Pointless Questions with Aaron Mucciolo

Wow. My eighth column. The eighth anniversary is traditionally the bronze or pottery anniversary, so I expect a nice spittoon from someone…

Why is gas so cheap right now? –Michael Degnan, college junior
The really basic answer: gas is made from oil, right? Well the price of oil has dropped almost 50 percent in recent weeks, from $30 a barrel early this year to only $17 a barrel a few weeks ago.
Without going too heavily into the curriculum for ECON 101, this fluctuation in oil prices is linked to how much oil is produced worldwide — primarily from countries in the Persian Gulf, who comprise most of the membership of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC. Early in this decade, oil production worldwide was high and prices were accordingly low (the notable exception being during the Persian Gulf Crisis). Demand was very strong because of these cheap prices — anecdotally we can observe the rise of the SUV in America. More importantly, it is more profitable for a country like those in the Middle East to produce oil when prices are low than for some other petroleum exporters to produce oil since it costs less for OPEC nations to find or extract the oil. So as the prices remain low, a larger and larger percentage of the world’s production comes from the Middle East. And at some point, this group of states decides that they can make more money by cutting production and driving up prices.
OPEC did this most strongly in the ’70s, creating our fuel crisis, and cut production and raised prices more carefully this decade since they are now more conscious of the backlash from the rest of the world. Eventually, since those countries don’t control the entire supply of oil, this strategy backfires somewhat. With higher prices making oil production more attractive, non-cartel nations increase their production, increasing the supply of oil and driving prices back down. At the same time, high prices also encourage conservation from consumers which further reduces demand. With shrinking demand and increased worldwide supply, the Gulf states have to either cut production further or just watch the price of oil drop lower. In really simple (and probably somewhat inaccurate) terms: At some point the amount of money made selling fewer barrels at a high price becomes less than the amount made selling more barrels at a lower price (say, $17 a barrel).

What’s the nog in eggnog? And are there other kinds of nog? –Jacob Kramer-Duffield, college senior
Webster’s defines nog as “a kind of strong ale.” So the short answer is nog is booze. Eggnog, the popular holiday drink, is a derivation of the wine-and-milk punches that are still popular in England. There are two major theories over how eggnog got its name. Unfortunately, both are supported by a large number of eggnog experts (a career to be proud of) and I refuse to take sides in so heated a battle, so you’ll have to decide for yourself who’s right.
The Colonial American version of those English holiday punches generally substituted rum for the wine. Rum was commonly referred to as “grog” so a description of the drink (“egg and grog”) could have become “egg ‘n’ grog” and eventually eggnog. The other theory is that nog is short for “noggin”, a small, wooden, carved mug used to serve drinks in taverns, and the name evolved from some sort of egg drink being served in a nog. There’s also an ambitious school of thought that sees the name as having developed from both roots. The name of the drink may have been “egg and grog in a nog” which was shortened because you just can’t order a drink with a name that long and still sound cool. Aren’t you glad someone took the time to think these things out?
As for other kinds of nog, webtender.com lists “grapefruit nog” (which still includes some egg, but not as much) and “the nog” — a punch made from Midori melon, rum, tripe sec and grapefruit juice — but I couldn’t find any other “traditional” nogs that weren’t egg with some type of booze. Various recipe books include numerous variations on eggnog, including non-alcoholic eggnog, eggless-nog (substituting vanilla pudding for the eggs), and Schlag-n-nog (eggnog, Goldschlager and nutmeg). And apparently George Washington enjoyed a rather strong eggnog around the holidays, spiked with rye whiskey, rum and sherry. There’s some joke to be made here about our founding fathers and strong drinks, but I’m not writing it…

Mooch, can you buy me some eggnog? –Lee Dolan, photo editor
No, I need to finish my column…

Is gelatin still made out of horse hooves? –Charlotte Phillips, College senior
“Definitely not,” says Nora Bertucci, a spokesperson for Jell-O at Kraft Foods. “Never horse hooves and never has been. It’s from byproducts of animals that are used for foods, such as beef and pork.”
Gelatin is primarily composed of collagen, a protein obtained from the connective tissue (found in hoofs, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage) of various animals including pigs, cows and horses. The FDA doesn’t care what animals are used, just as long as the gelatin is “prepared from clean, sound, wholesome, raw materials and handled under sanitary conditions.” So it’s conceivable that the long-standing rumor about horses and gelatin could be true. It doesn’t make much sense, though. We eat plenty of beef and pork in this country, and not much horse. So there are fewer byproducts from horse lying around, meaning a lower supply, which means higher prices. The waste from processing pigs and cows for food is much more plentiful and it’s in demand for little else so it’s much cheaper.
Ms. Bertucci wasn’t aware of how the horse hoof rumor got started. My own research on past ingredients for gelatin has yet to turn up anything concrete, but I’ll keep looking. Because I’m just that kind of guy…

Those of you with keen senses of observation will have noticed that an outside source was used in this column. That’s right, I’m investigating these questions with every tool at my disposal (primarily the office phone). So ask, and I’ll answer, even if it forces me to travel to Bermuda. Or Tahiti. E-mail aaron.mucciolo@oberlin.edu or write to Pointless Questions, c/o The Oberlin Review, Wilder Box 90, Oberlin OH, 44074.