The Jello Is Delicious
Smörgåsbord is a Swedish word for a buffet. A buffet means a little bit of everything.
Author’s Note
My last post about consciousness received a comment from a loyal reader named John Loch. I love constructive criticism. The intention of my post was to stress that I believe consciousness emerges from the confluence of our senses, not just speech. My sense is there is an internal conversation of some sort and speech is icing on the cake. It means senses and the data they provide might be all there is to consciousness. It also means consciousness has been around for a LONG time.
A Smörgåsbord Memory
When I was a kid, it was an event to go out for dinner. I remember at least on a couple of occasions going to a Smörgåsbord. Of course, in Buffalo, NY there is no way the extra accents made it into the name. I don’t think there were a lot of people from Sweden in Western New York. I still remember the occasions. I am also sure, consistent with the period, there must have been Jello available amongst the panoply of foods. In a tribute to the creative destruction so fundamental to life in America (100% because of our commitment to immigration IMO), I think the very best buffets nowadays are South Asian. The wonder of this country is its constant reinvention. It seems the Smörgåsbord made its debut in America at the 1939 World Fair in NYC at the Swedish Pavillion “Three Crowns Restaurant”. For those who seek the authentic (and speak Swedish) here you go. Here is the English version.
Today’s Smörgåsbord
Today I decided to downshift. If I do too many book reviews and consciousness talks, you may get the wrong impression of me. I have an array of wonderful Substacks I enjoy and admire. They deliver the goods each week and remain something to aspire to or simply enjoy. Despite their differences, I enjoy them all. What every Substack I stick with seems to have in common is THEY ARE AUTHENTIC.
WARNING — WHILE THESE ARE HEARTFELT THEY ARE ALSO RECOMMENDATIONS TO DO SOMETHING ELSE. I ENJOY THESE SUBSTACKS FOR A MULTITUDE OF DIFFERENT REASONS. IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOOD SKIP AHEAD AND COME BACK LATER — SKIP THE ADVERTISING AND YOU WILL SAVE 443 WORDS (2+ MINUTES)
I am interested in a lot of things and some of them might seem silly but I love to laugh. I do not see the silly, quirky, and lovely in everything as
does in her weekly everything is an enchanting trip through NYC (Café Anne). Another fun premise for a Substack is the cleverly titled — people complain about aging all the time but it beats the alternative.I am also intrigued by the amazing but don’t purport to be
the remarkable author of “Everything is Amazing”. I do not believe that everything is amazing. Lots of things are just dross and perhaps just silly and inane.
I love books and even write reviews once a month. I would never be able to pull off an all-encompassing view of the world through books as
SoNovelicious, Books & Reading & More Books manages in the hands of Gayla Gray.
The ability to see a better world and provide a roadmap by focusing on land, property, and walking is so far beyond my capacity, I am just glad there are people like
making it look easy with “On the Commons”.I also cannot resist the minutiae of life at times and just like to dwell on the smallest of things until it inflates in my head sufficiently that I cannot turn away. I am sure there are Substacks in this niche but I have not fallen under the spell just yet. Tell me about one in the comments and I might take the bait.
Another fun exploration for me is to see the world as interconnected. Intractable problems can have simple solutions when we look at them differently. Someone who manages to break it all down by redrawing the world as just interactions are
. Stephanie Losi provides a different way to see the world and it is easier on your head.Finally, after completing a climate awareness program named Common Earth, my interest in other points of view has grown.
writes about climate and her writing is quite accessible. The bonus is she writes from the exotic venue of New Zealand.
THIS ADVERTISING INTERLUDE IS OVER — RETURN LATER AND CHECK OUT THE ONE YOU THINK YOU ARE LEAST LIKELY TO ENJOY — YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED — THIS IS PROBABLY HOW SOME PEOPLE START PLAYING PICKLEBALL
There is a lot of wonderful writing on Substack. Some of us are just trying to find our place. I hope a bit of this and a bit of that I try to deliver continues to be worth your time. Today my post will be a mixture of the amazing, the silly, and the minutiae. I hope you enjoy the change of pace. We can call it my personal Smörgåsbord. We will get a little bit of bad food, bad language, and the amazing stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor when I research a post. Enjoy.
What’s a Smörgåsbord Without Food?
I enjoy writing about food and HOPE you enjoy reading about it occasionally. If you want to read some from the archive, here you go. Something happens when your country is shaped by immigration. When we look back on history, there are many who fret and fear what immigration might do to our narrow definition of America. The genius is immigration changes the people who arrive definitively. When we think a dish is complete, the recipe always guides us — sample it and add some salt and pepper to taste. Adding one person to a gumbo of 330 million makes an ever-so-slight change and we taste it to measure the improvement. The one, on the other hand, is changed profoundly and becomes one with the gumbo. Don’t fall for the loud horns yelling that people “are not assimilating”. Perhaps if we had more, not less immigration, the 330 million might shift their points of view a little bit faster.
Some have distrusted and feared the process since the beginning. My belief is they have ALWAYS been wrong. We are alone on this planet as a place that has been improving the chili, the soup, and the gumbo for three centuries. I hope we never stop. We have faced challenges whether wartime or economic. A boogeyman always exists. What recurs is some carry a narrow definition of what it is to be human and American. We fear they will be the end of this experiment. What always happens is their singularity is their weakness and our diversity is our strength. This is why Nazi Germany, fascist Italy & Imperial Japan are on the ash heap. It is also why insular Japan, China, and India will always run out of rope. It is harder to be a melting pot and there are bumps along the way but the valley over the mountain is beautiful.
Now let’s pivot to FUN before you click away!!!
When Food Arrives We Tweak It — I Like to Rant About It
The Americanized versions of ethnic food make me smile. The provider hedges their bets and radically changes the core product. No one in Italy is thinking we should stuff the crust of the pizza with a crappy chewy cheez. If we give it a good name, people will buy it. WTH is a stromboli? I would bet big money that almost all of the named items in Americanized Mexican food are fraudulent. We’ve been doing this for a while and it always makes me laugh. No one in China is eating General Tso’s chicken, we made it up. Sometimes we improve on the original but mostly just increase the serving size.
Belgian Waffles
The history of a Belgian Waffle (BW) is a decent example. The BW is an illusion. The 1958 World’s Fair AKA Expo 58 was the coming out party for waffles and Belgium. It was held in Brussels. In a tribute to never overestimating your consumer, an entrepreneur realized most Americans would never know the capital of Belgium. They were called Brussels waffles and Americans avoid the sprouts at all costs. The great thing about American English is we wear down the dictionary gatekeepers and adopt our “better way of saying it”. Most do not know the capital of their state I suppose so the capital of Belgium is a stretch. He wisely renamed them rather than assuming Americans would know where Brussels is. I would imagine a Belgian who experiences Americanized versions of waffles with corn syrup-based “maple-flavored syrup” and whipped creme is not so sure what they are eating.
Portobello Mushrooms
Bear with me as this is a pet peeve. I enjoy mushrooms served raw and cooked. The texture, the umami, and the seeming property by which they can’t be overcooked all appeal to me. As Americans began looking for options to the traditional burger, offering a portobello mushroom as the patty alternate became a thing. I remember my disappointment when I found out they were mostly a smart marketing idea. Don’t they sound Italian? They cost less than a porcini. What I concluded is these are mostly big, tough mushrooms that used to get ground up into mushroom essence. In America, big is often the goal in itself when it comes to food. If we give it a snazzy name and make it big, Americans will bite (and pay $3.99 a pound for the opportunity).
Regarding wearing down the dictionary gatekeepers, a good example is oriented. People have been saying ‘orientated’ for so long, the gatekeepers gave up. If you are a fan of sports, the pundits managed to make physicality a reasonable alternate description for being willing to bump someone.
Speaking of Too Big to Resist
The oversized portobello mushrooms remind me of the penchant of Americans to go large. The USDA, no tool for healthy eating has seemingly given up. What has never changed is 4 oz is still considered the serving size for meat/protein. The next time you see fish in the grocery store, do the mental math and split the servings into 4 oz portions. Not a thing. Americans like to cook their “fillets” on a PLANK.
I think I have mentioned it in a previous post but I have a family member in the car industry. As full-size pickups grow ever larger, we mostly say oh well. If you park next to a big one in a parking lot they largely block the sun. Whenever I see the largest of the large, I always rewind in my mind the observation “If you put leather seats in a dump truck, Americans will buy them”.
The Rest of the Story
I have been working hard to consistently prune my posts. I have been making progress and I hope that is what each of you is looking for. Some of the extra material just ends up on the cutting room floor. For those of you that enjoyed the Orca story, here is my favorite bit of material that colored my post but did not end up in the story. I have been considering providing more links but that seems to run counter to making these posts shorter. The three words and concepts of note in this video are cetaceans, cross-species cooperation (think of dogs), and gyrification. If you are not interested, skip the video. This one kept me on the treadmill on a rainy day.
The Poll & Music
Today I downshifted and I hope a light mix was enjoyable. There are lots of things that interest me but sometimes R&R is the very best gift we can give our minds.
When I eat out I just enjoy myself. The serving sizes seem like torture to me. I would assume a four-ounce pork chop (or chicken breast) could only result if the hog or chicken died young in a car accident. Recommended serving sizes only occur if you are enjoying Dim Sum or Tapas and only then if you have the willpower to stop. Since today was light, it is all happy songs. #1, #2, #3 and #4 will always give you a lift. I am not providing the graphic previews of the music today. Instead, only click through if you want a lift.
Thank you so much for the shout out. I love a good smorgasbord. There's an old pic of me somewhere in front of a restaurant called, Smorga-Bob's. I remember liking the name more than the food. It's bizarre that a pasta package will claim there are 6 servings. Maybe as a side dish? Large portions are not so American after all. In Italy one east the entire pizza for lunch. Go figure. Literally-- there's goes the figure.
But ... wait ... did you just compare Substacks you like to pickleball?! 😂 (Thank you for the shout-out! Waiting to see if Mike Sowden will now have to come out of his between-season break to write a riposte: Everything IS Amazing!)
Do you ever wonder how much of the modern American life came out of the 1939 World's Fair? Every time I turn around, that Fair is behind something odd. I had no idea about smörgåsbord being introduced here at that event!