The TV queen of Southern food gets whacked with a ham at a charity event while Food Marathon leads intrepid gluttons on an epic restaurant crawl -- and more in today's food news roundup.
-- Sushi fraud! DNA tests reveal that "tuna" is often fake or endangered species. Wired -- 13 restaurants in 11 hours: the 11 in 11 Food Marathon -- From poutine to New Mexico cuisine, a look at Portland's food carts. Los Angeles Times -- Hershey considers making a bid to buy Cadbury. It needs more than $17 billion to top offer from Kraft. Wall Street Journal -- Salon launches a food section -- Paula Deen hit with flying ham! WHEC -- Pennsylvania police will withdraw theft charges against two students who refused to leave a tip at a pub for what they said was bad service. The Morning Call -- Ben & Jerry's debuts Maple Blondie ice cream in honor of Vermont native and Olympic gold-medalist snowboarder Hannah Teter -- Gift suggestion for beer lovers: "The Naked Pint." Brand X -- OpenTable unveils list of 70+ L.A. restaurants that offer private dining services -- The four acts of Ondal's spicy crab soup. Eat, Drink & Be Merry -- Six reasons bacon is better than true love
Want to see more useless kitchen appliances than you can find in SkyMall? Or badly named Chinese knockoff brands? Or squash blossom quesadillas? You've come to the right place.
--You think they've put bacon in everything, then you discover bacon popcorn! Uncrate --20 of the world's most useless kitchen appliances. Restyle Your Kitchen --Gather your pennies, hipsters. Pabst Brewing Co. is for sale. New York Post --Husband leaves his wife after she forces him to eat cake for every meal. Metro --40 chefs under 40, only one from L.A.: Matt Molina (#38), Mozza executive chef. MNN --Kiss My Bundt needs to sell 5,000 mini-bundt cakes in the next few weeks to stay open. --The wackiest Chinese knockoffs. "Nalencia" oranges? Yum. Business Insider --A photographic ode to the po'boy. New York Times --Costco bans Coca-Cola due to pricing dispute. Consumerist --Wine DJ iPhone app, which helps you pair music with vino, launches. --Berkeley cracks down on Cupkates truck. California Taco Trucks --First it's pumpkins, now an Eggo shortage. Signs of the end times? Google --Food Court LA becoming Spacecraft-designed gastropub? Blackburn + Sweetzer --Squash blossom quesadillas on the Gold Line. 99 Cent Chef --MillerCoors contributes $500,000 to water education. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel --"Eating Animals," Jonathan Safran Foer's new pro-vegetarian book, gets a mostly positive review from the Los Angeles Times and a meh one from the New York Times.
--Elina Shatkin
Photo: Rochon Armwood of Mother's in New Orleans stands firmly behind the restaurant's po' boys. Credit: Alex Brandon / For The Times.
Bring on the pie! And the pie ... and the pie. One hundred and fifty pies. Sour cream apple blueberry. Apple and more apple in every variation, including one with bacon and smoked paprika. Lots of pumpkin pies (no surprise in November). Maple sweet potato pie with pecan brittle topping. Chocolate banana cream pie. Savory duck pie.
Welcome to the KCRW-FM (89.9) "Good Food" show pie contest, an event inspired by host Evan Kleiman’s summer project of baking a pie (almost) every day. Kleiman, the emcee at Saturday's contest, wore a pie pin embroidered by her friend Jill Smolin. She introduced herself as "your pie god," to lots of cheers.
Even among fast casual eateries there's a caste system. And Ruby Tuesday wants to move out of the neighborhood it shares with Applebee's and Chili's and into the classier 'hood alongside Olive Garden and Outback Steakhouse. All this and more essential food news:
--Speaking of Applebee's, they're giving a free meal to Veterans today. Krispy Kreme giving away free doughnuts. Consumerist
--Ruby Tuesday upgrades with fancier decor, more expensive food. New York Times
--Toshi Sushi, "greatest omakase bargain in Little Tokyo," celebrates anniversary. Sinosoul
--Mendocino Farms to open 2nd downtown venue at 5th and Flower streets. Blog Downtown
--Portland brewer makes beer from Bac-O Bits, Nutella and more. Houston Chronicle
-- Food pioneer: Chef Fergus Henderson. The Times
--The folks who made Bacon Salt bring you Bacon Envelopes. J&D Foods
--Crispy tripas at Rambo's Taco Truck in Eagle Rock. Gourmet Pigs
--Miniature finger-food plates: Absurd or absurdly practical? The Kitchn
--Everyone loves the cheese dust. Dorito's DIY commercial contest returns.
--Burlingame officials try to run Curry Up Now truck out of town. California Taco Trucks
--Chocolate mousse-flavored Marshmallow Reindeer Peeps, new for the holidays.
--A roundup of pumpkin-based restaurant specials. Caroline On Crack
--Elina Shatkin
Photo: Toshihiko Seki, owner and chef of Toshi Sushi in downtown Los Angeles, prepares a plate of sashimi and rolls. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times
The Crustmaster uses pies to lure Michelle Obama to the dark side. The original recipe for Worcestershire sauce is discovered (we assume it's the British equivalent of the original top-secret formula for Coca-Cola, but without cocaine). And the most practical how-to ever: making your own bacon lamp.
--Meet White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, a.k.a. the Crustmaster. CBS4 Denver --Restaurant groups unhappy about health-care bill. Nation's Restaurant News --"Emeril Live" may return to TV -- but not on the Food Network. ABC Action News --The 10 most beloved and unhealthy gaming snacks. Topless Robot --100 things restaurant staffers should never do: Part 1 and Part 2. New York Times --Campbell's claims every can of chicken noodle soup has 32 feet of noodles. KING5 --Who would Jacques Pepin most like to cook naked with? Nigella Lawson. Gastrobuzz --Original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce recipe found. Daily Mail --How to make a bacon lamp. Oddity Central --Diners plan to spend 20% less on restaurant meals. Bloomberg
-- Elina Shatkin
Photo: Jacques Pepin's dream date, Nigella Lawson. Credit: Tina Fineberg / For The Times
Stefan Richter surprises no one with his arrogance, agribusiness throws its weight around and more food news in today's roundup.
-- Sorry, hipsters. Your ironic consumption of Pabst Blue Ribbon made it more popular -- and more expensive -- than other lowbrow beers. NBC Los Angeles
-- "I think America knows that I won Top Chef," says Stefan Richter. LAist
-- Sweets and schadenfreude: Cake Wrecks makes it into the New York Times.
-- California agribusiness pressures Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to nix Michael Pollan lecture. Los Angeles Times
-- Don't wear your sweatpants to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant. Washington Post
-- A recipe for bite-sized bacon caramels. The Kitchn
-- Bears love eating from minivans. Los Angeles Times
-- Hoping to incite “serious contemplation of a robust culinary tradition,” British Food in America, a new online mag “dedicated to the discussion and revival of British foodways,” launches. News items will appear “forthnightly." Cheerio, old chap.
-- Elina Shatkin
Photo: Canned food from explorer Ernest Schackleton's 1907-09 Nimrod expedition in Antarctica, part of Britain's "robust culinary tradition." Credit: Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune.
Do we really need to say anything else? If you tried it, you no doubt loved it, so let's cut to the chase: Here's the recipe. And here are more reader recipe requests we've answered in recent months.
Would you pay $63,500 for dinner? One woman just did. This and more in today's food news roundup.
-- Bacon-flavored beer. New York Times -- Keeping kosher in Kabul: Afghanistan's last Jew. Los Angeles Times -- Alabama woman wins dinner with Sarah Palin for $63,500 via EBay auction. New York Daily News -- Chewy chicken feet may quash a China-America trade war. New York Times -- A man accused of starting a restaurant fire with a flicked cigarette has been ordered to quit smoking by a judge. Maui News -- Eating LA visits Cafe Flourish, a recently opened vegan restaurant in Miracle Mile. -- TGI Friday's closes 10 West Coast restaurants. Dallas Morning News -- José Antonio Ortega Bonet, founder of Sazón Goya Food Company, dies. Miami Herald -- Ghirardelli Chocolate launches iPhone app. Reuters
-- Elina Shatkin
Photo: Chicken feet stick up from behind a stall glass panel at a market in Shanghai. Credit: Qilai Shen / EPA
A "bacon-flavored" vending machine? Here's hoping that headline is accurate and not a beautiful error.
--The Meatball Food Marathon: Al Gelato vs. Larchmont Larder vs. Mozza 2 Go. --"The contestants on Iron Chef have it easy compared with Dan Coudreaut, director of culinary innovation at McDonald's." Business Week --Highfalutin Americans shun Hershey, flock to Cadbury. Wall Street Journal --Cruzin' Cooler is a drink cooler that you can ride. Consumerist --Heritage Link Brands promotes varietals by black winemakers. Los Angeles Times --"Audit slams bacon-flavored school vending machines." Albany Times Union --Soulful and healthy? Sinosoul visits Ella Mae's in Compton. --Jamie Oliver and Heston Blumenthal pay tribute to recently deceased British food show host Keith Floyd. BBC
-- Elina Shatkin
Photo: Spaghetti and meatballs at Little Dom's. Credit: Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times
