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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

U.K. Mortgage Approvals Rise to Highest in 5 1/2 Years

I can't believe it - this is my last column of the semester. I am sad about this, to say the least. From caterpillars to taro roots to kava, thank you so much for joining me on this culinary adventure. What a long, strange trip it's been. I hope this column, if nothing else, has helped you appreciate the weird, wonderful diversity of food that exists on this planet - and what a remarkable selection of things turn out to be edible. I hope I've opened your horizons, but if you've tuned in each week just to be grossed out and laugh at me, that's fine too. Still, as we part ways, I'd like to encourage you to take the plunge. Eat something you're not familiar with. If it's cooked properly, the worst thing that's likely to happen is that you don't like it.I was torn about what I wanted my last food to be. I had to go out with a bang, you know? Initially, I had planned to make something with fufu flour, a type of root-based flour that is popular in Africa. Above all, I like this food's name, but it's interesting, too - many African cultures make fufu dumplings that they eat with soups and stews. You are not supposed to chew fufu, though. Instead, you use it as a utensil to deliver food to your mouth, before swallowing it whole. When I prepared it, I completely ignored this standard preparation (because I happen to like chewing) and discovered that fufu was delicious when fried in butter and served with maple syrup. This might have been a first in the world of fufu, but I was still willing to share it with you. However, upon an ingredients check, I discovered that this cocoyam fufu flour only contained cassava (yuca) and taro, which I had already written about.Instead, I think it's appropriate to sign off with a tried-and-true favorite that, though somewhat uncommon in America, has a major international presence: the plantain. I first learned about plantains from my seventh grade French class, when we were learning about les francophones" in Africa. Thanks colonialism! Plantains are a staple of C?te d'Ivoire's cuisine and, needless to say, I've been a fan ever since I tried to cook one for extra credit. Plantains look a lot like bananas, but they are starchier and more substantial than their counterparts. Like bananas, they are rich in fiber and potassium, but they are tougher and therefore aren't usually eaten raw. Their ready availability, sweet/savory flavor and easy preparation make them a staple food in much of Africa and South America, to the point where they're commonly referred to as "cooking bananas."Because I am young and wild and free, I didn't follow a recipe for plantains

I can't believe it - this is my last column of the semester. I am sad about this, to say the least. From caterpillars to taro roots to kava, thank you so much for joining me on this culinary adventure. What a long, strange trip it's been. I hope this column, if nothing else, has helped you appreciate the weird, wonderful diversity of food that exists on this planet - and what a remarkable selection of things turn out to be edible. I hope I've opened your horizons, but if you've tuned in each week just to be grossed out and laugh at me, that's fine too. Still, as we part ways, I'd like to encourage you to take the plunge. Eat something you're not familiar with. If it's cooked properly, the worst thing that's likely to happen is that you don't like it.

I was torn about what I wanted my last food to be. I had to go out with a bang, you know? Initially, I had planned to make something with fufu flour, a type of root-based flour that is popular in Africa. Above all, I like this food's name, but it's interesting, too - many African cultures make fufu dumplings that they eat with soups and stews. You are not supposed to chew fufu, though. Instead, you use it as a utensil to deliver food to your mouth, before swallowing it whole. When I prepared it, I completely ignored this standard preparation (because I happen to like chewing) and discovered that fufu was delicious when fried in butter and served with maple syrup. This might have been a first in the world of fufu, but I was still willing to share it with you. However, upon an ingredients check, I discovered that this cocoyam fufu flour only contained cassava (yuca) and taro, which I had already written about.

Instead, I think it's appropriate to sign off with a tried-and-true favorite that, though somewhat uncommon in America, has a major international presence: the plantain. I first learned about plantains from my seventh grade French class, when we were learning about les francophones" in Africa. Thanks colonialism! Plantains are a staple of C?te d'Ivoire's cuisine and, needless to say, I've been a fan ever since I tried to cook one for extra credit. Plantains look a lot like bananas, but they are starchier and more substantial than their counterparts. Like bananas, they are rich in fiber and potassium, but they are tougher and therefore aren't usually eaten raw. Their ready availability, sweet/savory flavor and easy preparation make them a staple food in much of Africa and South America, to the point where they're commonly referred to as "cooking bananas."

Because I am young and wild and free, I didn't follow a recipe for plantains

U.K. mortgage approvals rose to the highest in 5 1/2 years in September, adding to signs of a strengthening property market that’s being stoked by government incentives.

Lenders granted 66,735 mortgages, the most since February 2008, compared with a revised 63,396 the previous month, the Bank of England said in a report in London today. Home-loan rates fell to a record low, and gross mortgage lending was 15.6 billion pounds ($25 billion), the highest since October 2008. Hometrack Ltd. said yesterday that house



prices in England and Wales rose 3.1 percent in October from a year earlier, the biggest gain since 2007. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s acceleration of his Help to Buy program this month is boosting real-estate activity and Hometrack said the gap between supply and demand is widening.

“The housing market is surging as low interest rates and rising confidence feed buyer interest,” said Rob Wood, an economist at Berenberg Bank in London. “It is early days, as real house prices and transactions are still below their pre-crisis levels. But the key issue is not where prices are today, rather it is where they will be in a couple of years. Prices and activity are rising fast.”

The September mortgage approvals figure exceeded economists’ forecasts. They predicted an increase to 66,000, based on the median of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Net mortgage lending rose 1.03 billion pounds last month and consumer credit increased 411 million pounds, the BOE said.

Mortgage Rates

The BOE also reported that mortgage interest rates fell to a record low in September. The effective interest rate on all outstanding home loans fell 2 basis points to 3.3 percent. On new loans, the rate dropped 7 basis points to 3.08 percent.

Former Financial Services Authority Chairman Adair Turner has added his voice the critics of Osborne’s housing program, saying in an interview published yesterday that Britain risks repeating the debt-fueled binge that led to the credit crisis.

While mortgage lending is rising, approvals remain below their average of about 104,000 in the decade through 2007. BOE policy makers have cited that figure as they downplayed the risks from the housing market. Jon Cunliffe, who will join the BOE as deputy governor for financial stability next month, said on Oct. 15 that housing market is not overheating.