"How could you eat something that adorable?" That's what my wife asked me as I loaded this picture. Good question. Sugar High's fondant cake toppers are works of art to be preserved, not eaten.
Link -via Between the Pages
A limited edition run of Tayto chocolate bars with cheese and onion inside sold out quickly in Ireland, but 24 of the bars are going to Australians -thousands of whom entered a raffle for a chance to eat one!
The bars are made from the famous Irish Tayto cheese and onion crisps mixed with Irish chocolate - all in one bar.
A winning combination or a controversial mix? The jury is out but the response has been overwhelming.
Taste Ireland CEO Eamon Eastwood is the holder of the elusive chocolate bars and decided to raffle them off in a Facebook campaign.
"I couldn't believe the reaction, it went off the richter scale with almost half a million impressions," said Mr Eastwood.
The last five bars were given away Friday. Link -via Arbroath
If you didn't get one, you can make your own. Link
Mary, a chef in Poznań, Poland, whipped cream cheese, cream and white chocolate into a delicious mousse. She served it in chocolate eggshells. There are only six of them, so, sorry, I won't share.
Many Americans look at Cinco de Mayo as a celebration of Mexico, with tacos, margaritas, and piñatas. That's barely more authentic than celebrating St. Patrick's Day with green beer. But the holiday is not Mexico's independence day -it's a local celebration in the state of Puebla, centered in the capital of Puebla. For a real authentic holiday, dig a little deeper.
But what America’s Cinco de Mayo misses is the traditional food of Mexico, named to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, a recognition given to only one other cuisine (French). And, nachos with refried beans, cheese wiz and jalapenos is nowhere on the list or in the country. Taco Bell has even tried opening up in Mexico but each time has failed, simply because no one will eat there.
What makes traditional Mexican fare worthy of such a distinction? You won’t find cumin soaked ground beef hard shell tacos topped with iceberg and cheddar. But, you will find beef barbacoa that has been smoked underground in banana leaves or carnitas topped with queso fresco, pickled onions and homemade salsa verde wrapped in a warm homemade corn tortilla that has been ever so lightly heated on a comal. And Puebla, just so happens to be considered by many, including Rick Bayless and Mark Bittman, as the gastronomic capital of Mexico.
Smithsonian tells us about the regional favorites Mole Poblano, Chalupas, and Chiles en Nogada, with links to recipes for each. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user dbking)
Nachos are awesome, of course. But they're not healthy if consumed constantly. That's why you should try Chica Chocolatina's cake nachos as an alternative. She made them with dark chocolate cake, chocolate melts, gummy candies, licorice and orange piping.
Each vanilla cupcake is filled and covered with cream cheese chocolate chip icing and topped with a cannolo. Yummy! Crumbs Bake Shop has outdone itself this time.
Bourbon is a whiskey made of mostly corn that is aged in charred oak barrels. Straight bourbon is aged at least two years, and the best bourbon is aged at least eight years. That's the conventional wisdom. But a new brand of bourbon made in Cleveland is aged only a few days! Tom Lix developed a procedure for engineering the distinctive taste of bourbon without waiting so long.
Bourbon is typically aged over a period of time in which fluctuating temperatures throughout the day move distilled liquor in and out of the pores of oak barrels. Lix uses pressure to speed this up. He pours distillate into a stainless steel vat and throws cut-up pieces of barrel in after it.
He wouldn't let me see his machinery — "intellectual property," he says — but it sounded something like an overloaded washing machine during the spin cycle. Each beat, Lix says, is roughly the equivalent of 24 hours in a stationary barrel. The agitation squeezes the wood like a sponge and the "aging" of each batch is done within a few days.
Other bourbon distillers use other methods to speed up the process, like blasting loud music to vibrate barrels. Lix's product is called Cleveland Whiskey, which some whiskey aficionado don't like, but he manages to sell as much as he can make. Read about the new type of bourbon at NPR. Link -via Boing Boing
(Image credit: David Kidd)
You waste a third of an apple if you eat it from side to side, down to the core. An apple core, Foodbeast's Elie Ayrouth argues, is completely edible if you eat it from end to end:
In between bites, Geoff managed, “See, eating it from the sides is wasteful. But if you eat it from the top, the core doesn’t even exist.”
In that moment, Geoff handed the apple back to me. Sure enough, he was nearly halfway through the apple, all without choking on what we normally consider the inedible ‘core.’ Eating from the top allowed more of the pleasant flesh to encompass the surface of every bite.
Remember
all the hoopla about horse meat in beef? "That's cute," said China.
Fake meat there consists of rats and foxes:
In Wuxi, in east China's Jiangsu Province, suspects made fake mutton from fox, mink and rat by adding chemicals. The products were sold to markets and the suspects made more than 10 million yuan (1.62 million U.S. dollars) from the illegal activities. [...]
According to an initial investigation, the suspects had been using hydrogen peroxide solution to process chicken claws since July 2011. With an output of 300 kg per day, suspects made more than 4 million yuan in profits.
We've seen extreme Bloody Marys before, but this one from O'Davey's Irish Pub in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin advances human gastronomy into previously unknown territory:
This ultimate hangover cure is topped with an extensive beer chaser consisting of pop corn, bacon, peanuts, beans, sausage, pretzel, sliders, a pickle and (this is Wisconsin after all) a cracker and cheese curd. Plus a Brewers flag.
"That's amazing. I'm coming to America just for these," a reader remarked in the Reddit forum.
An Australian commented: "As an Aussie, I can't help but look at that and think... 'Is this actually a thing??' Are you serious? You can actually order that?"
USA! USA! USA!
Link -Thanks, Jill Harness!
(Photo: Gitte Lassby/Journal Sentinel)
You can pour ketchup on these snacks, but it might not help the flavor. These are actually cupcakes! Belinda Lo made the fish and chips out of sugar malt cookies covered in white chocolate, coconut and cornflakes. The grease stains are a nice detail.
Link -via Tasteologie
Seattle's Jones Soda is famous for its inventive soda flavors, such as turkey and bacon. Now they've produced one flavored like poutine, a Canadian dish consisting of gravy, French fries and cheese curd. This soda will, sadly, only be available in Canada.
I've never been to Canada, but I recently met a Canadian. South Park, I've got to tell you, is surprisingly inaccurate in its depiction of Canadians.
A sushi chain in southern Japan called Uokura sells vanilla and green tea ice cream wrapped and served like sushi. This, according to Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft, is unusual even in Japan. You can view more photos at the link.
This is a sweet film. In Omelette, a loyal dog does everything he can to help his depressed master, whatever the cost. Filmmaker Madeline Sharafian said,
I wanted to make something that focuses on how meaningful it is to make food for someone you love. My family's lives practically revolve around cooking for each other, so it's a theme that I'm deeply attached to. I hope you enjoy it!
The brilliant and aptly named redditor ILikeWhereThisIsGoin works at a Dairy Queen. Two days ago, he made history by pouring modified soft serve ice cream into a reshaped waffle cone and adding chocolate syrup.
I'd go to my local Dairy Queen and ask them to make me one, but I'm boycotting it until they get soft serve ice cream dispensers that I can fit my head under. That's just basic customer service.
