Archives for May 2008
This Week in Bacon
Tayto, Ireland’s favorite crisp, sports a smoky bacon flavored variety.
Within the Tayto range, there is a tasty selection of crisps, snacks, popcorn and nuts to nibble on.
Tayto strives for the highest standards across all its products.
Specialist blending of the finest ingredients and continuous innovation have helped maintain Tayto’s position as Ireland’s favourite crisp.
Buy Tayto Smokey Bacon Crisps.
Book the Tayto monster truck for your next event here. Enter the Tayto Castle here.
Get Paid to Blog About Food
The excellent YumSugar is looking for a bloggy food editor.
We are looking for a fabulous foodie to write and edit our food and entertaining site, YumSugar.com. Do you devour Everyday Food in your ongoing quest for the perfect weeknight recipe? Are you constantly dishing out cooking tips to your friends and throwing impromptu dinner parties? Then we want to talk to you. Prior media, writing, or blogging experience is a must, and food photography skills are a plus.
The downside (unless you live there) is the job requires face time galore in San Francisco.
In Movies: The Day California Wine Grew Up
The Judgment of Paris is coming to film this summer. No, it’s got nothing to do with the heiress or with the city’s notoriously unfriendly residents. It’s all about the wine.
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 or the “Judgment of Paris” was a wine competition organized in Paris in 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges did blind tasting of top-quality chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon wines from France and from California. California wines rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world’s best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win.
The movie, which comes out in the U.S. this August, is titled Bottle Shock. Though Variety digs it, the movie features a mostly underwhelming ensemble cast–which worked for Sideways, that other wine movie, but not for many other films. I’m guessing it won’t work for audiences, especially as there also lurks a competing movie about the same events (and packed with more star power), titled Judgment of Paris. Journalists hate when that happens.
Chicago’s Foie Gras Ban is Dead!
Minutes ago, Chicago’s dreaded, idiotic foie gras ban died a deservedly graceless death, reports the Chicago Tribune.
With Mayor Richard Daley running the vote, the Chicago City Council on Wednesday repealed its controversial ban on foie gras.
Over the shouted objections of Ald. Joe Moore (49th), the ban’s sponsor, the council used a parliamentary manuever to put the ordinance on the floor for a vote.
On to California!
Congratulations to all who worked to overturn the ban, and especially to Didier Durand and Chicago Chefs for Choice. This is truly a great day for liberté du choix.
Crispy on foie here. Read my 2007 profile of Chicago Chefs for Choice and Durand here.
Rising Food Prices Cause Anchor to Drop F-Bomb (Audio NSFW)
Beer for Dogs (Pairs Well with ‘Beggin Strips’)
If you’re a pet owner, you know that beer isn’t something you want to share with your dog. (Apologies to Hosehead, pictured.) But that was before Holland’s kwispelbier (which in Dutch means tail-wagging beer), the healthy, beef-flavored, non-alcoholic brew for man’s best friend.
Kwispelbier just saw its debut in England–where it’s sold by retailer Pets at Home under the “Dog Beer” label.
Dogs are overjoyed. Just ask this pair of Weimaraners, happy kwispelbier slurpers they. Or some unemployed scientists.
Or you could ask jolly Helen Pearson.
Dog-owner Helen Pearson, 58, said she disagreed with [Dog Beer] because it encouraged people to drink alcohol.
The housewife, from Sherwood Avenue, Chaddesden, [England,] said: “If it’s that good for the dog’s health, you would be able to get it from a vet.
“There shouldn’t be bottles for dogs that look like that.”
Um, yeah. Anyways, there’s no word if Dog Beer is going to cross the pond just yet. An American competitor, Happy Tail Ale, is on “indefinite hiatus.” Still, if you act fast you might still be able to pick some up here.
Dunkin’ Donuts: Free Iced Coffee Nationwide on Thursday
Dunkin’ Donuts, where I started drinking coffee when I was 7 years old, and where I spent about 45% of my superovercaffeinated teenage years**, is giving the iced variety away on Thursday starting at 10 a.m. and running until 10 p.m.
Find the Dunkies nearest you here. Find the (sadly remodeled) Dunkies that virtually raised me here.
**Here’s the math: Four-five trips a day with friends. (We had our own booth.) Each trip lasted about two hours.
When the Barkeep Has a Circuit Board
Last month I noted how the unstaffed restaurant might be the wave of the future. Speaking of the whole wave thing, you might soon be able to wave goodbye to your friendly neighborhood bartender, Wired is reporting. Or at least one of the human variety, as Chassis, the mobile kegbot (pictured), would probably confirm.
Aficionados of alcohol and androids alike celebrated the first stateside gathering of cocktail-serving robots this weekend at Roboexotica.
Patrons delighted in drink-making droids that ranged from a fire-spewing drink warmer, a fully automated mind-reading mixologist and a shot-pouring conveyor belt built entirely from Legos.
“You have liquor, fire and robots,” said Johannes Grentfurthner, Roboexotica organizer and member of art collective monochrom in Austria. “How could we go wrong?”
The annual gathering of booze-pouring robots is usually held in Vienna, Austria. To celebrate its approaching 10-year anniversary, organizers threw a San Francisco satellite event.
Though the U.S. event was slightly smaller than its Viennese counterpart, the barbots landed with a booze-fueled bang.
What would Pimpbot think about these advanced mixologists?
Thanks to Caleb for the tip. (As a non-robot, I accept tips.)
Because You Can’t Spell ‘Cheat’ Without ‘Eat’
Delia Smith, who’s basically the Sandra Lee of England, is helping create a nation of cheaters, according to Britain’s Daily Express (which modestly bills itself as “the world’s greatest newspaper”).
Britain is breeding a generation of lazy cooks who cheat at dinner parties with dishes they pretend are home-made.
Millions of us admit to cutting corners when it comes to entertaining at home in a bid to impress our guests.
We serve up ready meals and packet sauces and pass them off as our own, according to a survey.
Eighty-five per cent of people said they simply do not have the time to cook meals for friends from scratch using fresh ingredients.
The research comes as TV cook Delia Smith, 66, continues to be criticised for promoting easy-to-prepare meals, often using frozen foods. Delia’s quick-fix method in her book How To Cheat At Cooking and BBC spin-off has struck a chord with busy families who simply do not have the time or energy to waste over a hot stove.
Delia was criticised for recommending recipes using ingredients including tinned minced meat, frozen mashed potato and cheese sauce from a packet.
In his famously outspoken manner, fellow TV chef Gordon Ramsay described her cooking style as an “insult”.
In one of my favorite moments from the underrated Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Angelina Jolie’s Mrs. tells husband Mr. (Brad Pitt), after he criticizes her aim with a gun as being “as bad as [her] cooking,” that she’d always ordered out and had never, in fact, cooked a meal for her hubby.
Compare Sandra Lee’s spaghetti “recipe,” which includes a jar of Newman’s Own sauce and packages of pre-sliced garlic and mushrooms, with Delia Smith’s less unambitious penne with asparagus and four cheeses, which includes Sainsbury’s fresh four cheese sauce and pre-grated parmesan.
To Your Health: 100-Year-Old Schlitz Ad
This Week in Bacon
A Burger King customer recently ordered extra bacon–none of it from a sheep–on their Whopper with Cheese Value Meal.
Sixty slices of it.
And then a Bacon Double Melt Value Meal for, I guess, dessert.
Yikes.
Via AboutColonBlank.
Highway Wrecks Spill Spoilt Dog Food, Gatorade (With Bonus Gatorade Coverage!)
In possibly the most noteworthy highway food spillage since a trucker lost his load of spoiled dog food on Route 222 in Maxatawny, Pa. last month, a trucker this morning wrecked and spilled a shipment of Gatorade all over U.S. 27 outside Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Today’s wreck is, in turn, likely the most resoundingly negative Gatorade spillage since the Gatorade shower that may have led to the death of then-Long Beach State football coach George Allen in 1990.
(Photo via Gatorade-book author Darren Rovell’s “unauthorized” Gatorade blog.)
Crispy Podcast Episode 4
In the fourth episode of our weekly podcast, we discuss the news about food shortages, Burger King’s ill-fated Foie Gras Burger, PETA’s synthetic meat initiative, miracle fruit, Duckathlon IV, the alleged dangers of competitive eating, and this week in bacon - LA bans bacon dogs.
BTW, that’s me with the meat is murder t-shirt recording the podcast. If you ever want to watch and listen to us live as we record the show, just follow me on Twitter (@jerrybrito) and I will tweet when we’re ‘on the air’ and provide a URL. We have a chat room going while we record and we take listener questions and comments. Pretty nerdy, but pretty fun. Live versions of past shows are here.
We hope you enjoy this episode and that you’ll tell us what you think. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show for free. You can grab the RSS feed or click here to subscribe in iTunes. That way you’ll get it every week.
Sooo SoCal: The Pomme Bébé Organic Baby Food Bar
Should any baby food be permitted more than one accented letter in a word? Most people’s knee-jerk reaction to Pomme Bébé is probably something like giggle snort snark egad.
But I’ve got nothing against an organic baby food bar–even one called a “bébé-bar™” that boasts a French-trained chef who churns out gold-standard strained veggies. Here’s chef Laurent Brazier, in today’s OC Register, talking about cooking for the small and toothless:
“I liked the idea of making really good, 100 percent organic food for babies,” says Brazier, whose experience ranges from working in 2- and 3-star Michelin restaurants in France, to being chef-owner of a Zagat-rated restaurant in Laguna Beach.
Sure it’s totally silly and indulgent, but then most of what I like to eat is, too. You too, right?
Check out Pomme Bébé online, or stroll on down to their Newport Beach, Ca. baby bar.
Readers, What Should $50 Get Me at Dean & DeLuca?
My parents got me a $50 Dean & DeLuca gift card for, um, Christmas. I know, I know. I still have money on similar Christmas cards from Borders and LL Bean, too. Seems they’re all burning the slowest of holes in my pocket.
My question is, dear reader, what the hell should I buy with my D&D card? Do you have a favorite food item there? Something you’ve always meant to try but never have?
Should I get a Wagyu burger, dabble instead in some exotic spice, or pick up a conversation piece like coffee oil? Go the decadent route? Or just hit their cafe? I’m at a loss.
Leave your suggestion about which edible that costs around $50 (give or take) I should pick up either in comments or by shooting me an email. I’ll buy the best suggestion, and let you know how it worked out.
Dangers of Competitive Eating in Scientists’ Heads, Not Eaters’ Stomachs
“Doctors worry that extreme eaters may be endangering their health,” warns the LA Times subhead. And then this:
The sport’s rising status has some doctors shaking their heads: Such behavior could potentially cause medical problems, they say, such as an esophageal tear or flaccid stomachs. No such mishaps have yet been reported.
Sport or not, I say carry on.
Papa John’s Cavalier Attitude to Cost Pizza Giant Tons of Dough
Papa John’s, the giant national pizza chain, celebrated Cinco de Mayo by allowing customers to “[s]pell out Mexico with your choice of Papa John’s superior-quality toppings: Mushrooms, EXtra cheese, spicy Italian sausage, grilled Chicken and Onion.” I wonder how that went.
Unfortunately for them, Papa John’s also celebrated the day with a mea culpa in which company will virtually give away pizzas to an entire city.
Papa John’s Pizza issued an apology to Cleveland and the Cavaliers for making T-shirts with LeBron James’ number and the word “crybaby” under it.
To apologize, Papa John’s will sell Cleveland residents a large, one-topping pizza for 23 cents on Thursday. The 23 is an homage to James’ jersey number. The company also will donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.
The pizza chain’s T-shirts were featured during the Cavs’ games against the Wizards on Friday in Washington. Wizards fans taunted the Cavs, who won the playoff series that night in Game 6.
The shirts started after James complained about hard fouls, and Wizards center Brendan Haywood called him a crybaby.
More on the story from Jon Eick (of the great food-humor blog So Good), who broke it, here. Cleveland’s anger prior to the free-pizza deal here.
Update: In case you want to see what a 2-hour wait outside a Papa John’s looks like.
P.B.R.I.P.
D’Artagnan’s Duckathlon IV: Best. Invite. Ever.
I had the otherworldly good fortune to attend yesterday’s uber-competitive, uber-fun, invite-only Duckathlon, sponsored (as always) by the great folks at D’Artagnan. The event took place this year at and around the gorgeous Chelsea Market in New York City’s Meatpacking District. From the press invite:
D’Artagnan’s Duckathlon is a gastronomic obstacle course in which teams from top restaurants in the New York area are sent on an action-packed tour of the Meatpacking District’s hottest haunts - 20 stops in total. At each stop they earn points conquering feats such as: the blind wine and ham tasting, guessing the weight of a baby lamb, Chuck-a-Duck (don’t worry—they’re rubber!), mystery organ meat identifying, and, of course, racing with flippers! Returning from last year’s event will be the bodacious bra hunt at Hogs and Heifers.
Congrats to Le Cercle Rouge, which took home first prize, and to the talented kids from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Mgmt. (pictured), who rocked the best-dressed contest.
Some of my personal highlights:
One thing I didn’t really do, surprisingly, was eat. But I made up for that in good wine and beer.
I have a piece on the event that will be out soon. I’ll also have a duckload of photos up soon. In the meantime, check out this slideshow straight from the duck’s mouth.
Winehouse Fried
Amy Winehouse might not be ready to cut a record, but she’s always ready to chow.
Crispy sharing too much about Ms. Winehouse’s eating habits here.
Snap via The Superficial.
