Love cheese and Doritos, but tired of Nacho Cheese Doritos? Then you just might love the new limited edition flavor just released in Japan - Camembert flavor. These tasty treats will be available from now until January 2014, but you'll have to get a hold of them by traveling to Japan or find someone from Japan to send you some if you want to try them. 

InventorSpot questions the notion of having such a fancy, gourmet flavor on something as snacktastic and corny as Doritos, but as a huge fan of snack food and luxurious cheeses, I would love to try some of these tasty teats.

Food has always been a part of our funeral rituals, no matter where you are from. The act of consuming food is a shared community experience, a show of support for the grieving, and an act that can be described as symbolically but defiantly kicking Death in the face.

Half sociology book and half cookbook, Death Warmed Over: Funeral Food, Rituals, and Customs From Around the World by Lisa Rogak examines funeral rituals from 75 different cultures and the food associated with them.

The book also offers recipes for those who wish to contribute to the funerary feast. Neatorama presents some excerpts from Death Warmed Over.

For most cultures today, sharing a meal after the funeral has become pretty standard; indeed, it’s considered rude to refuse. In any case, there’s no better way to prove you’re alive, as compared with the body in the box you’ve just said farewell to, than by eating. Actually, most people would include sex in their response, and indeed, food combined with carnal hunger can sometimes provide a double dose of post-funeral vitality, not to mention a jump in the birth rate exactly nine months later.

The simple truth is that food goes a long way in helping survivors cope with their loss.

Some people may believe it’s distasteful to spend time thinking about how death and food are so interconnected – after all, both are an essential part of life – but I’d like to think that many more are intrigued by discovering the differences, as well as the similarities.
    
When you’re sharing a meal after a funeral you’re really poking a thumb in the eye of death. After all, with the simple act of eating, you’re assuming that you’re going to need the fuel for the future you expect you’re going to have, unlike the poor body in the box whose death is the purpose for the get-together. You can ask any caterer: most people eat a lot more food at funerals than at weddings. And that cuts across all cultures.
    
New Orleans Jazz Funerals

(Image credit: Derek Bridges)

You may have to check your calendar if you happen to stumble upon a New Orleans jazz funeral, because it’s easy to mistake it for Mardi Gras in the French Quarter, although there’s a casket with a real body inside. Jazz funerals in New Orleans are legendary events. Though a funeral is traditionally melancholy and a private family event in nature, jazz funerals in the Big Easy are intended to be public events, at the very least so that onlookers can contemplate their own mortality while enjoying the music and the spectacle.

Mourners who participate in the slow, plodding parade from the church to the cemetery will occasionally intersperse their strides with slightly jerky motions, a holdover from their African heritage in which these movements were designed to keep the malevolent spirits at bay. Actually, it’s more of a dance than a walk, with colorful costumes and clothing instead of dour, dark outfits. Food, booze, and jazz bands accompany the procession, which is often led by a horse-drawn hearse and escorted by a coterie of New Orleans’ finest, which may include drag queens, strippers, and musicians who just happen to be passing by and decide to join the party for an improvisational free-for-all.

The nice thing about this recipe for Jambalaya is that you can start it in the morning before the funeral and it will be ready by the time you return home.

Funeral Jambalaya

(Image credit: Flickr user Lori L. Stalteri)

    2 cups boiled ham, diced
    2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
    2 stalks celery, diced
    1 green pepper, seeded and diced
    1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
    1/4 cup tomato paste
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tablespoon minced parsley
    1/2 teaspoon thyme
    2 whole cloves
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 cup long-grain converted rice, uncooked
    1 pound fresh or frozen shrimp, uncooked, shelled and deveined
    
Place all ingredients except the shrimp in a large slow cooker. Mix well. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours.

One hour before serving, turn slow cooker to High.  Add the shrimp and stir. Cover and cook until shrimp are pink and tender.

Hindu

    
Hindus regard death as a twelve-day period during which the family of the recently deceased is considered to be unclean. This obviously influences the culinary practices of the household. Even though some Hindus are not vegetarians, relatives must follow a strict vegetarian diet during this period, and any meat or eggs must be removed from the house as soon as possible after death. During the first 24 hours after death, cooking is prohibited, and though relatives and friends can bring food to the house, close family members usually fast the first day. Upper-caste Hindus usually hire cooks to prepare meals for the family and guests – which can number into the hundreds – for the entire twelve-day period.
    
Cremation is the normal mode of disposing of bodies for Hindus, and is customarily done a day or two after death. However, to ensure the secure passage of the soul to the next world, a ceremony known as a Shraddha must be performed. Shraddha is an elaborate feast and gift-giving event; Hindus believe that everything that is given away – food or gifts, often metal vessels and cash – will eventually end up in the hands and stomach of the deceased. Some Shraddhas last one day, while others can go on for weeks. Feasts can be elaborate or they may merely consist of rice and vegetables, along with the chapati bread that’s served at most Hindu meals.

In the United States, to “eat humble pie” means to apologize for one’s actions. But humble pie is also an actual dish that you can eat. Its origins are, appropriately, humble. Although there are fancy recipes, humble pie began as a medieval European dish consisting of the scraps of the master’s food baked into a pie. “Humble” began as the Middle French word “nomble,” meaning “scrap.”

Lars D.H. Hedbor baked this version using a recipe published in Elizabeth Smith’s 1739 cookbook The Compleat Housewife. He was quite faithful to the recipe, even though it called for items that would be considered odd today, such as orange blossom water.

-via VA Viper

I know, I know, Halloween isn't over yet, so it's still a little early to start thinking about Thanksgiving, but if you plan on making all 50 of these great bacon-enhanced Thanksgiving recipes courtesy of Buzzfeed, you'll need to start shopping early in order to buy up all the bacon you can find in the grocery store.

Personally, I'm a big fan of bacon, but I have discovered that some Thanksgiving favorites are better without it -like green bean cassarole where the bacon just add saltyness and doesn't even enhance the crunch. I do recommend adding bacon and dried cranberries to your sweet potatoes for some some serious flavor enhancement though.

If you love scotch - Scotchy Scotch Scotch like Ron Burgundy of Anchorman and you want it to go down, down into your belly - well, you're in luck.

Ben & Jerry's, which is kind of like a big deal in the ice cream business, is releasing a new flavor of ice cream, named Scotchy Scotch Scotch, as a tie-in to the sequel movie Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. It's Butterscotch ice cream with Butterscotch Swirls. By the beard of Zeus, noo actual Scotch, sadly. But still, don't act like you're not impressed.

The flavor was unveiled in an event kicked off with - what else? - a performance by Nutty the Waterskiing Squirrel, followed with a Ben & Jerry's ice cream truck decked out to look like Channel 4 News truck (complete with blazer-wearing Ron Burgundy look-alikes).

Burgundy himself was pleased that Ben & Jerry's released the new ice cream flavor. "I hope [they] consider my other suggestion. Malt liquor marshmallow, well liquor bourbon peanut butter, and cheap white wine sherbert," he added.

We're not sure whether the ice cream comes with its own trident spoon, but it should. And kudos to Ben & Jerry's, who stayed classy, for creating this. They're so wise. And Jerry Greenfield - the Jerry in Ben & Jerry's - is actually like a (not so) miniature Buddha, covered in hair. After all, 60 percent of the time, limited edition movie tie-ins like this works all the time.

(YouTube link)

Have you purchased candy to give to trick-or-treaters for Halloween yet? Of course you have, because you know Halloween tends to come at the end of the month, when you're out of money. But how much do you know about candy? Probably a lot, but you'll know a lot more after John Green brings you 38 sweet facts about candy. I'm somewhat chagrined to find out he considers me one of the 17 "old people" watching. By the time you're through with this, you'll have an urge to go out and buy some candy you haven't thought of in a while. -via mental_floss

What's better, loaded nachos or grilled cheese sandwiches? It's a hard decision as each has its benefits, but now you don't have to decide thanks to the heavenly blend between the two dubbed the "Loaded Nacho Game Day Grilled Cheese" by its creator, BS In The Kitchen.

The magnificent taste sensation adds black beans, salsa, olives, cilantro, avocado, jalapeno, scrambled eggs, nacho Doritos, tomatoes, seasoned ground beef, green onions and sour cream to an already melty, gooey grilled cheese sandwich. The only thing that would make this sound even better (at least, to me) would be a little carne asada in place of the ground beef -just like what you find on the best nachos. 

Would you like a piping hot bowl of noodles on a chilly day? This dish won’t provide you with one, but you’ll probably still be satisfied because it's a cake. Ochikeron started by putting a layer of sponge cake, whipped cream and fruit in the bottom of the bowl. Then she poured sweet potato paste onto the surface like noodles.

After freezing them, Ochikeron made gelatin and poured it over the frozen noodles. After the gelatin solidified, she garnished the cake with cookies, including one made out of seaweed. You can watch her instructional video here.

-via Foodiggity

Is there anything better than a banana split? Perhaps a deep fried banana split! And that's just one of the amazing new foods featured at this month's Arkansas State Fair. If you want more enjoyable sweet treats, you should check out the deep fried Rice Krispie treats.

I'm also quite interested in the deep fried cream cheese filled sausage balls, which sound (and look) a little disgusting, but if you're one of us who think that anything is better with cream cheese and pretty much anything is better when deep fried, then it certainly has potential to be utterly amazing.

You've probably been told not to eat green potatoes because they are poison. Just how poisonous are they? The presence of chlorophyll in a potato's skin indicates an increased level of solanine, which at critical concentrations can cause horrible illness (vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, paralysis, and/or coma) and even death. It's happened more than you know. Smithsonian's Food & Think blog has a rundown of solanine poisoning cases spanning a century, with scary details. For example:  

1952: According to the British Medical Journal, solanine poisoning is most common during times of food shortage. In the face of starvation, there have been accounts of large groups eating older potatoes with a higher concentration of the toxin. In North Korea during the war years of 1952-1953, entire communities were forced to eat rotting potatoes. In one area alone, 382 people were affected, of whom 52 were hospitalized and 22 died. The most severe cases died of heart failure within 24 hours of potato consumption. Some of the less severe symptoms included irregular pulses, enlargement of the heart, and blueing lips and ears. Those who displayed these ailments died within 5 or 10 days.

The amount of solanine in the average potato from your grocery store is small enough to be safe, but if potatoes are stored where light gets to them or they become old, the levels may be too high. So if a potato is green or past its prime, better throw it out.    

(Image credit: Rasbak)

This restaurant in South Korea has an odd slogan painted on the window. The word "die" on a diner will make you pause and reconsider, until you learn what it really means. Redditor pinqNoiz provided the explanation (censored by me).

둘이 먹다 하나가 죽어도 모른다.

Two people eat, one die, the other doesn't know.

It's a common Korean expression with mouthwatering food.

It means when two people are eating this dish, the other wouldn't notice if the other dropped dead because it's so ****ing good.

A few made up explanations are pretty good, too. I particularly like the legend. And then there's the pop culture tie-in. And the simple version makes a lot of sense, too.

While we've been talking about pumpkin carving all month, it's finally getting close to the end of the month, which is when it's actually time to carve the pumpkin so it won't go rotten before Halloween night. If you're one of those pumpkin carvers who loves to put their seeds aside to save for later, you probably have a great tried and true recipe, but if you're looking to switch things up, Serious Eats has 9 great variations for your seeds and Swanky Recipes has 10 fun and tasty recipes for you to enjoy. I'm particularly interested in trying that one in the center that features chorizo and smoked paprika.

Did someone say taco lasagna? Sounds like I've got new plans for dinner tonight. If you think that sounds good, what about macaroni and cheese in meatloaf balls? For those who prefer dessert, you might instead enjoy cupcakes with pumpkin pie inside. 

If you dig food concoctions combining a few of your favorite snacks, then you'll absolutely love this great Buzzfeed list featuring 18 food mashups -like the pasta burrito from Californa chain Burrissimo. Best of all, most of the creations include recipes so you can try your hand at making them for yourself at home. Now, excuse me whille I make a taco lasagna. 

If you love movie theater popcorn covered in their delicious, delicious butter, but hate how only the top ends up getting loaded in orange, melty goodness, then you should check out this brilliant new hack by Tri 102.5. Just stick a straw in the dispenser and use it to direct the flow of flavor throughout different levels of your popcorn bag. For even salt distribution, just take a couple of the salt packets into the theater with you.

Alternatively, you can also get a cardboard box the theaters use to hold combo deals and just dump out your popcorn in a nice thin layer that can be evenly buttered and salted with no trouble.

Via Food Beast

Image: Jim Cooke

Do you consider your hometown dish to be the best food in the United States of America? We'll see about that.

Albert Burneko wrote an article over at Deadspin where he ranked the best and the worst of signature food from all 50 states of the USA. Did your favorite food make the list? Did Burneko fail to rank your state's food appropriately? Why did he rank Ohio's Cincinnati Chili lower than "being hit by a car"? I mean, worse than Alaska's whipped seal oil and berries delicacy known as akutaq? And what happened to Nevada's state food, anyway?

But first, the 10 best regional food in America:

1. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (Illinois)
2. Shirmp and grits (South Carolina)
3. Mission-style burrito (California)
4. Crab cake (Maryland)
5. Peach pie/cobbler (Georgia)
6. Gumbo (Louisiana)
7. Key lime pie (Florida)
8. Fried green tomatoes (Alabama)
9. Stacked enchilada with green chile (New Mexico)
10. Marionberry pie (Oregon)

... then we'll skip down to the bottom 10:

41. Michigan pasty (Michigan)
42. Chislic (South Dakota)
43. Green Jell-O with carrots
44. Lutefisk (North Dakota)
45. Salt water taffy
45. Handheld meat pies (Nebraska)
46. Akutaq (Alaska)
47. Boiled dinner (New Hampshire)
48. Nothing (Nevada)
49. Steamed cheeseburger (Connecticut)
50. Cincinnati chili (Ohio)

What's your state food and did it rank correctly in the list? Read the full list over at Deadspin