Tag: Food
France Mulls Breathalyzers at Late-Night Bars
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.16.08 | 3:30 AM ET
Interesting move in France. The government may require thousands of clubs, cafes and bars open after 2 a.m. to install Breathalyzers by Jan. 1. Taking the Breathalyzer test would not be mandatory, but politicians are hoping patrons who may have had one too many drinks will voluntarily check their alcohol levels before driving home. The proposal was floated after a rash of drunk-driving accidents. Not everyone is cheering: Some are still reeling from a new smoking ban, and others in the hospitality industry complain Breathalyzers are too expensive.
Related on World Hum:
* France’s Smoking Ban Chokes its Hookah Bars
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Yahoo! BuzzSardines, Sushi and the Healthiest Diets on Earth
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.13.08 | 10:35 AM ET
Gourmet magazine has a great Q&A with Daphne Miller, author of the book, The Jungle Effect: A Doctor Discovers the Healthiest Diets from Around the World - Why They Work and How to Bring Them Home. Miller, who practices family medicine in California, traveled the world to study indigenous cuisines and find out why they are so much healthier than the typical American diet. Think many places in Japan and Crete, China and West Africa, where the food is local, whole and never processed.
The Oreo Goes Global
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.07.08 | 9:26 AM ET
Kraft Foods is pushing the all-American cookie on Great Britain this month, hoping to convince the finicky biscuit eaters that two crisp chocolate wafers sandwiched with “creme” trumps a digestive any old day. The Oreo is already the top-selling cookie in China, though it’s been modified to suit Chinese tastes (less sugar, wafers instead of cookies and oblong instead of round). The Chinese are also dunking their Oreos in milk, the ever-perfect combo for this resilient cookie.
In Los Angeles, ‘Carne Asada is Not a Crime’
by Jim Benning | 05.05.08 | 11:13 AM ET
Have more profound words ever been uttered? That’s one of the rallying cries of Save Our Taco Trucks, a movement opposing a new law that restricts taco trucks in Los Angeles County. The law requires the trucks to change locations every hour, with violators “facing fines, misdemeanor charges and, possibly, jail time,” the New York Times reports.
The ‘Cuisses de Grenouille’ on that French Guy’s Plate Might be From Indonesia
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.02.08 | 11:29 AM ET
Venice Bans Feeding Pigeons in St. Mark’s Square
by Michael Yessis | 05.02.08 | 10:33 AM ET
The birds are “eating away at the city’s marble statues and buildings by pecking at small gaps in the facades to reach for scraps of food that were blown inside,” according to Reuters. In the list of dangers facing Venice, I’d rank the pigeons below this, but above this.
The Fugu Phenomenon*
by Michael Yessis | 05.02.08 | 9:23 AM ET
Homer Simpson may have introduced you to fugu. Or perhaps Anthony Bourdain. They’re among those who have eaten the potentially deadly blowfish and helped make it “the thrill-seeking gastronome’s equivalent to scaling Mount Everest,” writes Adam Platt in New York Magazine. It’s banned through much of Europe and available only in a few restaurants in the U.S., though the FDA-sanctioned importing process, according to Platt, renders the fugu “less toxic than a piece of mercury-saturated tuna sushi at your local Korean deli.”
Seeking Salmon in Southeast Alaska*
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.01.08 | 10:03 AM ET
Daniel Duane loves to eat wild salmon, which used to live in abundance off the West Coast of the United States and whose numbers are now crisis-level low. His home, the San Francisco Bay area, was once famous for its seafood. But many San Franciscans now get their seafood from elsewhere, like the rest of American supermarket shoppers. It’s an antiseptic setting, and it just won’t do for an outdoorsy foodie like Duane. So he traveled by seaplane to southeast Alaska to glimpse one of the last remaining American paradises and to catch “this beautiful food” in “a web of freshwater, saltwater, and surrounding wildlands healthy enough to generate 5 billion pounds of seafood year after year, without diminishing anything.”
Rural Pubs in Ireland Becoming ‘So Yesterday’
by Michael Yessis | 04.25.08 | 1:43 PM ET
The Irish pub may be ubiquitous around the world, but it’s struggling in parts of its homeland. Mary Jordan writes in the Washington Post, “Wealth has given the Irish more options and less time—a bad combination for the local pub. More people are spending sunny weekends in Spain rather than evenings of ‘craic,’ as good times and conversation are known, down at the pub.” The video that accompanies Jordan’s story is below.
Global Warming’s Next Victim: Beer?
by Eva Holland | 04.17.08 | 11:07 AM ET
We’ve already noted the rise of see-it-before-it’s-gone tourism, or climate tourism. Is “drink-it-before-it’s-gone” tourism next? A scientist in New Zealand is warning that climate change could affect the growth of malting barley, both in New Zealand and neighboring Australia, thus causing a fall in beer production.
Robert Burns Would Have Scoffed at Vegetarian Haggis
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.15.08 | 3:07 PM ET
But I love it. I was in Scotland last week, eating the herbivore version of Scotland’s national dish as much as possible. It’s not that I’m afraid of the real haggis —an agitative mix of sheep liver, heart, lungs and other internal organs blended with meat, oats, barley and spices and cooked inside a sheep stomach. It’s just that “fake haggis” tastes better and seemed far easier to find. It may be a sign of the health-food times in Scotland, great purveyor of heart-attack cuisine. But a furious Robert Burns is surely scoffing in his grave.
Stop the Presses: Tunisian-Born Chef Makes Rome’s Best Carbonara
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.09.08 | 1:50 PM ET
Nabil Hadj Hassen, who arrived in Italy at 17 and went on to train with some of the country’s top chefs, won the heart of highly regarded reviewer Gambero Rosso with his dish of pasta, eggs, pecorino cheese and guanciale (cured pig cheek) at the restaurant Antico Forno Roscioli. But The New York Times recently explored how his triumphant carbonara also flagged a question looming over Italy’s revered cuisine: Is the food still Italian if the chef is not?
Japan’s Yoshoku Menu: Hambagoo, Ketchup-Flavored Rice and Stir-Fried ‘Napolitan’ Spaghetti
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.27.08 | 4:01 PM ET
Yoshoku means “Western food” in Japanese, and it’s been a staple of the country’s cuisine for decades. Chefs have taken hamburgers, spaghetti and other dishes, and “reshaped” them for Japanese palates. Most foreigners, though, have never heard of yoshoku, writes Norimitsu Onishi in The International Herald Tribune.
Mongolian Hot Pot: ‘The Next Sushi’?
by Eva Holland | 03.26.08 | 11:49 AM ET
In the summer of 2007, when the New Seven Wonders of the World were announced, World Hum rolled out its own list of wonders: the Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet. My favorite pick was the California roll, which represented not only the rise of sushi from obscure “ethnic” cuisine to corner store standard but also, as Jim and Michael wrote, “the many ways that cuisines from every corner of the planet are mixing in new, inventive and surprisingly tasty ways.”
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Koala Biscuits to Lure German Tourists’
by Michael Yessis | 03.25.08 | 3:37 PM ET
It tops a story in the Sydney Morning Herald, which begins: “German supermarket shelves have been stocked with koala-shaped biscuits in a bid to lure more big-spending German tourists to Queensland.” Guess this campaign didn’t grab enough big-spending German koala lovers.
How To Dine Solo in Paris
by Eva Holland | 03.25.08 | 10:37 AM ET
Memo to Philly-Bound Foreign Travelers: At Geno’s it’s English Only, or no Cheesesteak For You
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.21.08 | 10:27 AM ET
Don’t bother asking for Philadelphia’s heart-attack sandwich in anything other than good ol’ English when you’re at Geno’s Steaks. The popular cheesesteak eatery can keep up a sign that reads: “This is America. When ordering, please speak English,” according to a ruling this week. In a case that lasted nearly two years, the Philadelphia Commission for Human Relations had tried to force owner Joey Vento to remove the sign because some commissioners found it discriminatory.
I’m Worried About Food Safety Overseas. Any Tips for Staying Healthy?
by Rolf Potts | 03.12.08 | 2:33 PM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel
An Expat in Athens: Carnival’s Kites and Calamari
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.11.08 | 4:31 PM ET
Yesterday was Clean Monday for Eastern Orthodox Christians, which means that Apokries (or Carnival celebrations) are winding down and Lent has officially begun. In Athens, where I shot this photo, Greeks spent the day eating fish—fried calamari and taramosalata, or fish roe dip, are special favorites—and flying kites on Philopappus Hill near the Acropolis. This year, Athens was far emptier than usual, since many Athenians had gone out to the provinces for the festivities.
Scrolling Through Austin
by Michael Yessis | 03.11.08 | 1:25 PM ET
During my four days in Austin for the South by Southwest Interactive Conference, I’ve seen a lot of this: