Last week, a fruitful visit to the "Italy" aisle of an international foods market landed me a plethora of jarred fish. So, this week has seen a revival of anchovy toast, the world's most lavish, defiant and wryly inexpensive meal. It's gentleman's relish minus the cummerbund.
To make it, find some good anchovies, preferably from Spain or Italy and preserved in olive oil (or in salt, in which case they’ll need a quick rinse in milk or water before use). Pound them to a coarse paste using a mortar and pestle, throw in some red chilli flakes or a little fresh garlic, swirl in some great olive oil and smear this unlovely ambrosia on to toasted bread. For most people, a little goes a long way. For most of you, that is.
I go through phases where I consume a fair amount of salt. The rest of the time – as in, routinely and relentlessly – I eat it in obscene quantities. This doesn’t mean I can’t be trusted to prepare food for others. I know what properly salted food tastes like; I just prefer extra.
Don’t want anchovy toast? It’s not for everyone. There’s an alternative in miso toast, my second favourite snack. If you’ve ever tasted miso straight, then you might sense a pattern here. If you were to spread a very thin layer of sweet, mellow, white miso on to generously buttered toast, I’m confident that you would be cursing me for your new addiction in no time.
The miso I use is organic, but a lot of commercial miso contains monosodium glutamate (MSG), a controversial ingredient that’s heavily criticised; it’s also a trillion-dollar industry laughing all the way to the bank. Originally, adverse reactions to MSG were called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, but it’s a Japanese invention.
In 1908, a chemistry professor in Tokyo discovered that glutamic acid was responsible for a flavour he found in kombu, the seaweed that is used to make the broth for miso soup. He used the word “umami” to describe this elemental taste, which was savoury, meaty, robust, nucleotide-flavoured goodness. He isolated the most soluble salt from glutamic acid and submitted a patent to produce MSG for use as a food additive and commercial production began in 1909 as “ajinomoto”, meaning “essence of taste”. (Ajinomoto is now the name of a Japanese company with annual revenues of US$9 billion [Dh33bn], responsible for producing 33 per cent of the world’s MSG.)
In its totally unprocessed and naturally occurring form, glutamic acid is present in all my favourite foods. I guess you could say it’s the magic ingredient; a flavour intensifier in aged and fermented products. Without it, there would be no miso or anchovy toast, no Caesar salads made with Worcestershire sauce and beautiful shavings of cheese, and no noodle dishes with soy sauce or fish sauce.
MSG critics are quick to insist that eating glutamates will make people’s heads explode, with joy I presume, since that’s sometimes how I feel when I’m eating anchovies. They say that glutamates are excitotoxins that can kill brain cells, and that might be why even small amounts of MSG can cause migraine headaches. Since I’ve never had a headache after eating MSG, I can only assume that I didn’t have the brain cells to spare in the first place. Strangely, though, I did get a headache after reading so many unsubstantiated claims about glutamates.
I don’t buy food containing the additive MSG and I don’t cook with it, but I do eat out, and I know that MSG is in everything from the coating in the fried chicken at the soul food place to the miso soup and the spicy tuna hand roll at the nearby sushi counter. Japanese kewpie mayonnaise contains MSG and there’s no substituting its unique flavour and texture. As David Chang of the burgeoning Momofuku empire told Food & Wine in 2005, kewpie is the world’s best mayonnaise “because it has MSG”. It’s in food because it makes people want to eat more.
Nouf Al-Qasimi is an Emirati food analyst who lives and cooks in New Mexico
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
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Results
Stage three:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-43
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
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6. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE-Team Emirates, at 24s
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1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-13-02
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6. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
All or Nothing
Amazon Prime
Four stars
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Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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ABU DHABI CARD
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
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6pm: UAE Matyrs Trophy (PA) Maiden; Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh100,000; 1,600m
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Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
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Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
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Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Rest
(Because Music)
