Pastizzi United

easy-cheesecake-recipes

Ikla tajba ġewwa Paceville intemmet b’mixja qasira – għad-diġestjoni – madwar it-toroq imxarrbin tal-Belt Internazzjonali ta’ Pace. L-għażla kulinarja kienet waqgħet fuq ikel Ġenoviż, korteżija ta’ Profuma Di… ristorant mill-iprem ġewwa l-ħallata ballata ta’ gosti u kċejjen li bħalu joffru biss bliet wisq iktar kożmopoliti bħal New York, Brussel u Londra.

Ħin minnhom bqajt immeraviljat li ġo firxa ta’ mhux iktar minn ħamsin metru l-voti kellhom jitqassmu bejn ikel Għarbi, dak Indjan, dak Ċiniż jew Ġappuniż jew xi sure bet nostran bħal ma jaf ikun l-istituzzjoni imsemmi The Avenue. Morna Ġenoviż u xejn ma għalejna. Mill-focaccie sal-ħanżir jgħum fil-ħalib u jċafċaf fil-ġobna prelibati sas-sorbet mill-ifjen li jqarrasslek wiċċek ma kull kuċċarina imma, kif jgħid Mark, imexxi ħriġna minn hemm kuntenti. Quelli come noi…

U imxejna sa ħdejn il-bandli… ħadna “id-dawra” ta’ familja Għawdxija-Paċevilljana li aħna: detour ta’ xi mitt metru, xejn iktar, kemm biex nieħdu ġelat (taljanissimu) mingħand Rivareno. Bnin kien, imma żejjed – tant li ma flaħtx nieklu kollu. L-ewwel ftit lagħqiet għażilt li neħodhom fit-triq barra wieħed tal-pastizzi li hemm biswit tal-Agenda u hemm assistjet għal xena gustuża.

Qabelxejn irrid ngħid li xi jumejn ilu, waqt diskursata filosofika ġewwa Michael’s il-Belt, konna qed niddiskutu il-preġji tal-pastizz. Tkunux psataz. Kien mument tal-għola ħsieb gourmand xieraq tal-Gault Millau u Michelin. Kemm ngħidilkom li l-gilljottina inqatgħet favur formation ta’ “tnejn u tnejn”. X’jiġifieri? Jiġifieri li qbilna li meta tkun xrobtlu naqa jew jiġik dak l-aptit tard bil-lejl l-aħjar ordni għand tal-pastiżżi hija dik li twasslek biex tiekol tnejn tal-irkotta u tnejn tal-piżelli. Imbagħad tajjeb ukoll li tkun mogħni bir-Rennie, Maalox jew Gavison tal-mument.

U lura għax-xena. Mela qiegħed niggosta l-ġelat bil-kwiet u nosserva frustier (raġel mhux Malti u li għadu la xtara passaport Malti u lanqas ma kiseb wieħed b’xi mod iktar konvenzjonali) jistaqsi lil tal-ħanut dwar in-natura tal-ikel kollu li għandu fid-display…

“And this? What’s inside this? What is it made of”

U l-ieħor bil-paċenzja kollha tal-Virġilju Dantesk jagħtih tour tas-sorsi kollha tal-infern ta’ kolesterol illi taf toffri kull vetrina tat-Tejkewej Malti. Rajtu imħasseb lix-xerrej. Kellu għażla tqila quddiemu. Bejn qassatat jobżqu l-ful, bejn ross il-forn ileqq it-tjubija, bejn timpana ssejjaħlu għas-sess orali immedjat, bejn il-karnefiċina ta’ pizzez varji kont naħlef li ma jħarisx darb’oħra lejn pastizz. Wara kollox dan ma’ kellux il-black belt tal-ikel Malti li kollha kemm aħna inrabbu tul snin sħaħ ta- inizzjazzjoni…

Tistgħu timmaġinaw għalfejn – kieku ma kellix il-ġelat f’idi – tħajjart nagħmel ovazzjoni spontanja lil das-sinjur frustier u għalfejn ħassejt fawra ta’ Brotherhood of Man denja ta’ l-iqwa lirika ta’ Imagine meta smajtu ilissen dawn il-kliem:

“I’ll have two of the cheese and two of the peas”..

Għall-pastizzi kien qed jgħid. U mingħajr ma jaf ikkonferma l-algoritmu mistur illi x-Xirka ta’ Wikkiela Avukati kienu ikkonkludew li teżisti fid-DNA Tagħna Lkoll. In pastizzi united…

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D’Fifties

fifties-poster

 

Living in a country for nigh ten years does not necessarily mean that you know the place. Yes, you may be able to ditch the GPS and drive around the far flung (!) corners of the Mullerthal or the northern reaches of Clervaux as nonchalantly as you would in the backstreets of Attard or Cospicua. You might even qualify as an experienced tipster on Tripadvisor for the best joints to eat, drink or simply have fun in the Duchy. But do you know where the “locals” are coming from? Do you know what makes them tick?

I jumped at the opportunity to get an insider’s glimpse of the history of the Grand Duchy. Andy Bausch, Luxembourg’s most successful director had a new documentary in the cinemas and in it he was dissecting a very important decade in the history of Luxembourg – the fifties. The blurb promised an eighty minutes rock and roll through a duchy lazily emerging from the wartime damage and being slapped in the face by modernity. So armed with popcorn and Pom’s I settled down to fill in the lacunae I had shamefully let fester in this decade in Luxembourg.

Hall 4 at Utopolis Cinemas wasn’t anywhere close to being full. The sparse crowd was mainly made up of people who had lived the fifties themselves. Ok, there were a few representatives of the younger generation in the crowd but most of the viewers were like the couple sat next to me – local elderly folk eager to see a snapshot of themselves – which turned out to be an additional bonus since I could gauge more info from their reactions.

I could not help thinking what this kind of documentary would highlight were Malta the subject rather than the Grand Duchy, which turned out to be quite an interesting point of departure since the opening minutes were dedicated to the main obsession in postwar Luxembourg: the Catholic Church. I was surprised to see how strong the hold of the Church was on this nation back in the days of La Grande Construction de l’Europe. It turns out that from the rebuilding capital to the remotest villages (duerf) the main reference point was the church and its representatives.

So we got to see the stories of how the curés and nuns seemed to be the measure of what was acceptable and what was not. I was just thinking  of an infamous circular by Archbishop Gonzi against the devilish practices of rock and roll dancing when Bausch’s account segued straight into some controversial moments faced by one of the decade’s greatest journals (Revue). Apparently some photos of some ladies practising gymnastics in sport attire had provoked the ire of many a rural priest. No criticism was spared for the Bishop of the time who was described by a famous Luxembourg author (Gaston Vogel) as presumptions “you could see it by the way he strutted around like a peacock” (paoner).

I cannot possibly run through all the different aspects of Luxembourg life that were excellently portrayed in this piece – from the arrival of TV to the almost reluctant participation of the Duchy in the construction of the European Community – but I cannot sufficiently stress how admirably the self-critical tone was handled. Early on Vogel comments on how the nation was a nation of “bauer” (close to boors) who still had an obsession with being navel-gazing – distrusting the outside world. Another commentator whose name sadly escapes me did not hesitate to highlight the “racist” attitude of Luxembourgers to the outside world.

The racism was a combination of distrust of the German neighbours, only too recently enemies at war, to the dislike of the early fonctionnaires of a young Europe. Strikingly the early experience of the minnows of the six founding members of the European Community was marginal. Bar the monumental figures such as Schumann, early jobs for Luxembourgers was as huissiers (marshalls) or administrative secretaries. Vogel condemns this attitude outright and claims that Luxembourg missed out on being the real capital of Europe (and not Brussels) because of some “idiots”. And of course because of the Church. Yes, the Church was not too enamoured with the idea of opening of frontiers and the importation of new “ideas” so it was quite happy with the shift of most institutions to neighbouring Brussels.

This write up can only skim the surface of a wonderfully crafted psychological analysis of a crucial period in the history of a young European state. I can only wish that a similar treatment and dissection can be made of my home country free from the hang-ups and interests of partisan interpretation. You could feel the heartbeat of a nation struggling to come to terms with fifties modernity – from the reactions to the Soviet developments, to the emancipation of women to the atrocious buildings that sprung up in the fifties (Vogel again – “Shits, the lot of them, all the architects).

It’s a two thumbs up for Andy Bausch and his highly recommendable tour de force. There is much for a nation to learn when it holds up the mirror and takes a long, hard and honest look at itself.

Ech sin dofir!

 

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Sycophants

sycophant_BR

 

 

Is the sycophant a product of our political system or is he a cause? Do the parties feed on the sycophantic needs of many involved or linked to our political system or do they generate new ones? In any case, the sycophant is ever present and more dangerous than ever.

In un paese pieno di coglioni, ci mancano le palle.

 

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Tan-Numri

This blog never had aspirations to being a number cruncher and we always begin our budget-time assessments with a caveat the size of Manwel Mallia’s mattress. While I do not feel that the minutae of budget balancing is within my sphere of expertise (nowadays everyone seems to be an “expert” in something “f’hiex jifhem?”) I can and will assess the noise created by and around it.

It does not take much to see that as a general line the “state of the economy” bit of the affair tells us one simple message: that the economy was being safely marshalled by the previous PN government and that the PL financial gurus simply had to hold tight to the rudder and control an already steady ship. How does an ignoramus like me notice that? Simples really – there are no groundbreaking measures that would signify a sudden change in direction – little wonder that Muscat expects the Commission to approve his latest milestone in the mysterious roadmap.

When it does boil down to the nitty-gritty Muscat seems to be making much of the fact that he is putting his money where his mouth is. True, we are surprised in the sense that this is the first time that Labour seems to be actually acting in the manner it had promised before the election – and this with regard to one very particular item on the budget list i.e. the cost of water and electricity. Surprised we are because given Labour’s haphazard approach to accountability, environmental transparency, meritocracy etc we should not be blamed had we expected even the black and white promises on the utilities bill to be thrown out of the window.

In his intervention with the press, Simon Busuttil tried (rather vaguely in my opinion – could have been clearer) to explain how the money saved on electricity and water will be repaid threefold via the newly introduced or increased indirect taxes. That’s one for the number crunchers to confirm/contradict. If it is so (and quite frankly it must be so since the money must come from somewhere) then Labour’s deceptive basket of “cutting the utilities bill” will turn into a time bomb ready to explode when the voters realise that their pennies saved have actually transformed in pounds pinched.

What did jar insofar as the opposition reaction was concerned is the assertion that this budget contains no job-producing measures. Given the noise coming from other social partners this particular reaction might turn out to look like one of those that is simply “negative for the sake of being negative”.  The MEA (Employers), MDA (Developers), MHRA (hotels & restaurants), GWU (you know), and the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise all seem to have hooked on to more positive aspects of certain measures in the budget including job-creation. Bar the angry nurses (MUMN), the FORUM seems to have had positive words for most of the budget plan, leaving Simon Busuttil and the echoes in a few blogs/columns sounding like lone negative voices.

I am (painfully) aware that the “negative” mantra is something close to Joseph Muscat and believe you me I am not using it in the same sense. Labour’s little measures (COLA, petrol prices, cigarettes, educational footballers) might have served as a little decoration around the most awaited measure of cheaper utility bills (let’s face it, it was the only thing most people were looking at this time round). Some other measures such as the incentives for first time house buyers will be warmly welcomed (for a better highlight of positives and negatives check out Mark Anthony Sammut’s early assessment).

Should Busuttil have focused so strongly on job-creation? I believe that the biggest flaw in Labour’s budget hype is the very fact that it is much ado about nothing. The bigger emphasis should remain on the citizenship for sale system that stinks from top to bottom. other than that Busuttil should have thanked Muscat for confirming that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the direction in which the PN was heading finance-wise and allowed this first Labour budget to shine by reflecting the light shone earlier in the year by its predecessors.

As for the cut in utility bills. While Muscat played his little fiddle in parliament last night, East Libya (the oil rich East Libya) declared an autonomous government and gunshots were being fired in Tripoli. Meanwhile we have obscure deals built on Chinese whispers and a not too tenuous link between the latter and our new citizenship scheme.

When it comes to surprises Muscat cannot be more of a jester than this.

 

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God Help Us

There should only have been one verdict in today’s court case before Magistrate Farrugia and thankfully for those who have some residual faith in the system that outcome was confirmed. The Police Commissioner’s last ditch attempt to retain possession of Norman Vella’s tablet and phone was thrown out on the most basic of bases: lack of reasonable suspicion.

As we already saw in an earlier post (Persons of Interest) the whole farce that led up to Norman Vella’s detention was a transparent combination of abuse of power and prima donna reactions (yet again) from those among the Taghna Lkoll crowd who still cannot come to terms with the borderlines and ethics of being in government. As much respect as I have for Comodini Cachia and the rest of the Nationalist lawyers having a field day as though the ghost of 1984 was back, I must insist that much of this case depended on the litmus test of whether our courts still retained a modicum of sanity.

Thankfully they do. Magistrate Farrugia could not but see the obvious bumbling of a police force (or members thereof) eager to over-respond to a complaint by people “connected” in the corridors of power (Jesus Wept). As the drama unravelled we could see the tenuous allegations of crime become at worst jokes in a panto. “There was a photo” became “actually not really a photo at the airport and we are still combing cameras”. The best was the Commissioner’s excuse that he needed to keep the confiscated goods otherwise if he released them there would still be a shadow of doubt on Vella. See? The police confiscated the material TO PROVE HIM INNOCENT.

Not even the heady days of “moralment konvint” beat this. If I recall well Manwel Mallia recently mentioned an upgrading of the police academy to some sort of college where the police would learn the finer art of the law and how to apply it. That seems to be one hell of an uphill task given how the police manage to make a basic application of the most basic laws by a defence lawyer sound like the greatest twist in a John Grisham movie.

In normal democracies heads would roll. In the UK the head of the (insert region here) Constabulary would be constantly grilled on the media while an Independent Police Enquiry would be set up to see why so many police resources and hours were wasted simply because a couple of communications coordinators with delusions of grandeur called in to report their distaste at being photographed.

That’s a normal democracy. But this is not a normal democracy. In this democracy of ours the police are told that they were “doing their duty”, some people will point to the arrogant Norman Vella and say that he had no business (doing what exactly? no business not taking photos?). For heaven’s sake some self-appointed investigators will point to this mess and blame AD voters for the reason things have come to this, quickly forgetting that much of the blame lies at the feet of an unelectable incumbent last time round.

Whoever is to blame is not the point. The point is that our custodians have been hung up to dry and shown to be unable to think for their own and apply the law as the guardians that they should be. It should not have taken a Magistrate to confirm that there were no grounds for a crime.

Their motto is Domine Dirige Nos… God guides us. I guess God must be taking a break. Let’s hope he’s there to help us next time they go on some sort of renegade mission.

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Muscat’s Going Medieval

It just occurred to me that we now have full confirmation that all the TaghnaLkoll talk of roadmaps and costings was nothing but an elaborate bluff. The information that we now have in hand regarding Henley’s role in the Passports for Sale scheme shows us that far from projecting Malta into the age of modern business as Muscat was so eager to highlight, we are witnessing a regression to Medieval business. Yep, that’s the Middle Ages – definitely before your grandpapa was alive.

You see, ever eager to make a quick buck, the current Maltese government has hatched a scheme that makes a mockery of the prized possession of Maltese and EU citizenship and all this simply to create a very-medieval scheme of exclusive monopoly. What was done by medieval towns is now being practiced by the dinosaurs in charge of our economy with more than a little connivance by those supposedly in charge of our safety and security. In the past Medieval towns would grant traders exclusivity over a particular merchandise and then take a cut on all the trade that occurs. Simples. No sweat, just a seal and a little tax.

Muscat could not exactly come up with some form of government approved monopoly in, say, colour televisions. Of course not. This is not 1984 (meh). He took one thing that could not really be commercialised (and this for obvious reasons such as national security and integrity) and changed it into a cheap trick available to someone who could relatively afford a mezzanine in Luxembourg’s outskirts. Nobody in his entourage could be trusted in selling this kind of merchandise so he found an outside company that will get a huge cut on every transaction. No time for niceties so the same company getting the cut will be trusted (please, stop laughing in the back) to vet applicants and possibly refuse a potential killing simply because it might develop a conscience and believe that Malta’s territorial integrity is at stake.

This medieval scheme is now having the not so welcome result that international agreements with states such as the US of A might be imperiled insofar as VISA waiver schemes are concerned. Would you blame them? They can tell a trojan horse when they see one – not that Muscat would know. He’s busy going medieval on our citizenship and transforming our nation into a peddler of the cheapest kind.


 

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