Nine out of ten French people love chocolate. Chocolatiers like to think that the tenth person must simply be lying. In the city of Lyon, France’s chocolate and gastronomy capital, techniques are a well-kept secret. Philippe Bernachon shows us part of the process of making chocolate from cocoa beans. At the Voisin chocolate factory, we learn about how to make old-fashioned pralines from huge slabs of chocolate. Meanwhile, Willy Ferrier tells us about his unique work as a chocolate sculptor.
Monthly Archives: February 2021
Cultural Views: ‘Sacred Islands’ Of The Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand (Video)
New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf – Tikapa Moana – is a place of spectacular beauty and home to more than 50 islands. Some barely break the high tide mark, others loom large on the horizon, many are now uninhabited. Local Māori tribes like Ngai Tai Ki Tamaki, who have been here for nearly a thousand years, revere these islands. Each and every island has a story to tell.
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km², and lies between, in anticlockwise order, the Auckland Region, the Hauraki Plains, the Coromandel Peninsula, and Great Barrier Island. Most of the gulf is part of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Morning News Podcast: Economic Stimulus Focus, Covid Cases Fall, Russia
With impeachment finished, Congress now returns to focusing on President Biden’s economic stimulus plan. But why do some economists say it could be too much?
Also, daily coronavirus cases are falling across the U.S. and the pace of vaccinations is increasing. And, in a change from the massive demonstrations last month, Russians in multiple cities used their cellphone flashlights to show their support for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Architecture: ‘Louis Sullivan – Invention Of The Skyscraper’ In 1897
Louis Sullivan, Bayard-Condict Building, 1897–99 (65 Bleecker Street, NYC), a Seeing America video speakers: Dr. Matthew A. Postal and Dr. Steven Zucker.
Louis Henry Sullivan was an Irish-American architect, and has been called a “father of skyscrapers” and “father of modernism”. He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School.
The Bayard–Condict Building at 65 Bleecker Street between Broadway and Lafayette Street, at the head of Crosby Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City is the only work of architect Louis Sullivan in New York City.
Historic English Manors: ‘Chanters House’ In Devon, “Cromwell & Coleridge”
The grandiose Chanters House, in Ottery St Mary, Devon, has astonishing links to history and literature: it was the place where Oliver Cromwell declared the Civil War, and where the Coleridge family created one of the West Country’s most impressive libraries.
It originally dates from the 14th century but first rose to national fame in the 17th century, when Oliver Cromwell hosted a meeting of local people in the dining room — and apparently declared the start of the Civil War from there.
A little more than a century later, the property became home to another illustrious family, the Coleridges, in whose hands it would remain for about two centuries. The Reverend John Coleridge was made headmaster of the Kings’ School in 1760 and brought his huge family to live in Ottery St Mary.
It was in the town that his youngest son, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was born in 1772. But it was his eldest son, James, a distinguished soldier married to local heiress Frances Taylor, who bought Chanters House in 1796 and turned it into the family’s home.
Still in use today, the 70-ft-long room houses the 22,000 books of the Coleridge collection in oak carved bookcases that occupy the entire ground floor of the house’s west wing.
Wildlife View: ‘West Indian Flamingos’ Migrating To the Caribbean (BBC Video)
Over 20,000 West Indian Flamingos head to the Caribbean to feed on the rich brine which they feed to their chicks before heading back down south.
Nature: ‘Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge’, Valentine, Nebraska
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of Nebraska and includes 19,131 acres. The refuge borders the Niobrara National Scenic River on the west and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Oceans: The Great White Shark Decline Off Cape Town, South Africa (BBC)
For years, one of South Africa’s great tourist attractions has been the opportunity to see great white sharks up close. But barely any great white sharks have been spotted off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa for two years now – where there used to be hundreds.
PODCAST: ‘THE FUTURE OF DRUG PRICE TRANSPARENCY’
Interview with Dr. William Feldman on a new federal price-transparency rule and legal challenges to efforts to increase access to pricing information.
William Feldman is a physician and researcher in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Stephen Morrissey, the interviewer, is the Executive Managing Editor of the Journal.
Sunday Morning Podcast: World News From Zurich, London & Slovenia (Feb 14)
Monocle’s editorial director Tyler Brûlé, Eemeli Isoaho, Florian Egli and Chandra Kurt on the weekend’s defining discussion topics, with insights from our editors in London and Ljubljana.
Plus: the bestsellers in Amsterdam’s literature market.
Boomers Daily 