因为工作等方面原因，经常要阅读一些银行年报，时不时会发现一些好玩的东东。最近读的奥地利中央合作银行（RZB）的年报，就比较好玩。

RZB年报好玩之处在于，其开篇第四页，是一行大字：If you want to get to know a country well，you first have to become acquainted with its cuisine.（如果想要了解一个国家，首先要熟悉其菜肴）。RZB的解释是：纵观世界，一个地方的食物的口味及其连贯性，代表了其居民的生活方式。接下来，用了连续40多页的篇幅，以让人垂涎欲滴的精美图片，介绍各种各样的美食。

维也纳：牛肉之王

Vienna: The Emperor of Beef.

   What would you like to know about Viennese cuisine? The famous wiener schnitzel (escalope), in any case, is an import, as are goulash and palatschinken. But the Viennese have every right to be proud of their tafelspitz, succulent boiled beef served with its classic sauces and vegetables.

   This is how it all began: In 1873 the city council of Vienna issued new quality standards for beef, which specified that it could be sold in a total of 22 different cuts. At that time, imperial Vienna saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about this. Each cut was endowed with a special name, and soon there were restaurants specializing in boiled and sometimes fried beef delicacies. The most famous of these establishments was Meissl und Schaden. This is where the local dignitaries dined along with everyone else with an appropriate rank, name and table reservation. The Viennese turned the task of distinguishing between tafelspitz, kruspelspitz and weisses hieferl into a pleasurable science. And even today, the crowning creation of bourgeois cuisine is still considered to be a well-hung and properly prepared cut of beef, even though the days when the emperor (of beef) reigned supreme are long over and gone.

点评：以立法来规定牛肉的具体切法，维也纳不当牛肉之王也难！

 Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Wide Variety of Good Plain Cooking.

 Stuffed cabbage has lots of fans both inside Austria and outside as well. In Bosnia and Herzegovina this delicacy is known as sarma and provides an authentic example of the kind of food prepared on special days. Probably the gourmets of Bosnia and Herzegovina would enjoy their stuffed cabbage even more often if it did not take so much time and effort to prepare.

For those less familiar with stuffed cabbage, here is a quick rundown of the steps required for its preparation. First, entire heads of white cabbage are marinated in the same manner as sauerkraut. The stem is cut crossways with a knife to allow the marinade to penetrate it. The subsequent fermentation produces lactic acid. The cabbage is then separated into individual leaves, stuffed with ground meat, and cooked until tender with more cabbage, bacon and spices. As with all the hearty dishes of good plain cooking, there’s an important rule that should be observed: the bigger the pot, the better the taste.

It is self-evident that there are as many ways of preparing stuffed cabbage as there are different regional, ethnic and religious backgrounds among the population. Because the country’s cuisine has been subject to the influence of both Turkish and Greek traditions, sarma is not the only dish to offer a wide range of variations. Other popular dishes are one-pot meals of meat and vegetables as well as Turkish honey and halva, ground nuts in honey.

  点评：卷心菜卷，看起来很好吃，似乎跟北京的春卷差不多

Pickles are not an invention of modern times; they were already prized by the ancient Romans. But ancient history witnessed not only mass migrations of peoples but migrations of pickles as well, and a variety of cucumbers eventually settled east of the Salzgurken Meridian, only to be pickled in turn by their new fans. This can take place in a wide variety of ways, depending on the climate, soil and techniques of the region in which the cucumbers happen to be growing.

The Polish, Hungarians, (eastern) Austrians and their neighbors agree that there can be no agreement on the proper production manner or subsequent taste of a pickled cucumber. Some may describe them as having a fruity vegetable taste, but there are decisive differences in the final product, depending on which cucumber varieties were chosen, when they were picked, the type of water and spices used, the length of pickling and the quantity of the salt. The secrets of making pickled cucumbers are often handed down in a strictly oral tradition as though one were dealing with the ultimate in state secrets. Some people allow their cucumbers to pickle in the sun, while others insist that they remain in the cellar. There is also an old tradition of adding a slice of bread to the barrel to get things started.

Spices such as garlic, pepper, bay-leaf and sugar are popular. Pickles take on a special flair if certain leaves are added, with cherry leaves allegedly having an especially beneficial effect. The Poles are considered the true specialists. There the aroma of pickled cucumbers wafts from many rural homes, where they are prepared according to very special recipes. And every producer is convinced that his or hers results in the finest pickles the world has ever known.

点评：奥地利人把这也作为美食，而且远溯到古罗马人，可见发达的欧洲国家以前过的也是穷日子。本人去年在荷兰也见过这东西，不过说实话，腌黄瓜不是俺喜欢的。

当然，虽然RZB的年报被美食照片占去了近50页，上面该有的信息一点都不少，因为总共有200多页呢。因此，有关RZB年报第二个要说的就是，除了美食外，年报上还有RZB集团最高管理层执行董事会（类似于国内的党委会，与国内的董事会不同）五人成员的合影，我想说的是，照片上的五个人无一例外都笑容满面，一脸轻松。五个人倚栏而立，不知道的还以为是老朋友的聚会合影呢。比较起来，国内现在上市银行多了，不少银行年报上也会放上CEO或董事长的玉照，甚至整个高管层的合影，但大多数都是一本正经，表情要么严肃，要么深沉，十分符合银行家所需的稳重气质（即使微笑，也显得不够轻松）。也许，这与拍照时的环境不同有关。RZB五人小组拍合影之前，估计是刚刚在银行维也纳总部大楼顶层CEO小餐厅享受过年报上的美食。当然，2006年RZB业绩不俗，也没什么大案子，显然没有中国银行家们经常被各种大要案报警电话打扰美梦的压力。

还有一点，RZB年报详细的说明了五个人各自的分管范围，而国内上市银行的年报里，对每个副行长的简历介绍倒是清楚，但是具体分管什么却少有披露，在国内，这应该被归于公司商业机密吧。实际上，别说我们这些小小的投资者，即使是他们的内部员工，估计也不一定知道自己银行高管们的具体分工。