Tag: table

Joker: what a bad guy eats at the table – Italian Cuisine

"Joker" film is blockbuster. But who really is the Joker man? What suffering marked it? What does it eat?

Emaciated, with a curved back and uncertain gait, disjointed like torments that it hides in the depths, without a layer of makeup that can cover it. This is how it presents itself Joaquin Phoenix's Joker homonymous Todd Phillips movie, the first cine-comic to have won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival which is conquering the highest step of the box office a little everywhere. In the first days of programming, the film earns 93.5 million dollars in the United States alone, while the global collection currently reaches 245.7 million, one of the highest ever recorded so soon after its release at the cinema. And if the debate about whether it is a bluff or a masterpiece is very intense, everyone seems to agree in recognizing Phoenix as an extraordinary talent, an expressive force that manages to represent the mental disorder that the protagonist suffers with a disarming simplicity, which almost puts the chills.

What does the Joker eat?

The character of Arthur Fleck, the failed comedian who aspires to a stand-up comedian career and who will become one of Batman's most bitter enemies, is considered by many to be the villain par excellence, one of the most disturbing and successful presences in the universe of the DC Comics, where it appears for the first time in 1940, when the world was torn apart by war and to Gotham the Dark Knight fought against a sadist with the smeared face who loved to terrorize the innocent. Few villains are so well aesthetically connoted as Joker: green-dyed hair, the purple suit sewn on him and a lopsided smile, which shows the teeth consumed by wear with a certain pride. Of the eating habits of the psychopathic clown, Phillips's film tells us little: Arthur played by Phoenix is incredibly thin, marked by the bruises of beatings and made alive by a nervous laugh that explodes in his mouth like a firecracker. Something more about his favorite foodhowever, the Batman comics from which it is derived tell us. Joker, a stateless person whose society has turned its back to him and who, for this reason, declares war on the system for the sole purpose of no longer feeling an outcast, but a savior, feeds mainly on rubbish, food remnants that drive him to to fuel more out of necessity than a real need to appease hunger pangs.

An eclectic appetite as his personality, which focuses on rotten foods as rotten he feels inside, rejected by those closest to him and animated by a madness that leads him to unleash an unprecedented violence, which does not seem to appeal to any remnant of rationality. Carbohydrates and fats are not part of his diet, even if the yellowed or even missing teeth that we see through his smile suggest that he does not disdain sweets, probably candies. The sugar, in fact, keeps it active, gives it the energy needed to carry out its plans and alert all the active forces of Gotham. Especially since recovering the sweets, especially for a character like Joker, is as easy as drinking a glass of water: obtaining supplies at petrol stations or in suburban stores becomes a delight, a criminal activity like many others, but that is necessary to its sustenance. And it doesn't matter if his body looks dry like a pincushion: an appointment with a dietician is probably the last thing he would need.

Photo: frame taken from the film.

But at the table does the cell phone go to the right or left of the plate? – Italian Cuisine

How to place the cutlery correctly on the table, when to lay the napkin on the legs, which fork to use for each course. The etiquette at the table is a set of very precise rules, codified gestures and conventions not to be broken. The times evolve, but the good education at the table never sets. Some of these rules may seem outdated by now, but there are more formal circumstances where it is necessary to know and respect them.

Mobile phone at the table: how to behave?

1. Compulsive photographers

You wish to share the dishes you are eating on company? Leave the phone in your pocket or bag: take it out only when you take it and post it later.

2. Workaholics

Wait for one very important phone call job and you absolutely have to answer? Leave the phone in your pocket or purse.
Activate the ringer if you are afraid of not feeling the vibration, but set a moderate volume to avoid disturbing. Once the call is received, you should apologize and leave for a moment.
Or better yet: set the silent mode, postpone the call and enjoy your meal.

3. Rude diners

Has the person at the table with you put the phone on the table and does nothing but watch it? Sequestrateglielo.

Why doesn't my smartphone sit at the table?

You are not yet convinced, here are 3 good reasons not to use the smartphone at the table (without considering that you could spill water on it).

1. Hygiene

Electronic devices accumulate a lot of germs. Since they cannot be washed or disinfected, it is not a good idea to put them close to food.

2. Sharing

It's not at all nice to watch the smartphone screen continuously when you're at the table with someone. It could be understood as a sign of little interest. Eating together is a time to share something more about food: do it seriously, without Instagram filters.

3. Wellness

At least during meals, you can avoid shake to infinity looking for who knows what. Let's take advantage of it to detox from the social media, connect to the real world and enjoy food for real.

The exceptions

Let's not fool ourselves, smartphones are part of our lives and demonizing them is no use. The answer to the first question remains the same: at the table there is no space for the mobile phone. Better to keep it in your pocket and take it out only when strictly necessary.

If you are alone at the table, you could make friends with strangers or look around, but it's not a drama to watch a video or read an article. If you are in company and you think you have seen a meme too funny, you can show it to friends. If you have a terrible doubt, googate as well. If you are about to taste absurd food or a beautiful dish, take one Memory picture.

And if yours appointment is it going disastrously and you don't know how to escape? Pretending to have received a message or be called by an accomplice is a timeless classic. This time you can use your mobile, rest assured!

Zucchini or courgette flowers? Advice from harvest to table! – Italian Cuisine

But now let's get back to the big dilemmma: zucchini or courgette flowers? Every summer does this doubt grip you so much that you resign yourself to simply calling them flowers? Do not despair here is how to recognize them with this little guide.

Pumpkin or courgette?

We are used to call them generically pumpkin flowers but it would be reasonable to make a distinction, since both the pumpkin plant and the courgette plant produces edible flowers, very similar. The difference is in fact minimal, i zucchini flowers they tend to be larger, they have pointed petals of a bright yellow tending to orange, but they have almost no fragrance. THE courgette flowers instead they have smaller dimensions, pale yellow rounded petals and a more accentuated fragrance. Having said that, there should have appeared in the head the clear image of zucchini flowers, which are those that we usually find on the market. Large and capacious, they are certainly more satisfying to the eye and to the palate, for this supermarket and greengrocers keep the courgette flowers and rarely the pumpkin ones.

How to pick flowers

Both the courgette flowers and the courgette flowers should be harvested early in the morning because they open at dawn and close again after a few hours, so those who sleep do not take flowers. However, a further distinction must be made between male flowers and female flowers. The latter are those attached to the fruit, or to the pumpkin or courgette, and allow the fruit to grow, when it has reached full maturity the flower dies and falls. The male flowers instead grow attached to their own stem, called peduncle, and do not lead to fructification, but contribute to the pollination of the plant, since the pollen contained in the stamen of the male flowers reaches the pistil of the female flowers. In summary, if we collect the female ones attached to the fruit it will stop growing, while if we detach the male ones we risk stopping the production of the plant itself. The advice is therefore to make an intelligent and reasoned collection, always leaving at least one male flower for each plant in this way there will be neither flowers nor fruits.

How to store them

Collect the flowers no later than 8 am, when they are still well open, so you will be able to clean them better and with ease. Rinse them gently, remove the pistil without spoiling the corolla and dry them from both sides with absorbent paper or a clean cloth. Once they are dry put them in a large container with an airtight seal and without overlapping them too much, put them in the fridge, use them over two days, no more. If your garden is producing it in large quantities you can make a special gift to neighbors and friends, or stuff them, bread them and put them directly in the freezer, spacing one layer and the other with plastic wrap, in this way they won't stick and just in case, just remove them from the freezer and fry them without even having to thaw them.