Man, there’s no better publicity than bad publicity. Tell people a book is banned and its sales will soar before the 'thought' police arrives. Tell some blokes that Miss So & So is ... eh ... naughty, and her date book will soon be chock a bloc full.
Likewise with cheese.
A former Japanese PM, Yoshiro Mori went to the residence of current PM Junichiro Koizumi to persuade the Liberal Democratic Party leader not to dissolve parliament and call for elections, but Junichiro obviously didn’t entertain his requests. So Yoshiro turned sulky and complained about the refreshment he was provided by Junichiro – just a lousy foreign beer and some hard cheese. He grumbled that the cheese was so dried out and hard that he couldn’t bite into it, showing the press a thin slice of orange-brown cheese.
But cheese cognoscenti recognized the cheese he waved in disgust as Mimolette, a French cheese whose flavor increases as it ages and hardens. In fact it’s supposed to be hard. The harder the cheese gets, the tastier it is, with older cheeses commanding a higher price. Junichiro was actually laying out his best cheese board for the blasphemous non-gourmand – la primitive!
Because of the publicity, the “insulted” cheese has enjoyed an increased sales at Japanese gourmet food and department stores. The harder ones have all been sold out.
To console the failed politician, PM Koizumi has promised to treat him to dinner with a full selection of cheeses at an expensive restaurant. May I recommend for that bloke, obviously a man with weak teeth, some Brie or Camembert plus a nice dessert wine like the Australian De Bortoli Noble One.
Bon appetit!
xaph, great word that 'philistine' - I was searching for it but my memory failed me when I blogged the post - had to settle for 'le primitive'
ReplyDelete