Contains the usual ingredients that makes food expensive (wagu beef, truffles, etc) and it's upset hunger charities. Personally I think it's fine if somebody wants to spend a ton on a burger. Not buying one will won't help charities and besides, Burger King are donating profits from the burgers charity.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sea Urchin Bukkake
Spotted at a fancy Manhattan restaurant. If you don't know what it means I ain't telling you. [via]
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Casu Marzu (Maggot Cheese)
Image via Wikipedia
Casu marzu, which means "rotten cheese", is found in Sardinia, Italy, and is notable for containing live insect larvae.
Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down of the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called lagrima, from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as translucent white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long. When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches). Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.
The cheese comes with dangers including intestinal larval infestation
Piophila casei larvae can pass through the stomach alive (human stomach acids do not usually kill them) and take up residency for some period of time in the intestines, where they can cause serious lesions as they attempt to bore through the intestinal walls. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea.
Because of these dangers, thcheese was illegal until 2005. The only reason it was legalised is that the cheese is now made with raised, not wild, flies.
Would you be brave enough to try some?
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Negro Biscuits
Spotted by a friend on holiday in Turkey, I doubt we'll be seeing these on British supermarket shelves anytime soon. (Manufacturer's website)
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
World's Largest Champagne Glass
Weighing in at 203cm tall and with a diameter of 46cm, this glass has been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest champagne glass.
It took 11 magnums of champagne, or 16.5 litres of glass to fill the huge glass.
Dolce Vita has a 10 minute long video showing the glass being filled.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Sushi Art
Works of art made from Sushi. [via]
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Burger King Launches A Burger For Six To Share
Burger King is to take on the pizza market by launching a '6 Pack' of burgers that are joined together allowing customers to tear them off one by one.
The 6 Pack, which costs £4.49 on its own or £5.69 as part of a meal, comprises one big Aberdeen Angus patty inside six rolls, stuck together to allow consumers to tear off portions. In one pair of rolls the burger is topped with ketchup, the second has a cheese topping, and the third bacon and cheese.
I gotta try me one of those. [via]
Monday, May 19, 2008
Gummy Bear Anatomy
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Portion Size, Then and Now
DivineCaroline.com has an article comparing portion sizes in the US twenty years ago and today.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
Video: Mentos and Diet Coke Explosion at 1200fps
Gizmodo has posted a video showing four different Diet Coke and Mentos explosions filmed at 1200fps. They were filmed using the Casio's EX-F1 camera. At 1200fps, the camera outputs at a strange 336x96 frame size but it's still a very cool feature.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
A Visit to Beijing's Exclusive Penis Restaurant
Spiegel has posted an article (along with photos) of a visit to the Guolizhuang Restaurant in Beijing where the menu consists almost entirely of penis and testicle dishes -- made from the private parts of deer, snakes, yaks, horses, seals and ducks, among others.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Bacon Bra
The Bacon Bra - tasty and functional! [via]
Monday, March 31, 2008
Alaskan Fisherman Earn $500,000 In An Hour
It's common knowledge that fisherman can earn a fortune but giant haul made by a group of Alaskan fishing boats last week surprised fishermen, regulators and seafood processors alike.
In just one afternoon, 8 to 10 boats hauled 10,000 tons of sac roe herring and at $550 a ton it works out at around $5.5 million dollars. That's $500,000 per boat! Link
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Hot Cross Meatloaf
And shrouded in bacon. Mmmmm.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The 20 Worst Foods in America
These Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing weigh in at a heart-attack inducing 2,900 calories, have 182 grams of fat and no doubt taste pretty damn good. It's the worst food out of this list and this very similar one.
Anti-Fois Gras Adverts
Another one here.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Comparing Foods With Their Package Photos
A German website has taken photos of over 100 German food products and compared them with the photos found on their packaging. [via]
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The World's Most Expensive Foods
A selection of the world's most expensive foods including potatoes that cost €500/kg, tea that costs $3,000/kg and a beer that costs £500/bottle. [via]
Monday, March 17, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
Hotel Chocolat Easter Egg Review
Easter has come early at AWV. The lovely people at Hotel Chocolat have sent me a luxurious extra thick Easter Egg. This time they let me choose from the entire range. Being a Libran trying to decide which of the equally good eggs I should pick was no easy task. I decided to go with the Rocky Road to Caramellow which according to Hotel Chocolat is "a cookie-textured and caramel and milk chocolate extra thick egg filled with hand-made chocolates which follow the themes of crispy texture and gorgeous caramel flavour notes."
As with all of Hotel Chocolat's products, the egg was beautifully packaged and came with a well-produced guide to the hand-made chocolates. On surprise I had when opening the egg was the fact that the two shells were different. One half was cookie textured whilst the other was coated in a thick layer of caramel.
I don't think I've ever had an Easter egg that contained 'extra bits' like cookies and puffed rice. It added some texture to the egg and made it more enjoyable than the standard thin Easter eggs you buy from a supermarket.
Like other Hotel Chocolat products I've tasted, the chocolate is extremely rich which for me means that not only does it taste far superior to other chocolate, it will last me a long time. I've had the egg for a few days, have shared it with a few people and there's still half left.
For some, the price of the egg will be off-putting (it costs £19 or around $38) but you get so much more than just chocolate. There's a whole different experience surrounding Hotel Chocolat's products. You admire the packaging, read the tasting guides, take time to taste all of the chocolates and share them with friends and family. To me, you are paying for both delicious chocolate and an experience you don't get with other chocolates. However, if you are not after an experience you can go for the cheaper Engraved Easter Eggs.
Don't forget, you can win an Extra Thick Easter Egg in the competition that I am running. The competition is open until March 18th.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Chefs Create 13-Tonne Biryani
Sixty Indian chefs have created giant biryani at a stadium in New Dehli. It weighs in at 13-tonne (28,600 pounds) and they hope that it will be entered the Guinness Book of World Records.
Three cranes dumped 3,000 kilos of Basmati rice, 85 kilos of chilli peppers, 1,200 litres of oil and 3,650 kilos of vegetables into a giant vat at a New Delhi sports stadium in the presence of a Guinness observer.
The steel vat was mounted on a three-foot high furnace while the chefs clad in fire-resistant outfits perched on a platform to stir the biryani -- one of South Asia's most popular dishes -- with oar-like ladles.
The cooks threw "a pinch of salt" weighing 86 kilos into the 16-foot (4.87-metre) deep steel vat, organiser Gurnam Arora said.
The sponsors used a hose to pour 6,000 litres of water into the vat and sprinkled 10 kilos of exotic spices and aromatic condiments to prepare the tangy biryani, Arora said.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Review: Hotel Chocolat Mother's Day Chocolates
Twice a year, Hotel Chocolat challenges it's chocolatiers to create a new collection of chocolates to reflect the feel of that part of year - in tune, well balanced and fresh.
They certainly have excelled themselves this year. The Season 2008 contains "36 gorgeous hand-finished chocolates with a balanced selection of fresh, seasonal flavours, including mint & strawberry, white rum, fruit & nut, red currant, melon martini, salted caramel & more…"
I received a box on Friday and whilst I haven't had a chance to sample all of the chocolates yet, I've had a good try (along with the help of a few others).
Almost every chocolate in the box is unique, something you wouldn't find in a box of Thorntons or Cadbury's.
There's the White Night - "a deep ganache softened with a generous splash of West Indian Rum". Notice the emphasis on generous. A few of these could easily make you feel tipsy.
The Raspberry Refresher is an "uplifting natural raspberry and cream ganache with a hint of mint". The addition of what tasted like natural mint is something I've never experienced in a chocolate but complimented the raspberry.
No box of Hotel Chocolat chocolates would be complete without some truffles and this Edition comes with some bite-sized Kir Royal Mini Truffles that contain a mix of blackcurrant punch and champagne.
I could go on but all this chocolate talk is making me want to open the box again.
If you are curious to know just what's inside, here's an image of the very well produced and much larger than normal tasting guide that outlines all of the chocolates in the Edition.
Whilst slightly more expensive than chocolate you can buy from a supermarket or Thornton's, The Season 2008, or any of the other boxes of chocolates that Hotel Chocolat offer make a great Mother's Day gift. And if you enter the Easter egg contest that's currently running you can get a free shipping voucher.
Win A Hotel Chocolate Easter Egg
A Welsh View has teamed up with Hotel Chocolat to offer you a chance to win some of Hotel Chocolat’s extra special, extra thick Easter Eggs. To enter the contest you must hunt around the Hotel Chocolat website to get a code.
You can find more information about the contest here.
Note: Every successful entry in the Easter Egg Hunt will qualify for a free shipping voucher.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Win A Year's Supply Of Kinder Bueno
The lovely people at Kinder have donated a prize of a year's supply of Kinder Buenos (a box of 52). The contest runs until the end of February and it will be drawn on March 1st. Unfortunately the prize is only open to people in the UK. It's simple to enter and you can find out how to enter the contest here.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Funeral Dinner On A Subway
A band of young Ukrainian students found an unusual way to commemorate the death of one of their countries most brilliant surgeons, a doctor Pirogov, who apparently, revolutionized national medicine. They organized a funeral commemorative dinner in one of Kiev’s subway trains inviting everyone to commemorate the carrier and accomplishments of their hero.
In true Russian style, the vodka was flowing.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Wall Of Bananas
On display @ Deitch in NYC until February 23rd, this wall of 7,200 bananas was constructed by Stefan Sagmeister. Unsurprisingly, the room stinks of bananas. Link (more photos) [via]
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Restaurant Customer Returns £18,000 Bottle Of Wine After Claiming It Was Fake
A customer dining at the swanky Michelin-starred Zafferano in Knightsbridge, London sent back an £18,000 bottle of Petrus 1961 - regarded as one of the finest wines ever made - after he claimed it was a fake.
Upon opening the wine the customer refused to touch it because the cork was not stamped with the standard mark of provenance proving where and when it was made.
Zafferano's general manager Enzo Cassini admitted it was an awkward and unprecedented situation.
"The bottle was perfect, there was nothing to think it wasn't genuine. I tasted the wine and it was off anyway. It was a big disappointment for the customer because he had brought over a friend from Italy.
[The] restaurant was so alarmed by the possibility that it was the victim of a fraud that it called in the 'Pétrus police' from Corney & Barrow, an upmarket City wine bar chain who also act as agents for Pétrus n Britain.
The company has accumulated photographic records of every surviving bottle still stored at the 28-acre vineyard to counter the growing phenomenon of wine fraud.
The allegation was regarded as so serious that Corney & Barrow despatched its managing director Adam Brett-Smith to investigate.
Although there was no evidence the bottle was a fake, Mr Brett-Smith was unable to provide a definitive answer.
The company said: "What we told the restaurant and later confirmed in writing is that it is impossible to confirm 100 per cent the authenticity of a wine pre-1964."
The customer, still intent on spending a small fortune on a bottle of plonk ordered a magnum of Mouton Rothschild 1945 at £20,000. Link
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Scientists Create 'No Tears' Onions
Scientists in New Zealand and Japan have created a "tear-free" onion but as with most progresses in science, we won't see them for another decade.
The research institute in New Zealand, Crop and Food, used gene-silencing technology to make the breakthrough which it hopes could lead to a prototype onion hitting the market in a decade's time.
Colin Eady, the institute's senior scientist, said the project started in 2002 after Japanese scientists located the gene responsible for producing the agent behind the tears.
"We previously thought the tearing agent was produced spontaneously by cutting onions, but they proved it was controlled by an enzyme," he told AFP from his home outside Christchurch.
"Here in New Zealand we had the ability to insert DNA into onions, using gene-silencing technology developed by Australian scientists.
"The technology creates a sequence that switches off the tear-inducing gene in the onion so it doesn't produce the enzyme. So when you slice the vegetable, it doesn't produce tears."
Vitamin Beer
Billy L Lalang, an inventor from the Philippines, has created a beer that is fortified with vitamin B - the type most commonly lost through heavily drinking. His 'prophylactic for drinkers' is currently in the concept phase, but it has already won a gold medal at the Genius Europe competition. [via]
Monday, February 04, 2008
Bacon Vodka
Instructions on how to make bacon vodka. Is there anything bacon can't do?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Hotel Chocolat Secrets & Desires Review
The nice people at Hotel Chocolat have been kind enough to send me a box of 'Secret & Desire' chocolate to sample. Here's what I thought of them (well think of them - the box is huge and it'll take me a while to get through all the chocolate).
The Secrets & Desires box of chocolates is impressively packaged with the 'different levels' of chocolate individually wrapped in paper and the champagne truffles (alcoholic chocolates are always good) and satin blindfold (didn't get to use) individually boxed. There is also an expensive looking glossy guide to the different chocolates.
The levels of chocolate are beginner (white and fruity), Curious (smooth & milky), Daring (spicy & spirited) and Hardcore (dark & dangerous). Each level contained two different slabs of chocolate.
White chocolate is my favourite so choosing where to start was easy and kept things in order. The chocolate contains swirls of strawberry which actually tastes fruity. The way the chocolate is made means that you can either have pure white chocolate, pure strawberry chocolate or a mix.
Next up was the milk chocolate made with 38% and 48% South American cocoa. According to the guide the chocolate is full of red fruit flavours and a refined smoky finish. My chocolate tasting skills haven't been perfected yet so I couldn't pick up either of these tastes but the chocolate still tasted great.
I was a little bit cautious of tasting the next level of chocolate. The first was a single origin chocolate that had a tasted of red berry fruits and the second was a chilli recipe. I had seen Lindt chilli chocolate before and had avoided it but decided to try this one. I was pleasantly surprised by its taste. The chilli taste was very subtle and helped it give it a more robust and long lasting taste. You don't taste it at first but after several seconds you begin to taste the chilli and it lingers long after swallowing the chocolate. If you haven't already tried chilli chocolate I recommend giving it a shot.
The final level, hardcore, contains dark chocolate made from 75% Tanzanian cocoa and 85% Ghanaian cocoa. I'm not a huge fan of very dark chocolate and I think these are about my limit. I have tried 99% dark chocolate from Lindt which tasted disgusting but these weren't that bitter. If you love dark chocolates you'll like these.
Secrets & Desires is available now and there are also plenty more Valentine's gifts available to suit all budgets.
Someone Tastes The Cheeseburger In A Can
Someone tastes the cheeseburger in a can that I recently posted about. [via]
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Cheeseburger In A Can
You just know that this is going to taste like crap. [via]
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Nutritional Values Of Coffees And Snacks At Coffee Chains
Which? has compiled a report highlighting the nutritional value of coffees and snacks at Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee.
I rarely drink coffee but on the rare occasion that I visit Starbuck I either have an espresso or a large white chocolate mocha. Not anymore. Well, I'll have the espresso but not the large white chocolate mocha. If you have one with whole milk and whip it weighs in at 628 calories - more than a quarter of your daily recommended calorie intake.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Chewing Gum Art
Works of art constructed entirely from chewing gum.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Clever Beer Adverts
A selection of clever beer adverts (pictures and videos).
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Meat House
How to make a meat house complete with delicious bacon roof. [via]
Monday, January 14, 2008
Food Art
This landscape photo is amazingly made almost entirely from food. It was created by artist Carl Warner, 44, who combines several images to create the amazing scenes, including a broccoli forest, bread mountains, cheese village and smoked salmon sea. The dad-of-four plans to turn the photos into a book to encourage kids to eat more healthily. Link (w/ more images)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Walmart Cake
Taken from this LiveJournal blog...
Walmart Employee: "Hello 'dis Walmarts, how can I help you?"
Customer: " I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week."
Walmart Employee: "What you want on the cake?"
Customer: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that "We will miss you".
Walmart Employee: "Dat all? Okay, Bye."
[via]
