- I recently stopped at Famoso for a meal (lots of photos over at my review from 2009). The pizza was great as usual, but they’ve recently changed their gelato supplier from Edmonton’s Bueno Gelato to Calgary’s Fiasco Gelato. I tried two flavours – the blood orange sorbet and the banana chocolate gelato, and was disappointed. The sorbet was a little too icy and grainy, and didn’t have much blood orange flavour. The gelato, while creamy and smooth, had no banana taste whatsoever and I wasn’t crazy about the chocolate flavouring. This really surprised me; while I haven’t tried them in any of their Calgary locations, Fiasco ordinarily gets pretty good reviews from what I can tell.
- Superstore is now selling bread made with Red Fife. There’s a $1 coupon that you can get if you want to try it out (expires July 16). When you click on the link, just skip to page 4 of their baking booklet. There are also coupons for other breads and cinnamon buns on that same page.
- Liane Faulder at the Edmonton Journal has a blog post about a food writer’s tour of Alberta.
- Gary at travel blog Everything Everywhere has started up Project Pringles – his effort to document every flavour of Pringles from all over the world. If you have a picture of a Pringles flavour, you should send it his way. (And yes, he’s right. They are everywhere. I even found Pringles in Morocco, but unfortunately I didn’t take a photo of them.)
- World Cup fever – did you know that the Dutch wear orange because of purple carrots?
- And more on the World Cup – the “Oracle Octopus” could end up as dinner if German fans have any say.
- Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko is in hot water after spending a lot of money on breakfasts during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Maybe he’s a hobbit who needs breakfast, second breakfast and elevenses?
- Jeffrey Steingarten interviewed Gwyneth Paltrow for Vogue magazine – she’s coming out with a “cooking for families” cookbook later this year. The best line from the article has to be “Our conversation was not much different from what it would have been if Gwyneth were a longtime food friend, except that Gwyneth is nicer than most of my food friends.” You can see a bunch of photos of Gwyneth’s kitchen(s) and read an edited version of the article on the Vogue website.
- Fast Company did a feature on innovative U.S. cities, and a couple of cities caught my eye – New York’s urban farms and Portland’s farm-fresh food.
- And lastly, check out Beer and Butter Tarts, a Canadian food and drink blog aggregator. I recently added my blog to the list!
Liane Faulder
News and links
- McDonald’s closes in Iceland as currency collapse takes a bite out of Big Mac profits
- Anthony Bourdain is coming to Calgary! He’s giving a Kitchen Confidential lecture on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 at the Epcor Centre’s Jack Singer Concert Hall. I was lucky enough to get a one-day pre-sale code via e-mail the night before, and rashly decided to buy two tickets without having anyone confirmed to go with me. Hooray for driving to Calgary in January on a giant sheet of ice (a.k.a. the highway)! Luckily I have a good friend who will come with me. Tickets go on sale November 2 at 10 a.m., and will cost $35 to $100. http://tickets.epcorcentre.org or call 403-294-9494 for tickets. They’re also having a VIP post-show reception that will feature cheese from Janice Beaton Fine Cheese and wine from Willow Park Wines & Spirits, and I’m sure will cost an arm and a leg. (Hey if a bunch of Edmonton people go, maybe we should rent a bus? lol)
- Liane Faulder blogged about the Backstairs Secret Vegan Cafe, a new local underground restaurant, and Sharon at Only Here for the Food linked to a Vue Weekly article. Am trying to get a group of friends to go, but getting them to pick a date is like herding cats.
- People who live close to food are slightly less likely to be obese.
- I remember how horrified I was years ago to find out that grocery stores placed sugary foods lower to the ground to attract little kids (at their eye level). So this doesn’t surprise me – Marketing of unhealthy cereals to kids ‘staggering’: Yale study.
One last post for today, random links and thoughts
Hmm. I probably should have put that Fat Duck entry in with this one. Oh well.
Anthony Bourdain’s Guide to Food Television – very amusing
Did anyone watch Chopping Block? Marco was acting way too much like the Godfather. And it was kinda boring. The food wasn’t shown as much as I would have liked. I miss Top Chef.
Everyone has been linking to This Is Why You’re Fat. But did you know that they’re claiming free publishing rights on every photo that people have sent in? And that they’re shopping for a book deal? The photographer in me is cringing.
That two-jawed mutant fish from the oil sands? Not two-jawed and not mutated, as it turns out.
