Said a document release Friday by the European Food Safety Agency: “It is very unlikely that any difference exists in terms of food safety between food products originating from clones and their progeny compared with those derived from conventionally bred animals."
Posted by Deb Perelman, August 30, 2007 at 12:00 PM
The French hate McDonald's. The notion of "fast food" clashes with their belief that meals should be long and leisurely; that they should be cooked carefully, with prized ingredients. It couldn't be further from the notion of terroir. But mostly they hate it because it is as shamefully hip-packed and loud-talking as those god-awful Americans, and Americans don't know how to eat.
Have you heard this before? Did you believe it? Well, then you might want to sit down for this one: In the first half of this year, combined sales at the chain's 6,400 European restaurants rose 15 percent, to $4.1 billion, compared with a 6 percent increase in the United States, where McDonald's has 13,800 restaurants and where sales totaled $3.9 billion. Every 12 months, one out of two French people visit McDonald's at least once. Annually, they consume 22 million McDonald's salads, 60,000 tons of french fries, 32,000 tons of beef patties, 12,000 tons of chicken, and 600 million buns. Oh, and these numbers are a little outdated.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, August 6, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Don't blame us, say U.S. ethanol makers, in response to the high price of food. [Washington Post]
Meanwhile, European food prices surge, too. [Reuters]
A new foot-and-mouth scare in England. [The Telegraph]
French couple raises the country's only certified-organic snails. Vive le free-range escargot! [The Telegraph]
In Japan, fast-food chains jump on the trans-fat–banning bandwagon. [Asahi Shimbun]
And China and the U.S. reach a food-safety agreement while Chinese officials plan to use GPS to track and safeguard Olympic food shipments. [Voice of America; AP]
Back to the U.S., and there are more recalls on canned food. This time it's green beans. [Detroit Free Press]
File under "obvious": For pre-schoolers, flashy packaging more important than flavor. [Fox News]
Your RDA of Levity: A mountaintop hot dog cart celebrates its 25th year in business at the junction of California highways 9 and 35: "[John] Hagen [pictured] works seven days a week and said his constancy has earned him the endearing nickname of 'mustard' from family, friends and customers."
Posted by Robyn Lee, March 15, 2007 at 2:20 PM
By Robyn Lee | After a failed early afternoon trip to Gelati d’Alberto which didn't open until 3 PM, my friend Jessie and I went to Damman's Glacier for dessert after scarfing down some sadly sub-par gyros at Saint Michel. Although my soul usually writhes in horror at the idea of not getting a creamy, dairy-based flavor, my body screamed for something with fruit or at least a slight presence of beneficial nutritional value. Of course, strawberry basil sorbet isn't exactly recommended by doctors; it just seemed less doom-full than Jessie's orange chocolate ice cream. A hint of basil mixed with strawberry made for a refreshing dessert, but it would've been better if the "small" wasn't the size of a baby's fist.
Then again, if the portion hadn't been so small then sampling the goods at Delizefollie would've been more difficult for my bloated stomach. We tried a generously filled small cup of pistachio, which I use as the standard "IS THIS PLACE AWESOME?" flavor to judge a place on, and caramel, which the gelateria named "MOO". I could smell the roasted nutty flavor of the muted yellow-green pistachio before it even hit my mouth—it definitely passed the "awesome" test. The caramel flavor was subtle, but enhanced by small chunks of creamy caramel. I also sampled the mint which, as the odd sea-green color forewarned me, wasn't made with real mint. (I think a good rule to follow is "skip colors that are not naturally occurring".) I'd still pick Pozzetto over Deliziefoliie, but Deliziefollie is better if you want more flavor choices, larger portions, a view of the magically fluffy mountains of gelato, and a place to sit right outside the shop.
Damman's Glacier
1 rue des Grands Degrés, 5ème
Deliziefollie
7 rue Montorgueil, 1ème
Robyn Lee is interning at Serious Eats for the semester. Like what you've read here? See more at The Girl Who Ate Everything.
Posted by Ed Levine, March 9, 2007 at 3:08 PM
After three days in Barcelona, my family thinks I am going to turn into a ham. Not just any ham, but a jamón de bellota, made from the famous acorn-fed black-footed (pata negra) Spanish pigs.
In three days here, I have bought five different kinds of ham and ordered it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in some form. Every morning, I go to the Boqueria and inspect the wares of the many ham vendors found at this wondrous market, which is every bit as great as advertised. I ask everyone I meet there where they buy their ham. Not many people speak English, and my Spanish and Catalan are nonexistent, so I don't really glean very much useful information from my queries.
So I'm forced to try the ham at every one that looks serious, which turns out to be every ham vendor at the market. There are at least 15 ham vendors at the Boqueria. That is why my family thinks I am going to turn into a jamón de bellota by the time I leave here. Of course if I do turn into one of these hams, I will not be allowed back into the U.S. But I might not care.
Photograph by Bigeoino
