Stay away from seafood in China

by Jerry Guo on

I almost can’t believe this. China’s always had a pollution problem on their hands, especially in their waterways. Take Lake Chao, one of the five biggest freshwater lakes in the country.

To combat all the steamy sewage dumped into the lake, officials have devised an utterly nonsensical fix-it. They’ve released 1.5 million silver carp, each of which can eat up to 100 pounds of algae.

The only problem here is that, oh I don’t know, the algae is loaded with the aforementioned toxins from the sewage. I don’t think the Chinese passed ecology 101. If they had, they would know about bioaccumulation, in which fish eat algae, bigger fish eat the smaller fish, and so forth until it comes to our dinner table.

And that’s exactly what the Chinese are doing. They plan on directly selling the fish to consumers. Long story short–stay away from Chinese seafood!

Big in Japan: Israel crippled by spring roll strike

by Matthew Firestone on

If you turn on the news these days, it seems that just about every other story is about war, violence and suffering in the Middle East.

And of course, at the center of most of these news items is the Holy Land of Israel, the powder keg of religious tensions that the whole world is scrapping to control.

But in the hopes of kicking off your week on a decidedly more optimistic note, I’ve stumbled across this amusing little news item that I think you’ll like.

Israel has dealt with its fair share of problems since independence, but now you can add to the list one more hardship, namely a spring roll strike.

In an event that makes foodies like myself recoil in fear, Israel is currently being crippled by a spring roll strike that could eventually spread to (gasp!) noodles and (brace yourself!) sushi.

The horror! The horror!

While Asian food has long been the rage in cosmopolitan cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, restaurants are taking popular dishes off the menu in protest.

What’s the subject of contention you ask?

Well, you’ll have to keep reading to learn more about this debilitating news item from the Middle East!

Last Tuesday, nearly 300 restaurants in the Holy Land refused to serve their customers spring rolls in any form, from Chinese-style fried vegetable rolls to Vietnamese-style rice paper rolls.

And, the food strike is on the verge of spiraling out of control, especially since eateries are threatening to cut Asian staples such as noodles and sushi from their menus.

The decision to starve their hungry patrons came in light of the government’s plan to limit the number of foreign chefs permitted to enter Israel.

Currently, work permits for Asian chefs are being cut, and next year the government decided that it will not grant any new permits.

Needless to say, with a clearly divided Jewish and gentile population, Israel has a bit of an identity crisis in terms of the religious make-up of the country.

Anyway, the Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organisation (yes – this is a real organization) is currently waging a war against the government that may soon wind up in the Israeli Supreme Court.

According to Arnon Volosky, the head of the organization, “Customers say they are shocked and can’t live without Asian food. People have been asking to set up a petition to hand in to the government.”

Unfortunatley, the government is not keen on changing their stance, especially since they are committed to training more Israelis to become specialist chefs.

According to Shoshana Strauss, a government lawyer, “Everyone can make Chinese food, it’s not impossible to learn.”

However, the Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organisation is not convinced.

“Some things you have to grow up with” says Volosky. “These restaurants come from a culture that we Israelis don’t have the skills or know-how or cultural behaviour to do well. You have to respect this.”

Agreed. Mr. Volosky and the Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organisation – you have certainly captured my heart, mind and stomach.

Who has best US tap water? Los Angeles

by Anna Brones on

Although Finland might have purer bottled water, believe it or not, Los Angeles has the tastiest tap water in the United States. Beating out 120 other cities at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, Los Angeles — part of the Metropolitan Water District of California — tied with Clearbrook, British Columbia for first place in the Best Municipal Water category. To me the Canadian city just might say “delicious water” a little better than LA, but you can’t contradict the judges.

Waters were judged based on taste, smell, texture, and above all, taste and clarity. Think judging water is a little strange? This was in fact the 18th competition to be held in Berkeley Springs, making it the world’s longest running water-tasting competition.

So what does all this tell us? While some hotels offer high end bottled water, you can assure yourself that you won’t have to invest a fortune in order to hydrate while in LA; just stick with the award winning tap water.

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Why the French aren’t fat

by Anna Brones on

Sometimes I think we have an obsession about pondering over the reasons that France offers such rich, indulgent food but that its population remains incredibly trim.

How do they do it? I can of course come up with a few of my own opinions on the subject, but for the time being I will leave it to the most recent study done by Cornell University Food and Brand Lab.

The study found that despite all those baguettes, brie and accompanying wine, the French stay svelte because they use internal cues — such as feeling full — to know when to stop eating. Americans however use external cues — such as when their plate is clean or the TV show that they are watching is over.

Basically we Americans are mindless eaters. So if you want to truly enjoy French cuisine, without the pounds, maybe it’s time to start listening to what your body tells you.

Straight-up Scandinavia: Understanding the smörgåsbord

by Anna Brones on

Smorgasbord is a word commonly used in the English language. The Merriam Webster Dictionary describes it as “a luncheon or supper buffet offering a variety of foods and dishes (as hors d’oeuvres, hot and cold meats, smoked and pickled fish, cheeses, salads, and relishes).” You can even use the word to describe a random mixture of things. But let’s take a look at its real meaning.

In Swedish the word is spelled smörgåsbord and breaks down into two parts: smörgås and bord. Smörgås of course means “sandwich” and bord means “table.” Scandinavians are big on open faced sandwiches and it is no surprise that one of their contributions to the global culinary vocabulary has to do with exactly that. This means that a true Scandinavian smorgasbord will always have a good selection of bread, butter and cheese, the beginnings of an excellent open faced sandwich. The first smorgasbord in America was seen at the 1939 World’s Fair held in New York, when Sweden’s delegation served up a traditional buffet as part of the exhibition. The American’s loved it so much they got rid of the pesky dots and rings over the “o” and “a” and americanized the word into its current state.

Although American lovers of Nordic culture like to use the word liberally, Scandinavians rarely use the word smorgasbord to refer to their buffets, and it is certainly not a staple of everyday life. Instead, the fancy buffet normally consisting of various fish like herring and salmon, even surströmming, cold meats and pates is saved for large gatherings, festive parties and special occasions. The most common variant on the theme is the julbord, the standard Christmas buffet which is served everywhere from family dinners to classy restaurants during the holiday season.