“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” was allegedly uttered by the last queen of France, Marie Antionette (born Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna) – although there is enough evidence to suggest she never said those words.
It has since been translated as “let them eat cake” although “let them eat brioche” is the correct translation.
For the history buffs, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Book VI of Rousseau’s Confessions (printed in 1767) attributed the quote to “a great princess”. Rousseau’s writings inspired the French revolutionaries and as such, many wrongly put two and two together with regards to the quote.
But Marie Antoinette was 12 at the time, living in her homeland of Austria and only became France’s queen in 1774. She was not well-liked as Austria and France fought on different sides during the Seven Years War.
Her marriage to the future King Louis XVI in 1770 was because the countries wanted to form an alliance against their common enemies – Prussia and Great Britain.
For the record, Prussia was a prominent state in the country now known as Germany but ‘its kingdom’ included land in Poland, France and Lithuania. It ceased to exist on Feb 25, 1947.
Okay, enough with the history lesson.
In case you are wondering, brioche has a high egg and butter content that gives it a rich and slightly fluffy almost cake-like texture.
It is one of my favourite types of bread and the first few paragraphs of this week’s ‘The MCO Dairies’ is my roundabout way of saying I’m going to be having plenty of it soon.
Why? Well, I have given in to temptation and bought a Khind bread maker from Astro Shop.
As someone who prefers bread over rice, it is a worthwhile investment although the home minister and I regularly bake bread in the oven.
Since the Movement Control Order (MCO) began on March 18, 2020, these diaries have shared several bread recipes, some of which turned out better than expected, and most of which did not require a bread maker.
While it is not as difficult now to find loaves of bread as it was in the first MCO, I love the idea of having freshly baked bread whenever I want.
Anyway, today is the 333rd day since the start of the original MCO and this is the 35th weekly edition of ‘The MCO Diaries’.
ANOTHER HORRIBLE WEEK
For the second consecutive week, we have had over 100 deaths, this time 108, which is four less than seven days ago.
The 108 fatalities, including a record 24 on Monday, mean 953 deaths in the country are linked to Covid-19.
Overall, the number of cases rose to 258,306 with 23,432 new cases in the past week.
As for recoveries, 205,774 patients have been cured of the coronavirus, including 20,496 in the last seven days.
Worldwide, the number of cases is more than 108.3 million, with the number of deaths slightly above 2.39 million.
MAKE YOUR OWN BRIOCHE
I am planning to try this recipe for brioche this weekend.
PERFECT DISH
Some toasted (homemade) bread would go nicely with the last dish in the picture.
EYE-CATCHING
Even if you are not a fan of rugby, these balls from Kuckreja & Co will make you go ‘wow’. Decorated with a songket motif, they are on sale now.
Perfect gifts for your foreign friends (when we get to travel again) or even locals who appreciate the intricate designs.
REDS VS FOXES HIGHLIGHT OF PREMIER LEAGUE
Liverpool faces Leicester in the match of the week in the Premier League (today, 8.30pm) while Tottenham takes on leader Manchester City in the other standout tie (tomorrow, 1.30am).
The defending champion is fourth on 40 points, three behind the Foxes, with both having played 23 matches.
The Reds are on a horrible run of form but have been boosted by two new centrebacks which could help their midfield as Jordan Henderson may return there after playing in defence recently.
Leicester could welcome back star forward Jamie Vardy in the starting line-up.
The England man made his comeback as a second-half substitute at Wolves last weekend after a three-week absence due to hernia surgery.
Spurs, meanwhile, lost three in a row before inspirational captain Harry Kane returned from injury to help the club beat West Brom last week. He, however, will find it tougher against the Citizens which are the bookies’ odds-on favourites to win the title.
Separately, second-placed Manchester United travels to West Brom tomorrow (10pm) looking to close the gap on its neighbour.
HAIR-RAISING
Now that barbers and hairdressers are allowed to operate, why not give these hairstyles a try.
https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1359171571605262336?s=08
19 DAYS OF CNY
Local funny man Douglas Lim has an interesting Chinese New Year video which also doubles up as a creative advertisement. Although I have to admit, I did not realise it was as I was laughing too much.
