The UK’s “environment czar” doesn’t want people to go anywhere

by Annie Scott on

Damn the man who’s saving the empire?

Adair Turner, chairman of the independent Committee on Climate Change, who is cheekily called the “environment czar” of Great Britain, made a proposal on Thursday that nobody’s gonna like.

In an effort to protect the environment from the ravages of the pasty empire lying on beaches (oh all right, and carbon dioxide emissions), Turner wants the Britains to limit their trips abroad to just a few per year. We’re talking making it law.

This just reeks of “rule for the people without enough money to skirt it.” Isn’t Great Britain’s class system already pronounced enough?

[via ATW Daily News]

The new face of army food

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The U.S. Culinary Arts Team … yes, there is such a thing … faced an incredible challenge. The team had to cook 150 three-course meals in six hours without the benefit of a real kitchen. The crew had to work “in the field” – as the army calls being away from the plumbing, walls and heat of the barracks – which is never an easy task.

The IKA/Culinary Olympics, which occurred back in October, is where chefs come from 53 countries to vie for the top spot in categories such as community catering, regional and military. The civilians take advantage of state-of-the-art facilities, while teams in the military competition were shrouded in camouflage and fueled by propane.

Like any military operation, the team from the United States had rehearsed tirelessly, nailing down its menu.

Salad: seared tuna, smoked trout, and poached salmon over a seaweed salad

Entrée: herb-infused turkey breast with sweet potatoes, cranberry johnnycake, and bacon-wrapped green beans

Dessert: chocolate-mousse crunch cake with apricot-and-cherry sauce.

The military category consisted of 10 countries in total, including Hungary, Sweden, Germany and Slovenia.

The results? Our team finished a strong second, much to the surprise to anyone who has been assigned to Fort Sill, OK (trust me). The Swiss took top honors, and Great Britain shocked all by: (a) not finishing last and (b) serving something that the judges could actually taste.

[Via The Atlantic]

Dining while blindfolded: A new way to enjoy eating out?

by Jamie Rhein on

For chefs who pride themselves on the artful presentation of their culinary artistry, and people who enjoy looking at their food, probably blindfolded dining is not for them. For anyone who is into a culinary adventure that taps into all other senses but sight, head to the Grill Room restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since October, diners have been able to experience this more unusual way to enjoy their food.

According to executive chef Malcom Webster, dining while blindfolded gives diners the chance to fully experience the various textures, flavors and aromas of the five-course meal. With each course, a new wine is served to further heighten the experience. During the entire time, diners don’t know what they are eating. I do wonder if someone stands by to coach a person who is having a hard time directing his or her fork.

“No, a little to the left sir. There you go. Nope, smaller bite. That’s it. No, your mouth is a little more to the right.”

Recognizing that there are hazards to such an experience, coffee is not part of the meal. I’d add that I’d avoid wearing white. Think of red wine. Even with my sight, I once knocked over a glass of red wine in an upscale restaurant in Albuquerque, sloshing it onto the plate glass window.

This dining experience costs £60 per person. If having someone blindfold you gives you the willies, you can try dining in the dark at Dans Le Noir in London. There the whole dining room is dark. How do the waiters see to bring the food, I wonder? “Ooops, sorry Ma’m.”

As you can see from the picture taken by curran.kelleher, you can turn any dining experience into a blindfolded one. This one was at some event in Rüdesheim, Germany. [www.tandorimagazine.com]

Chicago? Or Stink Onion?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Unfamiliar words from foreign tongues have a way of finding their way into English, a language which itself is a melting pot when it comes to origins. Frequently the foreign expression has a way of better summing up what the user is trying to say than what is available in the native tongue. What sounds better? A “smorgasbord?” Or “an extensive array or variety?” How about “faux pas” versus “a slip or blunder in etiquette?”

You would probably agree that these foreign phrases, however odd they might sound, help quickly convey meaning from a speaker or writer to his listener. It’s a pity then, that as the first settlers spread out across “new worlds” like America and parts of Europe, they didn’t stop to consider the native words and phrases they chose for their new homes. Surprisingly enough a new book of maps called The Atlas of True Names hopes to set the record straight on this linguistic confusion, offering detailed maps laid out with ridiculously literal translations of place names in their native tongue.

Thought that island across the pond was called Great Britain? According to the map, it’s actually “The Great Land of the Tattooed,” a reference to the colorfully tattooed people who originally occupied the place. Weird. And how about the beautiful city of Chicago, my hometown? It loosely translates as “Stink Onion,” from the Algonquin phrase checagou, referring to the soggy marshland upon which the city was founded. Ouch.

Certainly not the type of thing the local tourist board will want to brag about, but interesting nonetheless for anyone interested in geography and language. There’s plenty more oddly named cities, rivers and mountains in the galleries over at the Telegraph website.

Word for the Travel Wise (05/28/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

With this being an extended three-day weekend for some of us in the world, excluding myself I’m thinking I’m going to keep things easy. I’m not going to take you to Kazakhstan, Chad, or Yemen by way of some funky foreign slang you’ll probably never use in your entire life. I won’t even bother to provide you with some off-the-wall Polish vocabulary word lacking vowels. That seems incredibly ridiculous considering how we fail to understand our own brethren and sistren across the pond, so tonight I’m taking it back to basics. Tonight I will present our first ever Gadling English Lingo Guide for English Speakers, because I’m not afraid to admit I don’t know what the hell those crazy blokes are talking about.

Today’s word is an English word used in the United Kingdom:

bimble – to wander aimlessly or stroll/walk without urgency to a destination

How I love this new addition to my own personal dictionary and I know I’m not alone here! Before picking this word I wanted to double check to see that I hadn’t missed this one some where long ago in fourth grade. I swung by Dictionary.com first and sure enough it didn’t recognize the word. The only results that came up was the zip code for Bimble, Kentucky (40915). Next, I moved onto Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary and once again this odd English word did not appear. Instead it triggered suggestions like: bumble, bible, bramble and broomball. Lastly, MS Word gives me the red squiggly line underneath every time it appears. Ha!

And while I’m confessing my ignorance to my very own first language, let me add that I do not know how often bimble is used. Perhaps it isn’t at all. In other words – that’s my disclaimer until some kind individual on the web notifies the rest of us otherwise. To see a list of British words not widely used in the United States head over to this Wikipedia page. If you’ve got some of your own to share – please don’t be shy.