A headline in one of today’s online newspapers reads: “Is France scared of spicy food? I used to think so – but now it’s turning up the heat.” The writer went on about how difficult it was to find really spicy food when he moved to France a decade ago. This struck me as odd because it was in France that I discovered couscous - not just the “semolina” cereal but the spicy North African dish - back in the late 1960s / early 1970s. In fact,m long before harissa sauce was an item regularly sold in our UK supermarkets, I used to buy tubes of harissa paste when we went on holiday in France in the 1970s. I suspect though that the writer wanted something “spicy” enough blow the roof of his mouth off.
Of course, couscous isn’t a French dish as such any more than curry is an English dish. In both cases they are one of the consequences of the countries’ colonial past.
The violent thugs who are going round shouting that they want their country back and talking about some strange things called “British values” need to be reminded of this. Maybe they never knew it in the first place.How many of them like to go for a curry or a kebab after a night’s drinking? How many of them like to order take-away pizza or go out for tapas? So many things that we take for granted as part of the “British way of life” have arrived here from that strange place called “abroad”.
The thing is that I can remember when semolina was a rather insipid pudding they served in school canteens, made vaguely palatable by stirring blackberry jam into it and turning it purple. And rice only came in the round grain variety to be used in rice pudding. How things have changed!
Of course, that was before we all rushed off the Costa del Sol - and now much further afield - on holiday. Goodness, even Tommy Robinson has rushed off hide in foreign places, from where he can continue to foment unrest, of course.
I don’t know what the solution is to the current rioting and destruction, much of it coordinated apparently via social media. And that’s a genie we’re not going to get back into the bottle any time soon!
Personally, I like social media. It’s handy way of keeping in touch with friends and relations without writing lots of letters and post cards. Who sends postcards when they go on holiday nowadays anyway! Social media lets me keep track of a host of people I might otherwise only contact via Christmas cards!
It’s rather a pity that, like so many aspects of modern life, it can be twisted into less friendly uses. And somehow, looking back over a collection of text messages and emails is never going to be the same as rereading old love letters tied up into bundles with pastel-coloured ribbons. What are the biographers of today’s novelists and poets going to refer to in the future? Well, probably a lot of posts of social media!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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