This week's contributors: Lydia, Pépé Pépinière, this week's subjects: June's fashion embrace, Spaghetti 2, LVMH successor named, Packaging, and Cooking pasta

June's fashion embrace. Colours that tell a story: The colour palette in West African fashion is a testament to the region's love for bold hues and vibrant prints. In June, you can expect to see a riot of colours that mirror the rich landscapes of the continent – from the lush greens of the savannah to the fiery reds of the desert sunsets. Whether it's a royal blue Bubu gown or a fiery orange Dashiki shirt, colours in West African fashion are not just a choice but a statement, speaking volumes about identity, culture, and self-expression. Prints and patterns: No discussion of West African fashion is complete without mentioning the intricate prints and patterns that adorn clothing and accessories. Geometric shapes, floral motifs and tribal symbols come together in a symphony of design that is both mesmerizing and captivating. In June, you'll find these prints adorning everything from headwraps to handbags, adding a touch of artistry to everyday wear and making a bold fashion statement wherever they go. Accessories as signifiers: Accessories play a crucial role in West African fashion, acting as signifiers of status, wealth, and personal style. From beaded necklaces to cowrie shell earrings, accessories in June fashion are not just adornments but storytellers, each piece embodying a particular tradition or cultural significance. In West Africa even the simplest accessory holds a wealth of meaning, connecting the wearers to their roots while showcasing their individuality to the world.

LVMH successor named. LVMH, the fashion conglomerate that is majority-owned by the richest man in the world, Bernard Arnault (who is the richest presently varies between Arnault, Bezos of Amazon, and Musk of Tesla) and which owns 75 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany & Co. has named its successor. Bernard recently turned 75 and recently, has been handing bits and pieces of his self-created conglomerate to some of his children. Frederic Arnault, only 28 years old, has been named his successor, leaving Antoine (47), Alex (30), and Jean (25) behind. LVMH is a mainly French holding company and last year exported more luxury goods than the whole of France exported agricultural products, including wine, cognac, champagne, foie grass, and camembert. It surprises me that he didn’t own Perrier sparkling water. If you can sell handbags for 150,000$ and champagne for 25000 $ you should be able to sell bubble water for 1000 $ per bottle as well. But Mr Frederick faces a few challenges. Apart from being the youngest CEO ever of such a big company, LVMH is facing several court cases and investigations for unethical practices, animal cruelty, cultural appropriation, labour exploitation, espionage and corruption. High trees catch a lot of wind, as the saying goes.

Spaghetti 2. Pasta is an easy way to make a quick meal? The pasta you buy in the shop will typically be “industrial” pasta. Read the label because it may contain cheaper flour than the traditional dura wheat flour and the manufacturer will often add so-called E additives, to make sure the product stays fresh, boils faster, keeps its colour, has a nice taste, etc. There are 326 authorized E additives, E100s for food colours, E200s preservatives and acids. E300s antioxidants and ascorbic acid regulators. E400s emulsifiers, stabilizers, and thickeners. E500s anti-caking agents and acidity regulators. E600s for flavour enhancers. E900s sweeteners, glazing agents, foaming agents, and gases. E1000s other additives. But the suitability for food of these items is now under discussion, and more and more E additives are being forbidden, often because of suspicions that they are cancerogeneous, or cause mental health disorders, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, just to mention a few. Recently Glycerol E 422 (previously also used as anti-freeze in car radiators), became restricted for children below 4 years, and Titanium dioxide, often used in toothpaste and as a whitener in medicines, or paints was also taken off the list of authorized E additives. And then there are organic pastas (no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides used) and non-organic. Wheat is grown on large surfaces, an ideal feeding ground for insects, and thus the farmer will use pesticides to kill them. And even while following the manufacturer's instructions on dosage and interval between spraying and harvesting, some of these pesticides will end up in your spaghetti.

Packaging: It has been found that sometimes the ink used to print on the packaging can enter inside the food. Originally, a pack of spaghetti used to weigh 500 grams, but now I see packs of 450 or even 400 grams. Cheaper but less, so always try to work it out per kg. To make industrial spaghetti, spaghetti dough is pressed out through a metal with holes. Traditionally bronze was used, which gives the spaghetti a rough surface so it better absorbs the accompanying sauce. Bronze is expensive and wears out, so manufacturers now use Teflon PTFE tubing (polytetrafluoroethylene). Teflon is also the nonstick thing in your frying pans and though generally speaking Teflon is a safe and stable compound, at temperatures above 260°C, Teflon coatings on nonstick cookware start to break down, releasing toxic chemicals into the air. Inhaling these fumes may lead to polymer fume fever, also known as the Teflon flu.

Cooking pasta: I use ample full boiling water to which I have added a few spices like in a “bouquet” (parsley, thyme, and bay leaves, sometimes basil, or tarragon), so the pasta picks up some extra flavour, and less salt can be used. Depending on the dish I want to make, I sometimes add a little olive oil so that the spaghetti “runs” and does not stick. I take it out of the boiling water a minute or so before it is ready, it will continue cooking in its own heat, if not it may overcook. If I can get it I buy handmade organic pasta, which is difficult to get in Ghana, the nearest I get is Irene's handmade pasta, at Labone coffee shop (Olooti lane, off Josiah Tongogari Road, Labone, Accra) on Saturday morning. I don't think she uses E additives.

Bon appetite.

Lydia...

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