Monday, October 30, 2006

A sticky situation

Over the weekend I spotted a deliciously ludicrous story in the newspaper ... a pasta factory at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk (East Coast of England) suffered a mishap. Something went wrong with the air pressure in a silo, blasting 2 tonnes of semolina over the town, where the inhabitants woke to find everything covered in a white "frosting". The point at which things went truly pear shaped was when some bright spark on the clean-up team decided the best plan would be to wash it away. Unfortunately they forgot one simple equation: semolina + water = pudding. (For those of you on the other side of the Pond, I think the translation of semolina pudding is cream of wheat.) Great Yarmouth found itself wallowing under a slippery glaze of pudding. Pavements had to be closed off; cyclists slithered off bikes; cars skidded. Pudding went down the drains. There were concerns that it was heading for the sewage works. Yikes!

Roald Dahl would have had a field day. Forget Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? How about Sebastian and the Semolina Sludge?

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:29 pm

    Oh my I find the idea of cream of wheat smeared all over everything positively nauseating!

    Eeewwww!

    Poor things!

    Blessings,

    Faith

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  2. This story makes me think of that sticky dough in "The Pie and the Patty Pan," not to mention "Jolly Snow."

    What a mess!

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  3. Faith - I think it's one of those love / hate things. I must admit I love it, which probably makes me feel more positive about the idea of semolina-frosting!

    Alice - there is another story which is nagging at my brain, where everything is submerged under porridge. Hmmm ... can't remember! It is going to bug me now!

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  4. That is hilarious! I can't think of the story, either, but I know it reminds me of something!

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  5. Oh my! I hadn't thought about allergies ... I was thinking of it as a messy but harmless mishap. Strega Nona? How about Old Befana and her broom to clean up the mess?

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  6. Anonymous4:49 pm

    Sebastian and the Semolina Sludge - LOL!!!

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