Favourite Foods

Bringing back the past.*

For many the adventure of visiting other countries or even moving to another country to live, far outweighs the, what some might call, sacrifices - like giving up those things that are peculiar to their lives in their native countries.

Fogy has been living in Brazil for more than 36 years and you would expect memories of the past to fade and become insignificant. Many other people of other nationalities face similar situations, yet all of them still long for those dishes that were what was home, what mom cooked or simply the culture of their homeland.

Fogy's New Zealand is renowned for its Pies, Vegemite and Marmite, something alien to most people who have never visited NZ nor Australia.

Vegemite is a food flavouring derived from concentrated yeast and vegetable extracts mixed with spices. Originally from Australia, some might remember the Australian music group - Men at Work - that mentions Vegemite Sandwich in one of their popular songs, it is also a favourite among NZers, used in cooking stews, on hot toast with rich melted butter, on a cracker with cheese, or simply in a sandwich that children might take to school in their packed lunches.

Marmite is similar but is derived more from brewer's yeast and is loved or hated, both at the same time. Used for flavouring mostly meat dishes it is still an important part of the memory of NZ.

And now to the NZ Pie. Mostly made on a base of Flaky Pastry, today's pies are made up of so many different flavouring combinations it becomes increasingly harder to decide which one to buy.

A wide selection of NZ Pies

Fogy remembers when he was at school, every Friday was the day when children could choose between 'Fish & Chips', 'Sausage & Chips' or the iconic 'Meat Pie' for lunch. Having chosen what they wanted, a local takeaway store would deliver these to the school at lunchtime, and everybody would sit down and eat their food of choice - those were the days.

In a recent visit to NZ, Fogy put on about 2 kilos simply from consuming these longingly missed pleasures. Oh and don't get me started on the cans of Baked Beans, heated in a pot and served on hot buttered toast as well. We had a great life!!

Going to Scotland introduced Fogy to the national food called the Haggis. If you read what goes into them you might find yourself looking for a toilet immediately. The Haggis though is a delicious treat and can be enjoyed simply, or together with 'Tatties' & 'Neeps' or even with chips from your favourite Chippy.

Haggis, tatties & neeps

There are so many other dishes that stand out but none as much as the Haggis.

Irn-Bru (Iron Brew) is something you are not likely to find outside Scotland and is as peculiar to Scotland as Guaraná is to Brazil.

And what about Brazil? Well Brazil has its Cheese bread (Pão de Queijo) and Potato bread (Pão de Batata), Feijoada, Acarajé, as well as almost every other country's food types that might exist. Except of course, the ones mentioned above.

Fogy sometimes has this overriding desire to eat those traditional foods that have been part of his long life, except that they represent that very rich memory of other pleasures, those pleasures that are better left unspoiled.

Cheers.

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Just in case you were wondering

Carfuffle March 2026

Formula One as we have never seen it before.*

For the great number of you who are not in the loop, F1 can be said to have more than joined the 21st century and the era of fully hybrid machines.

Whereas previous generations of F1 cars attached electric energy in much the same way as they once attached turbos, this new generation is committed to a 50% even spread of power from both the mechanical and electric engines, bringing the pseudo-hybrid era closer to what might be considered the ideal.

F1 has often been the testbed for concepts later incorporated into the domestic vehicles enjoyed by the man on the street, so efforts around a better understanding of combined mechanical and electric power must be positive for future generations of road vehicles—one would hope.

Coupled with this integration is a greater demand for fuel efficiency and more reliance on renewable fuels, rather than the fossil fuel directives recently emphasized by governments such as that of the United States.

Recent events illustrate how fragile this fossil fuel magnet is, with supplies dramatically threatened through political upheaval. The ability to provide for the needs of millions must be a worthwhile consequence of such measures. One can only hope that this is not too little, too late.

And on to what is even more important—the racing.

The 2026 regulations have forced teams into designing significantly smaller, lighter, and more complex racing machines.

Where the most recent rules focused on ground effects and closer grouping of cars to improve performance and competition, this time the focus is not only closer running but also a relaxation of previously banned flexibility in wing elements—an attempt to allow already existing technology to be deployed and eventually migrate toward domestic vehicles.

How successful has this been?

Of the two recently run races, only two teams have really shown how much they have grasped the potential of these new regulations: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Scuderia Ferrari. As competitors and engine suppliers, their tasks were made doubly difficult, yet both have come through with race-winning—and fan-winning—solutions.

Other teams coming close include Alpine F1 Team and Haas F1 Team—engine customers—as well as Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team, running the RB-Ford powertrains.

Red Bull Racing itself still has to more fully understand where its interpretation of these new regulations has fallen short. McLaren Formula 1 Team, champions over the last two years, have also fallen foul of the late start to this year’s format, caused in part by the tough defence they were forced into from the resurging Raging Bulls, Max but two points shy from claiming a fifth title.

Many purists, along with a number of drivers, hate this Mario Kart version of F1, while those who appreciate innovation and adaptation understand that this year—like the many before it that introduced new formats—is as necessary as renovating an old building, an old lifestyle, or even an old political party.

Modernizing has its pains—but it sure beats a collapsing regime.

Cheers.

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Formula One as we have never seen it before.

One Battle after Another

And the future of the planet is?*

The Oscar for the most hideous presidency must go to the Duck.

Without doubt, what has transpired across the 14 months since inauguration day goes way beyond what is expected of a superpower. Describing disruption as a legitimate strategy is like stating that drowning is an essential part of learning to swim. Neither works, and both result in utter consternation with very little progress and heaps of confusion.

Of course, the shadow of a long dead Epstein hangs loomingly over the heads of the rich and mighty, where pillars once strong are so much more easily pushed into piles of collapse. Summers once long has become a Harvard discard, while a past prince drags his once respected family into a freefall of regret.

More than this, the subterfuge for peace has long past its usefulness, with the unearned substitute quelling a little of the thirst for undeserved recognition — expressed directly as a further thirst for fame and, more importantly, fortune — which has tinged practically the whole of this second term.

Having made the name and family richer than ever before, the task now is to keep the good times rolling as long as they last, and brace for the downfall that is surely to come.

And that was the rant — so let's get on with the critical analysis.

When Fogy landed on England's shores in 1983, the Supreme Leader of Iran was already a present and unpleasant force troubling the western world. So many prime ministers and presidents later, only one has had the courage to face the wrath of the red brigade. This must be considered one of the more favourable actions of the Duck, as should the Venezuelan action.

What is questionable is the motive behind these and the proposed liberation of Cuba and perhaps all of Central America. Self-serving distractions from the real issues, or well kept promises?

When the first missiles hit Tehran it seemed obvious that the promise to the Star of David leader was being fulfilled — just as the declaration of fuel-driven vehicles being the future of the US was a promise kept to the Saudis.

Whatever this now mixed-up world is beginning to shape itself into, not much of it is for the planet of the people — but more for the planet of the one family.

And yet this is simply history repeating itself — make no mistake — and with it must follow the same collapse and rebuilding that inevitably comes of this. But how long will it take, and what will the cost be?

May our great-grandchildren live in peace.

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Naming Languages

What Language do you Speak?*

On the face of it, this might seem to be a simple question and the answer is probably clear in your mind — it is the language you were born into, spoken through all those months while you grew and developed in your mother's womb. Not a conscious learning, nor possibly anything specifically related to the genes that had formed you, but still a comfortable sense of familiarity during the days after birth — those frightening days of realisation that the protective cocoon was no longer shielding you from the reality that abounded.

Yet as you grew, so did the interpretation of that language — the way it was used, shaped by those around you and their own understanding of your growth, filtered through the limited knowledge they carried of their own life's experience.

Fogy is reminded here and now that it has been some time since his speculative reasoning has surfaced and may not be so easily recognised — so bear with him.

Life's experience is where your ancestors and the more elderly members of your family may not have actually spoken your language in the way you came to know it — and here Fogy is talking about immigrants, asylum seekers, victims of upheaval in its various forms, who were thrust headfirst into adaptation without the privilege of the soft introduction a baby is afforded.

And the crux of the matter is exactly this. Language is a living entity in itself. What was born from a solid root of well-structured framework is constantly being carved into a reminiscence of itself, absorbing other influences, forced toward simplicity so that its very essence — communication — can continue.

Coming to Brazil and being faced with the uphill task of learning Portuguese, it quickly became apparent to Fogy that while completely different from his native English, there were still enough similarities to make deductive interpretation possible. While understanding came more easily, reproducing the language remained ever more elusive.

Then came the realisation that the more consistent rules and structures Fogy was familiar with had been gradually whittled from the original Portuguese — meaning that the language being spoken in Brazil was in many ways a modified subset of its European ancestor.

Over time, and after considerable criticism of American English, it became equally apparent that American English has undergone many similar transitions — simplifying a number of inconsistencies in the original while incorporating the languages of its many peoples and their origins. This inclusion has enriched the base language and expanded the breadth of its possible meanings. As an international reference, it has stepped well beyond the limitations imposed by more traditional forms.

But is it really English? And is Brazilian Portuguese really Portuguese?

Fogy would suggest the proper answer is NO — a very definite NO.

Americans have changed their language sufficiently that we should really be speaking of them as speaking American. Australians speaking Australian. New Zealanders, New Zealand. Jamaicans, Jamaican. The list continues as we begin to detect the great differences across similar usages of a single dialect — to the point where the question Do you speak English? might honestly be answered with: No, I speak — and here we might choose from any of the above, or any other variant that is rooted in but has grown well beyond the original.

Those from South America visiting Spain might well ask — what Spanish is this? It feels so different from the Spanish of Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile.

So — do you speak Portuguese or Brazilian? English or American? Spanish or Cuban?

Fogy believes we genuinely need to reconsider the overall designation of language — to allow the richer definition of origin to stand as legitimate linguistic recognition in its own right.

And perhaps, in doing so, we might also recognise that the people who shaped those languages deserve the same.

Cheers.

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