Gluten Free Antarctica
December 20, 2018 1:30 PM Subscribe
The Russians are seasick, homesick, and lacking in sympathy for the unique challenges that confront the Antarctic tourist. Repeated trips to the Ross Sea have brought them no closer to understanding why people would pay money—tens of thousands of American dollars!—to stare at ice. Maciej Ceglowski returns with a third installment of his Antarctic series (Previously)
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 2:19 PM on December 20, 2018
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 2:19 PM on December 20, 2018
OMG I loved this so much. Highly entertaining. Thanks, OP!
posted by Bella Donna at 2:30 PM on December 20, 2018
posted by Bella Donna at 2:30 PM on December 20, 2018
"...no one could endure five weeks at sea with a vegan..."
Pure gold.
posted by dbmcd at 2:35 PM on December 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Pure gold.
posted by dbmcd at 2:35 PM on December 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
This is wonderful. I didn't know Maciej wrote about anything other than tech. Thanks!
posted by peeedro at 2:55 PM on December 20, 2018
posted by peeedro at 2:55 PM on December 20, 2018
His other writing is very good. After reading this Antarctic essay do read his other pieces. His piece on vitamin C is excellent science writing and explained something that has been a mystery to me for years.
posted by jadepearl at 2:59 PM on December 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by jadepearl at 2:59 PM on December 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
We've all been to the historic huts and seen the ghastly parade of canned Edwardian organ meats, probably no less indedible after a hundred winters on the ice than they were back in 1907.
Kidneys are not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
posted by Splunge at 3:20 PM on December 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Kidneys are not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
posted by Splunge at 3:20 PM on December 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
"...yogurt and ketchup..."
posted by mochapickle at 3:46 PM on December 20, 2018
posted by mochapickle at 3:46 PM on December 20, 2018
Alas, he is basically correct about New Zealanders and flavour.
This is why if you go to an Indian (or Thai or Mexican or whatever) restaurant here, and order something "hot", the waitron will look at you and say "Kiwi hot, or Indian hot?" and if you say "Indian hot" they will say "are you sure?" and then you get something that raises a mild sweat at most. Or you order the thing that has three little chilli icons next to it and they say "just so you know, it's spicy" and you think "why the fuck do you think I came here" and then reflect sadly that your compatriots have depressed the hopes and culinary standards of these fine people and you give them the best reassuring smile you can muster.
Am reflecting now on a story I heard from a Mexican chef, recently arrived, who put together a sample menu for a new restaurant a local entrepreneur was opening, delicious, authentic, his grandma's mole recipe, the works. Not an item survived: local people won't like it, the boss said.
Also, 50-50 chance I have met Conor.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:06 PM on December 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
This is why if you go to an Indian (or Thai or Mexican or whatever) restaurant here, and order something "hot", the waitron will look at you and say "Kiwi hot, or Indian hot?" and if you say "Indian hot" they will say "are you sure?" and then you get something that raises a mild sweat at most. Or you order the thing that has three little chilli icons next to it and they say "just so you know, it's spicy" and you think "why the fuck do you think I came here" and then reflect sadly that your compatriots have depressed the hopes and culinary standards of these fine people and you give them the best reassuring smile you can muster.
Am reflecting now on a story I heard from a Mexican chef, recently arrived, who put together a sample menu for a new restaurant a local entrepreneur was opening, delicious, authentic, his grandma's mole recipe, the works. Not an item survived: local people won't like it, the boss said.
Also, 50-50 chance I have met Conor.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:06 PM on December 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
I mean, Mary sounds shitty and everything, and I don't know why I read that when I've been rolling around in digestive pain all evening.
But: I've only been to Moscow, but I've been to restaurants which don't see a lot of tourists, and I did not have a problem being taken seriously as a cœliac.
So I couldn't read past that "Us Slavs don't have affectations and airs about gluten" crap, I'm afraid.
posted by ambrosen at 4:25 PM on December 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
But: I've only been to Moscow, but I've been to restaurants which don't see a lot of tourists, and I did not have a problem being taken seriously as a cœliac.
So I couldn't read past that "Us Slavs don't have affectations and airs about gluten" crap, I'm afraid.
posted by ambrosen at 4:25 PM on December 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
The best place to eat in Antarctica is probably Zuchelli, the Italian research station in Terra Nova Bay (open seasonally, but good luck getting a reservation)
I have a friend who works on the Spanish Antarctic research station, and he told me that they have a very, very good, well-known chef who spends his winters cooking in Antarctica and his summers cooking in Ibiza. That's a fucking dream job, right there.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 5:08 PM on December 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I have a friend who works on the Spanish Antarctic research station, and he told me that they have a very, very good, well-known chef who spends his winters cooking in Antarctica and his summers cooking in Ibiza. That's a fucking dream job, right there.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 5:08 PM on December 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Hi ambrosen—I think you may be misunderstanding me. I'm not a celiac denialist, and for what it's worth the anti-gluten craze has spread just as broadly in Eastern Europe as anywhere else, so it surprised me that the crew hadn't heard of it. My interest (like a proper Marxist) is in the class dynamics on the ship, not making fun of anyone's illness, and I'm sorry for your quite real pain.
posted by idlewords at 7:15 PM on December 20, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by idlewords at 7:15 PM on December 20, 2018 [17 favorites]
Maciej, all in all, is a writer in English who can be seen as giving Conrad a run for the money. He's also a pretty good painter. When's that book due, dear mind-friend?
posted by mwhybark at 9:43 PM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 9:43 PM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Great piece Maciej, but thanks especially for the RSS feed. I'm almost certain the feed wasn't there a couple of weeks back, when I last checked. (Though I was pretty sure that the first new piece will surface in the MeFi feed anyway.)
posted by kmt at 3:03 AM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by kmt at 3:03 AM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Amazing writing as always. I hope it was fun and relaxing to write this after so much time spent on the Great Slate.
As with everything Maciej writes I always want to post a link to his series on visiting Yemen (link is to last of 3). He visited a few years before the war started and his writing does a great job humanizing the conflict for me.
posted by Nelson at 6:52 AM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
As with everything Maciej writes I always want to post a link to his series on visiting Yemen (link is to last of 3). He visited a few years before the war started and his writing does a great job humanizing the conflict for me.
posted by Nelson at 6:52 AM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I couldn't find a visible link to the RSS feed, and Firefox wasn't picking it up, but I found it in the page source. Cheers!
posted by confluency at 1:14 PM on December 21, 2018
posted by confluency at 1:14 PM on December 21, 2018
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That is an amazing bit of writing. This is a fascinating series.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:40 PM on December 20, 2018 [4 favorites]