Cultivating the Cultural Capital of Wales - to laugh or cry?
Monday, February 5, 2007 at 09:22PM Mum, and other stall holders had warned me that selling at Riverside Market in Cardiff on a match-day is not much fun. On the river, opposite the Millenium Stadium, the usual sunday morning city centre calm becomes a scrum-down as the roads are closed, buses diverted and upto 70000 fans head down the embankment to the game. The commited regular customers who come to the market faithfully week in week out either come early on these rare days to avoid the crowds or they stay away and wait until next week.
I thought it would be a good idea to be positive and try to turn a problem into an opportunity. Make something of the occasion, take the chance to show off the market we are proud of, extend the conversation that already exists between the consumer and producer, but also marginalised community; the homeless, the developing world producer, the immigrant and refugee ethnic community. Many - most of those rugby fans are a new community, new actors, new audience to the market, lets show 'em what we've got.
It wasn't even hard to dream up a terretorial, national, pride in your country, heritage, team kind of line. floating in the rafters at the theatre we have a dragon ex sea monster rucksack-worn giant that could be borrowed. The Draig Goch --- Red Dragon of Wales... stretching it's wings, light and bright swooped along the river capturing in a view the market, thousands of people, the stadium, and something to be proud of and give joy. That's not to mention the tremendous, gourmendous treats on offer..
And a table full of daffodils. That was at the core of it all. I wanted to sell daffodils, and if my regulars wernt all coming... though many (including readers here) did... then how about some "big fat yellow ones" to take to the game, along with flags and hats and all the regalia?? Regalia that included.. to my bemusement.. yard long plastic inflatable daffs. Thousands and thousands of them!!
Bemused... to miffed, as fans turned down my generous offer of real Welsh daffs.. "well iss gay innit.. you can't hit the Irish man in front over the head with 'em... an besides these are really welsh ennay?" and depression sets in as i realise these automatic plastic worst of chinese tat inflatable daffs are sponsored by Really Welsh, Emmit's brand new hope.
And here the story takes a twist as we see a little inside the "buy local" game.
The multiple retailers are falling over themselves at the moment to garner a share of the now mainstreaming enviro market. Amongst initiatives to reduce packaging, erect wind-turbines on top of stores and carbon neutralising comitments are the endorsements for local... or at least locality-ised procurement. This is a big story and greenbean looks on wide-eyed as it plays out before us. But Sunday, yesterday, I found myself in the thick of it's inflations.
green bean
Apparently, as the tv cameras followed the crowds during the Welsh national anthem the image they settled on was a woman holding a bunch of REAL Welsh daffodils!
fat ducker
Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 10:07PM When: 01 April 2007 12:30-15:00 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London.
Where: in Bray
rhubarb tart
Monday, January 22, 2007 at 07:07PM The Rhubarb Tart song
I want another slice of rhubarb tart
I want another lovely slice
I'm not disparaging the blueberry pie
But rhubarb tart is oh-so-very nice
A rhubarb what? A rhubarb tart
A what-barb tart? A rhu-barb tart
I want another slice of rhubarb tart
The principles of modern philosophy
Were postulated by Descartes
Discarding everything he wasn't certain of
He said, "I think therefore I am rhubarb tart"
A rhubarb what? A rhubarb tart
Rene who? Rene Descartes
Poor mutt, he thought he was a rhubarb tart
Rhubarb tart has fascinated all the poets
Especially the Immortal Bard
He made Richard the Third call out at Bosworth Field
"My kingdom for a slice of rhubarb tart"
Immortal what? Immortal tart
Rhubarb what? A rhubarb Bard
As rhymes go that is really pretty bad
Since Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee
Laid down the axioms of abstract art
Even Jackson Pollock and Piet Mondrain
Prefer to paint a slice of rhubarb tart
Wassi who? A Wassi-ly
Kandin who? A Kandin-sky
And how he get in there for a start?
Read all the existentialist philosophers
Like Schopenhauer and Jea-Paul Sarte
Even Martin Heidegger agreed on one thing
Eternal happiness is rhubarb tart
A rhubarb what? A rhubarb tart
Jean-Paul who? Jean Paul Sarte
That sounds just like a rhyme from Lionel Barte
I want another slice of rhubarb tart
I want another lovely slice
I'm not disparaging the blueberry pie
But rhubarb tart is oh-so-very nice
John Cleese
mm, mm!! little baby rhubarbs are popping up, shiny pink and tart sweet announcing their arrival.
Oven steamed, according to Nigella and in Mrs Beetons shortcrust pastry and baked in the hot rayburn with a reduced glaze of the left over juices (plus a wee dram!!) oh so yum! delicate and fruity even on this, officially most depressing day of the year!
green bean
well, another scoop for green-bean, because this week, the food program looked at rhubarb!
I've ordered some cream cheese from cothi valley goat's cheese, so next week will try a cheese cake too.
Nabe - New Year's Day 2007
Monday, January 8, 2007 at 11:10PM "Nah - bay"
New Year's Day, Cornwall, England
A Japanese feast
Chinese cabbage, carrots, oriental lettuce, daikon radish and mooli from the garden
Extraordinary condiments sent by Mutsuko's mum with visiting freind Kanae
Dried soy bean whey (yuba) from Cornish-Japanese Kim
Delicious, hyper-travelled dry mushrooms from Winnie via Greenbean (hi winnie, arigato!)
Mutsuko's Mum's famous chewy rice balls
Some green stuff called komatsu
Dylan's whiting fished off the Lizard with skin-on
Cooked at the table in
One giant bowl of fish stock..
like a big fondue.. all in
stick-chopped out with oohs and ahhs and giggles and mmms
into a bowl of sour miso stock
stick-chopped in expertly by 5 - 8 year olds
and savoured
