FOOD FRIDAY: Eat 'em if you got 'em
Indignity Vol. 5, No. 66
FOOD FRIDAY DEP'T.
FOOD FRIDAY: Foods I Consumed This Week That I'm Going to Miss If the Tariffs Take Them Away, Ranked by Potential Tariff in Descending Order*
* If the government is able to enforce the tariffs at all, which so far it is apparently not.
ONCE AGAIN, MORE than even was the case before, everything in every day is all about the malice and incompetence of the president of the United States. I sat down this morning before I had to go record the podcast about the various terrible things the president is doing, and I ate a sweet and fragrant piece of mango, consciously trying to inhabit the moment outside the rush of awful news, but before I got through the mango I remembered that mangos are one of the many, many products the United States imports from abroad, and that the president's ever-mutating global trade war is probably going to ruin even that. Here are some of the other things I ate this week that could likewise be casualties of Donald Trump's desire to return the country to the Smoot-Hawley era.
Each food is followed by its current official tariff rate, then its suspended tariff rate, if any.
Laoganma Chili Oil With Black Bean
(China: 145 percent)
House Foods Chinese Mabo Tofu Sauce (Medium Hot)
(Thailand: 10 percent / 36 percent)
Yangban Extra Crispy Seasoned Seaweed
(South Korea, 10 percent / 25 percent)
Champagne mangoes
(Mexico: 0 percent / 25 percent )
Maille Dijon Mustard
(Canada: 0 percent / 25 percent)
Sumo citrus
(Japan: 10 percent / 24 percent)
Anna Organic Tipo "00" Flour
(Italy [European Union]: 10 percent / 20 percent)
Bonne Maman Peach Preserves
(France [European Union]: 10 percent / 20 percent)
Abate Fetel pears
(Argentina: 10 percent)
Cento Quartered Artichoke Hearts
(Peru: 10 percent)**
** I'm not consuming the artichoke hearts until after I finish writing this, but the cans are out on the counter already.
WEATHER REVIEWS
New York City, April 10, 2025
★★ Pink glowed behind the roofs in the east. The morning sun cut shadows while it could. A plane flying large and low vanished behind a curl of cloud that had seemed till that moment much higher. Midday was still sunny but more and more clouds were lurking. A long patch of blacktop by the curb was fresh enough to give off the misplaced or deceptive smell of hot summer pavement in the chilly air. Steadily and with no hurry, the clouds kept gathering until they were all there was.
SIDE PIECES DEP'T.
Tom Scocca
For my Defector column, I wrote about the perverse and useless urge people and institutions still have to try to find some common point of agreement with Donald Trump:
If I were one of these Democratic officials or liberal or centrist public figures, I would preface any criticism of them by saying that open-mindedness and cross-party outreach are exactly what Donald Trump has driven out of our political system, and that it's natural to want to model the kind of behavior that might pull our riven country back together. But I'm not and I don't care about their good intentions. The people who keep gesturing at agreement with Trump are weaklings and pernicious fools, and their addiction to being seen as high-minded is helping to destroy what's left of our republic.
There is no "Yes, but—" in Donald Trump's vocabulary. There is only "Yes, sir, you're absolutely right" and "No," and anyone who says "No" is there to be crushed.
EASY LISTENING DEP'T.
HERE IS TODAY'S Indignity Morning Podcast!
Tom Scocca
CLICK ON THIS box to find the Indignity Morning Podcast archive.
TOM SCOCCA
ADVICE DEP'T.
GOT SOMETHING YOU need to justify to yourself, or to the world at large? Other columnists are here to judge you, but The Sophist is here to tell you why you’re right. Direct your questions to The Sophist, at indignity@indignity.net, and get the answers you want.
SANDWICH RECIPES DEP'T.
WE PRESENT INSTRUCTIONS in aid of the assembly of a sandwich selected from Prague Chapter Book Of Recipes, compiled by Marie Paidar and Blanche Kammerer, published in 1922, and available at archive.org for the delectation of all.
EGG AND SARDINE SANDWICH— Sardines, salt, pepper, lemon juice, yolks of six hard cooked eggs, dry mustard, round slices of bread. Take equal quantities of egg yolks and sardines, the latter drained, skinned and boned. Season with salt, cayenne pepper and mustard. Rub until smooth and add lemon juice or olive oil to make a paste. Spread between thin slices of buttered bread or on fresh wafers, or use mayonnaise, in place of the lemon juice and other seasoning. CECELIA BARTA.
If you decide to prepare and attempt to enjoy a sandwich inspired by this offering, be sure to send a picture to indignity@indignity.net.
