothing compared to the stunts these girls pulled.


Is the tradition of the French cafe dying?

by Jeffrey White on

Among the myriad stories of the global financial crisis that appear almost daily, this one from the New York Times today caught my eye.

The economic downturn is impacting that most sacrosanct of French traditions, the bar-cafe.

The article notes Balzac’s famous dictum — “The bar of a cafe is the parliament of the people” — in detailing how the French cafe is in real trouble these days. Simply put, people are going out less and when they do, they’re spending less.

The days of the long, leisurely French lunch — a couple of courses accompanied by a bottle of wine — have been replaced with the take-out sandwich, eaten on the run.

If they do come to the cafe, a owner named Maria Malichier tells the Times, “it’s a carafe of tap water, main course and off you go.”

“Now people don’t eat,” says another cafe owner, Gérard Renaud. “They come in for a coffee or a little aperitif and that is it. We are used to being busy, but now we feel lazy, and it is depressing.”

What’s behind this? Obviously a bit has to do with the financial crisis. But at the beginning of this year a smoking ban extended to include bar-cafes, which is hurting business. So is a renewed crackdown on drunk driving, with cops apparently staking out cafes to catch tipsy drivers.

Anyone that spends any time in France, Paris or elsewhere, quickly comes to see that the cafe culture, dying or not, is something one can only admire about the country — how people seem to carve out time in their day for it, which of course is time carved out for food and drink and conviviality. There’s a reason why Hemingway’s A Movable Feast is so evocative of a certain time and place.

Now we have this arresting fact from the Times piece: Two bar-cafes close every day in France. In 1960, there were 200,000 of them countrywide; today it’s fewer than 41,500.

Group vacations – French villas are hot!

by Annie Scott on

Want to make all your friends swoon? Rent out a villa in the south of France for an affordable, peaceful vacation.

Want to make all your friends love you? Take them along!

French villas have become one of the top destinations in the great tradition of group vacations. I love group vacations; it’s like an extended party. Get everyone you like together and watch them interact for a week. It’s fascinating, often scandalous, and makes one feel like they’re in some 17th century comedy of manners, or an old-Hollywood movie.

One villa I recommend is Villa Plantat, near the small town Quissac. Villa Plantat (plantat means “to plant”) is an elegant house set on 400 acres of beautiful grounds with an orangerie and a private spring-fed swimming lake, and is located close to both historic Roman ruins and the Mediterranean sea (just 35 minutes away).

Villa Plantat can provide a private provencal chef for just around $20 per meal, and they also have twice yearly yoga retreats (2 hours of yoga per day plus special events; not yoga boot camp) in May and September. $1380 per person includes accommodations, wine (!), and classes.

Villa Plantat is available year round for $4,200 per week (price drops by $500 for additional weeks) and sleeps thirteen. That’s just $323 per person. Or, for ten people, $420 per week.

Save up your miles and get to the south of France. It’s an idyllic, quaint, and quintessentially lovely experience you won’t forget.
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Paris Art Gallery has Obama Fever

by Josh Lew on

Barack Obama has done what very few Americans have done before. No, not run for president. Get respect from the French.

An art gallery in Paris is running a show that demonstrates just how much street cred the the Democratic candidate has with Europeans. Dorothy’s Gallery, in the Bastille District of Paris (Rue Keller) will be running the show until November 17th. Most of the works on display are by French artists; and most, if not all, cast the Illinois Senator in a positive light. There are sculptures, photographs, sketches, caricatures and photo collages.

I doubt many red-staters are going to put the Dorothy Gallery on their itinerary. I’m sure very few undecided voters are going to be swayed by a visit. And French people aren’t going to head to the polls a week from Tuesday. So the Obama exhibit is more about the way French culture celebrates celebrities and statesmen than it is about politics. No word yet on whether Jerry Lewis will lose his status as top American if Obama pulls out a victory in the elections.