What Would Lucy Do?

I read an interesting article last week in the Wall Street Journal. It was about how the Christmas Day underwear bombing attempt has caused the airlines and airports to step up security measures. This article took it a step further. It told how the recent added security measures for international flights are affecting chefs. Yes, chefs. Apparently, when chefs travel to Europe, they have been known to smuggle back fancy salami and other meats because they aren't available in their own country. The article described some of the ways they would try to smuggle the meats and cheeses in the luggage or on their person. One chef tried to bring home a pork shoulder and fennel salami vacuum-sealed and hidden inside a stainless steel water bottle. Another time, the same chef said he hid a 4-pound poached goose liver pate from France inside the belly of a salmon. It's OK to bring fish from Europe, just not meats. Another chef attempted to sneak some exotic sausages in his shoes packed inside his luggage.

The airlines and the government calls this smuggling, but of course the chefs disagree. Their reasoning is that smuggling is what you do drugs and children to be sold on the black market; they justify by trying to improve on the quality and variety of the food system. As soon as I read this article, I could only think of one thing: Lucy.

In the fifth season of "I Love Lucy" the majority of the episodes were about the gang's trip to Europe. On one of my favorite episodes, "Return Home From Europe", Lucy tries to sneak home a 30-pound cheese for her mother. Ricky is too tight and doesn't want to pay for the excess baggage fee, so in all of her infinite wisdom, Lucy dresses the cheese up as a baby. Maybe the chefs should take a few lessons from Lucy.