Could giant snails end starvation in Africa?It may sound gross, but the giant snail is more nutritious than beef, rich in protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and essential vitamins, and is widely available in Africa. Could giant snail pies be the starving continent’s saviour?
Food
Ghetto gourmet: Cookin’ With Coolio
’90s rapper Coolio is releasing a cookbook, Cookin’ with Coolio, featuring such recipes as “Chicken Lettuce Blunts” and “Drunk-Ass Chicken” in a style of cooking he calls “Ghetto Fusion”. Check out the book’s Top 10 quotes: “Everything I cook tastes better than yo’ momma’s nipples.”
Why wine critics are just taking the piss
The ratings and medals meted out to fine wines aren’t worth the fancy-pants label-paper they’re printed on, according to scientists. In blind tests, critics regularly give the same wine completely different reviews.
The ultimate tight-arse guide to cheap (and free) eats
Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? BillShrink presents the ultimate guide to eating on the cheap — from ordering off the kids’ menu and pretending it’s your birthday to the ultimate in desperate dining, the Ikea cafeteria.
Can prisoners on death row really request anything for their last meal?
Ever pondered what your final meal would be if you were facing the noose? Contrary to popular belief, prisoners on Death Row in the US don’t always get what they ask for. In fact, many just get something slapped together by a fellow inmate.
Fruit juice: it’s not as healthy as you’d think
In fact, it’s not healthy at all, say experts: it’s full of sugar and calories, offers relatively little nutritional value, and is likely contributing to the obesity epidemic. Yep, even the 100% stuff.
The correct way to eat sushi
A charmingly illustrated do-and-don’t guide to getting the most out of your sushi-eating, without offending your Japanese host. Always dip fish-side down, don’t mix wasabi in the soy sauce, and don’t stick your chopstick in the rice.
Can Coco Pops protect you from swine flu?
Cereal giant Kellogg is in trouble in the US for emblazoning “Now helps support your child’s IMMUNITY” across the front of its Cocoa Krispies (that’s Coco Pops to you, skip) packets, amid the country’s swine flu hysteria. Can the company convince the courts the claims are medically sound?
Don’t say “good choice!”: 50 things a waiter should never do
Working in hospitality is tiring enough, but Bruce Buschel has written 50 rules that a restaurant staffer should never do. Don’t compliment the customers. Don’t treat reading the specials like an acting audition. Nothing about flies in soup though.
When is a cage egg green? When it plants trees
Some battery egg producers are giving their cartons a green sheen so dazzling, it threatens to blind consumers to the nature of their egg-laying process, writes Crikey intern Aaron Flanagan.
Birmingham: Aussies are crap at BBQs
Ooh, them’s fightin’ words: John Birmingham reckons Australians’ self-image as masters of the grill is totally overcooked. Greeks, Germans and even the Yanks would give us an absolute basting in a battle of the barbie.
The new battlefront in the Middle East: hummus and tabbouleh
Lebanon and Israel are engaged in a heated battle; not over territory, religion or politics, but over which country invented hummus and tabbouleh. Lebanon has struck the latest blow, breaking world records by cooking a 2056kg bowl of hummus and 3557kg plate of tabbouleh.
A tribute to the humble Iced-VoVo
The Iced-VoVo is a unpretentious pink biscuit who can include PM Kevin Rudd amongst its fans. Mel Campbell explores a biscuit that holds a special place in the heart of marshmallow, jam and coconut lovers Australia wide.
Only in Japan: the Windows 7 Whopper
In an bizarre cross-marketing campaign, Burger King in Japan has created a special Whopper to celebrate the release of Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system, featuring seven quarter-pound beef patties.
The 10 worst dining trends of the last 10 years
Molecular gastronomy, foam, communal tables, deconstructed plating and fried freaking onion blossoms — if you’ve dined out in the naughties, chances are you’ve had your fill of these tired trends.
How green is tofu?
It’s the culinary preference of hippies everywhere, but is eating tofu actually any better for the environment than eating meat? Apparently it all depends on what you’re not eating…
Why fructose-laden drinks when there’s a healthy option on tap?
In the name of getting enough water, Australia’s school canteens are selling kids a drink sweetened with 21g of pure fructose. When did we become a nation requiring constant hydration, anyway?
The deep-fried wonderland that is the Texas State Fair
Set your arteries to “harden”: the AV Club samples chicken-fried bacon, fried peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwiches, deep-fried butter, and other culinary delights of the Texas State Fair
Food you can make from scratch — but never realised you could
It’s cheaper, healthier and greener: Planet Green rounds up 45 recipes food you probably never realised you could make in your own kitchen, from vanilla extract and baking soda to bacon, ricotta and even fruit roll-ups.
A dispiriting attempt to flog beer to women
Following from the ’80s flop that was Swan Gold, National Distilleries is gifting the ladies with another ‘special’ beer: Hummingbird Blonde Lager. Do women really need our own patronising, bastardised version of beer, asks Mel Cambell.
Anaphrodisiacs: foods that kill your sex drive
So everyone knows what foods are supposed aphrodisiacs — oysters! chocolate! — but what foods are rumoured to stop sexual desire? It’s not exactly scientific, but the list does make sense: corn flakes aren’t raunchy.
Kellogg fights fake corn flakes — with lasers!
Cereal king Kellogg has decided to tackle the pressing issue of imitation corn flakes by using lasers to brand its authentic flakes with the company’s signature logo. Take that, black market breakfast cereals!
Wanky food trends that need to end
Neil Perry can take his schmancy wagyu beef burger and cram it: the high-end burger fad has been well and truly over-cooked. Not to mention gourmet pizzas, having three types of salt on each table, the phrase “farm to table”, and other foodie fads Esquire can’t stomach.
50 ways to stop wasting good food
Australians throw away $5b worth of food every year — despite our mothers’ protestations that there are “children starving in Africa”. Here’s 50 ways to cut down on the waste and enjoy some good meals in the process.
