Sampler Platter: pork power tools, Jedi chefs & free ice cream

Monday food news...

• French chef Pierre Gagnaire creates the world's first entirely synthetic gourmet dish: apple and lemon-flavored jelly balls. The Telegraph
• Meet the Bacon Lance, a mass of pork that can cut through steel. FOX News
• The cupcake clause: NYC landlord slips stipulation into Crumbs' lease that a dozen cupcakes be delivered to monthly sales meetings. NY Daily News
• "In just about every major contaminated food scare, Minnesotans become sick by the dozens while few people in Kentucky and other states are counted among the ill." Why? Because food safety varies from state to state. New York Times
• Tomorrow, April 21, is free cone day at Ben & Jerry's.
• Take a ride on the bacon skateboard. Waylou
• Who knew there was something called the Jedi Chef Order? May the pork be with you. Digital City
• 4,000 pounds of meat cooked for World's Largest Barbecue. Abilene Reporter News

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: A young boy tastes The Moona Lisa, edible artwork inspired by Ben & Jerry's competition to find their next ice cream flavor. Credit: Richard Cannon / Getty Images for Ben & Jerry's