Friday Faves No. 150

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Is this the face of the new Scottish "super food" above: What Is This Weird Weed, and Why Are Farmers and Health Nuts So Into It? It's chock full of omega 3's. "The EU this month awarded corn gromwell the status of “Novel Food,” a designation to let consumers know that this might be a new thing, but it’s safe and approved for consumption." (Modern Farmer)

Does story trump product? How Millennials Are Changing Wine "Yet with conventional wisdom holding that millennials don’t care about luxury and aren’t loyal to brands, it’s little wonder that wine producers all over the world—like every other business—are scrambling to figure out what they want." (Wall Street Journal)

Because the young ladies who lunch want artisan pizza, Urban Outfitters adds food to hipster empire with Vetri restaurant group acquisition.  (Restaurant Hospitality)

Entrepreneurs Pitch Sustainable Seafood Ideas; Investors Take The Bait at Fish 2.0  "Entrepreneurs presented ideas that ran the sustainability gamut: Licensing schemes designed to keep local family fishermen on the water; developing consumer-friendly, ready-to-cook sustainable seafood products; collecting old nylon fishing nets to recycle into skateboards and sunglasses; cutting-edge technology to monitor everything from a fishing fleet's location to the storage temperature for its catch; land-based aquaculture solutions; and programs designed to create both jobs and sustenance for tiny remote fishing communities in the Pacific." (NPR)

And in sucky news, the FDA approves GM salmon for sale in the US.  (Wall Street Journal and just about everywhere else)

Friday Faves No. 149

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

A really great read: “Kelp Is the New Kale.” A New Leaf: Seaweed could be a miracle food—if we can figure out how to make it taste good. "Much as kale needed Barber and his ilk to turn it from a T-bone garnish into a way of life, kelp will need a chef to make us desire it." (New Yorker)

U.N. taps crowdfunding app to tackle refugee camp food shortages "The WFP, which requires $26 million a week to feed the 4 million refugees residing in countries bordering on Syria, earlier cut back its food rations to 1.3 million people due to a funding shortage in 2014." (Reuters)

America, Scotland Thinks You’re Ready to Eat Lungs Now We do love haggis, although I sincerely doubt it's about to sweep the nation with "tens of millions" of new American devotees as Scotland’s rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead hopes. (Munchies)

Urban Ag in Detroit gets even bigger (although as always, more funding is needed) "Recovery Park and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced last week an ambitious plan to create a 60-acre urban farm (35 acres of which comes from the government, through the Detroit Land Bank Authority) to be settled not with new houses for people but greenhouses and hydroponic systems for specialty produce. Recovery Park already operates a pair of smaller urban farms, growing vegetables like radishes, greens, and edible flowers and selling them to restaurants in the city." (Modern Farmer)

Restorative planning is for more than just urban blight: The Sushi Project: Farming Fish And Rice in California's Fields "The salmon project is likely within a year or two of overcoming the last bureaucratic obstacles keeping it from operating as a government-sanctioned method of mitigating environmental harm. Though less-developed, the forage fish venture offers the prospect of global impact by taking pressure off of wild fish stocks. Both projects suggest the rising influence of "reconciliation ecology," which argues for the reconfiguration of human-dominated landscapes to include other species as the only way left to sustain most ecosystems." (e360)

This Food Truck Spends Part Of Its Route Delivering Meals To Hungry Kids "As efficient as food banks are, they still have a hard time delivering food to the margins of our community," says Mike Zserdin from Made Possible By Us, the startup launching the truck. "A lot of times the people who need the food aren't able to get it at the delivery points." (Fast Company)

Friday Faves No. 148

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Could triple-decker floating farms (like above) address future food issues? They sure look awesome. "Forward Thinking Architecture’s triple-decker Smart Floating Farms would feature 2.2 million square feet (2.04 sq km) of fish farm, hydroponic garden, and rooftop solar panels to power a floating barge, which could be anchored to the beds of oceans, lakes or rivers. The company estimates that each of its floating farms could produce about 8 tons (7.3 tonnes) of vegetables and 1.7 tons (1.5 tonnes) of fish per year." (Nisa Media)

Underused species of fish to schools is expanding. “'We wouldn’t be able to meet their price point for wild salmon and other fish...The only way we can offer the program is with species that are undervalued.” The CSF also found a bycatch species with a mild flavor kids want to eat – similar to tilapia. “It is not mainstream and we are hoping it doesn’t go mainstream, because the price would go up.'" (Seafood Source)

Is the Democratic Republic of Congo the Switzerland of Africa? Let's hope it can be. "Cheesemakers in this region are thriving, despite having survived decades of tumultuous warfare." Culture)

A formerly downright nasty stretch of Market St. in San Francisco has been getting a food-focused spiff-up.  "A new culinary scene has been born seemingly overnight, the child of a three-way love affair among real estate developers, tech workers and food professionals that many say is unprecedented." (New York Times)

Pacific to Plate allows public seafood markets to set up like farmers markets. "Pacific to Plate streamlines the permitting process so that commercial fishermen can organize under a single permit—just like certified farmers markets—allowing public seafood markets to operate as food facilities and fresh fish to be cleaned for direct sale." (San Diego News)

Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B strikes import deal directly with Italian trade bodies for specialty foods. (Houston Chronicle)

EU Looks into Insects as Food. This is where food processing really earns its keep. Turn them into textured protein. "How and to what extent the inclusion of insects in gastronomy can impact the general consumption pattern in the population is unclear but (it) holds the potential for a rapid change in future consumption patterns," EFSA's report said. You're going to need some serious marketing with that. Best line of understatement: "Belgian supermarket operator Delhaize in 2014 introduced tapenades based on mealworms in its Belgian supermarkets, but they were not a hit." (Reuters via Specialty Food)

Scientists say Maryland’s gigantic new oyster reef is a pearl that could save the Chesapeake Bay. "Maryland can lay claim to the world’s largest man-made oyster reef. It was finished just days ago, and rests at the watery bottom of Harris Creek on the Eastern Shore, spread across more acres than the national Mall." (Washington Post)

Friday Faves No. 147

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

If you're going to watch a cooking show, it should be this funny: Patti LaBelle cooking show highlights: branzini is a “bougie fish” and "These are so good, honey, I could slap myself” about her crab cakes. The video after the link is well worth the three minutes. (Gawker)

As the number of golfers declines, a Chicago-area country club gets into the hyperlocal food game by raising their own veggies, chickens and honeybees — and they're starting a trend (Crains Chicago Business via Specialty Food)

The devil is always in the details! After 100 years, Alabama's first legally distilled whisky comes to market (AL.com)

Move over craft beer — it's time for single estate spirits. "These distilleries represent an emerging category that focuses on provenance, a concept traditionally associated with wine. 'We treat our potatoes in the same way winemakers treat their grapes, noting the aspects of each variety and the vintage,' says David Stirling, brand director at Arbikie Highland Estate. Historically, consumers didn’t really care about where their spirits came from, but the good food craze has prompted people to question the origins of these products.'" (Guardian)

How people not driving is good for business: Here's evidence that more of you are reaching for that second bottle of wine, thanks to Uber. (LA Times)

Friday Faves No. 146

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Fruit squee — the cucamelon! (above) "Tangy, crunchy, and bite-sized—cucamelons are perfect in salads, sandwiches, and fruity salsas. Native to Mexico and Central America, Melothria scabra, or the cucamelon, is also called the mouse melon, Mexican sour gherkin, or “sandita,” meaning little watermelon. Originally part of the Aztec diet, cucamelons are now commonly served in Central America as a delicacy." (James Beard Foundation)

Exploring the soft power of food — What are Conflict Cafes and how do they work? (Eater)

Easily the best thing ever to be served at McDonald’s: Roald Dahl book to be given away with every Happy Meal in the UK. The fast-food chain will offer extracts of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, George’s Marvellous Medicine and Matilda with its kids’ meals, in a campaign backed by the National Literacy Trust. "The scale of the campaign will reach millions of children, including many who haven’t owned a book before, inspiring them to enjoy reading and improving their life chances.” (Guardian)

The Pumpkin Beer Problem: "Yes, I dislike pumpkin beer. Sometimes I dream of seeing a veritable ocean of the stuff spilled out by Prohibition agents, the orange bottles melted down and reused to make tchotchkes for the Dutch National soccer team. But that’s obviously subjective; the numbers say I’m in the minority in a big way." (Gear Patrol)

The Rise of the Fast-Casual Cocktail Bar — Now that drinkers have grown accustomed to cocktails made with fresh ingredients and top-notch skills, bar-owners are starting to offer them in more casual settings—often right alongside their high-end counterparts. "The first wave of the cocktail movement was about educating the public that a great drink—with quality spirits, fresh juice and expert craftsmanship—was worth savoring in a reverential space. But the paradigm has shifted—now that urban drinkers have become accustomed to properly diluted drinks and fresh citrus, they expect a good drink nearly everywhere." (Punch)

One of the greatest meals in New York is at Di Fara Pizza. Find it. Go. We promise, it's worth it. “Only one guy is supposed to make the pizza,” Dom says. “If there’s too many people that make the pizza, [it’s] no good. It’s very hard to explain.” (Lucky Peach)

Friday Faves. No. 145

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Women fishing in Alaska, image via Glamour Magazine.

This week, instead of the "the good, the bad, and the ugly," we bring you the Cool, the Gross and the Glamourous. 

Cool — The farmer who’s starting an organic revolution in Cuba. (Guardian) And clever marketing: Reynolds makes an endless table on instagram. (Ad Week)

Gross — I love you, coffee, but not like that. Face lids for your coffee cup. (Bored Panda)

Glamorous — Women Fishermen in Alaska: Says Melanie Brown:"I think that I feel the most beautiful when I'm fishing. I'll have slime on my face and fish parts—but when we're picking really hard and getting the fish out of the gear and we're racing against the tide—to feel something where I get to feel my strength; to be out in the open air and on the water; to feel the power of the water and the tide—there's something really amazing about that. And it's something I get to return to every year. Other things in my life continue to change, but I get to have that return, that reference point. It's a really great way to check into a bigger perspective." (Glamour — that's right, fishing in Glamour!)

Burgundy joins other storied wine making regions, like Champagne and the Douro Valley in winning designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (New York Times)

Friday Faves. No. 144

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

This week's Faves is all about innovation. 

Lettuce in space! Astronauts at the International Space Station have grown their first crop in space (with a cool little video). (New York Times)

There's plenty of farming innovation happening down here on Earth too. As populations rise, arable land shrinks and the Earth grows warmer, we look at how technology and big data are coming deep into American farming. Link to full audio. (On Point/NPR)

There are even farming innovations going on under the sea as underwater pod farms off the coast of Italy experiment with growing strawberries, basil and lettuce.  “That [meeting future food demands] is the aim, and it could be a sustainable way of agriculture,” he says. “Not just local businesses, but for large parts of the world. Starting from Middle Eastern and tropical countries such as the Maldives, where there is not much [suitable] soil or fresh water ... [to] southern California, which is experiencing droughts.” (Guardian)

A Spanish community innovation: To Cut Food Waste, Spain's Solidarity Fridge Supplies Endless Leftovers "Here, food is sacrosanct — it's something that's venerated. We have one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in the world...So we value eating well, and conserving food. It's part of our culture, and the Solidarity Fridge is part of that." (NPR)

Even sommeliers are getting bold and experimental. There is a conspiracy in London to get you drinking more interesting wines. (Bloomberg)

Friday Faves No. 143

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Artists Transform Coffee Spills Into Masterpieces, like in the above by Maria Aristidou. (NPR)

Why everyone who is sure about a food philosophy is wrong. Food and philosophy don't mix, the author argues. "Here’s why. Food is a constant tug-of-war between people and planet. We can’t feed ourselves without doing environmental harm." (Washington Post)

The US is the world’s “most attractive” wine market while China has fallen out of the top five according to a new Wine Intelligence report. (Drinks Business)

Pot for foodies: Is marijuana the next California cuisine? "Flour Child’s line of jams and granolas, in contrast, are everything that resonates with the Bay Area culinary ethos circa 2015: local, seasonable, sustainably grown, free of chemicals, perhaps a wee bit precious. They represent a new class of medical marijuana products — meant to be savored for their taste, not just for their ability to turn an eater into a puddle of goo." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Friday Faves No. 142

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

An uni habit can make you more than broke — it can get you high. At least that's what we read on Munchies, along with this great photo, above. (Munchies)

Drought-Stricken California Farmers Look To Tap Urban Wastewater. California could be using two to three times more wastwater. However, "It's not the single silver bullet solution for agriculture. Agriculture is going to have to do a lot of things to adapt to a future of less water availability." (NPR)

Organic farms don't have the tiny carbon footprint they like to tout. But they could. "If you look at the USDA standards for organically produced goods, you will find that the soil management practices necessary to promote carbon sequestration are encouraged, but not required. Instead, the USDA uses its seal to create a ceiling and a floor for organic practices, allowing organic to be a profitable industry. It no longer matters, at least within conventional grocery markets, if one farmer’s organic standards result in higher green house gas emissions than another because, in the eyes of the consumer at, say, Whole Foods, they are the same. But the Earth’s climate will definitely know the difference." (Guardian)

A Renaissance painting reveals how breeding changed watermelons. If you're curious about the fruit and vegetables of the past, hit the art museum. (Vox)

Can Craft Beer Truly Express a Sense of Place? Many of the ingredients used in craft beer are produced at an industrial scale and traded as commodities, but "there are a number of experimental breweries that are gathering yeast from their region and isolating it for the purpose of creating beer that better reflects its place." (PUNCH)

The drive-thru grocery store is happening, thanks to Amazon. "The e-commerce giant is developing a new drive-up store concept in Silicon Valley that will allow consumers to order grocery items online, then schedule a pickup at a dedicated facility, according to industry sources familiar with Amazon’s plans. If confirmed, the project could signal a new distribution strategy for Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, while adding an additional threat to a grocery industry already in the throes of change." (Biz Journals via Specialty Food News)

Friday Faves No. 140

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

In summer everything slows down, including our blog posting. This Friday Faves is a smattering of some of our favorite stories from the past few weeks. 

A team at MIT has devised away for you to get the last of the sauce out of the jar. LiquiGlide, A New Surface Coating Developed to Let Food and Other Products Slide Easily Out of Their Container  (Laughing Squid)

When Will Native American Food Finally Get Its Due? Most people don't know what plants are native to the Americas, much less what Native American cuisine consists of. (Eater)

Is It Time to Table Farm-to-Table? Sure, this one is full of snark, but also some very good points. (Vanity Fair)

In fast food news, Amy's Kitchen is opening its first all-vegetarian drive-thru restaurant in Sonoma County, California, this month, and McDonald's tries to reach out to a new bike-riding market with new take-away tote. "The packaging then unfolds, revealing two little pockets where the fries and burger have been gently cocooned during the commute. It’s like a little fat- and sugar-filled purse, and it’s great." Well, great except for the actual food. (Well and Good / Wired)

Sweden's wine industry? There is a whole world of wine coming out way. Says one winemaker: “I like to compare Sweden to Central Otago on South Island in New Zealand – the world’s most southerly wine region. It now has some of the best pinot noirs, but for years they said it was impossible because it was too cold.” (Guardian)

Back here at home, new hybrid grapes help grow wine industry. Did you know Indiana even had a signature wine grape? "Across the country we've seen a huge expansion in wine and grape production and wine-related tourism," said Bruce Reisch, who leads Cornell University's wine and grape research and development program in New York's Finger Lakes. (Press Connects via Specialty Food News)

Google Street View Goes Inside California Wine Country The map tool's panoramic views expand to include vineyards, tasting rooms and barrel cellars. (Wine Spectator)

Brew Dog is coming to America — to make beer here. Columbus, Ohio is the lucky destination. (FoodBev Media)

Will we ever be rid of the great Pacific Garbage Patch? Hopefully, yes. The world's first ocean cleaning system will be deployed in 2016. (Minds)

Amazon Plans to Add Its Own Line of Food — Milk, baby food and household products would carry Elements label. "Private labels have become a vital business for mass-market retailers, generating stronger margins and building loyalty with consumers who no longer view generic products as lower quality." (WSJ)

Friday Faves No. 139

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

We resisted watching this, but then, Schadenfreude can be sweet: Hugh Acheson Made Kris Jenner's Nachos And if you still haven't had your fill: The 23 Most Ridiculous Lines From Kris Jenner's Kookbook (yeah, that's how she's spelling it). 1) On her casual taste in dishware: "I am notorious for my table settings and my dishes. If I'm cooking an Italian meal, I will grab my red Hermès china to go with the red sauce." (Eater)

Marketing rule #1 — don't insult your customers. Sexist beer ads: why it's time for a cold, hard rethink. "There is a powerful business case for beer companies to abandon the puerile misogyny and step into the 21st century. The Daily Mail reports that the number of female beer drinkers in the UK has doubled to 1.3 million in recent years, and that women make up 31% of weekly beer drinkers." And the real shocker: "The study, which examined nearly 40,000 banner adverts over a six month period, is perhaps another suggestion that sticking a semi-naked woman next to a product isn’t necessarily the most inventive or effective way to sell it." (Guardian)

Ivory Coast president tours country's first chocolate factory. Chocolate to be made in Ivory Coast for first time despite country being the world’s biggest grower of cocoa beans. "Despite its French ownership, the plant represents a small victory in the continent’s battle to profit from its natural resources instead of exporting them to be processed elsewhere." (Guardian)

Does A Pig Fed With Green Tea Taste Better? Some farmers in Japan think so. Apparently, it works with goats too. (Modern Farmer)

A nice personal essay from David Chang on how war and scarcity can shape a culinary legacy. "At the end of the day, you’re not born a great cook. It’s something you have to learn, and you need something to work with." (Lucky Peach)

The Piggly Wiggly way: Businesses should think carefully about continuing to heap work on their customers. Lots of interesting points here: "The reason why so many people feel overworked these days is that they are constantly being asked to do “unseen” jobs by everybody from Amazon to the Internal Revenue Service to the local school board. And the reason why they feel so alienated is that they spend so much time pressing buttons and speaking to machines rather than interacting with other people." And: "If [businesses] never meet their customers, they will lose touch with them. And although self-service is great for saving costs, its effect over time is to train customers to shop on price, and thus to switch as soon as a slightly cheaper rival comes along." (Economist)

'It's like eating a hedgerow': why do hop shoots cost €1,000 a kilo? Sounds like a bit much to pay for something described as "kale-like," but if people are willing to pay... (Guardian)

Friday Faves No. 138

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

This Morbid Artist Serves Her Cake with a Side of Death (like above, and much more through the link made from chocolate) "The chocolate project came about as kind of a natural progression of having switched to an edible medium,” de Vetten explains. “I was reading Dr. Paul Koudounaris’ book Empire of Death and was marveling once again at the painted skulls displayed in the Ossuary of St. Michael in Halstatt, Austria, and it occurred to me that I could make myself one, in chocolate. I hadn’t really thought about if that would be something my customers would want or aimed at selling. It was just something I wanted to own and as I couldn’t have a real one I made one from chocolate."  (Munchies)

Astoundingly Realistic Candy Animals Skillfully Crafted Using the Traditional Japanese Art of Amezaiku gives a cuter version of sugar art. (Laughing Squid)

Why your next food porn will come from Ethiopia Really, it's about time. (CNN) 

The All-Stars of Stadium Snacks From the best pie in English football to Baltimore’s crab cakes, we serve up the tastiest game-day grub (Mr. Porter)

'Tales' Of Pig Intelligence, Factory Farming And Humane Bacon with Barry Estabrook Good commentary, but not an easy listen. (NPR)

As if you didn't already know that kombucha was up to no good; it's now part of an LA cult bust. (Jezebel)

Is it aliens, or is your microwave talking to you? At one observatory in Australia they were. Rogue Microwave Ovens Are the Culprits Behind Mysterious Radio Signals (National Geographic)

Decaying City Just Wants To Skip To Part Where It Gets Revitalized Restaurant Scene “Sure, we’ll eventually see lobster roll stands and high-end noodle bars popping up on every corner, but that could take years or even decades. Let’s just skim over all the gang turf disputes and burnt-out streetlights and go straight to blocks lined with stores specializing in key lime pies, locally sourced butcher shops, and gourmet empanada places. That honestly seems like the way to go.” (The Onion)

Friday Faves No. 137

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Woman walks Paris marathon with a bucket on her head to talk about water. Gambian woman Siabatou Sanneh (above) displays a sandwich board which translates as "In Africa women walk this distance each day for drinking water" as she carries a jerrycan of water on her head while walking the route of the 39th Paris Marathon in Paris, on April 12, 2015, to raise awareness for the cause of charity "Water for Africa." (CBS News)

The Guardian explores the brave new world of food packaging language. From ‘family owned’ and ‘created with love’, to ‘hand crafted’ and ‘authentic’, food-packet rhetoric is now mainly in the business of selling nice feelings...A brand of snack bars is made “in small batches at our own makery”. Makery? I am guessing that “makery” is a portmanteau for “made-up bakery.” (Guardian)

The language fight is getting ugly: MillerCoors Sued For Selling Blue Moon As A Craft Beer (Consumerist)

Human mind wired for marketing through storytelling, says Forrester analyst “Decision making is not rational and it is not rational in business-to-business either,” said Laura Ramos, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, San Francisco. “You wouldn’t know that from looking at content because in B2B, you think if you put all the facts out there of course consumers will make the right choice.” (Luxury Daily)

Who needs New Nordic? Giving Northern (North American) Cuisine Its Due "Both at sea and far inland, chefs from some of the chillier regions of North America are making an effort to dive deeper into their habitat. From New England up through the Maritime Provinces of Canada and west to Montreal and Toronto, they are doing culinary work that poses questions without simple answers: What exactly is Northern cooking? And how do you make that identity clear and compelling to diners?" (New York Times)

Michelin Star Chef Turns Spring Fashion into Culinary Masterpieces (PSFK)

Better to eat vegetarian that a lot of industrial meat. The Nation’s First Vegetarian Public School Is Thriving "We had no focus on vegetarianism specifically," says Groff, the school’s principal. "If we were presented with a free-range, organic chicken, that’s something we would talk about." (Fast Company)

Friday Faves No. 136

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

This Brilliant Instagram Chef Is Making Junk Food Look Like Fine Dining. Above, one of the creations of “Chef Jacques Lamerde.” (via Buzz Feed)

If you have a food business you want to take bigger, Steve Case wants to hear your restaurant pitch. The deep-pocketed AOL founder is going on the road again to search for new investment vehicles, including restaurants, in off-the-beaten-path locations. (Restaurant Hospitality)

Out With The Caraway, In With The Ginger: 50 Years Of American Spice Consumption Why are people crazy for turmeric but dissing allspice? (FiveThirtyEight)

Wanted: chefs to cook for boatloads of seasick migrants. "The Migrant Offshore Aid Station, set up last year by Italian-American philanthropists, aims to rescue some of the record numbers of migrants capsizing while trying to reach Europe by sea. In an advertisement that riffs on the call-to-arms supposedly made 101 years ago by Ernest Shackleton as the explorer sought a team to reach the South Pole, MOAS is on the lookout for people to keep them all fed: 'Wanted: great chefs to brave the Mediterranean in exchange for an extraordinary adventure,” the advert reads. “Position is voluntary. Honour and recognition will follow in the event of success.'” (Guardian)

In the world of culinary letters and photography, the Saveur blog awards and James Beard Foundation book nominees are out.

In one more way to suck the fun out of life, menus will now have to list calorie counts for alcohol. At least the ruling will apply only to chain restaurants. (Wine Spectator)

Forget emoji — show someone you're thinking of them by sending a (real & drinkable) glass of Champagne. Moët & Chandon partners with new app Skosh to do just that during the Miami Open. “If you see a friend just received a new job in New York via LinkedIn, you can send a drink. If you want to send a glass of Champagne to your newly married friend on their honeymoon in Hawaii, you can send a drink. (Luxury Daily)

Friday Faves No. 135

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

If you ever thought you were the most cocktail obsessed person, you're wrong. The people who make ice sculptures with 3D printers (like above) and then put them in drinks win. (Food & Wine / FWx)

History of the Egg Cream "The sweet, frothy combination of bubbly seltzer, frosty cold milk and sugary chocolate syrup explains the enduring appeal of the egg cream. But the true origin of this classic American drink remains a delicious mystery. Despite the fact that there’s no egg and no cream, most New York natives have a story about the famous potable, and whether it was invented in Brooklyn or on Manhattan’s Lower East Side is a source of heated debate." The excellent song about Egg Cream by Lou Reed was a Sing Along Snack. (Imbibe)

Now available on Amazon — rental goats! Yes, really. They're "vegetation management experts" to you. (KUOW / NPR Seattle)

Gluten Free Museum Tumblr painstakingly removes gluten products from famous works of art. (Dangerous Minds)

Most irresistible headline of the week: How I Went From Being a Backstreet Boy Impersonator to a Sustainable Seafood Chef  You had us at Backstreet Boy Impersonator, but talking about working for healthy fisheries in the Bahamas isn't bad either. (Munchies)

Friday Faves No. 134

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

The house that Champagne built: a Russian man has built a house made almost entirely of Champagne bottles in the city of Chelyabinsk, where it is known as the “Palace of Oz.” It took 12,000 bottles, so you'd better start drinking if you want one of your own.(Drinks Business)

In hard new this week, the seafood world has been called out in an new AP Investigation: Are slaves catching the fish you buy? (AP)

Is the Strawberry Field The Next Farmworkers’ Rights Battleground? It's not just hard work, it's literaly poison: "Roman Pinal, the Southern California regional director for the United Farm Workers (UFW), says strawberry pickers are more susceptible to pesticide exposure than the average farmworker because the fields are more densely planted than other crops, meaning chemicals are being sprayed or are drifting closer to farmworkers. What’s more, compared to crops that are harvested once a season, strawberry plants produce fruit every two days—creating a situation where chemical management and harvesting occur “right on top” of each other, he says." (Civil Eats)

New waves of distilling have been a boost for rural areas, and that was the case in the 1920s and 30s too. Old Time Farm Crime: The Hooch Farmers of Templeton "Templeton Rye, “the good stuff,” was a hot commodity in Prohibition era Chicago, Kansas City and New York and its popularity helped save many a family farm in rural Northwest Iowa where the booze was illegally distilled by desperate farmers during the lean years of the 1920s and early-30s." (Modern Farmer)

'New Nordic' goes to the bar with Icelandic Birch Cocktails. (Huffington Post)

A Belgian chef Is making summer in a bottle with gin flavored with lobster. (Munchies)

Now Marriott has a magazine. You could too. Don't worry about all this new lingo. "Content" = stuff worth looking at that makes people like you. “Content marketing is a marathon; it’s not a sprint, said Lisa LaCour, vp of global marketing at content-recommendation platform Outbrain." (Digiday)

Friday Faves No. 133

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

From Lucky Peach

We try not to rant on fad diets, so we're always delighted when someone else does it for us. You'd be hard pressed to find anything with a more convoluted rationale than Paleo. Food & Consequences: The Real Paleo Diet "In the end, what’s really interesting to me is that diet fads exist at all, since they presuppose a level of food security and consumer choice that are unprecedented in human history. The Paleo diet as a cultural phenomenon is inconceivable outside the context of the development of agricultural societies." (Lucky Peach)

The Real Problem With Bread (It's Probably Not Gluten) Is there no problem that industrial food can't both cause and "fix" for a price? "In commercial bakeries, rising time has been winnowed from hours or even days down to mere minutes, thanks to fast-acting yeasts and additives. By contrast, the team in Jones' laboratory, located in a rural stretch along Puget Sound, lets dough rise for as long as 12 hours—and they've found that the longer it rises, the less potent the gluten that remains in the finished bread." (Mother Jones)

If Wines Had Online Dating Profiles Wine needs love too. See which type is your perfect match, then grab a bottle. (Buzzfeed)

The latest installment in the "eat it to save it" files: Pacific groundfish. "Unless fishermen can collect a price that reflects the expense of the new sustainable methods of catching groundfish, we won't be able to maintain the fishery's revived state. The challenge is to reintroduce these species to consumers, build demand and help secure
a strong market that can support the fishermen and fishery in the long term." (LA Times)

Veuve Clicquot will be the first company to produce packaging using grapes when the Champagne house launches its newest “Naturally Clicquot” next month. (Drinks Business)

Only the good die out. Super-delicious and eco heroes, oysters, clams and scallops face high risk from ocean acidification, new study finds. (Guardian)

Friday Faves No. 132

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

Angst muffins (above). Life is short. Read the full comic here, while you can. (Existential comics)

The furry face of California salmon conservation: beavers. "Wild salmon are adept at crossing the beavers’ blockages. In addition, the dams often reduce the downstream transport of egg-suffocating silt to the gravel where salmon spawn, and create deeper, cooler water for juvenile fish and adult salmon and steelhead. The resulting wetlands also attract more insects for salmon to eat. In ongoing research that covered six years, Pollock and his colleagues showed that river restoration projects that featured beaver dams more than doubled their production of salmon." (On Earth)

Pancake day and Semla — the quieter culinary pursuits of Shrove Tuesday. "But the Protestant Reformation, which swept across Northern Europe some 500 years ago, killed off most of the traditions that made Catholic Mardi Gras so much fun. As they stripped the church of ornate decoration, reformers railed against the feast-and-famine cycle of extremes." At least they still had sugar. (NPR)

Bittman Does Berkeley: Talking Food Politics With Mark Bittman On how the food conversation is evolving: "Labor has really stuck out for me. The fact that people who cared about food did not talk about labor five years ago and now they do talk about labor, that’s a big deal." And to the inseparable issues of food and economic justice: "People are suffering. we need to fix that. but that’s not a cooking problem. if there’s a cooking problem, I can solve it. Cooking is easy. Social justice problems are not so easy." (KQED)

From Cup to Coupe: A History of Our Favorite Champagne Glass With the release of A Year in Champagne in select theaters and on iTunes March 6, we've had Champagne on the brain. (Food52)

With emerging markets such as Russia and China facing disruption, Rabobank has highlighted a shift in exporters’ focus towards the US. (Drinks Business)

Friday Faves No. 131

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

The ladies-only beer club of Sweden launches their first pale ale (above). Tired of the guys at the bar mansplaining beer to them, they took brewing into their own hands. (PRI/The World)

'Cheese Cupid' Is Like Tinder For Wine And Cheese, But It's ALWAYS A Match (Huffington Post)

Mardi Gras is around the corner. The real story of Gumbo.  (Serious Eats)

That’s not a sheep, it’s a WiFi router! It’s also a sheep. (Grist)

Helena Bonham Carter strips off with a tuna in ad campaign against overfishing. Alas, click bait has not been proven to lead to activism, or even good everyday choices. (London Evening Standard)

Siracha has gone about as mainstream as an ingredient can go — it's now a new Heinz ketchup flavor.  (Laughing Squid)

Moxie — it makes Mainers mighty. Turns out that the treasured New England soda also makes a mean cocktail (or six). (Bangor Daily News)

Friday Faves No. 130

our favorite finds from the front lines of food

You think those little individual K-Cups of coffee are cute, do you? Sure, this little video is just a dramatization of what could happen. That's what you think now. But it's time to kill the K-Cup before the plastic wins. Don't say you weren't warned. (NPR)

New York’s Health Department Wants to Freeze All of Its Sushi An attack on authenticity? Good public heath sense? Other states already do it. (Munchies) 

Relax, people. You are the boss of your food. Stop being afraid of it. We’re "clean eating" our way to new eating disorders. Is orthorexia about to join the DSM?  (Salon) 

We see perfect produce. He sees pain and danger.  How the produce aisle looks to a migrant farmworker. (PRI/The World)

Bad for fish and bad for people: Meant to Keep Malaria Out, Mosquito Nets Are Used to Haul Fish In  (New York Times)

A Compound in Beer Might Save Your Brain from Degeneration "The beneficial compound is a flavonoid called xanthohumol, which is found in hops (and thus, in beer)." (Munchies)

If that inspired you to get your geek on, and throw around doozies like oxidation and red anthocyanin molecules, we've got you covered. Everything you ever wanted to know about cork, but were afraid to ask. A Chemist Explains Why Corks Matter When Storing Wine  (Wine Folly)

What does a fictional world taste like? Londoners will get a sample as a Game of Thrones pop-up restaurant offers a taste of Westeros. How about a sample of a dish called: “The Lies of Tyrion Lannister and his Proclaimed Innocence” which happens to be poached veal tongue with beetroot, horseradish and Oldtown Mustard”. (Guardian)

And if you think that sounds unappealing, how about beer made from treated waste water? A trial of home brewers and one commercial brewery in Oregon are giving it a go. "Clean Water Services spokesman Mark Jockers said his company is the top provider of recycled water in Oregon. Its high-purity water treatment system turns sewage into water that meets or exceeds all drinking water standards." Want a cricket burger to go with that? (NPR)

Will fish be the next up and coming fake meat? Sounds pretty good compared to "recycled" beer, right? (NPR)