Cultrface – a blog dedicated to culture and how it enriches our lives.

Chef Tyler went to Portugal and made a bunch of grilled cheese fusion dishes

The World's Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Portugal

If you’re going to Portugal and you’re making grilled cheese sandwiches, of course I’m gonna watch. Chef Tyler did exactly that but with a twist: he mixed his signature dish with Portuguese cuisine to see how it’d turn out. Some worked, some really didn’t, and while I’m sure a few Lisboetas didn’t take kindly to how he treated some of their delicacies, he said it was all in good fun.

Portuguese food related: Foi thong: a Thai dessert with a Portuguese past, the Portuguese origins of England’s tea obsession, and a very Imperial McDonald’s restaurant in Porto

Carl Weathers has sadly passed away at the age of 76. He was best known for his roles as Apollo Creed in the Rocky film series, Colonel Al Dillon in Predator, and more recently Greef Karga in The Mandalorian. Weathers also played American football in the NFL, playing 8 games for the Oakland Raiders.

Singer/Songwriter Seal skateboarding backstage before his performance at Chastain Park Amphitheater in Atlanta
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images

ICJ orders Israel to take actions that "prevent acts of genocide in Gaza"

I’m gonna keep it real: I’m not equipped to unpack what this ICJ ruling is but the gist is that court has made a list of demands for Israel to “prevent acts of genocide in Gaza”. Al Jazeera has a live blog of the ruling for you to get up to speed. Here’s their tl;dr:

  • The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has delivered its ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa in its genocide case against Israel over its war on the Gaza Strip.
  • The court said, among others, that Israel must take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.

Here are my thoughts: initially, I thought that this was a positive start and while I want to see where this ruling goes, I thought “demands” in this recap were a bit off?

  • The court says it has jurisdiction to rule in the case.
  • The court orders Israel to take measures to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip, must report back in one month.
  • The court says Israel must prevent and punish incitement to genocide in the Strip.
  • The court says Israel must allow humanitarian aid into the Strip.
  • The court obliges Israel to take more measures to protect Palestinians but does not order it to end military operations in the Strip.

Like, genocide is being committed and people have already been murdered in their thousands so being ordered to allow aid to the people you’re trying to wipe off the planet seems… strange to me? I can’t find the words. And “take more measures to protect Palestinians”? The Israeli government wants them dead. Why would they suddenly protect them? They knew people would disapprove but also knew they couldn’t be stopped and they haven’t been up to now (and arguably for a while longer).

I know I said this requires nuance etc. but ending genocide and suffering untold consequences is a hard rule for me and seeing some of these requests (because they now feel more like requests rather than demands) rub me up the wrong way. I want a ceasefire, punishment, systemic change, and for it to never happen again and I don’t care how unrealistic or idealistic my demands are. My thoughts and support are with the Palestinians, not authorities with no care for the oppressed.

Free Palestine. Ceasefire now.

An interview with Mikey

Today’s short interview is with Mikey (he/him), an incredible visdev artist and illustrator from the US that specializes in character design. Check out Mikey’s work on his website, Twitter, and Bluesky!

What is your favourite city in the world?

Toronto! Being from Western NY, I live very close to Ontario, CA – and I love the atmosphere there. I haven’t been in a long time, but the city has a special place in my heart regarding its culture and being the first place I traveled to with my best friend.

What’s the most unusual item you take everywhere you go?

I don’t bring much with me when I go places! Too many items on hand stress me out, and I’m prone to forgetting things, so I keep it as light as possible. I like those phone cases that can hold all my important cards, though!

Why do you do what you do?

To tell stories and draw things that resonate with me and others. When I think about the things I’ve created, it seems like they were always made during the lowest points in my life. The need for comfort and escapism fueled my drive to create, whether it was conceptualizing new ideas or drawing my favorite characters. Art has always been there to help me express those tough and complex emotions that I couldn’t put into words. Funnily enough, there have been several times I’ve been approached where people told me my Sonic the Hedgehog art reignited their childhood love for the series. It made me realize why I like doing what I do, and that’s resonating with people!

..Oh, and to also pay the bills.

Where do you go to relax?

I play Splatoon a lot and also go to the gym!

69, 280, or 420?

420

How do you say goodbye in your culture(s)?

We just say “Bye” or “Goodbye” to one another – It’s very casual for the most part, haha!

“I would not be a white American for all the tea in China, all the oil in Texas […] I really wouldn’t like to have to live with all those lies. This is what is irreducible and awful. You, the English, you, the French, you, the West, you, feel that there is something that you can do for me. That you can save know that I have endured long I cannot afford it anymore. Not another moment of your salvation. And that I can save you. I know something about you. You don’t know anything about me.”

A James Baldwin quote from ‘Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris’ (1970)

The New Yorker on Andrea Illy's 'World Cup of Coffee'

The New Yorker explored Andrea Illy’s idea of a ‘World Cup of Coffee’, featuring a (temporarily) tired group of coffee appreciators to judge twenty-seven cups from nine countries:

Early on a recent Thursday morning, nine coffee experts gathered on the fortieth floor of the Edition Hotel in midtown. Their task was to drink—or sip at—twenty-seven cups from nine different countries. The first nine would be cold-brewed; the next nine, drip; the final nine, espresso. All the cups would be numbered, but the tasters would not know which countries the numbers represented. Their ratings would determine the winner of the eighth Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award. Each juror had been issued a curved, Illy-designed, low-scoop spoon, for precision sipping, and an iPad, for keeping score.

I know my good friend RKZ wasn’t part of the judging panel which is a glaring omission. But that’s just me.

The Tyrani-Tart cocktail

Tyrani-Tart Cocktail + Tyranitar Jazwares Select vs. Bandai Shodo Pokemon figure review

YouTube recommended this to me so I thought I’d share it with you all. It’s a “Tyrani-Tart” cocktail to colour match the Pokémon, Tyranitar.

Ingredients

  • 1oz of white rum
  • 0.75oz of green melon liqueur
  • 0.5oz of lime juice
  • 0.5oz of lemon juice
  • 0.25oz of cream of coconut

Remember Wayne Gretzky's street hockey shoes?

Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Brett Hull - LA Gear street hockey commercial (1996)

In the 90s, LA Gear teamed up with Wayne Gretzky to release a line of street hockey shoes.

These shoes are like the hockey version of Jordan’s. And we know what you’re thinking, you want to be like Wayne. Maybe these shoes will also turn you into the greatest hockey player ever. Well, look no further, because that’s EXACTLY what these bad boys will do for you.

Within the advertisement, two brothers are seen playing street hockey, both rocking the classic 99 Gretzky jersey though as each one sets up to take a shot on goal, they suddenly turn into Wayner himself.

It’s sad to think that LA Gear had Michael Jackson and Wayne Gretzky on side and still couldn’t reign supreme.

Toy Galaxy on the disappointment of Batman Returns

The Disappointing Batman Returns (1992)

While Batman Returns is my favourite movie of all time, it wasn’t everyone’s cup of vichyssoise as Toy Galaxy explained in the above video. Dan looked at the history of the movie and how it put Warner Bros off Burton’s vision for anymore Batman movies (he was brought back for Forever but only as a producer and it was clear they didn’t want his style near any of it).

The main issue? It was so dark. Batman was still a kids superhero and this film—which was a 15 in the UK and a PG-13 in the US—had way too much dark and sexualised humour for parents’ liking. But as a last hurrah for Burton and Batman, it was a good one!

A recipe for pan-fried Nabulsi cheese

I’ve written about a lot of different cheeses on this site but today I want to look at a Palestinian cheese called nabulsi cheese.

Nabulsi cheese is a white brined cheese named after its place of origin, Nablus, a city in the West Bank. It is well known in the Middle East and is widely consumed in places like Jordan.

We have Fufu’s Kitchen to thank for this pan-fried Nabulsi cheese recipe and I’m salivating just thinking of how good it’d taste.

Ingredients

  • Nabulsi cheese
  • Olive oil (~2tbsp)

TIL: Chile has the largest Palestinian population outside of the Arab world

I had no idea that Chile had the largest Palestinian population outside of the Arab world and they have been making their voices heard:

Chile’s Palestinian community, the largest outside the Middle East, is a strong force in the Andean nation, involved in local politics, culture and soccer. Now it’s making Chile one of the loudest regional voices criticizing Israel over its military action in Gaza.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, a moderate figure in the Latin American left, recalled the country’s ambassador in Tel Aviv last week and said Israel was not abiding by international law.

On a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Boric added that the Israeli military operation “at this stage acts as a collective punishment to the civilian population in Gaza.” He brought up the issue with President Joe Biden during a bilateral meeting last Thursday in Washington.

“There’s no doubt we can say the response has been disproportionate and is violating international humanitarian law,” Boric told reporters after the meeting at the White House.

The Israeli embassy in Santiago said it would not comment on its relationship with Boric’s government.