At the end of April I participated in the World Meeting of IAALD, The International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists. About 200 colleagues from overall of the World participated.

Swimming and snorkeling around Pulau Manukan I made some considerations on nature conservation. With 6,815,500,000 individuals of the species "homo sapiens sapiens :-)" (US Census Bureau April 18th 2010) nature conservation is a tricky issue. Homo sapiens is resource consuming, especially space and energy consuming. And most important: Homo sapiens has created it's own habitate and has created the circumstances to expand it's population size so ruthlessly. Without neolithical revolution, industrial revolution and further on, there would not be more than ???? human beings on earth.

Yesterday I represented FAO in the final review of the D4Science project (http://www.d4science.eu) here in Brussels.

D4Science is a project to build Virtual Research Infrastructures, in which scientist can collaborate despite of different locations or disciplines.

"Democratic decisions can be wrong, unjust and impractical, violate the country’s constitution and even violate basic human rights. They can even relate to issues for which the democratic system is quite simply inadequate".

This is a citation from the article in openDemocracy which discusses the Swiss plebiscit againt the construction of minarets in switzerland.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/thomas-w-bechtler/danger-of-majority-tyranny

Also Italy is nearer to a tyranny of the majority than to a constitutional state under the rule of law.

Today people start to make noodles from everything (my friend Boris also from raw zucchinis :-). I normally don't like this. Pasta has to be from wheat and normally from "Granum durum", I neither appreciate very much the wholemeal variations....

For my last birthday, I got a new cookbook with Asian Recipes from an Australian Chef, delicious stuff. Chinese cooking is not simple, so a Cookbook should help :-). But after having followed some of the recipes, I am already again experimental. The following is a well succeeded one.

You need: a china cabbage, Shiitake Mushrooms, Grated Palm Sugar, Garlic, Ginger, Chinkiang Vinegar, ShaoXiang, which is a Rice Sherry. I found here in my Chinese Shop Hua Diao Wine, what is quite the same.

I am getting a duck specialist. "L'anatra" al mirto has become part of my repertoir. Last week I tried a "steamed duck" derived from a Chinese recipe. I still have to finish the write up, what shows that it was complex :-)

I am normally frontrunner regarding ICT innovations. When I moved in 86 from Germany to Italy, I already came with my PC, well PC, it was more a typewrite with screen. When Internet came ppublic, can't remember the year, I had one of the first accounts. I still remember the emotion when after painstaking attempts finally the modem brought you into connection. I remember Mosaic. I programmed one of the first data driven ASP applications at FAO. I have cabled our flat and we have 4 internet connected PCs for three inhabitants :-).

Between home made sauces and bought one, there is a difference. Unfortunately it is a lot of work preparing them and the home made also deteriorate quicker. The moulds prefer stuff without preservatives :-).

This is one oily, cooked and one fresh sauce, but both delicious. The base are the long red chilies as they are grown in Italy. They are not very hot after being deseeded. To get the sauce hot I add little pieces of Thai Chili, which burns you already at sight.

I like brain, preferable lamb brain, and it is possible to get it again after the "mad cow disease panic ebbed away
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Normally I avoid any severe treatment, some butter, some grappa, that's it. At the moment I am on the Asean/Italian fusion cooking trail. So I marinated the brain in Shaoxing. This is a Chinese Rice Sherry.