Text 19998, 122 rader
Skriven 2014-12-01 15:50:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: wanderings 371
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 ML> so it is to my substantial advantage that the insurers
 ML> cultivate undue fears in the general population, especially
 ML> those who have no real reason to expect that they will use
 ML> the services.
 NB> True.  I'm becoming more jaundiced towards the industry lately with
 NB> the hordes of spoofed number/place calls that have reached our house. 

Bear in mind that it's not the already debased insurance
industry that is to blame, it's the call centers, which
are either whole-cloth scammers or work on some inflated
commission arrangement.

 NB> Many of them hang up before anyone comes on the line, the rest are
 NB> someone with an accent (and a probably spoofed name) wanting to sign us
 NB> up for insurance quotes for home, auto, etc insurance.  And even though
 NB> it appears to be the same clearinghouse call center for all the calls,
 NB> they never catch on that NO means NO!!

The only thing that might work is if you just put the
receiver aside and walked off. One of the weapons they use is
not to relinquish the line even when you hang up. If you used
the same tactic on them, you might actually get a coveted
spot on their do-not-call list.

 ML> Oh, sure. She introduced herself as the one they assigned
 ML> all the tough cases to (probably true) and remarked that
 ML> they've been trying to get rid of her for 40 years (maybe
 ML> true). One of the ones whose eccentricities are tolerated
 ML> because of their general level of competency, no doubt.
 NB> Was she well over 60?  The 40 seems a little hyperbolic...

Actually, now that I recall, she said that they'd been trying
to get rid of her for 50 years. She had to be 70 if a day. The
hyperbolic part was probably the getting rid of part - she was
distinctly eccentric and kind of anti-authority, but her skills
were such that they probably wouldn't have actually fired her
for (what I see as) normal quirkiness.

 ML> not widely used in this country - it's much more painful
 ML> and much less convenient but I think is used in less
 ML> developed countries and in combat situations (involves a
 ML> long rigid steel shanked needle such as you used to see
 ML> in horror movies, cartoons, and the like). And it still
 ML> took the chief 3 or 4 tries.
 NB> OUCH.  It's the needle that gets down deep to the ones not easily felt
 NB> on the surface, I guess...  still pretty drastic... 

It's the needle that doesn't give up when a vein rolls,
and during these last adventures, they all were either
sclerosed up or rolled away trying to escape when they
saw the thing coming.
 
 ML> Go to your butcher and buy some caul fat - or in this case
 NB> /Can/ one buy caul fat at the butcher's here in the states...? (I
 NB> noted that the recipe came from South Africa)

You can special order it. It has been a long time since
I saw it actually out and available - and even then it was
frozen: I can imagine someone reading off a cookbook and
not figuring out that it had to be thawed, unrolled, and
stretched out before using and subsequently huffing back
to the store with this useless globby mess. In most cases
a moistened or greased cheesecloth should substitute okay.

 NB> I've been reading a new acquisition from the Folio Society, a cookbook
 NB> called Good Things, published originally in the 1970s, by Jane
 NB> Grigson

Ian used to refer to Jane Grigson a lot, and Nicholas
had a collection of her books, out of one of which I
made this for a party at his house.

Aloo saag (alu shag)
cat: Indian, vegetarian
servings: lots

20 oz spinach
1 ts peanut oil
5 lb potatoes*
1 oz butter
1 oz peanut oil
2 serrano chiles, sliced
2 in ginger, peeled, julienne
1 c chopped onion (original says 2 onions sliced thin)
2 minced garlic cloves (I'd have added this if it
- were my party, which it wasn't)
4 ts turmeric
2 ts fenugreek leaf, crumbled (not in original)
1 ts cumin powder (I'd have used this if I had
- found the cumin, which I didn't)
a little amchoor (I'd have used this if I had
- found the amchoor, which I didn't)
2 Tb ham glaze (not in original)
2 c water (not in original)

* Grigson calls for I believe twice as many potatoes as
  spinach, but I did as I was told)

Wash and pick over spinach. Drain. Heat oil in a large
pot; stir-cook spinach until just wilted. The Grigson
recipe asks for 1/2 Tb salt; Nicholas refused to
acknowledge this. Chop spinach coarse and set aside.

Peel potatoes and cube about 3/4". (Keep in lightly
acidulated water until use, not in original.)

Heat butter and oil; add chiles, ginger, and onions, and
stir-cook over medium heat until onions begin to brown.
Add turmeric. Stir in potato cubes, other seasonings, and
water, reduce heat to low, and cook covered until potatoes
are tender. Serve with rice and Indian breads as available.
The original doesn't call for added water, which I imagine
would make a sticky mess at the bottom of the pot. Nor does
it call for ham glaze, but when I tasted the saltless
version Nicholas ordered me to make, it was just so darn
bland, and the ham glaze was just sitting there begging to
be used.

What I did: after one of Jane Grigson's less inspired
recipes, in World Atlas of Food
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