Category: Food & Drink

Fiddling With Beloved Institutions

Food & Drink

Aaaargh here we go again:  yet another of the world’s greatest institutions is under attack:

British meme account No Context Brits set off a rather fiery debate on Twitter where they proposed a rather controversial question.  Along with a snap of a plated full English, they asked: “You have to lose one item. What is it?”

All the trimmings were up for the cut, including mushrooms and black pudding.  Although what first seemed like a impossible decision, many opted to rid of the tomato sauce-covered beans.

This is what happens when people have too much spare time:  they change things that need no changing.

That said, I could lose the black pudding (top right) because I seldom eat it unless I’m starving and all the other items on the plate have been devoured.  (Frankly, though, if all the items as pictured have been eaten, there’s no need to go any further, Kim you gluttonous fat pig.)

Next thing they’ll be wanting to put an automatic gearbox in an AC Cobra.  (You saw it here first.)

Now It’s Getting Serious

Bad News, Food & Drink

Via Insty, news of a looming beer shortage:

Beer drinkers across the US are staring glumly into their pints, knowing the costs are likely to rise due to a nationwide shortage of carbon dioxide – thanks in part to issues at a Mississippi volcano.

The extinct volcano, the Jackson Dome, has since 1977 provided carbon dioxide to the food industry, among others.

Yet in recent months the supply has become contaminated due to raw gas from a mine seeping in, meaning it cannot be used in food.

You know what this means, right?

Or we’ll just have to get used to less-fizzy beer, e.g.:

 

And I, for one, think this would be a Good Thing.

Just… Wrong

Food & Drink

While wandering down an Intarwebz alley, I saw this and nearly choked on my gin:

I’m sorry, and you can call me a reactionary old fart (it has been said before), but red wine with fish and chips?  Out of a bottle with an actual label?

What the hell:  why not try that same booze with corndogs or BBQ?  Next thing, it’ll be Diet Coke with caviar, or Scotch with tacos.  Yerrrrgh.

BEER, DAMN IT.

‘Nuff said.

Now You Know

Food & Drink

According to the Daily Mail, what you drink shows your character type, e.g.:

I am therefore, according to the above, a confident, psychotic adventurer (yeah, like I have only one favorite drink… pshaw).

Which reminds me:  I haven’t had a Pisco Sour in yonks.  Excuse me for a few minutes…

Not Really

Food & Drink, Marketing / Advertising

In this Amazon advertisement cunningly disguised as a newspaper “article” ., the Nespresso Vertuo Next is described as the “best capsule coffee on the market”, a statement with which I take issue.

I’m not interested in starting a Keurig vs. Nespresso war (I use a Keurig), but the plain fact of the matter is that I find all the Nespresso offers so strong as to be undrinkable.  Indeed, when I was confined to quarters in Free Market Towers lo those many years ago, I was forced to use one of those Nespresso things, and discovered that the only way I could stomach the stuff was to make it “Americano-style”:  half coffee, half hot water.

As a company, Nespresso irritates me because like Starbucks, they’ve built a marketing ethos around the alleged high quality of their product which appeals very much to the wannabe social climbers of this world.  I was even more irritated when I wanted to buy Mrs. FM a Christmas present of a large selection of Nespresso pods, only to discover that I couldn’t because I wasn’t a “registered user” (i.e. an owner of the machine).  So I got her something else.

I also prefer Keurig because rather than using expensive pods, I can use one of the little “buckets” as a substitute, and fill said bucket with my own choice of coffee (Dunkin’ Donuts, or a 50-50 mix of Peet’s Light Roast and Tim Horton’s when I need to wake up quickly).

So no;  Nespresso isn’t the “best capsule coffee on the market”, either by quality or by offering.

Your mileage may differ.

That’s The Stuff

Food & Drink, Resistance, Veggies & Vegans

It used to be called “Bulldog Spirit” — i.e. digging in your heels and refusing to take crap from anyone.

And this fine restauranteuse is a wonderful example of the above:

An award-winning restaurant has hit out at ‘holier-than-thou’ vegan customers after it received backlash over its new menu, which does not include any main courses suitable for them.
The Kitchen at London House on the Isle of Wight took to social media to defend itself against ‘nasty’ and ‘bullying’ vegans who were outraged at their decision to refuse to cater to their diets.  The popular high street restaurant in Ventnor said that while it used to serve some vegan food they decided to stop due to a ‘militant minority’.
‘We have in the past catered for vegans. Everything from Vegan cream teas, even had special Vegan bacon made so they could enjoy BLT’s amongst other things.
‘We stopped. Why? Because we got fed up with the arrogant, ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude.
‘Please, vegans, it is not a given that we should adapt our menu to suit your preference.
‘If you want vegan food, go to a vegan restaurant – which incidentally if I went to one and asked for a steak I wouldn’t get one, nor would I expect to.
‘You have chosen your lifestyle, it’s not a medical condition that you’ve been forced to endure through no fault of your own.
‘Your choice does not fit with our style of cooking. We respect your choice, and expect that you respect ours.

I would have just told the all veganists to fuck off, but this lady is cut from a different cloth than I am.

Forcing the world to change just to suit your personal preferences is the worst kind of solipsism and narcissism, and good for Our Heroine for standing up to them.