Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1986. január-június (40. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1986-02-06 / 6. szám
12. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ Thursday, Feb. 6. 1986. Masters of Culinary Art For Hungarian chefs, the 1984 Frankfurt Culinary Olympics was a peak year. They defeated contestants from 28 countries and took two individual gold and two silver medals along with the grand prize and a special prize. This knock-out win won them an invitation to the 1986 Luxembourg World Cup. Other prestigious competitions in Klagenfurt, Karlsruhe, .Prague and the annual Berlin competition for young chefs have awarded first prizes to Hungarian culinary artists. István Lukács (Hotel Hyatt), Ferenc Novak (Hotel Gellert) Masters of culinary delights earn Hungarian cuisine much prestige in other ways too: chefs and pastry-cooks are invited more and more often to prominent internationally renowned restaurants or hotels to demonstrate their art. In recent years István Lukács, master chef of the Budapest Hyatt, displayed his craft in New Zeeland and Abu Dhabi; Oscar-winner Ferenc Novák, master chef of the Gellert Hotel, delighted hotel guests in Indonesia with Hungarian specialties and held much praised professional demonstrations in Singapore; Ernő Bergmann, the excellent pastry-cook at the Balatonfured hotel for cardiac patients scored a resounding success among the sweet-toothed citizens of Florida, USA, while the second chef of the Forum Hotel cooked for Tokyo residents for two months. Together with hotels and catering companies nationwide, the Hungarian Association of Chefs and Pastry-cooks endeavors to promote Hungarian gastronomy by staging Hungarian culinary days in some 120-150 places around the world annually. The fact that more tourists visit Hungary from such countries thereafter only confirms their success. The highly exclusive organization of the Club des Chefs des Chefs (the chefs of heads of states) wich has 16 member countries has coopted two Hungarian chefs: Gyula Gullner of the Duna Inter-Continental and Ferenc Novak of the Gellert Hotel. Moreover, the club held its annual conference in Budapest in 1981 in recognition of Hungarian gastronomy. Zoltán Kasznár (Condensed from Pest megyei Hírlap) The Right to Life "... innocent human lives are being taken every single day throughout the country..." "... more than one million murders each year..." "Abortion is the most important issue in this campaign." If you don't think these lines are hot vote getters, ask Geraldine Ferraro. It's also high priority tor Attorney General Meese, point man in the right wing assault on the Supreme Court. The Schaflys of the Moral Majority do not attack the "right of privacy" in Roe v. Wade head on. They aim for the gut. The unborn is a life. Abortion destroys a life. Ergo, abortion is murder and everyone is opposed to murder. The defense of the Fourteenth Amendment is important. But, does it answer the moral doubts of many sincere people whose thoughts are turned by the "murder" argument? Of this I am convinced: if the gains of Roe v. Wade are going to be saved, it will be necessary to meet the enemy on his own turf. A starting point is a definition of the terms. What is abortion? What is life? What exactly did the Supreme Court say in 1973? The dictionary once defined abortion as taking place "... in the first twelve weeks of gestation." It referred to a "fetus before it is viable." Lately, publishers have introduced ambiguity. Webster uses the words: "before fetus is perfectly formed", and "before natural time".The two definitions are not in conflict. The change merely accomodates political debate. (What happens, by the way, when a law is written using words whose definition is subsequently changed?) The pivot of our dispute is that, no matter which way Schafly twists, we are speaking of on action that takes place long before the fetus has fully developed. The meaning of the word life is poorly explained by lexicographers whitout turning to philosophers or scientists. Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas described the "quickening" (movement) of the embryo as the moment the soul entered and commenced life. An eminent group of scientists were recently called upon by the governor of New York to fix an agreed upon definition of death. They determined that death occurred with the cessation of brain activity# The Supreme Court had need to equate life with person-hood. They found that the "postnatal period" was what our forefathers meant when they wrote the Constitution. In any event, Roe v. Wade made specific reference to the first trimester. The Texas state law which was nullified in 1973 sought to make abortion at any time during a pregnancy a crime. The fact of the matter is 99% of all U.S. abortions take place before the twentieth week of pregnancy. Approximately 88% are in the first trimester. It „is also a fact that in those countries with the fewest restrictions on a woman's right to abortion, an ever greater percentage are performed at a much earlier point in the pregnancy. An incidental benefit is the lowering of the maternal mortality rate. Hungary, for example, has a death rate from abortion three times lower than what we have in the United States for the removal of tonsils and adenoids. Some Scandinavian countries which are relatively free of restrictions, nevertheless have a higher pre-abortion gestation period only because of an extended review period. One consequence is a higher mortality rate. The typical abortion takes place within less than two months in some 45% the reported cases. Another 48% occur by the fifteenth week. Scientists assert that brain life which, arguably, may be a resonable definition of life itself, does not begin until some time between the 28th and 32nd week of pregnancy. Heretofore, the 20th week had been the critical point for the legal definition of fetal viability based on the idea that the heart is the central organ of life. No matter where one stands on this continuum, it is clear that when we speak of abortion, within the context of the current debate, we are talking about facts of life not present in an abortion procedure. But the question is not put to rest here. The dogma of the Catholic Church and the Moral Majority proclaims a more sweeping, all-encompassing philosophical conception of life. This view holds that the moment of conception is the moment of life. The logic of this position would make the use of birth control pills a felony since these may act after the egg has been fertilized. Carrying this line of reasoning to its logical absurd conclusion, it is not inconceiveable that a laboratory technician who dropped a petri dish on the floor might be guilty of accidental homicide if the dish contained a fertilized egg. These are the arguments which must be put forth to counter the false propaganda of the right wing. A defense of Roe v. Wade is important if we are to save a vital, democratic "right of privacy" protected by the 14th Amendment. But it is not only good democracy. It is also good common sense. GENE PERLSTEIN LETTER TO THE EDITOR Recently local papers have printed ageist statement. Please take a second look at the article (L.A. Times reprint) about Raisa Maximovna Gorbachev's wife, (Sat., Oct. 5) in the Tribune. She is compared with Jacqueline Kennedy, and Maximovna's "handicaps" include being a grandmother and being fiftyish. Some might consider these attributes. World leaders would all improve if they had more "grandmotherly" qualities. Journalist Eaton refers to the "stereotype of dour and dowdy Soviet wives". The press sustains stereotypes with articles like his. I resent the focus on surface not substance when reporting about women. Men aren't scrutinized as to fashion and age. "Dowdy" isn't used to describe men. Jane Freeman, Cal.
