the art of making sausages

a nation hungryan economy to plan and a lot of propaganda to do. Coming across images today of the assortment of sausages that, at least in theory, were available in grocery stores for the Soviet people during the post-war years is a visual spectacle, something that runs counter to all our preconceived ideas about what should be on those starving family tables and also a carousel of alchemical challenges as we see more and more elaborate and exotic sausages. Pure modern art mass produced in the Soviet Union (you will find a wide variety of examples at the end of the post). Account the YouTube popularizer of Russian origin My Name Is Andong that everything took off thanks to trip to Chicago by Anastas Mikoyánthen a senior member of the Politburo, in 1936. He lived there for three months, when the countries were still experiencing an idyllic period of cooperation, and with his stay he not only took down recipes for a lot of products that would later drive his people crazy on their return home, such as ice cream, ketchup or hamburgers, but he learned how factories and companies there were applying innovations produced by the second industrial revolution. Among them, they discovered that extensive livestock farming and the acceleration of processes could help the use of animal waste for its reconversion into sausages, which were stored much longer. The Sausage Doctor. The desired one. All this led to two elements of our interest, the first, the Recipe Album of the People’s Commissariat of the Food Industry of the USSR for the companies of the People’s Commissariat of the Food Industry “Sausages and Smoked Foods”, where production standards were established that no one could ignore for each type of sausage and which gave rise to this beautiful variety of dozens of meat buns. We are pleased to introduce Doctor Sausage And second, the order was given for the production of a lot of new products, of which we are going to highlight one and only one, the Doktorskaya kolbasa, Doktorskaya kolbasa or Doctor Sausage. He was on the verge of calling himself Doctor Stalin because they were so proud of the discovery, but someone thought that it wouldn’t be such a good idea in the long run to associate the leader of the Party with a meat flute. The Doctor Sausage was a natural recipe, without additives, with a very high proportion of beef and pork (60% of its weight) to be talking about a combat product and with the rest of the additives being easily found. It was cooked, it had to be soft to feed from children to adults, low in fat for those with stomach problems, and its nutritional composition would help to remove the most impoverished classes of famine, as well as allowing them access to meat. A good protein for everything, which is why the State spent good money promoting its sausage with the desire that it reach every table. To say it was a success would be an understatement. The divulger’s mother, who did spend her life, childhood included, in the USSR, remembers it. He tells how chopped was not for every day, but the day it was bought was a party. Kolbasa sandwiches They were the favorites of the workers in the street vendors’ stalls. Salchipapas, kolbasa with fried eggskobalsa in the Olivier salad (precursor of what we know as Russian salad)… The old woman fondly remembers what they called the “doctor’s tear”, that the mortadella, if you squeezed it, made it a little greasy. It was juicy. Doctor Sausage is the Proustian madeleine of an entire former Soviet generation, almost a symbol of pride, since, no matter how much variety they had in the capitalist bloc, the poor here also had delicious little luxuries, such as demonstrate posts like thiswhere those nostalgic for the regime instrumentalize these sausages as an example of communal prosperity. If you wanted, you could replicate the original recipe at home. following these steps. What happened? That when things started to go wrong, and despite the institutional vacuum of messages confirming this trend, people knew that they would lose thanks to these sausages. “In the 60s, in the mid-60s… From then on the Doctor stopped being the same. He was no longer good,” recalls the octogenarian. Memory may take a small toll on women here, since the industry did not change the production standard until 1974. The bad harvests of the late 70s caused a decrease in the number of cattle, the kolbasa began to disappear from the stores and people cried, so the State allowed it to be manufactured again under formulas of lower meat purity. The result was a progressive loss of quality until its citizens ended up turning their backs on those sausages that no longer had anything to do with the gastronomic triumph of what they did not know was the golden age of the regime. For posterity, the memory of its flavor and the propaganda images of a political project that found ways to get its chest out even from its guts. In Xataka | In 1970 the USSR secretly developed kryptonite for nuclear warheads: now it sounds like a general rehearsal is imminent In Xataka | In 1950 two scientists wondered if a 10 gigaton nuclear bomb was possible. 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Germany was the country of beers, sausages and the punctuality of their trains. The latter is ending

We live on myths and stories that many times do not fit reality. For example, Germany has long touched together with an external perception where its citizens They are very workerseven more than the rest of Europe (although the data Say something else). Also that they are the nation of sausages, beer and legendary punctuality of their trains. And either. The collapse of a myth. Yes, for decades, Germany cultivated the image of a country where rail punctuality was as part of national identity as beer or sausages. Today that image It cracks: Only 56% of long -distance trains arrive within the official margin of six minutes, a remarkable fall compared to 85% of the nineties. The situation has become so serious that Switzerland He has vetoed The passage of German trains beyond Basel, fed up with the delays that affect their own network. Cases like that of a damaged train near Vienna that left 400 passengers trapped For six hours in a tunnelor the closure For nine months From the Berlin-Hamburg line for repairs, they reflect The collapse of a system punished for three decades of infinance. Between wear and frustration. The railway company acknowledges that 80% of the delays are due to An obsolete infrastructureprone to failures and overloaded, which forces drastic solutions and a expensive modernization. For passengers, experience has become everyday calvary: endless waiting, crowded trains and lost connections that alter both professional and personal life. Travelers such as banker Michael Prieggen or retired Gerald Vogel summarizes it In the Washington Post Non -Rodeos: reliability is already the exception, and the network is in a state of “disaster.” In stations such as wuppertal or bonn, delays accumulate and complaints become a indignation choir that expresses a crisis of trust in one of the symbols of German efficiency. Investment promises. Solutions? Given this scenario, the government has allocated record figures: 25,000 million dollars in 2025 and more than 116,000 million until 2029, with part of the funds from A historical package Investment in infrastructure and climate that is a change of course in German fiscal discipline. Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder has described punctual levels as “unacceptable” and has promised substantial improvements to reach 75-80% of specific trains in 2027. However, experts and user associations They warn that the hole created for thirty years of abandonment will not be solved in a few years and that the network still requires greater injections of capital and structural reforms. National identity. Plus: The German rail crisis is not just a mobility problem. As we said, it touches sensitive fibers of the national identity. In a country where precision and reliability are considered collective virtues, see how the rail system collapses or even It compares With other nations, it results deeply humiliating. That the Swiss (referents in rail efficiency) distrust of German trains is an even greater symbolic blow. If you want, the debate transcends the technical and reflects a broader anxiety about Germany’s ability to maintain the prestige of its economic and social model. Delays and breakdowns, repeated daily, not only hinder trips, but They erode trust in the nation that was once synonymous with mechanical punctuality. Europe Heat. It is the last of the legs to analyze. The current state of Deutsche Bahn It is both an operational crisis as a more than possible mirror of LEuropean dilemmas: infrastructure that age, insufficient investment and a growing tension between national expectations and economic realities. It’s not just that the old continent is not prepared for a war Due to its waysis that Germany, once of rail modernityhas become an ad for navigators. The nation is trapped between the memory of its past perfection and the urgency of reconstructing a system that has stopped complying with the Germanic Puntalidad ideal. In that gap, not only the credibility of a company is played, but part of the country’s own identity, with Europe at the bottom of the frame. Image | Raimond Spekking In Xataka | The myth says that Germans work more than the Spaniards. The data tell a different thing In Xataka | Germany has tried the four -day week and is clear about its verdict: 73% of companies will not return to five

Volkswagen has an ace in the sleeve if its electric of 20,000 euros does not take off. The company sells more sausages than cars

Last week he was one of those crucial moments in the history of a company like Volkswagen. The dream of the German house of offering the general public at an electric non -exorbitant price or, as they themselves announced, “for all”, it was advanced under the ID name. Every1a utility on the border of 20,000 euros as a red line. It happens that, if things come out auctionly, VW has an ace in the sleeve. Because they sell more sausages than cars. An unexpected record. As we said, Volkswagen closed 2024 with a surprising fact: He sold more currywurstthe famous German sausages, than cars. While the manufacturer delivered 5.2 million vehicles worldwide, its food division reached a record of 8.5 million sausages sold200,000 more than in 2023. Of course, although the unexpected gastronomic success has been celebrated by the company, what is doubtful, does not seem to compensate for the difficult financial situation that crosses. Decline in sales. Because the excellent data of the sausages is certainly negative. Annual results, published on Tuesdaythey revealed one 30.4% drop In net benefits, despite a slight increase of 0.7% in total income. Sales collapse in China, its most important market, has been a severe blow, since the country registered its lowest level of Volkswagen vehicles in more than a decade. Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers Like Byd They have gained land with cheaper electric models, surpassing VW as The largest car seller In the Asian giant. The secret of VW sausages. The currywursta sausage bathed in tomato sauce with spices of curry and accompanied by fried potatoes, has been a symbol within the Volkswagen culture Since its introduction in 1973. Originally prepared to feed workers in their dining rooms, the product has expanded until it is sold in supermarkets from 12 countries. To get an idea of ​​the importance it has for the company, it even has a piece number in the spare parts catalog: 199 398 500 Awhich reinforces its status as an “original Volkswagen component.” It is sold in the 30 canteens of the company, in work kiosks and in supermarkets near its factories. Volkswagen’s butcher shop at the Wolfsburg plant in 1973 The controversy. In 2021 the company tried scandal which included the protest of former German Foreign Minister Gerhard Schröder, who He defended the sausage as “an energy bar for production workers.” After the controversy, Volkswagen reintroduced currywurst in 2023 apologized by ensuring that he had only wanted to respond to the growing demand for vegetarian and vegan options among his employees and, since then, his popularity has continued on the rise. “The Volkswagen currywurst has become much more than a simple snack; is an icon ”, Gunnar Kilian declaredGroup’s Human Resources Director, holding the sales record. Structural problems And while sausages reach historical figures, the automaker faces a deep crisis. In an attempt to reduce costs, Volkswagen was about to close factories in Germany for the first time in its history and, although he managed to avoid it, he announced The dismissal of 35,000 employees In the coming years. In addition, the company temporarily suspended its labor security program, which had protected jobs until 2029, and only after a last minute negotiation with the unions in December It extended up to 2030. The company’s situation has also been threatened by external factors. It We have recentlyDonald Trump has warned that he will impose tariffs on car imports from Europe and Mexico, where Volkswagen has plants than They supply the US market. To this are added geopolitical uncertainty and the increase in commercial restrictions, which adds more pressure to the company’s recovery strategy. The electric bet. Despite the difficult panorama, the German house maintains the hope of a rebound in 2025, with the forecast of a growth of More than 5% In your income. As part of its transformation, it has presented plans to launch in 2027 That most affordable electric model To date with the intention of recovering land in front of their Chinese rivals. Meanwhile, the irony that a global renowned automotive company sells more sausages that cars reflects the deep difficulties that the sector is going through. Although the currywurst has become an unusual stability pillar for Volkswagen, it is impossible to hide the monumental challenges he faces to recover his leadership in the sector and adapt to an increasingly competitive market. Image | MonstourzVolkswagen, Lothar Schaack In Xataka | Guide to know if your car can circulate through the Zbe of Madrid in 2025: labels, registered and areas In Xataka | Xiaomi Su7: The electric car points directly to Tesla and Porsche presuming autonomous performance and driving

Eating processed red meat increases dementia risk, study reveals

Although the dementia It is a disease more common in older adults or the elderly, hundreds of thousands of people are diagnosed with early dementia each year. Several factors could point to having increased risk of suffering from this disease, among which something so common in diet like red meat. The largest and most robust dementia study to date was conducted in 2023, analyzing data collected on 356,052 people under the age of 65 in the UK. The results, published by the magazine JAMA Neurology and collected by the portal ScienceAlertpointed to a series of factors, among which were elements related to the lifestyle and health. Among these factors, stood out a low socioeconomic level, social isolation, hearing impairmentstrokes, diabetes, as well as vitamin deficiency or excessive alcohol consumption. Now, new research published this January 15 in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, Neurologyemphasizes diet, particularly processed red meat, such as sausages, bologna or bacon, as a factor that multiplies the risk of developing dementia throughout life. An observational study The research, carried out jointly by the hospital network Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in the United States, concludes that Higher consumption of red meat, particularly processed red meat, is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia and poorer cognition. The researchers, led by Yuhan Li, of the Harvard University Department of Epidemiologyindicate that their objective was to examine the association between red meat intake and multiple cognitive outcomes, since previous studies had shown inconsistent associations between these two parameters. However, they detail that the research is solely observational, so a direct cause and effect relationship cannot be established. All in all, a total of 133,771 people were measured in this study over 43 years, with an average age of 49 years at the beginning of the study. Of the initial group, 11,173 people developed dementia. Swap red meat for nuts The results indicate that participants with an intake of processed red meat greater than 25% per day (approximately two slices of bacon, one and a half of bologna or a hot dog), compared to those who consumed only 10% per day, had 13% increased risk of dementia. The researchers point out that replacing red meat processed by a diet rich in nuts and legumes It was associated with a 19% lower risk of dementia in the patients analyzed. Experts, however, point out that we must also consider clinical, demographic and lifestyle factors, such as socioeconomic level and family history of dementia to assess all the results. They also insist that more research would be needed to evaluate, for example, how general these findings are in populations of diverse ethnic origins. Connect diet and brain health For Dong Wang, of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital network in Boston and one of the lead authors of the study, “dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing the risks of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabeteswhile cognitive health is analyzed less frequently, despite being linked to these diseases,” according to a note. “We hope our results encourage greater consideration of the connection between diet and brain health,” he adds. The study defines processed red meat as bacon, hot dogs, sausages, salami, bologna and other processed meat products. While the unprocessed was set as beef, pork, lamb and hamburger. Keep reading:

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