The festival day of Epiphany is tomorrow, January 6 which commemorates the Three Kings’ visit to baby Jesus. A major holiday in Spain and France, also celebrated by Catholics worldwide, Dia de los Reyes Magos is especially revered in Barcelona, Spain. Tonight is Epiphany Eve, (Twelfth Night) when The Three Kings parade through many cities, throwing candy and sweets to children. Gifts are exchanged on January 6 and a big family meal is shared including a special King’s cake which contains an imitation crown. Here at Paris-Madrid Grocery, we’ve got fantastic ingredients for an Epiphany feast. 
Stop in for paella ingredients and prepare a special one for the celebration. We’ve got a stellar selection of lentils and dried beans for preparing stews or for making a quick and elegant meal of rice, lentils and duck confit (we’ve got the duck confit in stock, too). Pick up a King’s cake (called Galette des Rois in France) on your way home from Le Panier in the Pike Place Market.
Tariff Threats – I mentioned the proposed devastating tariffs on European products in last week’s newsletter. The impacts to the wine industry have received some coverage in the news, but other products could also be subject to the tariffs, including cheese, pork products, olive oil, olives and tinned seafood from Europe. There is still time to submit comments as the deadline is January 13, 2020. I urge you to write and oppose this measure which if implemented, would raise tariffs from an already punitive 25% to a crushing 100% tax that would cripple the European specialty food and wine industry. The first round of 25% tariffs were imposed in October 2019 and in the short run the E.U. producers and American importers have tried to absorb most of the higher costs. This won’t be possible forever, or if tariffs increase to 100% it will be an existential crisis for the wine, specialty food, wholesale and retail sectors of the U.S. market.
Click here to submit comments, and click Civil Aircraft Dispute to read the complete text and proposed list of affected products.
Comments are requested on whether taxing a huge list of food, wine, spirits and other products is justified to counter the subsidies that Airbus received (my response – No, only aircraft and parts should be subject to tariffs). Also, input is requested on whether consumers or small to medium-sized businesses will be harmed by these tariffs (absolutely), and whether specific products should be eliminated from the list of products subject to tariffs (Yes, everything but aircrafts and parts). Other reasons to oppose the tariffs include a lack of substitutes for the subject European wines, cheeses, pork products, olive oil; the tariffs are inflationary; many Americans wish to support artisanal producers and preserve a market for traditional products; and these tariffs on wine and food from Europe will have a negative effect on both U.S. and E.U. relations and economies with potential layoffs and business shutdowns depending on what happens.
Thank you for reading, please write!