Archives for June 2008
Snap! (Says the Pickle)
This Week in Bacon
Yesterday at work I was eating a healthful lunch (a modified Grandwich–avocado and cuke on whole grain with mustard, hold the nefarious sprouts and Nayo, please), and I was thinking it was a damn fine sandwich.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on just why–beyond the fact avocados are one of my favorite foods–and then it hit me. It’s the sesame seeds on the bread. Specifically, it’s the toasted sesame seeds. For, when you toast sesame seeds, as on a bagel or this Grandwich, the seeds have a smoky, porcine, crunchy taste.
They taste almost like… Hey! Toasted sesame seeds taste like bacon!
So, in this week’s TWIB installment, I’m asking readers to share foods they dig that aren’t bacon, and aren’t non-bacon intended to be bacon, but still have a lovably bacony quality about them.
Another food I love for tasting like bacon: Lapsang Souchong tea.
I don’t expect the list is too long, but throw your ideas in comments or shoot me an email.
Stop Crying on Your Foot Long: Jared, Biggest Loser, Alive
Say it ain’t so, Jooo… Jared! Yes, it’s true–Subway weight loser Jared kicked the bucket yesterday, according to the tribute site JaredRemembered.com.
Jared S. Fogel, best known as the spokesman for Subway sandwich shop “The Subway Guy” Born December 1st, 1977 – Died yesterday at 4:43pm EST.
The autopsy has not been performed, early medical reports indicate that he has died due to abnormal abdominal adhesions resulting from his 1998 gastric bypass surgery.
Wow. What a bummer. Actually–and this was obvious to anyone who saw the tribute site–it turns out it’s just a hoax.
After years of force-feeding himself thousands of turkey sandwiches on wheat, hold the flavor, all he gets is a nasty, virulent death.
What a rip!
The death is a fake, of course, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped the reports from spreading like light mayonnaise across the digital by-ways.
Wow. What a bummer. Another good way to tell someone is alive: you’re not dead unless Wikipedia says you are, dammit.
Or, Taco Bell Could Have Lowered Its Prices
Rapper 50 Cent is mad as hell at Taco Bell. Here’s why:
Taco Bell… asked the artist to change his name to either 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent for one day this summer to promote its new “Why Pay More” value menu.
Taco Bell Corp. President Greg Creed made the proposal in a letter to 50 Cent’s agent and requested Fiddy make an appearance at a U.S. Taco Bell location and rap his order in the drive-thru with his new name, according to a company statement. If 50 Cent agreed to the deal, Creed said Taco Bell would make a $10,000 donation to a charity of Fiddy’s choice.
[...]
Fiddy apparently wasn’t in the mood for fast food.
“When my legal team is finished with them, Taco Bell is going to have a new corporate slogan: We messed with the bull and got the horns,” 50 Cent said, according to AllHipHop.com.
More at Pollstar and E! Online. Conveniently, 50’s new album drops next week.
Irony Between Slices of Bread
A Texas group celebrating Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery in the state that is celebrated in many states across the country, almost had to shut down the event due to a run-in with the law over… sandwiches.
Organizers of a Juneteenth celebration are demanding an apology after two health department food inspectors threatened to put a stop to their event.
Black Cultural Council President Jo Ann Davenport-Littleton said health inspectors told organizers it was illegal for the group to serve 600 free barbecue sandwiches because the sandwiches weren’t prepared at the site where they were served.
Organizers say volunteers and the black community felt “humiliated” by the incident.
[...]
The county’s top health official, Gino Solla, said state law prohibits any food service operation from having food prepared in a private home for public consumption.
KSWO has more here.
Solla took a firmer line elsewhere:
Solla said he won’t apologize.
“We have to be aggressive when the public interest is involved,” he told the paper. “If there was any kind of forwardness and if it was perceived as rude, that I’ll apologize for. But when it comes to public health, I don’t think I have any apology for that.”
Of course you don’t. You’re a statist ass. More in the Dallas Morning News here.
People Are Dying to Eat Here (Hah!)
Perhaps taking a page from the Pringles inventor who was recently buried in a can of said dehydrated chips, a Ukranian restaurant is shaped like a coffin on the outside, and boasts a coffin theme inside.
The coffin restaurant, called Eternity, is the work of a funeral parlour in the town of Truskavets, in the west of the country near the Polish border.
The undertakers hope that their restaurant will be confirmed as the world’s biggest coffin, attracting tourists to a region best known for its mineral-rich bathing waters.
“Thirty cubic metres of pine have been used for the construction,” said Andri, one of those behind the new enterprise, ahead of its recent opening.
“It’s our director Stepan Pyrianyk who had the idea. He loves his work and reckons the project will bring tourists to Truskavets.”
I reckon it might, if anything could. More here.
Good Yelp thread on bad restaurant names here. Nigeria apparently boasts a Mama Cass Restaurant–scroll to “eating out”–which might be even more morbid (enjoy your ham sandwich!) than the Ukranian hot spot.
Why I Love Globalization, Reason #478
It’s not often we are able to step outside of our American fastfoodcentric worldviews, but this AFP article about the Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee–he’s jolly! he’s a bee!–sure brought me out of mine.
Jollibee is the biggest restaurant chain in the Philippines, operating almost 1,500 outlets for its signature Jollibee hamburgers along with pizzas, baked goods, French pastries and other dishes.
It has 194 outlets abroad including China, the United States, Dubai and Indonesia.
The U.S.? Huh? Who knew?
Actually, Jollibee claims about a dozen U.S. locations, including a Vegas outlet and one opening in New York City (well, Queens) later this year.
Visit Jollibee here. Very detailed Wiki entry here.
Any reader been to a Jollibee either in the U.S., the Philippines, or elsewhere?
This Week in Bacon
Eat up. Thanks to Patrick for the tip.
EU to Banish Bendy-Banana Ban
The EU has been great in many ways for member countries. A common currency and free movement across borders have been a boon for trade. On the downside, though, are the many stupid regulations that hinder trade.
The two-class rule for selling fruits & veggies–which creates categories based on conformity to some centrally dictated ideal–has long been one of the banes of sellers and has been responsible for driving up food prices. It’ll be no more, though, reports the Daily Mail, at least for some foods.
Bendy cucumbers and misshapen bananas are to make a comeback on supermarket shelves thanks to a change in EU laws.
Brussels bureaucrats have decided to ease strict guidelines governing the appearance of fruit and vegetables.
It is hoped the move will encourage shops to stock less-than-perfect-looking produce and cut down on the amount of food going to waste.
Under current rules, fruit and vegetables are classified into two grades, with ‘class one’ goods meeting strict criteria on size, shape and appearance.
It means apples are often rejected for being ‘too red’ or carrots for being ‘too wide’.
Although supermarkets can stock cheaper ‘class two’ produce, many choose not to because they believe their customers would not buy it.
Around 26 of the EU’s 36 directives will be abolished, although minimum standards will remain on goods including apples, lettuces and peaches.
More here. The NYT riffed on bendy-banana rules back at the dawn of the EU.
Crispy Podcast Episode 6
In this episode of our surprisingly weekly podcast, we chat with Scott Gold, the author of the recently published book, The Shameless Carnivore: A Manifesto for Meat Lovers. Aside from exploring everything meat-related—from the practicalities to the spiritual aspects—Scott engaged in a month of meat, in which he ate 31 kinds of meat in as many days. This interview took place during this year’s Duckathlon and was recorded on a street in New York City, so pardon the audio. It’s worth putting up with it, though.
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.”
Help Wanted: Pakistani Cook in Canada
A Fredericton, New Brunswick restaurant owner can’t for the life of him seem to find a sous chef. He’s blaming the government, which seems strange until you actually read the story.
A Fredericton restaurant owner says he’s had little, if any, progress since the provincial government pledged to help him find a cook six months ago.
Rizwan Ul-Haq, who owns and operates Chez Riz on Queen Street, has been trying to get someone to help him carry the load at his well-known eatery that specializes in Indian and Pakistani cuisine.
Ul-Haq works 14-hour days to keep the business going. But his efforts to find someone who can help him in the kitchen continue to meet roadblocks.
“It’s the same story as a couple of months ago. There’s nothing going on,” said Ul-Haq, who has been a restaurateur for 20 years and moved to Fredericton 21 1/2 years ago.
He said he’s been trying to contact the provincial nominee program, but “nobody returned our call.”
He has made attempts to bring in prospective employees from Pakistan, but the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad has nixed his choices for cooks he wants to bring to the country, he said.
“They told me the guy gave the wrong documents because he hadn’t worked at the same place he gave the documents for,” Ul-Haq said.
Since my father’s side of the family first came from England to the U.S. through this part of Canada about 350 years ago, and since I like Pakistani food, I feel qualified to respond.
I don’t know what’s sadder: 1) a government promising to help a restaurant to find a cook and consistently failing; 2) the restaurateur trying and failing to find a cook, often because the people he wants are people the government refuses to admit to the country; 3) the fact that a restaurant owner thinks the government should help him find a cook at all; or 4) the fact the owner wants to pay his charge a whopping $12 an hour.
Whole story here. Perhaps someone could let restaurant owner Rizwan Ul-Haq know about Toronto?
This Week in Bacon
Earlier this week in the Crispy podcast, Bacon Unwrapped’s Heather Lauer enthusiastically called bacon salt the damn finest newish bacon product around. That endorsement is good enough for me. So what’s the deal with bacon salt?
Bacon Salt is a fat free, zero calorie, vegetarian, Kosher, bacon flavored seasoning salt that really tastes just like bacon.
If you’re like most people, you love the taste of great bacon. We, like you, also love bacon. And we’re on a quest to make everything taste like bacon. Think about it: your favorite meals, from steak and potatoes to chicken, eggs, fish, prawns, even salads and vegetables - all with real bacon flavor.
More at the official bacon salt website, which proclaims, correctly, that “everything should taste like bacon.”
Recent review here. Get yer baocn salt here.
Duckathlon Recap II: New at Reason.tv
Duckathlon Recap: New at Reason Online
I have a piece up at Reason Online today on D’Artagnan’s great Duckathlon, and how it fits in with–and counteracts–the rise of the food nanny state in New York City. A snippet:
So while the city has hundreds of outstanding restaurants, each likely claiming thousands of devoted customers, it also has millions of residents who can’t afford (or be bothered) to eat in them. Those people instead frequent the inexpensive chain restaurants city regulators target.
New York City might be foodie heaven, but if you’re an eater rather than a gastronome, regulators are increasingly futzing with your food. The food really under fire in New York City right now is not that eaten by, for example, billionaire Michael Bloomberg—whose mayoral manse chefs competed at the Duckathlon—but by everyday diners.
Still, the vigilance of [D'Artagnan's Ariane] Daguin, her staff, and Duckathlon participants is as important as it is admirable.
“In a small little way,” Daguin says, “I hope it’s paving the way to more freedom.”
Crispy previously on the Duckathlon here. D’Artagnan’s Flickr photostream from the event here.
What Would POTUS Eat?
I have a piece up today at Doublethink Online, the net version of the magazine that published my Anthony Bourdain profile/interview and article on Chicago’s foie gras ban.
In the article, I take a look at food on the presidential-campaign trail. A snippet:
I first became fascinated by the role food plays in presidential elections in 1992, when then-president George H.W. Bush, who the public perceived as out of touch with everyday America, was campaigning for a second term. Bush cemented the image when he appeared awestruck by a scanner during an appearance at a supermarket, and reinforced it when he was unable to correctly guess the price of a gallon of milk. Nor did it help Bush that his opponent, Bill Clinton, came off as an everyman who had likely committed the menus of McDonald’s, KFC, and Arby’s to heart.
If you dig politics, Brillat-Savarin, or the Saturday morning cartoons of the late 1970s/early 1980s, there’s probably something in it for you. Whole thing here.
