Baba au Rhum

This dessert - which can today be bought basically in Paris from the exact same family whose ancestors invented it - is not 'babka cake infused with rum.' Although that is more or less what you are getting technically these days...

It's in fact an Ottoman Turkish thing; even an Arabic Muslim item - since originally it was made using saffron and soaked raisins and fresh grapes, and a Spanish wine known as Malaga Wine.

This is the Stohrer 'Ali Baba.'

'Rhum' is a place, not a type of alcohol; ancient 'Rhum' is the coast of Ionia, Turkey. In it's modern form, the dessert was created in Venice, where the Far East, and the near East, and pretty much everywhere else, met the West. 'Bab' means 'gate,' not 'cake.'

I mean it is still called 'Baba au Rhum' not 'Babka au Rum.' And it is indeed historically and literally the case that the person for whom the dessert was made, was a fan of the story of Ali Baba and the use of 'Baba' was quite deliberate and intentional.

Stohrer, the family company that makes the original versions in Paris today, still call the main example the 'Stohrer Ali Baba.'

Now I tell this story to tell you this other one...

Today when people talk about wealth they talk about money. The gods only understand wealth in terms of food.

And the opposite of the supernatural powers of Good, are spoken of in terms of spoiled food: 'Lord of the Flies,' 'neither cold nor hot I spit you out...'

The greatest mind today who speaks about fashion and clothing to the cognoscenti - Robert Pante says things like: 'you have to dress, not tasteful, but tasty!'

I have a copy of the highly secret movie that John Malkovich made for Remy Martin, which has been placed inside a 'time-capsule' to be opened after a hundred years - the amount of time it takes for a Louis XIII cognac to be made. I don't know anyone from the layers of the super-wealthy who are at all interested in seeing it for money (they of course want to see it for free) - but they will pay for all kinds of other things, always which they are sold on as 'urgent/critical/important.'

Same thing but from Alain Ducasse

Now here's the rub see - the great ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides said it first as far as I know: 'if you are seeking pure happiness in the highest order, the philosopher and the one who finds and comprehends Truth has it, while the individual who thinks money and power provide the greatest rewards as far as happiness goes are not just mistaken but wildly so.'

The secret movie was hacked by the exact same people who got all those emails of John Podesta and Hillary Clinton but I don't think the media is going to care about the Remy Martin cognac flick. They'll probably want RM to pay for the exposure. 

It's an absolutely great movie, by the way. 'It'll make your life better,' as food blogger Mikey Chen often says.