Jul 16, 2019 04:25 PM
(This post was last modified: Jul 16, 2019 04:25 PM by C C.)
How Norway turns criminals into good neighbours (Norwegian community)
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-48885846
EXCERPT: What is the point of sending someone to prison - retribution or rehabilitation? Twenty years ago, Norway moved away from a punitive "lock-up" approach and sharply cut reoffending rates. The BBC's Emma Jane Kirby went to see the system in action, and to meet prison officers trained to serve as mentors and role models for prisoners.
[...] Tranquillity does not come cheaply. A place at Halden Prison costs about £98,000 per year. The average annual cost of a prison place in England in Wales is now about £40,000, or £59,000 in a Category A prison. [...] When Are Hoidal first began his career in the Norwegian Correctional service in the early 1980s, the prison experience here was altogether different. "It was completely hard," he remembers. "It was a masculine, macho culture with a focus on guarding and security. And the recidivism rate was around 60-70%, like in the US."
But in the early 1990s, the ethos of the Norwegian Correctional Service underwent a rigorous series of reforms to focus less on what Hoidal terms "revenge" and much more on rehabilitation. Prisoners, who had previously spent most of their day locked up, were offered daily training and educational programmes and the role of the prison guards was completely overhauled. "Not 'guards'," admonishes Hoidal gently, when I use the term.
"We are prison 'officers' and of course we make sure an inmate serves his sentence but we also help that person become a better person. We are role models, coaches and mentors. And since our big reforms, recidivism in Norway has fallen to only 20% after two years and about 25% after five years. So this works!" In the UK, the recidivism rate is almost 50% after just one year.
The architecture of Halden Prison has been designed to minimise residents' sense of incarceration, to ease psychological stress and to put them in harmony with the surrounding nature - in fact the prison, which cost £138m to build, has won several design awards for its minimalist chic. Set in beautiful blueberry woods and peppered with majestic silver birch and pine trees, the two-storey accommodation blocks and wooden chalet-style buildings give the place an air of a trendy university campus rather than a jail. (MORE - details)
Does Egypt have the best falafel in the world? (Egyptian community)
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190715...-the-world
EXCERPT: . . . The taameya sandwich is a lesson in perfect simplicity. Nearby countries such as Syria and Lebanon have a reputation for incorporating greater flair into their falafel sandwiches, experimenting with different fillings and sauces, such as coleslaw, tomato herb salad and pickled turnips. These no doubt have their place but, in my opinion, they’d be hard-pressed to beat the Egyptian version. In fact, falafel cooked by Egyptian fast-casual chain Zööba won ‘best falafel’ at 2016’s London Falafel Festival in Borough Market, beating Palestinian-Lebanese competitors and leading to more ‘best in the world’ talk.
Much of that is thanks to a certain idiosyncrasy in the way Egyptians make their falafel. Gone are the chickpeas so ubiquitous in most other countries; here, the main ingredient is broad beans, which fry better and result in a lighter, fluffier take on the popular snack. Along with garlic, onion and coriander seeds, the Egyptian mix also incorporates a greater number of fresh herbs and vegetables – such as parsley, coriander and leeks – than its neighbours’, producing a pale green interior and greater depth of flavour.
“I totally agree that the best falafel in the world comes from Egypt, and I’ve certainly told people who went to Egypt that,” said Claudia Roden, the famed culinary anthropologist and serial Middle Eastern cookbook author. “It’s all down to the taste and texture. I think broad beans… have a better texture than chickpeas, because they’re softer and creamier, plus the Egyptian version has more herbs, which makes it greener. I think the overall flavouring is much better.”
[...] The Egyptian love affair with broad beans – also known as fava beans – runs deep. Along with taameya and bread, the country’s other staple dish is ful medames, in which broad beans are stewed for more than 12 hours and mixed with garlic, olive oil, cumin and lemon juice. Taameya and ful medames are primarily breakfast dishes, though their unswerving popularity means they are often consumed at any time of day.
In his book, Beans: A History, food historian Ken Albala writes that eating broad beans in Egypt “seems to be a conscious act of nationalism. Ful medames is an expression of identity for modern Egyptians who choose to resist the onslaught of contemporary breakfast foods; it is a way to remember who they are.”
Exactly when and why the broad bean took hold in Egypt, while most of its neighbours became enamoured with the chickpea, remains something of a mystery. Both ingredients feature in a medieval Egyptian cookbook titled (MORE - details)
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-48885846
EXCERPT: What is the point of sending someone to prison - retribution or rehabilitation? Twenty years ago, Norway moved away from a punitive "lock-up" approach and sharply cut reoffending rates. The BBC's Emma Jane Kirby went to see the system in action, and to meet prison officers trained to serve as mentors and role models for prisoners.
[...] Tranquillity does not come cheaply. A place at Halden Prison costs about £98,000 per year. The average annual cost of a prison place in England in Wales is now about £40,000, or £59,000 in a Category A prison. [...] When Are Hoidal first began his career in the Norwegian Correctional service in the early 1980s, the prison experience here was altogether different. "It was completely hard," he remembers. "It was a masculine, macho culture with a focus on guarding and security. And the recidivism rate was around 60-70%, like in the US."
But in the early 1990s, the ethos of the Norwegian Correctional Service underwent a rigorous series of reforms to focus less on what Hoidal terms "revenge" and much more on rehabilitation. Prisoners, who had previously spent most of their day locked up, were offered daily training and educational programmes and the role of the prison guards was completely overhauled. "Not 'guards'," admonishes Hoidal gently, when I use the term.
"We are prison 'officers' and of course we make sure an inmate serves his sentence but we also help that person become a better person. We are role models, coaches and mentors. And since our big reforms, recidivism in Norway has fallen to only 20% after two years and about 25% after five years. So this works!" In the UK, the recidivism rate is almost 50% after just one year.
The architecture of Halden Prison has been designed to minimise residents' sense of incarceration, to ease psychological stress and to put them in harmony with the surrounding nature - in fact the prison, which cost £138m to build, has won several design awards for its minimalist chic. Set in beautiful blueberry woods and peppered with majestic silver birch and pine trees, the two-storey accommodation blocks and wooden chalet-style buildings give the place an air of a trendy university campus rather than a jail. (MORE - details)
Does Egypt have the best falafel in the world? (Egyptian community)
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190715...-the-world
EXCERPT: . . . The taameya sandwich is a lesson in perfect simplicity. Nearby countries such as Syria and Lebanon have a reputation for incorporating greater flair into their falafel sandwiches, experimenting with different fillings and sauces, such as coleslaw, tomato herb salad and pickled turnips. These no doubt have their place but, in my opinion, they’d be hard-pressed to beat the Egyptian version. In fact, falafel cooked by Egyptian fast-casual chain Zööba won ‘best falafel’ at 2016’s London Falafel Festival in Borough Market, beating Palestinian-Lebanese competitors and leading to more ‘best in the world’ talk.
Much of that is thanks to a certain idiosyncrasy in the way Egyptians make their falafel. Gone are the chickpeas so ubiquitous in most other countries; here, the main ingredient is broad beans, which fry better and result in a lighter, fluffier take on the popular snack. Along with garlic, onion and coriander seeds, the Egyptian mix also incorporates a greater number of fresh herbs and vegetables – such as parsley, coriander and leeks – than its neighbours’, producing a pale green interior and greater depth of flavour.
“I totally agree that the best falafel in the world comes from Egypt, and I’ve certainly told people who went to Egypt that,” said Claudia Roden, the famed culinary anthropologist and serial Middle Eastern cookbook author. “It’s all down to the taste and texture. I think broad beans… have a better texture than chickpeas, because they’re softer and creamier, plus the Egyptian version has more herbs, which makes it greener. I think the overall flavouring is much better.”
[...] The Egyptian love affair with broad beans – also known as fava beans – runs deep. Along with taameya and bread, the country’s other staple dish is ful medames, in which broad beans are stewed for more than 12 hours and mixed with garlic, olive oil, cumin and lemon juice. Taameya and ful medames are primarily breakfast dishes, though their unswerving popularity means they are often consumed at any time of day.
In his book, Beans: A History, food historian Ken Albala writes that eating broad beans in Egypt “seems to be a conscious act of nationalism. Ful medames is an expression of identity for modern Egyptians who choose to resist the onslaught of contemporary breakfast foods; it is a way to remember who they are.”
Exactly when and why the broad bean took hold in Egypt, while most of its neighbours became enamoured with the chickpea, remains something of a mystery. Both ingredients feature in a medieval Egyptian cookbook titled (MORE - details)
