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July 31, 2007

Book Recommendation: Street Food, By Tom Kime

If we had to determine the best job on the planet, a position as a globe trekking street food taster would be at the top of our list. Tom Kime, the executive chef at the Fortina Spa Resort on the island of Malta, is lucky enough to have this as one of his many jobs. He travelled to over 15 countries in Asia, South and Central America, Northern Africa and the Middle East, to sample street food for his new book, "Street Food: Exploring the World's Most Authentic Tastes (June 2007). Once we got over our bout of career envy, we allowed the beautiful photos, first person accounts and easy-to-follow recipes to transport us back to some of our favorite places to eat street food on the planet.

Posted by Cakehead at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2007

Restaurant Week: Monday, July 23-Friday, July 27

It's back. For all you poor souls who want to eat where the important people dine, this week you can. Restaurant Week is here. At participating restaurants, order a three-course, prix fixe lunch for $24.07 or dinner for $35. Call and make your reservations now.

Posted by Cakehead at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2007

The health risks of human flesh consumption

With grilling season here, we know that our readers are in search for unusual meats to barbecue. If you were considering human flesh, you may want to reconsider.

Health guru Randall Fitzgerald, is the author of The Hundred-Year Lie (Plume), a book that reveals how to protect yourself from chemicals that could ruin your health, and says the human body is so contaminated with chemicals from modern life that we can't eat ourselves.

Fitzgerald says, "If cannibalism were legal in this country and our flesh was up for review by the FDA, we would all fail the inspection."

[from azcentral]

Posted by Cakehead at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2007

Hamburgers Your Vegetarian Friends Will Love

Since everybody knows that vegetarians love an arts and crafts project, why not knit them a cheeseburger to let them know know you have their best interests in mind. They'll love all the food-inspired knits that Kee Kee has created.

And check out all the crochet sweets that Buzz Feed is offering up for dessert.

Posted by Cakehead at 12:42 AM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2007

Made in China: Pulpy Cardboard Cakes

Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said... State TV's undercover investigation features the shirtless, shorts-clad maker of the buns, called baozi, explaining the contents of the product sold in Beijing's sprawling Chaoyang district....

"What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says.

"You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.

The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.

Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.

[from CNN]

Posted by Cakehead at 04:15 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2007

iPhone: Will It Blend?

Everybody is running out to buy the iPhone. But we're more impressed with this blender and its ability to crush the iPhone into a fine black powder. In the Will It Blend lab, everything from cans of Cheez Whiz to transformers are thrown in the Total Blender to find out if will blend. Just think of the magic it will work on those cool frozen drinks for summer. Resist the urge to unclump the frozen strawberries with your fingers. We're guessing this blender can do a number on knuckles and human bones.

Posted by Cakehead at 03:47 AM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2007

Decorating Tips for Food Lovers

Image from The Sneeze

In the Cakehead office, our decorations of choice are un-edible packaged food products. Shelves are lined with pretty little cans of Vienna Sausages and instead of fish bowls displaying fish, glass jars display packaged pigs lips. There are certain packaged foods that make better home decorations than edibles. However, Steve at The Sneeze has compiled a funny list of such packaged food that he does eat. Join Steve in saying "fuck you" to his tastebuds in his first installment titled,"Steve Don't Eat It."

He begins the taste test with "Potted Meat Food Product"

There aren't too many products that feel the need to reassure you that they are, in fact, "food." Already not a good sign.

The list of ingredients is long and horrifying, coming right out of the gate with "MECHANICALLY SEPARATED CHICKEN." Oddly enough, I'm about to be separated from my lunch, and I haven't even opened the can yet.

Other ingredients include BEEF TRIPE, BEEF HEARTS, AND "PARTIALLY DE-FATTED COOKED PORK FATTY TISSUE" How does one de-fat fat? Bizarre. God knows what else is in here.

Posted by Cakehead at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2007

Body of Christ attacked by a serial killer?

We always thought that eating the body of Christ had cannablistic leanings. But Thai art student, Kittiwat Unarrom, takes the body as bread metaphor one step further. He bakes bread into edible body parts.

Along with edible human heads crafted from dough, chocolate, raisins and cashews, Kittiwat makes human arms, feet, and chicken and pig parts. He uses anatomy books and his vivid memories of visiting a forensics museum to create the human parts.

If he were in the Bible Belt instead of Bangkok, he might be accused of being a serial Christ killer.

[from AP]

Posted by Cakehead at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2007

A Guide to NYC Street Food

We like to think of the street as our extended dining room. We love the adventure of exploring a new neighborhood or stumbling upon a corner stand which offers a quick, delicious, inexpensive meal. If you're lucky the vendors will tell you a story or two as you wolf down your falafel or shish kebob. And there's nothing better than an excuse to make a mess.

Usually without a name or exact address, part of the fun of street food dining is following a friend's directions to track down a very specific cart selling that smooth cool gelato. Of course, nameless dining joints can be as dangerous as they are delicious. We may not have written the book on street food, but we'll read any book or column are put before us on the matter. So, when we found that Tara Kyle of the Conde Nast Traveler blog, The Perrin Post, has compiled a list of deliciously cheap and tasty food around NYC, we had to refer our readers.

For those who just can't stay out of midtown, Kyle interviewed Sanjay Surana, Traveler's resident street food expert. His favorite stops are:

Muslim Trinidadians at the Southeast corner of 43rd Street and 6th Avenue for the area's best Halal Food. Sanjay loves the curried vegetables (potatoes, chick peas, cabbage) over yellow or white rice, and while he's a vegetarian, he reports that the chicken dishes also do a "brisk trade." At the Egyptian-run falafel stand at the Northeast corner of 40th and Broadway, in front of Citibank, for just $3, you'll get "coriander in the falafel balls, slightly smoky fried eggplant, and lip-smacking hot sauce." Although not technically street food as it operates out of a storefront, the 24-hour pizza shop on the Northwest Corner of 36th Street and 8th Avenue gives you the true eat and run experience: There are no tables and little floor space, so you'll have to join the bike messengers, fashion district delivery men, and office workers who down their $1 slices standing on the pavement out front. Sanjay raves about the tomato sauce's "perfect combination of sweetness and tartness."

And wIth July here, it's time to buy your tickets and send in nominations for the Best Street Food Vendy Awards. Sponsored by the Urban Justice Center, the Vendy Awards will take place in September and is "an Iron Chef-style cookoff & awards ceremony to honor the city's best street food vendors while also recognizing the contributions that all street vendors make to NYC's rich cultural (and culinary) life."

Kyle recommends using the 2006 Vendy Award nominees as street food guide tour to the outer borroughs of New York City. To download the guide, click here , then click on the 2006 Vendy Awards program.

Posted by Cakehead at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2007

Activities for a Mini Mid-Week Weekend

With the 4th awkwardly falling in the middle of the week, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by all the weekend-like activities. Our priorities are to keep the bellies of our readers full and to celebrate the great food-loving freedom we have in this country. Here are our recommendations for some activities to accomplish both these goals.

Tuesday (the new Friday), July 3rd
What: Texas Tavern Grand Opening
Time: 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: Whistlin' Dixie's Texas Tavern, 714 11th Ave. at 51st St.
Cost: Free (mention Dixie at the door)
Open Bar: Bud Draft, 6-10pm
With a bar flowing with free Bud from 6-10 pm and a free Tex-Mex Buffet from 6-7 pm, we can think of few places that are more 'merican.

What: FreeNYC Taco Tuesday Takeover!
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: Rewind, 137 Essex btw. Stanton and Rivington
Cost: Free
The FreeNYC staff will be pouring shots down your throat as we guest bartend one of our favorite weekly afterwork parties, Taco Tuesday. $4 Margaritas, $2 damn-good carne asada (or veggie) tacos and some find DJ music.

What: McCarren Park Pool Film - "Bring It On"
"Bring it On" at McCarren Pool
Time: 7:00pm
Location: McCarren Pool, Lorimer St., Williamsburg (btw Driggs and Bayard)
Cost: Free
For a mellow evening of movies and picnic, this is the place to go.

[via FreeNYC.net]

Wednesday, July 4th (Our Nation's Birthday)
What: Rooftop Films - "Political Shorts: Un-American Films"
Amusing Americana, explosive music, fantastic fireworks view and a two-hour open bar.
Location: On the East River at Solar One (@ 23rd St), just north of Stuyvesant Cove
Time:
5:00 - Doors Open
5:00 - 7:00 - Open bar with FREE Martin Miller’s Gin and Beaujolais chilled red wine.
6:00 PM - Live music by The New Dress
7:00 PM - Live Music by The Subjects
8:00PM - Live music by Vic Thrill and the Saturn Missile
9:00PM - The best fireworks view in the city
9:30PM - Films

What: July 4th party in Williamsburg at 3rd Ward:
Location: 3rd Ward, 195 Morgan Ave between Stagg and Meadow, East Williamsburg
Time: Sunset to Midnight
Cost: Free
Celebrate Independence on the massive roof of 3rd Ward. We have an amazing view of both fireworks shows. Drink cheap booze, eat good food and groove to the eclectic mix of dj Zemi17.
[Uncool Kids via FreeWilliamsburg.com]

Posted by Cakehead at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2007

Better than the Food Network: Public Access Cooking Show

The Merrill Howard Kalin Show is our new favorite cooking show. There is speculation that the host of this public access cooking show broadcast out of Palatine, Illinois is not actually mentally retarded. It almost doesn't matter if he is or not. Whether Merrill is slamming down lettuce heads for salad, piling chopped fruit on jiggling jello or preparing chicken, his approach and commentary guarantees to entertain.

This video is the holy grail brain bomb of public access television. So much so that you need to watch it all in complete silence, possibly more than once, to really pick up on every subtle and bizarre nuance. It could use a commentary track, really. Every dish he tries to make is a disaster, every prep technique he uses is either wrong or flat-out dangerous, and then, just when the ship really starts sinking, he starts in with the impersonations. You can rationalize laughing at this video by saying you're laughing WITH him, but remember: no matter how you justify it, if you laugh at this video you are going to hell.

[Cracked.com via Kevin K.]

Posted by Cakehead at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)