KFC's Double Down arrives in Canada on Monday, Oct. 18, "for a limited time only." It's two pieces of battered chicken with bacon and cheese in between, plus sauce. The "nutrition experts" are badmouthing the Double Down without even setting eyes - let alone tastebuds - on it.
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The McRib is not a regular part of the McDonald's menu, and that has given it a mystique. It pops up here and there, and then disappears again, sort of like those green milkshakes. The elusiveness has spawned a group of McRib fans for whom the hunt seems to be more important than the taste of formed pork slathered in BBQ sauce (which I'm sure is fairly tasty). Details in this Wall Street Journal story, and even more details at the McRib Locator site, where McRib fans report McRib sightings.
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At the National Post, Bonnie Stern says René Redzepi "has penned the year’s most inspiring cookbook"
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This taking pictures of your meal thing is getting out of hand. Over at the iTunes App Store, you'll find Foodspotting. You take photos of food, you upload. You search to see what other people have uploaded in your neighbourhood. A sprinkling of Victorians have contributed.
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From theage.com in Australia: Simon Majumdar writes about a journey around Britain, and his effort to come up with the best British menu. He found many delights, but was also saddened by what appears to be the demise of some traditional foods. Among the highlights: Lancashire hotpot, jellied eels, Ulster fry and, of course, fish and chips.
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From the My Food Looks Funny site: The caption is - Relaxing after a long day sweating in an oven. You've gotta see the photo to understand.
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We've been buying Chinese food from the well-stocked deli at the Fairway grocery store on Quadra, near Bay. The soya sauce chicken ($5 for a half chicken) has been the highlight - moist, flavourful, not too salty. They also have BBQ pork, pot stickers, and sticky rice (the delicious concoction wrapped in leaves). It's mostly been a good experience, but a little uneven. The sticky rice was undercooked once (I rescued it by lathering on curry sauce and microwaving for three minutes) and a recent piece of BBQ pork was really unpleasant because it was mostly sinew and fat. I threw it out. Most of the time, though, it's been good, and we're going back for more because the product is decent and the parking is easier than in Chinatown.
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I rolled by the Atrium building (Blanshard and Yates) on my bike Sunday afternoon and the place was crawling with people. Couldn't spot an open place on the nearby bike racks. The building hosts Pig (BBQ), Zambri's (Italian), Habit (coffee), and AJ's Organic Cafe (sandwiches and salads). It's only been open since late September, and it's already become a major gathering place for Victorians. The September-October issue of Eat Magazine has a feature on how things came together for the eateries, which are all locally owned. An aside: the crowd on Sunday looked a little trendy - well-dressed, well-coiffed, good at just-so slouching. I hope dishevelled people like me will still be welcome.
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From washingtonpost.com: A Canadian line of Campbell's soups has activists stewing over Islamic connection. Campbell's Canadian arm is selling soup certified as halal - conforming to Islamic dietary laws. Some people in the U.S. are calling for a Campbell's boycott because they don't like the Islamic connection, and are very unhappy about the Islamic group that provided the certification.
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