Entries tagged with 'UK'
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Unlike other sake masters, Philip Harper has curly auburn hair, a degree from Oxford, and speaks Japanese as a second language. He is the only foreigner to earn the Japanese title of toji, or master brewer....
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The Daily Mail The Daily Mail: "One Mars worker said: 'The driver got on top to open the hatches on the roof. When the driver looked down he saw lots of men in brown-coloured clothes—all saturated with the powder.'" The truck was heading to the Mars Bar factory in Slough, England, where its cargo would have gone into Mars Bars, Twix, Snickers, and M&Ms. It's a fantastical and bewildering story, but it could have had a deadly ending. The cocoa powder in the truck is very fine, and the stowaways ran the risk of suffocating in the chocolate-rich air. [via @alisoncook]...
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Or, 'God Save the Cream' Former Sex Pistol John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), once famous for singing "God Save the Queen," is now credited with saving a brand of British butter. Dairy Crest has hailed an 85 per cent rise in its spreadables business on a leap in its butter sales thanks to John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, the lead singer of the Sex Pistols.The company said that the jump in sales volumes of its spreadables in the third quarter to December 31, 2008 was helped by its £5 million advertising campaign featuring Mr Lydon's promotion of its Country Life butter. Video, after the jump....
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Starbucks calorie counts in New York. Photograph from bitchcakesny on Flickr Since the obesity issue in the UK is now considered a "mounting crisis," the government is stepping in and pushing major food chains to display calorie counts. Pizza Hut, with about 700 outlets in the UK, was first to publicly step up and offer the nutritional info. The goal is for every takeaway outlet, and maybe even some Michelin-starred restaurants, to share the levels of fat, sugar, and salt. In New York, food chains with more than 15 outlets across the United States must display calorie listings, and California passed similar legislation. While it's a little disconcerting to know your gussied-up coffee has 450 calories, it's probably better...
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BBC News Charges have been dropped against Brian Clapton, an East London butcher whose early morning singing and meat-chopping prompted complaints from the tenant in the apartment above Clapton's shop. As Clapton tells BBC News: "I'll continue to sing and carry out my business. I can get by in the credit crunch." In response to the news, BBC Radio 6 Music will be playing a block of meat- and butcher-related songs at 6 p.m. London time, which is about an hour from now. So far, listeners have suggested "Start Chopping" by Dinosaur Jr., "Meathook," by the Cure, and "Sing for Your Meat" by Guided by Voices....
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The Guardian Over at the Guardian's Word of Mouth blog, Matthew Fort rallies the proletariat with an ode to Jamie Oliver. "In most other civilised counties, everyone feels as if they own their food culture. Only in Britain has it been a weapon in class warfare.” Of the alleged schism created when the well-heeled write about food, Fort states, "Ever since the sainted Elizabeth David put pen to paper, and even before, food was used as a form of social exclusion rather than something that should be accessible to everybody." But Oliver is an agent of change. Fort champions Oliver as a hero of the masses, saying, "He didn’t go to university and he doesn’t treat food as the...
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Photograph from matsuyuki on Flickr "Please, sir, can I have some more?" You know the line even if you haven't read Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist. But did you ever wonder if a bowl of gruel was worth asking for seconds, as the title character did? Well, members of The Royal Society of Chemistry in London followed their curiosity, and, based on an array of Victorian-era recipes, replicated what they supposed gruel would taste like. The BBC asked some brave samplers what they thought of the concoction. But the slushy gruel, containing oats, water, milk and onion, got a mixed response from tasters."It's extremely bland," said Jennifer Gilson, a retired scientist. "There's no flavour at all without the onion."But...
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Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food Picnic Insulated Lunch Bag You know the first thing I order when I arrive in the UK, but what is the last thing I eat before I leave? Even though I love plane food, I think if it were British Airways's fish pie, I would be too depressed for words. Plane Food, the Restaurant in Terminal 5 at Heathrow Instead, since the culinarily inspired Terminal 5 opened at Heathrow this year, my last bite out of Britain is Gordan Ramsay's Plane Food. If you have time to kill, by all means, take a seat and order à la carte. The restaurant serves such refined fare as Foie Gras and Chicken Liver Parfait with Sauternes Jelly...
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There is a strict rule in the Oxford University library prohibiting visitors or guests, but I did manage to sneak in one friend to keep me company on those long, dark, and grueling dissertation nights: Percy. He was a little porky, with round pink cheeks, and an indelibly sunny personality to counteract the gray drizzle outside the library's windows and the absolute recurrent boredom of literary research. The fact that he was a gummy fruit-flavored candy did not in any way diminish my love for him. Percy Pigs are the Marks and Spencer cult answer to the Haribo gummy bear: adorable, yummy, and positively addictive. Just look at that face! It was love at first sight; until I bit...
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I'll be the first to admit, British food isn't something I miss on a large-scale basis. Bloody black pudding, goopy bubble and squeak—not for me. I'd rather have a big slice of New York pizza. But, there are some English foods that I pine for, and the "Fish Finger" (that's fish sticks to we Americans) Happy Meal at McDonald's is one of the few. I'm always entranced by McDonald's foreign options. I've had Insalate Caprese in Rome and Dulce de Leche soft serve in Buenos Aires, but while in grad school in the U.K., the 2-quid, 500-calorie (including fries and a diet soda) Fish Finger Happy Meal became my library lunch of choice. Somehow, it just feels more wholesome to...
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