Who doesn't love a list? This one is especially suited for those with a sweet tooth, as it is a listing of 50 famous desserts from around the world. From brownies in the US to cannoli in Sicily to dan tats in Hong Kong to Eszterhazy torte in Hungary, this list covers dozens of countries with a dessert that was made famous there.
You may have heard of The Golden Spurtle, the world porridge-making championship held in Carrbridge, Scotland. This year, Australians decided they needed their own, similar competition, so they created the Pearly Spurtle, named after the town of Pearl Beach where the contest was held. Fifteen competitors stirred and seasoned, creating a traditional porridge and a creative one, with five finalists going another round before the ultimate winner, who will go on to compete in Scotland, was chosen.
Another week, another multistate outbreak of food illness. This time it's jalapeño peppers from Mexico, which have sickened at least 345 people in 27 US states, hitting Colorado and Minnesota the hardest. The distributor has recalled the peppers and is notifying customers. The bacterial culprit for this outbreak was salmonella, which cause over a million infections each year in the US.
The US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., recently launched a cooking show called The Real Food Show with a stated goal of making “healthy, affordable cooking simple and accessible for every American.” Amy McCarthy of Ravenous watched the first episode of the show so you don't have to. Her report finds that the meal being prepared sounds perfectly normal, but the conversation that occurs while the guest chef is making the meal goes "off the rails" with rants on seed oils and a jab at "the microwave generation", whatever that is.
On her Substack, Annabel Langbein recently posted a "well-overdue dispatch from France," where New Zealand's most famous food writer will now spend half her time. She and her husband purchased an old farmhouse that they've been renovating, and she provides before and after photos of her charming French kitchen. Langbein also announced that she is "entertaining the idea of running a small cooking school," and is asking people to comment if they would be interested.
We'll end with a bit of good news regarding 'forever chemicals': researchers at Yale believe they have found an inexpensive method for cleaning up fields that have been contaminated with PFAS. The method doesn't damage the soil, and is relatively easy to administer. It involves spreading a thin layer of crushed alkaline rock to the soil, raising the pH level. This loosens the PFAS, which is then absorbed by cover crops like hemp or red fescue. Once the plants have captured the PFAS, they are harvested and converted into "biochar" that eliminates the chemical.