In Lorrie Moore's short story Agnes of Iowa, the title character starts out as the unlucky casualty of good intentions. The name "Agnes" had been her mother's superstitious attempt to bamboozle the genetic lottery, using the logic that "a good-looking woman was even more striking when her name was a homely one".
But Agnes and her mother are slapped in the face by the hand of fate. Homely young Agnes tries to make her name sound exotic, introducing herself as "On-yez" at parties. But Agnes grows up, and the story is a masterpiece of expectations and loss.
Themes of expectation and loss might have something to do with why I'm naturally suspicious of garnishes on food. After all, the word "homely" can be used to describe something cosy, familiar and suggestive of a home environment, but it also could have been used to describe Agnes.
Like make-up, garnishes have their place in the line-up. The notion of comfort food in restaurants has always freaked me out, reminding me of "wear your pyjamas to work" day and other things I'd rather live without.
A cook's responsibility to make food delicious isn't as subjective or as variable as it often appears - but how much does it have to do with how beautiful the food looks? When I'm paying to eat in a restaurant, I don't always need it to be different or better than something I would make at home, but there are definitely certain things I'm more drawn to experimenting with and consuming on home - or homely - turf.
Potted meats, where have you been all my life? I eat you, and then I forget you. And I'm sorry about that, because some of the best things I've eaten in the past month have been simple potted meats: the tender, rich, imported sardine rillettes at Carrefour; the sweet and buttery potted brown crab at London's NOPI; a velvety terrine of rabbit and wild mushrooms; a duck confit in Spain that first crackled, then melted, in our mouths.
As David Lebovitz writes in the introduction to his recipe for salmon rillettes (davidlebovitz.com): "A recent story on CNN talked about how America's Favorite French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, was not bourgeois… the (American) commentator exclaimed, 'He didn't grow up eating pâté!' I thought that was pretty funny since meaty pâtés and rillettes aren't upscale delicacies in France but are considered everyday fare."
Lebovitz's website also contains a recipe for outstanding sardine pâté, including a version where he adds my childhood favourite, Kiri cream cheese. If I could find Kiri in Santa Fe, I'd be making some for breakfast. Instead, I'm making his salmon rillettes.
In late 2009, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall did a two-part series about terrines and terrine alternatives for his column in The Guardian. They're a great resource - and like Lebovitz's recipes, they're freely available. If you're interested in making potted meats at home, I highly recommend checking out their notes and recipes.
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
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Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
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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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More Iraq election coverage:
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
