By Bob Schwabach Originally published in the Chicago Tribune, March 12, 1979 In 1934 an Armenian named Garabed Bishirgian tried to monopolize the world supply of pepper. For six weeks he succeeded. When the crash came, three old-line London brokerage houses went under and a number of Wall Street speculators in New York went broke. Bishirgian had managed to corner 16,000 … [Read more...] about PEPPER IS NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT
Food
GARLIC: SOME TALES TO TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY
By Bob Schwabach Originally published in The Chicago Tribune, October 23, 1978. Let us speak now of garlic. Allium sativum. It is a member of the lily family. It is a cornerstone of the three great cuisines of the world-- French, Italian, and Chinese-- and permeates, so to speak, our very culture. To wit: Garlic and war: Roman soldiers ate garlic before going into … [Read more...] about GARLIC: SOME TALES TO TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY
FOOD ON OUR MINDS
By Bob Schwabach Originally published in the Chicago Tribune, October 16, 1978 "Sugar," she said. "Honey," he said. "Sweetheart," she said. "Cupcake," he said. He thought she was a real tomato -- a dish. She thought he was sweet-- he made her mouth water. The feeling welled up inside. Finally it burst out in an almost unbidden rush of affection: "I could just … [Read more...] about FOOD ON OUR MINDS