Two of America's largest banks - Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan - have quietly warned their richest clients to prepare for it. |
|
|
At times, our affiliate partners reach out to the Editors at 401k Market Story with special opportunities for our readers. The message below is one we think you should take a close, serious look at.
|
Gujiya: A flaky pastry to celebrate Holi Share using Email Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Linkedin (Image credit: Nandita Iyer) Gujiya is a hallmark sweet of Holi (Credit: Nandita Iyer) By Anita Rao Kashi 7th March 2023 The festive treat is flaky and crumbly on the outside, with a soft and sweet filling that can be made with a variety of ingredients like coconut, cashews and khoya (milk solids). F For Indians, the word gujiya (sweet fried pastry) will evoke one main association: Holi. This "festival of colours" celebrates the arrival of spring and, like most Indian festivals, is associated with myths and legends that commemorate the triumph of good over evil. It's celebrated across the country, but is more prominent in North India, where it's marked by people smearing coloured powder on their faces and bodies and drenching each other with coloured water. The celebrations also include indulging in gujiya, a crescent-shaped pastry encasing a sweet mixture of khoya (milk solids), powdered sugar and nuts that's deep-fried to a golden-brown colour. It's flaky and crumbly on the outside, giving way to a soft and sweet filling. [jump to recipe] Almost every Indian state has its own version, with different dough, fillings and names. While it's called gujiya in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, elsewhere it's known as pedakiya (Bihar), ghughra (Gujarat), karanji (Maharashtra), karigadubu/karjikayi (Karnataka), somasi (Tamil Nadu) and garijalu/kajjikayalu (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). Gujiya is also made during the festival of Diwali, but the North Indian versions are firmly identified with Holi. "Nothing signifies the changing seasons as do Holi and gujiya; the two are inextricably linked," said cookbook author Nandita Iyer, whose book The Great Indian Thali: Seasonal Vegetarian Wholesomeness was published in September 2022. In the book, she describes gujiya as the "hallmark sweet" of the season and the festival. And yet, there's no definitive history to gujiya, or even its association with the festival. One popular reference links it to a 13th-Century predecessor, a sundried snack of honey and jaggery (boiled unrefined cane sugar) coated with wheat flour. Another insists that it originated in central India's Bundelkhand region (comprising parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh) sometime in the 16th-17th Centuries. There is also speculation that it could derive from the Turkish baklava or the Central Asian samsa (the predecessor to a samosa); the former potentially brought by Muslim traders in the 13th-14th Centuries, the latter through chefs employed in the kitchens of the Mughal Empire around the 15th-16th Centuries. Nandita Iyer is the author of The Great Indian Thali: Seasonal Vegetarian Wholesomeness (Credit: Nandita Iyer) Nandita Iyer is the author of The Great Indian Thali: Seasonal Vegetarian Wholesomeness (Credit: Nandita Iyer) For Iyer, the pastry holds bittersweet memories, and she came around to appreciating it in a serendipitous way. Growing up in Mumbai in a South Indian family, Holi wasn't celebrated at home and was off limits to Iyer. She wasn't allowed outside to play with friends since the festival inevitably fell close to exams, raising fears she might get sick. Neighbours would send gujiyas home with Iyer, but it was never her favourite because she associated it with not being allowed to play. Years later in Bangalore, that changed. "Some time ago, around Holi, I was walking past a Bihari (someone from the state of Bihar) neighbour's house, when she beckoned me from her kitchen and gave me piping hot gujiyas. I took one bite and I fell in love," she said. "It was fresh, hot, crispy and so flavourful. 'So, this is what it is, I thought to myself.'" But what fascinates Iyer is the versatility of gujiya. "The outer casing can be made with maida (plain or all-purpose flour, rava (semolina), or even whole wheat flour if you want a healthy version, though it will turn out chewy. For the filling, there's all kinds of things, such as combinations of rava, khoya, dry fruits, roasted nuts, coconut, jaggery and even chocolate," she said. "It can be flavoured with cardamom. You can add rose essence and chopped pistachios to make a version of baklava." Unlike most other Indian sweets, gujiya is not cloying. "It's more a snack than a dessert," she said. "But there are those who ladle sugar syrup on top and layer it with flaked nuts and saffron. "At some sweet shops, silver foil is added as a decorative garnish. In these days of health-conscious eating, Iyer said there are healthier versions of gujiya, such as making the filling with just roasted nuts and jaggery. But Iyer is not an advocate of these. "Frankly, gujiya is a festive treat and eaten once in a while, so maybe eat a little less rather than trying to make it healthy," she said. Gujiya is a hallmark sweet of Holi (Credit: Nandita Iyer) Gujiya is a hallmark sweet of Holi (Credit: Nandita Iyer) Gujiya recipe By Nandita Iyer (makes 24) Ingredients For dough 200g (2 cups) all-purpose flour 4 tbsp ghee (soft) For filling 2 tsp ghee 2 tbsp fine semolina 3 tbsp shredded desiccated coconut 2 tbsp cashew halves, finely chopped 12 almonds, finely chopped 2 tbsp raisins, coarsely chopped 100g (ยฝ cup) solidified milk (can substitute reconstituted milk powder) 100g (ยฝ cup) caster sugar ยฝ tsp green cardamom powder 2 cups ghee or neutral flavoured oil for deep-frying Method Step 1 Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the ghee and rub with your fingertips until it's well absorbed into the flour and you get the consistency of wet sand. When clumped together, the flour should hold its shape. If not, add a little more ghee and rub it into the dough. To this, add lukewarm water by the tablespoon (roughly a total of 80-90ml) to make a medium stiff dough. Knead until it's smooth. Keep covered with a damp tea towel for 30 minutes. Step 2 Meanwhile, prepare the filling for the gujiya. Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a pan. Add the semolina and toast it over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut and toast for another minute. Move to a large plate. Step 3 Place the cashews and almonds in the pan and toast over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add to the coconut mix. Mix in the raisins. |
Dear fellow investor, On April 12th, the U.S. Government is going to make an announcement that could radically alter your retirement. Two of America's largest banks - Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan - have quietly warned their richest clients to prepare for it. And billionaires George Soros, Seth Klarman , and David Tepper have sold 103 stocks in anticipation. It's not hard to see what's happening. |
But it's hard to know what to do to protect yourself and your future. That's why I put together this free report for you. In it, I tell you How to Protect Yourself from the Greatest Crisis Facing Retirees in 70 Years. Sincerely, Dylan Jovine CEO & Founder, Behind the Markets |
While women were barred from owning businesses in 19th Century France, three widows, who were exempt from the rule, created some of Champagne's most lauded empires. O On the outskirts of the north-eastern French city of Reims, winding roads converge near a gated chateau. Cars line a roundabout enclosed by sprawling fields. The air is still, and it's calm. The real action is happening almost 20m underground. Carving through this underworld are more than 200km of cellars, with millions of Champagne bottles lining chalky rock walls, unlabelled and marked with the words "I was here" by tourists in the dust covering them. Some are upside-down, in chains, glowing in the dim light of the cellars against the backdrop of tunnels that seemingly lead to nowhere. Others are stacked in small caves guarded by wrought iron gates. This is ground zero of the world's Champagne market. And, historically in the caves, widows ruled. Some of the biggest innovations of Champagne came down to the ingenuity of several women. In the 19th Century, the Napoleonic Code restricted women from owning businesses in France without permission from a husband or father. However, widows were exempt from the rule, creating a loophole for Barbe-Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin, Louise Pommery and Lily Bollinger โ among others โ to turn vineyards into empires and ultimately transform the Champagne industry, permanently changing how it's made and marketed. In 1798, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin married Franรงois Clicquot, who then ran his family's small textile and wine business, originally called Clicquot-Muiron et Fils in Reims. It turned into a financial disaster. When Clicquot died in 1805, leaving her widowed at 27 years old, she made the unconventional choice to take over the company. "It was a very unusual decision for a woman of her class," said Tilar Mazzeo, cultural historian and author of The Widow Clicquot. "It would have been extremely unusual for her to have a business, because she didn't need toโฆ She could have spent her life in drawing rooms and as a society hostess." In Reims, old Champagne bottles are stacked in an underworld of more than 200km of cellars (Credit: Lily Radziemski) In Reims, old Champagne bottles are stacked in an underworld of more than 200km of cellars (Credit: Lily Radziemski) Desperately in need of money for the business, she asked her father-in-law for today's equivalent of about โฌ835,000. "Amazingly, her father-in-law said yes," Mazzeo explained, "which I always think must say something really important about who he thought she was, and what he thought she was capable of as a woman with no business background." The 'veuve' suggested a certain kind of respectability to the beverage From the beginning, Barbe-Nicole used her widowed status as a marketing tool, yielding positive results. The Champagne house became Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin โ the French word veuve translates into "widow". "The 'veuve' suggested a certain kind of respectability to the beverageโฆ some of these beverages had gotten associated with the debauchery and wild parties of the royal courts of old," explained Kolleen M Guy, author of When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity and chair, Division of Arts and Humanities at Duke Kunshan University in Jiansu, China. Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin took over what became Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin when her husband passed (Credit: INTERFOTO/Alamy) Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin took over what became Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin when her husband passed (Credit: INTERFOTO/Alamy) Tagging "veuve" onto a bottle brought clout, and other Champagne producers โ such as Veuve Binet and Veuve Loche โ soon followed suit. "The companies that didn't have a widow at the head of the household would create kind of off-brands, like a veuve off-brand, so they could try to capture this trend," Guy said. Despite Barbe-Nicole completing a four-year apprenticeship with a local winemaker to better learn how to make the business grow, it was once again on the brink of collapse in the early 19th Century. She secured another โฌ835,000 from her father-in-law to salvage it. However, doing this during the Napoleonic Wars in continental Europe wouldn't be easy, as border closures made it difficult to move product around. But by 1814, Barbe-Nicole knew that she was running out of options. Faced with bankruptcy, she turned to a new market: Russia. While Russia's border was still closed towards the end of the Napoleonic wars, she decided to run the blockade. Adding "veuve" (meaning "widow") onto a Champagne bottle such as Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin brought clout (Credit: Lynne Sutherland/Alamy) Adding "veuve" (meaning "widow") onto a Champagne bottle such as Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin brought clout (Credit: Lynne Sutherland/Alamy) "She made this huge gamble, where she knew that if she could get her product into Russia before Jean-Remy Moรซt, who was her arch-rival, she would be able to capture some market share," Mazzeo said. "Otherwise, once the border was legally open, Moรซt's Champagne was going to arrive, and Moรซt would continue to be the dominant player in that very important Russian export market." So, Barbe-Nicole smuggled thousands of bottles across the border. The risks were high as it was late in the season and the heat could ruin the Champagne. And if caught, the bottles would be confiscated, contributing to more financial ruin. Fortunately, the Champagne arrived in perfect condition and took the market by storm. "In 90 days, she went from being an unknown player [in Russia] to being 'The Widow'," Mazzeo said. With the demand came a need to increase production fast. The process of removing dead yeast cells from the bottom of bottles โ a necessary step in Champagne-making following the aging and fermentation process โ was tedious and damaging to the quality. But Barbe-Nicole had a better idea. "She basically said to her winemakers, 'take my kitchen table down to the cellar โ I want you to poke some holes in it and let's just turn these [bottles] upside-down. Don't you think that would be a better way of getting the yeast out? The yeast would settle in the neck of the bottle, we could pop it out, that would be faster, wouldn't it?'," Mazzeo recounted. "Everybody said 'no, no no, we can't do it that way'." But they acquiesced. That technique known as "riddling" is still a critical part of the Champagne-making process today (Credit: David Freund/Getty Images) That technique known as "riddling" is still a critical part of the Champagne-making process today (Credit: David Freund/Getty Images) It worked. That technique is became known as "riddling" (to make holes in something) and is still a critical part of the Champagne-making process today. The second widow to revolutionise the industry was Louise Pommery. Born in 1819, Pommery entered into the Champagne scene towards the end of Clicquot's life. When she was young, her mother sent her to school in England โ an unusual move that would later play to her advantage. "She wasn't just taught how to sew," said Prince Alain de Polignac, the great-great-grandson of Louise Pommery. "[Her mother] gave her an education, which was unusual for a bourgeoise girl of that time." After her studies, she married Alexandre Pommery, who partnered with Narcisse Greno in 1856 to build up his existing Champagne house, creating Pommery et Greno. In 1858, Alexandre died. For Louise Pommery, the next move was clear. Eight days after his death, she stepped in to take over. "Destiny swooped in, and Madame Pommery was ready," said de Polignac. "She had a 15-year-old son and a baby in her arms, and instead of returning to her mother's home, she decided to take [the Champagne house] over." Prince Alain de Polignac looks at a portrait of Louise Pommery (Credit: Lily Radziemski) Prince Alain de Polignac looks at a portrait of Louise Pommery (Credit: Lily Radziemski) While Clicquot might have captured Russia, Pommery was determined to own the English market. At the time, Champagne was painfully sweet โ some bottles would have up to 300g of residual sugar compared to the more typical 12 or so grams today โ and it was served over ice, sort of like a slushie. As such, the English, who typically had a drier palette, didn't have a taste for it. But Pommery felt that she could make a Champagne that would get them hooked. Her brut Champagne hit markets in 1874. The style was distinctively dry, fresh and lively. It was perfectly balanced with a light-hearted nose, delicate but assertive. "The idea was to make a wine that was a lot more fine, with assemblage a lot more subtle, a much longer time in caveโฆ" de Polignac said. "This exploded on the English market, because that's what they were waiting for." Champagne tourism arose under the guise of the widows. Whereas most Champagne-makers built chateaux after achieving success in business, Pommery did the opposite, building an estate as a means of attracting success. In the mid-20th Century, Lily Bollinger emerged on the scene. She took over the Bollinger Champagne house in 1941 when Jacques Bollinger, her husband and the owner of the brand, passed. At the time, women's rights to business ownership were still restricted (it wasn't until 1965 that women were granted full rights to employment, banking and asset management without permission) though widows were still able to circumvent the rules. Champagne tourism arose under the guise of the widows (pictured: Champagne House of Veuve Clicquot) (Credit: Hemis/Alamy) Champagne tourism arose under the guise of the widows (pictured: Champagne House of Veuve Clicquot) (Credit: Hemis/Alamy) "She decided to take over the management โ she could have sold the business," explained her great nephew, Etienne Bizot. Bollinger brought her Champagne to the US. For three months, she travelled all over the country carting around her wines, alone. According to Bollinger's official history, she gained such popularity that she was named "the first lady of France" by the Chicago American newspaper in 1961. A few years later, Bollinger released the R.D. (recently disgorged) vintage Champagne, a technique that she innovated by aging the bottle with its lees, the dead yeast and grape skins, for extended periods of time and then removing the sediment from the bottle by hand. The Champagne is still one of the brand's most coveted cuvees today. "I think what's unusual about the widows is that they [don't] remarry," Guy explained. "In a way, I think they didn't do it because had they remarried, they would have had to turn over some of the business to their husbandsโฆ They'd lose their legal status, so in some ways, it was a way to keep their independence." The independence and creativity of the three widows paved the way for generations of women to come, and their innovations are immortalised in glass bottles. "This group of women really changed something โ they were pioneers that were very engaged in the key moments [of Champagne-making], and that importance is still represented," said Mรฉlanie Tarlant, a twelfth-generation winemaker and member of La Transmission, Femmes en Champagne, a women-led association for Champagne-makers. She makes non-dosรฉ (low sugar-dosed) Champagne, noting that Pommery was the first to pioneer the technique that she still uses today. "It could have been lost in time." |
From time to time, we send special emails or offers to readers who chose to opt in. We hope you find them useful.
Email sent by Finance and Investing Traffic, LLC, owner, and operator of 401k Market Story. To ensure you receive our emails in your inbox, be sure to whitelist us. ยฉ 2023 401k Market Story. All Rights Reserved. Thinking about unsubscribing? We hope not! But, if you must, the link is below. 221 W 9th St # Wilmington, DE 19801 Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Unsubscribe |
|
|
|