In the run up to Christmas it’s all too easy to overindulge, especially when festive goodies are handed out at almost every opportunity. But I don’t just mean the times when you travel to see family and friends. You know that those visits oblige you to sample someone’s homemade mince pies or Christmas cake. However, recently I have been surprised to be plied with stollen bites, Bailey’s and holiday chocolates simply by buying presents, choosing a Christmas tree and attending my gym. Even if you are normally accustomed to eating a healthy diet, somehow it still feels awkward to turn down the offer of a festive calorie-laden treat. So you end up eating something sky high in sugar that you know you don’t really need or necessarily want from a virtual stranger. You even go overboard in thanking them for it and will happily do it all again because it’s Christmas. Then when your gut starts to nag away at you with eater’s regret, you try to convince yourself that there’s no harm in a little celebrating…Nobody wants to be a Scrooge, right? Besides, it’s practically impossible to have a healthy Christmas.
As I tried to negotiate my way around a supermarket already towering with Quality Street tins I was interested to see the latest headlines about Britain’s ‘addiction’ to ultra-processed food. The fast-food habit was now costing the country a whopping £286 billion every year. This startlingly high figure came from a recent report from the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) which found that the cost of chronic disease was now almost matching the total healthcare spend in the UK. For unhealthy food that is literally ‘cheap as chips’ it turns out that we are all paying for it through the cost of healthcare, social care, welfare and losses of productivity from ill health. Although the figures are shocking, the knock-on effects of the country’s increased consumption of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt and fat are sadly, nothing new. However, what did surprise me about the media coverage surrounding the report was the number of sources that still referred to the UK’s population of ‘junk food addicts’.
If you are a parent, whether your children are still toddlers or are now old enough to become parents themselves, it would have been practically impossible to ignore the subject of some of the recent headlines. They announced that parents no longer have to take the blame if their children are picky eaters because it is all down to their genetics. At least that’s how the majority of news outlets reported the findings from the UK study that analysed the data from 2,400 sets of twins. Naturally, any parent hearing this news would have felt a moment of relief, because it is almost a rite of passage to at some point experience the frustration of trying to get your child to eat.
Sport is somewhat like politics these days in that competitions that capture all of our attention and are the only topic of conversation are suddenly just…not. Perhaps we have a short attention span, because it wasn’t so long ago when the UK was inundated by coverage of the Men’s Euro 2024. But by the time the leagues of England supporters sobered up to face that football was not ‘coming home’, the public had already moved on. And what better place to focus our attention on than the Paris Olympics. After all, the Olympics never disappoint in showcasing a mix of incredible talent, record-breaking feats, and a touch of high drama and controversy that guarantees to entertain the masses…for at least the next two weeks. All eyes are now focused on Team GB, as they battle it out against the rest of the world’s greatest athletes and try to make it to an exclusive podium. Brutally, all of the attention is on the medal winners, and the athletes who don’t quite make it there are almost overlooked.
It may be harsh but in the Olympics (and the Euros) you’re either winning or losing, and no one is as interested in hearing about a fourth place’s journey. The winners not only inspire the rest of us to get fit, take up sport and achieve, they also make it very easy to believe that winning is everything. But maybe it’s a human instinct to zone in entirely on the prize, especially when you see others try to do something almost superhuman. However, as mere mortals, life and reality often get in the way of any overly ambitious goals to make a podium. And by only ever focusing on getting a result, you are guaranteed to be sometimes disappointed. It makes much more sense to put winning into perspective by shifting the focus onto how to get there.
Although we are in the midst of the UK general election campaign, not everyone is tuning in to watch the TV debates. In fact, many sports fans are more focused on the fierce battles being played out on the football pitches across Germany. Because so far, the Euros 2024 have not failed to disappoint. There have been matches full of high drama with contentious decisions and almost as many own-goals scored as the current government’s tally in recent days. However, one thing that has set apart the different contests is the culinary row being fuelled by opposing football supporters.
Reportedly, it started with the Swiss during their first match of the tournament when they taunted their rival Hungarian fans with a simple cardboard sign proudly stating, ‘FONDUE BETTER THAN GOULASH’. Brave words from the Swiss and to further emphasise their point, many of them cheered on the match wearing hats topped with enormous wedges of cheeses. And they were right to be confident because the Swiss dominated the match and won 3-1. But the sign was promptly shared through the usual social media channels and alas, a food fight of sorts began.
Next to join in were the Albanian and Italian supporters. Although the Albanian supporters felt they had to take it one further. In the hour leading up to the match, the Albanian supporters delivered an early blow to their rivals as they gathered outside the stadium. They audaciously committed what many Italians see as a cardinal sin – pastacide. The Albanians approached their rival Italian fans and waved around whole fistfuls of dried spaghetti without any due care or respect. As the shocked Italians pleaded with them to come to their senses and stop, the Albanians defiantly snapped the pasta which immediately shot out hundreds of noodle splinters. It was a gutsy move but more was to come.
Perhaps buoyed on by their fearless supporters, Albania stormed the pitch as soon as the first whistle of the game was blown. They scored a record-breaking goal inside the first 23 seconds. It was absolutely breath-taking and Albania looked unstoppable. But the Italian fans, still smarting from the unnecessary pastacide, refused to be intimidated. Instead, they pulled out all the stops and unfurled a sign declaring, ‘EAT PASTA RUN FASTA’. The Italian team responded with just enough sheer determination to turn the game around. In the end their supporters (and pasta) were vindicated with Italy’s solid 2-1 result.
Word about food fight and rumours about bad food omens quickly spread among the football supporters. But the following day, Poland’s supporters showed up to their match against the Netherlands feeling confident. They knew better not to get involved in any pre-match desecration of Dutch culinary staples. Instead, they took a nod from the Swiss and went back to basics inside the stadium where they unveiled a large sign declaring, ‘KIELBASA BETTER THAN GOUDA’. However, they didn’t entirely follow the food protocol. Someone had decided to add a drawing of a massive steaming sausage that was practically towering over a piddly wedge of cheese. It was simply too much. At first, nothing was amiss and Poland got off to a good start as they led the match. But mocking the tiny Gouda with a badly-drawn picture had hit a sore spot and the Netherlands responded by evening things up. The second half of the match battled on but the Netherlands delivered a final blow in a strong 2-1 victory. The Polish supporters could only blame themselves for tempting food fate.
You would think that after this result, lessons would be learned and football supporters would think carefully before they disrespected the national foods of their opponents. But unfortunately, alcohol always overrides common sense. Which is why the Austrian supporters thought it wise to stir up another food fight. It started in the lead up to the Austria vs France match as fellow supporters were mixing and enjoying several pre-match drinks. Good-natured footie banter was shared back and forth and everything was calm. That is, until suddenly out of nowhere some baguettes were produced by the Austrians and it wasn’t because they were peckish. No, the supporters waved them around wildly in an echo of pastacide, without even thinking about the consequences.
Despite the cries and protests by the beret-wearing French supporters, the baguettes were broken with glee. More was to come inside the stadium when a sign declaring ‘SCHNITZEL BETTER THAN BAGUETTE’ was released. It was bold move, to say the least, but at least no one had added any culinary sketches. But after the baguette massacre, it was already too late because some bad food karma was about to play out on the pitch. It was a very tight game and France had to work hard but the Austrian team suffered more. Their supporters could only watch as their team score an own goal and helped Les Bleus deliver a 1-0 win.
As we get down to the last 16 teams and head towards the quarter finals, I have noticed that the Euro food fights have finally started to settle down. Clearly, some football supporters have learnt the lesson of creating bad food karma the hard way. After all, having confidence in your team doesn’t have to be exclusive of also having mutual respect for the other side. With less than a week to go until the UK election, this is something that many of our politicians could also well be reminded of.
Since Italy has made it through to the last 16 and as an endurance runner I fully endorse the adage, ‘EAT PASTA RUN FASTA’, I had to share my recipe for Cacio e pepe.
