And they said "market will provide, as long as there is demand". The invisible hand of Adam Smith or some such guy.
Bullshit. Market is... the green market, where the peasants freely sell their product, i.e. produce. We had that in socialism, believe it or not. Free market. The green market nowadays, same here as in the US, is not a market. It's an outlet, controlled. The trick was simple: first, revoke the ban on resellers. Second, put up the subscriptions to the benches and gather the offers. And prefer the whole year subscriptions. The real peasants, who sell when they have something to sell, can't afford that. The resellers can.
We tried the green market in the US, and it was the same. Same as here, and same as the supermarket. Same unified plastic tomatoes, same price, the only difference being that we were sort of outside. On the roadside. And eleven truck trailers were churning their refrigerators, just so we'd know the vegetables were fresh. Not exactly fresh off the vine, but fresh, for certain values of fresh.
But this is about horseradish. I love horseradish as it used to be. The kind that my dad would get into the garage to clean up and grate, so he alone would overwork his tear ducts. Didn't have goggles back then, and I wonder whether they would have helped. The recipe for those was simple: finely grated, soaked in a solution of water, vinegar and salt. That's it. You had to be very careful when eating, because any amount over a couple of grams at a time would clean your nose with fire, starting from your tonsils and going up.
Then in the US I found horseradish in neat little jars, done by the exact same recipe, but no fire. It was bland. I mean, it had the taste, but it didn't burn, and didn't have any effect on my breathing at all. The essence was gone.
Now we're back home, and I had some of dad's horseradish, and guess what: no fire. Not the same kind as it used to be. It's americanized, for lack of better word.
Yesterday, bought this:
First off, I wouldn't trust a company called "SremFood". "Food" doesn't mean anything in Srem. Serbian language has only a few words where o is doubled, like zoološki vrt (a zoo), zoologija (zoology), neooptimizam (what you think it is) etc, none of which are pronounced as a long u. Sounds like one of those trading post wannabe outfits, which speak this bastardized Engrbian. OK, I took it too far: I don't know how they speak, I only read the labels as they print them. The main reason for this Engrbian is the old belief that the merchandise with labels in foreign languages (and there can be only one) were done to some higher standards, and almost passed the muster for export but, eh, we made too much, or the date was in the wrong format so they sent back the whole train of this good stuff, or the politicians screwed up and the deal was off... but they really bought this out in the West, and liked it.
That kind of story passed for real in sixties, maybe seventies. Sometimes it was even true (though I didn't notice the food being better than what they sold here... but Yugo for the US was indeed better than what was sold locally). Nowadays, when half the items have English more prominent on them, and Serbian part of the label is either smaller or absent, this is rubbish. They are selling a cat in a bag.
And, reading the label... yes, they are. Only 59% of the real stuff. All of 10% of mayonnaise - who ever put it in there? It's a filler, and it's not even proper one, it's made with canola oil. Canola is cattle feed here. We have excellent sunflower oil, corn germ oil... and these guys make mayonnaise of canola oil? That oil was used only for railroad lanterns, when we were a poor country. Now it's food? Yep, just like in the US.
Few neat details: 1) there are three no-name companies involved, whom I wish all the luck, if they get their act straight, start printing separate labels for export and domestic market, and start some manufacturing from local vegetables. One is the importer, the other is mixing and packaging, the third is wholesale. Of course, they all made a profit. Wait, wait... importer? This sanitized (no fire, of course) horserubbish is... tada... from Austria. Nice. 2) The "Lot:" is new Engrbian for "partija:". Even the internal slang at the jar filling line is Engrbian. 3) If we had a judicial system faster than a rheumatic snail, I'd sue them for fraud in advertising. The label says "extra hot" (don't remember in which language, and I didn't keep the jar around after dumping the contents into garbage), and it's bland. 4) Would their profit be heavily jeopardized if they bought horseradish from locals? I've seen it grow to almost a meter. And I intend to grow my own, if only I can find heirloom, not sanitized, seeds. FU, sanitizers.
So, where is the market to supply my needs? I want my horseradish hot. I sure am not the only one who'd buy it if it was available and clearly marked. Just like I'd buy sausage, salami and a few other things if only they'd guarantee there's only the normal water content (not brimming chock full with all their emulsifier can soak) and no soy. I'm willing to pay, and I'm, again, sure I'm not the only one. Actually, I didn't find it offered in the US either. And I can't find any parmesan at all. I'd even go for the bland replica sold by Kraft, but I'd prefer the Slovenian (by Kolinska, IIRC), that we had 30 years ago.
Should I conclude the market is equally not functioning here and in the US? Or that it was functioning, at least for some foods, better in socialism, when we were a poor country?
Џаба сте кречили.
Bullshit. Market is... the green market, where the peasants freely sell their product, i.e. produce. We had that in socialism, believe it or not. Free market. The green market nowadays, same here as in the US, is not a market. It's an outlet, controlled. The trick was simple: first, revoke the ban on resellers. Second, put up the subscriptions to the benches and gather the offers. And prefer the whole year subscriptions. The real peasants, who sell when they have something to sell, can't afford that. The resellers can.
We tried the green market in the US, and it was the same. Same as here, and same as the supermarket. Same unified plastic tomatoes, same price, the only difference being that we were sort of outside. On the roadside. And eleven truck trailers were churning their refrigerators, just so we'd know the vegetables were fresh. Not exactly fresh off the vine, but fresh, for certain values of fresh.
But this is about horseradish. I love horseradish as it used to be. The kind that my dad would get into the garage to clean up and grate, so he alone would overwork his tear ducts. Didn't have goggles back then, and I wonder whether they would have helped. The recipe for those was simple: finely grated, soaked in a solution of water, vinegar and salt. That's it. You had to be very careful when eating, because any amount over a couple of grams at a time would clean your nose with fire, starting from your tonsils and going up.
Then in the US I found horseradish in neat little jars, done by the exact same recipe, but no fire. It was bland. I mean, it had the taste, but it didn't burn, and didn't have any effect on my breathing at all. The essence was gone.
Now we're back home, and I had some of dad's horseradish, and guess what: no fire. Not the same kind as it used to be. It's americanized, for lack of better word.
Yesterday, bought this:
It says "Ren" (horseradish) on the label. But...what is this:
So what?net weight: 350g
Composition:
Root of horseradish (59%), vinegar, mayonnaise 10% (vegetable oil, water, yolk of egg, vinegar, sweetener: saccharine, mustard (water, mustard seed, vinegar, salt, spices, sweetener: saccharine), salt, stabilizers (guar gum, xantane, carob), spices, salt, citric acid E330, antioxidant: ascorbic acid E300, sodium metabisulphate E223, sweetener: saccharine E954)
Produce to be kept on a dry place and at temperature from +2oC to +21oC.
Usable by date impressid on the lid.
Lot: empressed on the lid.
First off, I wouldn't trust a company called "SremFood". "Food" doesn't mean anything in Srem. Serbian language has only a few words where o is doubled, like zoološki vrt (a zoo), zoologija (zoology), neooptimizam (what you think it is) etc, none of which are pronounced as a long u. Sounds like one of those trading post wannabe outfits, which speak this bastardized Engrbian. OK, I took it too far: I don't know how they speak, I only read the labels as they print them. The main reason for this Engrbian is the old belief that the merchandise with labels in foreign languages (and there can be only one) were done to some higher standards, and almost passed the muster for export but, eh, we made too much, or the date was in the wrong format so they sent back the whole train of this good stuff, or the politicians screwed up and the deal was off... but they really bought this out in the West, and liked it.
That kind of story passed for real in sixties, maybe seventies. Sometimes it was even true (though I didn't notice the food being better than what they sold here... but Yugo for the US was indeed better than what was sold locally). Nowadays, when half the items have English more prominent on them, and Serbian part of the label is either smaller or absent, this is rubbish. They are selling a cat in a bag.
And, reading the label... yes, they are. Only 59% of the real stuff. All of 10% of mayonnaise - who ever put it in there? It's a filler, and it's not even proper one, it's made with canola oil. Canola is cattle feed here. We have excellent sunflower oil, corn germ oil... and these guys make mayonnaise of canola oil? That oil was used only for railroad lanterns, when we were a poor country. Now it's food? Yep, just like in the US.
Few neat details: 1) there are three no-name companies involved, whom I wish all the luck, if they get their act straight, start printing separate labels for export and domestic market, and start some manufacturing from local vegetables. One is the importer, the other is mixing and packaging, the third is wholesale. Of course, they all made a profit. Wait, wait... importer? This sanitized (no fire, of course) horserubbish is... tada... from Austria. Nice. 2) The "Lot:" is new Engrbian for "partija:". Even the internal slang at the jar filling line is Engrbian. 3) If we had a judicial system faster than a rheumatic snail, I'd sue them for fraud in advertising. The label says "extra hot" (don't remember in which language, and I didn't keep the jar around after dumping the contents into garbage), and it's bland. 4) Would their profit be heavily jeopardized if they bought horseradish from locals? I've seen it grow to almost a meter. And I intend to grow my own, if only I can find heirloom, not sanitized, seeds. FU, sanitizers.
So, where is the market to supply my needs? I want my horseradish hot. I sure am not the only one who'd buy it if it was available and clearly marked. Just like I'd buy sausage, salami and a few other things if only they'd guarantee there's only the normal water content (not brimming chock full with all their emulsifier can soak) and no soy. I'm willing to pay, and I'm, again, sure I'm not the only one. Actually, I didn't find it offered in the US either. And I can't find any parmesan at all. I'd even go for the bland replica sold by Kraft, but I'd prefer the Slovenian (by Kolinska, IIRC), that we had 30 years ago.
Should I conclude the market is equally not functioning here and in the US? Or that it was functioning, at least for some foods, better in socialism, when we were a poor country?
Џаба сте кречили.
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