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THE CULTURE OF COFFEE
On January 12, sixteen of our distinguished members took their cars and went to the installations of Kraft Foods
in Upplands Väsby.
There, we were met by a distinguished Italian, a real barisa, with the name of Giovanni Masturzo, who happens to be the Training Manager of Gevalia, who gave
one of the most interesting, educating and outstanding study visits PROFOCA has done over the years.
Mr. Marturzo explained us that Coffee around the world, is consumed in different
ways, in differing styles, with differing strengths, but the tendencies for certain areas of the planet may surprise us.
“It’s probably little surprise that the United States of America
is the largest single market for coffee products, but it may surprise you to know that the second largest is Germany.
“They may live a far more relaxed life than those people in the US,
but the nation of Finland consumes the most coffee per head of population in the world today” informed Giovanni.
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| Barista Giovanni Marturzo giving lecture on coffee culture |
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| Miroslav Hoc, Abdi Hossein and Ewa Korolczuk enjoying the super lunch served by KRAFT FOODS |
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| All ears, we listened to the lecture on coffee given my barista Giovanni Masturzo |
All great things in this world come from a mistake, it seems. And coffee
is no exception. But the history of coffee is one that is full of twists and turns, some political, some down to happenstance,
but all of them have contributed to your double espresso being what it is today.
The popular theory is that coffee was really ‘discovered’ by
a sheep herder from Caffa Ethiopia. The herder was known as Kaldi, and he happened to notice that his sheep would get hyperactive
after eating red “cherries” from the plant we now know to be coffee. Intrigued as to what the plant was doing
to his flock, Kaldi tried a couple himself, and was soon in a caffeine frenzy. Initially, the local monks scolded Kaldi for
his new found drug, but they soon found that if they took some coffee themselves, the monks could stay up later for their
prayers- or so the story goes.
As you probably know, coffee contains caffeine, which acts as a stimulant
in the human body. Consciously or not, the human body craves more caffeine when it is exposed to it for a long period, and
because people usually start drinking coffee either as a means of staying awake (studying for an exam, for example), a diversion
from work, or in a social situation, those cravings don’t take long to form in most people.
Coffee dependence sometimes follows, and kicking the habit can be a real
drag. Government authorities in the US say that two cups a day of coffee should be about the limit for people, with anything
more than that being more harmful to the body than helpful. Many people drink decaf instead of their usual coffee as a means
of reducing this negative impact. Decaf is coffee that has most of the caffeine removed through the use of either water or
trichloroethylene on the beans.
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| Tasting a real, real Expresso, the cream of the members of PROFOCA |
Scientists hypothesize that an unknown chemical agent which stimulates the
production of cortisone and adrenaline, two stimulating hormones in the human body, is present in coffee, however these two
hormones aren’t particularly harmful in themselves, at least in coffee sized doses.
Coffee
has a variety of helpful uses for humans; gardeners use the grounds as fertilizer to great success, while others say that
coffee increases the effectiveness of pain killers, and can even help fight asthma, possibly due to the enhanced adrenal effect
from the caffeine. In women, scientists have shown that coffee reduces suicidal tendencies, while it may also prevent gallstones
and gallbladder disease in men, and reduce the incidence of diabetes by some 40%. Lastly, coffee’s stimulant effects
and fat burning potential sees some quarters of the medical industry pushing it as a means of lowering the incidence of heart
disease.
How much of this is real and how much is hokum stemming from wishful thinking
in coffee drinkers remains to be seen. But one thing we can be sure of it tastes great!
Did you know that the most expensive coffee in the whole world enjoys the name of Kopi Luwak? Well, let us tell
you that Kopi Luwak coffee comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, an area well known for its excellent coffee. Also
native to the area is a small civet-like animal called a Paradoxurus. That's the scientific name, the locals call them luwaks.
These little mammals live in the trees and one of their favourite foods is the red, ripe coffee cherry. They eat the cherries,
bean and all. While the bean is in the little guy's stomach, it undergoes chemical treatments and fermentations. The bean
finishes its journey through the digestive system, and exits. The still-intact beans are collected from the forest floor,
and are cleaned, then roasted and ground just like any other coffee.
The resulting coffee is said to be like no other. It has a rich, heavy flavour with hints of caramel or chocolate.
Other terms used to describe it are earthy, musty and exotic. The body is almost syrupy and it's very smooth.
And it is the most expensive too. One kilo is sold for around 150 dollars. In Sweden, you can enjoy a cup of
Kopi Luwak for around 100 Swedish crowns if not more.
But lucky ones, like Francesco Alonzo, Miroslav Hoc, Fred Goldberg, Sara Jasas (Alfayhaa TV from Iraq), Gunilla
Lundqvist, Xuefei Chen, Abdi Hossein, Carlos Palestro, Ewa Korolczuk, Arif Husseini, Lennart Hallén and José Luis
Belmar had the opportunity of tasting a new blend of coffee that will be on the market in June. The new coffee will be named
"GIOVANNIS BLEND". Believe us: it is out of this world. Just wait and taste.
Photos taken by Carlos Palestro and Miroslav Hoc.
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| Kopi (Coffee) Luwak (Civet cat) eating the coffee berries |
BREAKFAST MEETING
AT
STOCKHOLM VISITORS BOARD
Kära Profoca-medlemmar!
Det var glädjande att se så många av Er vid den informationsfrukost som, genom förmedling av vår
sekreterare José Luis Belmar, bjöds av Stockholm Visitors Board torsdag den 7 maj. Förutom det rikliga frukostbordet blev
bli bjudna på verkligt matnyttig information beträffande både begreppet ” Stockholm – The capital of Scandinavia”
och alla evenemang av medialt intresse som kommer att äga rum i år och under 2010.
Stockholms turistansvariga har på ett berömligt sätt visat hur de uppskattar och värdesätter vår roll som förmedlare
av all information rörande Sveriges huvudstad och detta har bevisats dels genom det generösa erbjudandet av Stockholms ”Key
of Honor” som vi i flera år har erhållit, dels genom att öppet deklarera att de alltid ställer upp för Profoca-medlemmarna
när det gäller inhämtning av informationsmaterial rörande Stockholm.
Vi har i ett tackbrev uttryckt
vår beundran för deras arbete och vi hoppas att även andra offentliga institutioner skall följa deras exempel och förstå att
det är vi, utländska korrespondenter, som förmedlar Sverigebilden ut i världen.
Med kollegiala hälsningar
Francesco S. Alonzor
Ordförande
i PROFOCA
Fotografi: Carlos Alfonso
Palestro
With the purpose of understanding
more about the culture and development in China, PROFOCA,(Professional Foreign Correspondent Association), and the Political
Sector of the Chinese embassy organized this activity
Zhou Lulu, director of the Political Sector of the embassy said that this year marked the 30th anniversary of China's
reform and opening up policies which brought China great changes and achievements. Thus a film which is titled Colorful Seasons
was shown to the journalist.
The film described China's development
as four seasons in four main areas in China. Spring refers to Shenzhen which was the first special economic zone in southeast
China in the early 1980s when China just began reform and opening up.
Summer refers to Shanghai's development after the
successful decade long experiment in Shenzhen. Shanghai's development just stunned people by its tremendous changes and progress
Autumn refers to the development in western regions where there are rich natural resources.
The film reflected the changes and progress in western China such as Xinjiang Uygor Autonomous Region, Tibet, Inner Mongolia,
Sichuan and Yunnan.
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| Zhou Lulu explaining some facts to Ewa Korolzcuk and Tomasz Walat |
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| Zhou Lulu really knew what she was talking about |
Through these four seasons in four
areas in China, the film tries to give a whole picture of development and progress in the whole country.
On the question
of environmental pollution in China, Director Zhou said with the fast economic development, there is also an urgency to solve
the pollution problem.
"During the Olympics, China made great efforts to deal with the pollution. In total China's
greenhouse emission is very large due to its huge population and production for the whole world. But on average (per capita)
emission, China is very low, it is only one third of the developed countries. But it doesn't mean that we have an excuse.
We are doing our best to improve our environment and reduce greenhouse gas emission," said Director Zhou.
About the
cooperation between China and Sweden, she said that China likes to learn from Sweden about environment protection and reduction
of greenhouse gas emission. Swedish Prime Minister Reinfeldt's visit to China mostly focused on this issue.
She also
said that China's Jilin province has cooperation with Vasaloppet in skiing competition.
Director Zhou also answered
journalists' questions about Taiwan, the Dalai Lama, family planning policies and other issues.
The sixteen journalists including Jose Luis
Belmar from The Voice of America and Vincenzo Lanza from La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, were mostly from European and
American countries. There was also one correspondent from Iran, one from India and two from People's Daily to attend the occasion.
They are all based in Stockholm but sending stories back to their homeland.
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| Anybody for Chinese food? |
What is next? Well, it might be the embassy of South Africa or a trip to Israel or... What is certain,
is that PROFOCA is always on the move. PROFOCA is the never ending story of extraordinary cultural events.
Oh, Oh. Before we forget, let us tell you that the photos were taken by PROFOCA'S Vice President,
Miroslav Hoc, from the Slovakian News Agency.
PROFOCA
AND THE
UNTOLD STORIES ABOUT
SWEDISH DIRECTOR
INGMAR BERGMAN
“Legendary
late Swedish Director Ingmar Bergman's death last year was a great loss to Swedish film industry. Yet he is still alive. A
guided tour of costumes used in Bergman's opera and stage in Swedish Royal Opera House shows many untold stories about Ingmar
Bergman.” Xuefei Chen, People´s Daily on line correspondent in Stockholm.
| Joachim Shill welcoming our professional members |
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Yes!
To find out more about this icon in the Swedish film and theater history, PROFOCA was once more, guest of honour at the Royal
Opera House. Our host was, as usual, Mr. Torbjörn Eriksson, Head of Public Relations of the Institution.
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| Zsuzsa, José, Tatiana and Zsofi, observed by Joachim |
As
Mr. Eriksson pointed out, the novelty this summer at the Royal Opera, is an exhibition focusing on Ingmar Bergman´s pasión
for the opera and the mark this made on his art.
“It was here at The Royal Swedish Opera that he began his career as an unpaid assistant
producer and it was here that he later produced his legendary production of Stravinsky´s The Rake´s Progress.”-Torbjörn
Eriksson.
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| Joachim explaining us the importance of Bergman for the Royal Opera |
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