The Business Of Cuisine Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The business of Cuisine
Two tins of Swedish meatballs in cream sauce.
The Swedish export their soul even if it is hidden in tins.
Unsalted mind stem and a heart of creamy white gravy.
The new world is about buying and selling, and that is ok,
Chinese dumplings bought at a pavement cafe it took days
to settle my stomach

So you think I know nothing I have been dining at a posh
Chinese restaurant with rotating tables
I said then, but not too cosy up to the host, Chinese food
was leading in the fields of cousin.

That was when I had the misfortune to go to Paris.
excellent food but served with an arrogance that was
off putting. I thought is there nowhere were people serve
food without prancing trays about. Finally, I did in
Alentejo (Portugal) where food is served without fanfare,
because the food is natural, wholesome and good.... and
if you are not driving, try their superb red wine and avoid
a French philosopher whose vanity is shifty as Libyan sand.