Category: food

Naples – first impressions

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

I’m reminded of all the reasons why I can’t live in Europe.

Yet I’ve always had a soft spot for Italy.

The loud, enthusiastic, gesticulating people. The gorgeous landscapes. The food, vino and gelato.

… I could almost live in Italy.

The only other time I’ve been close to Naples, I was 18yrs-old. We drove past en route to the Isle of Capri. It took hours as traffic was terrible … in 1976.

Traffic is worse now.

Naples is one of the oldest cities in the world, and looks it.

It’s one of the richest cities in the world (richer than Zurich, for example) yet you could film a movie set in a 3rd world hellhole, if you wished, here.

Graffiti? … Must be an Italian word. … Invented in Pompeii. That’s my guess.

Jetlagged, I checked in at the friendly Hostel of the Sun. My host, Luca, insisted I visit the hot spot in old town, for my first meal.

pizza - Sorbillo’s, Naples
Sorbillo’s, Naples

Gorgonzola, ham, mushroom. Fantastic. And inexpensive.

That’s a tasty first impression.

HELP – I’m a coffee ADDICT

On By Rick McIn food, product endorsements1 Comment

An undisguised cry for help.

Daily Honesty Box:

… I love Starbucks. I know it’s probably a terrible waste of money, but I love their coffee. But it’s more than their coffee. It’s the whole “Starbucks Experience” that I love – the atmosphere, the comfortable chairs, the lighting, the music they play, and the smiling, friendly people who greet you and make you feel like you matter by catering to your personal tastes. …

Taking Comfort in Rituals

Actually, I’m not all that much in love with Starbucks burnt coffee.

But as a provider of free wireless internet, Starbucks is beloved to me.

If they sold cocaine instead of caffeine, I’d still likely be taking comfort there.

Snake Oil in the Supermarket

On By Rick McIn economics, food, health & fitness, product complaints1 Comment

Scientific American on Greenwashing:

Food-makers should have to prove the validity of their health claims …

In March the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to 17 food and beverage manufacturers concerning false or misleading health and nutrition claims on their products. It was an unusually expansive crackdown for the agency, whose regulatory power over food companies has declined over the past decades, thanks to Congress and the courts, which have tended to come down on the side of the food companies. …

In 2006 Europe began holding food makers to rigorous scientific standards. Since then, the European Food Safety Authority has rejected, on the basis of insufficient evidence, a whopping 80 percent of the more than 900 claims they have assessed thus far. …

Differences between the lenient U.S. system and the more restrictive European system are easily apparent. For instance, visitors to the Web site for Activia (www.activia.com)—a yogurt product from Dannon—will have a very different experience depending on which country they indicate they are from. The U.S. version prominently displays the product’s putative health benefits, asserting that it can “help regulate your digestive system by helping reduce long intestinal transit time.” …

Snake Oil in the Supermarket

I assume over 80% of green packaging and health claims are tainted.

USA – How Far Can You Get From McDonald’s?

On By Rick McIn foodLeave a comment

Formerly:

… Between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley lies the McFarthest Spot: 107 miles distant from the nearest McDonald’s, as the crow flies, and 145 miles by car! …

Currently:

Thanks to one Rotten Ronnie’s going belly-up in California …

… in the high desert of northwestern Nevada, you’ll find antelope, wild horses, and the Lower-48′s new-and-improved McFarthest Spot …

backlash – I won’t buy a $4 peach

On By Rick McIn food, product complaints1 Comment

At the grocery yesterday I could buy grapes for $99/lb … or $2.99/lb.

They look and taste identical to me.

Is it true that the cheaper grapes are plucked by slaves. … And that they cause Global Warming?

… I’m a skeptic.

Recall the TerraChoice study in 2007 that found that all but one of 1,018 products that made environmental claims, were misleading. Call it Greenwashing.

For a movement that’s always been touchy about being labeled elitist, the food movement has been surprisingly outspoken lately about the virtues of expensive food. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Michael Pollan sang the praises of sustainable eggs that cost eight dollars a dozen and delectable peaches that go for $3.90 each.

Such prices would seem less shocking, he assured readers, if conscientious consumers were willing to “pay more, eat less.” Likewise, when asked to explain how average (i.e., not famous and rich) consumers could actually be expected to spend more on food in the midst of a recession, Alice Waters was as clear as she was unabashed: “Make a sacrifice on the cell phone or the third pair of Nike shoes.” So there.

Needless to say, the backlash—as Pollan and Waters must have known it would be—was swift. Anthony Bourdain, who dedicates a full chapter of his latest book, Medium Raw, to attacking Waters’s airy idealism, scoffs at the idea that people should be willing to spend more on food: …

Atlantic – Should We Really Pay $4 for a Peach?

… This sinister looking guy says you should.

Michael Pollan

Thanks Kate.

Rockin’ on Vodka

On By Rick McIn food, humourLeave a comment

The wisdom of Ron Shewchuk:

… So you’ve decided to switch from beer to vodka. Congrats on making the healthy choice. I have existed on not much more than pork fat and vitamin V for the last 10 years or so, and it has reversed the aging process for me. Thanks to Brother Smirnoff I am now 34 years old.

But seriously, good vodka is much better for one’s health than most alcoholic beverages because it is free of impurities. Unless one considers ethyl alcohol an impurity.

As for which brand of vodka I would recommend, it depends how you intend to drink it. If you are going to be mixing it with anything, then your best bets are brands like …

read on

free WiFi at Starbucks starting July 1st

On By Rick McIn food, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’ve spent much quality time at Starbucks over the past year. I log in using my $10/month Boingo account.

No more.

… the free-for-all begins today. As of this very moment, the next US / Canadian corporately-ran Starbucks that you enter should be offering free one two-click WiFi, meaning that no password is required and no time limits will be set.

Of course, this also means that you’ll never see an open chair in any Starbucks ever again, but hey — that’s why sidewalks were created, right? …

Starbucks begins offering free two-click WiFi access in US and Canada

GigaOm offers up some tips on using Starbucks as your “office”.