The African Cookbook is a compilation of recipes from 9 countries in Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, Sudan and Tanzania & Zanzibar. As well as a handful of recipes each section has short chapters on how food is served in each country. For more recipes and information go to Try African Food.
posted on Jul 9, 2008 - View this thread

The Best Sandwiches in America Esquire magazine lists the very best examples of many very delicious sandwiches nationwide.
posted on Feb 12, 2008 - View this thread

On ham, with a fascinating (well, unless you're kosher) history of colonial curing methods.
posted on Oct 19, 2007 - View this thread

8 Foods You Should Eat Everyday
posted on Aug 21, 2007 - View this thread

Suicide food. Yep, some animals just have an inexplicable death wish. Classic. Creepy. Cute. Sporty. Disturbingly sexy. Just plain confusing. These animals all have one thing in common. They're freakin' tasty.
posted on Apr 18, 2007 - View this thread

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
posted on Jan 28, 2007 - View this thread

Competitive eating continues to go from strength to strength in the USA. But there has to be another, more subtle role for a Horseman of the Oesophagus. Step forward Steve, a man who eats weird stuff so that we don't have to.
posted on Sep 7, 2006 - View this thread

FoodCandy. A foodie hang.
posted on Jul 13, 2006 - View this thread

Comparing Apples and Oranges. Which can you eat faster, onions or cheesecake? ROIs from (some) IFOCE records plotted together. The beginning of Sabermetrics for competitive eating? Of course, we can't ignore the Takeru Kobayashi effect. (See also earlier MeFi on International Competitive Eating.)
posted on Jun 28, 2006 - View this thread

Celebrities eating.
posted on Apr 5, 2006 - View this thread

The world's most expensive restaurants, though even these eateries pale in comparison to the $37,000 lunch and the $10,000 Martini on the Rock, poured over a diamond. As a New York Times food critic defends pricey meals, it is clear that times have changed since another famous Times critic drew letters of condemnation from the Vatican for his expensive dinner in 1975, which itself was a pale shadow of the most legendary costly meal ever, that of Antony and Cleopatra.
posted on Nov 16, 2005 - View this thread

Obesity: Epidemic or Myth?
posted on Nov 16, 2005 - View this thread

The Epicurean online. Charles Ranhofer's 1893 book The Epicurean is available online from the Michigan State University Library and the Museum as part of their Feeding America digital project. Ranhofer was the head chef at Delmonico's Restaurant from 1862 to 1894; he popularized the Escoffier version of French cooking to America, modifying it to take advantage of American foods such as turkey, squash, corn, and Pacific salmon. Besides thousands of recipes, The Epicurean discusses table settings, menus, various methods of presentation, and kitchen management. The book may be downloaded as a PDF in two parts.
posted on Sep 11, 2005 - View this thread

The World's Healthiest Foods
posted on Jun 24, 2005 - View this thread

World's best restaurant serves up molecular gastronomy.
(parallel thread)
posted on Apr 19, 2005 - View this thread

With the next round of bloggies (or web log awards for those not down with the hip lingo), there's some concern that some types of blogs with large communities may not be included. Specifically, communities that are well known for tons of online events, and large gathering places whose interactions leak in to and out from real life. So, the food bloggers (floggers?) have done what they do best, and started their own awards - with 14 nomination categories, the results plan to, at the very least, make us all drool, if not inspire a few feasts here and there.

(and yay to mefi for winning last year's best community blog!)
posted on Dec 8, 2004 - View this thread

Chocolate dipped pork fat is now on the menu in one of the Ukraine's trendiest restaurants. Because regular pork fat isn't chocolately enough.
posted on Jun 22, 2004 - View this thread

The Food Of Love: Oh, forget about music already. What should you cook if you want to woo a lover? According to Lisa Hilton, it all depends on what nationality (s)he is and what country you're living in... P.S. Shame on The Observer for choosing the inflammatory but incidental title I've Never Had Good Sex With A Vegetarian!
posted on May 15, 2004 - View this thread

Supersizing of America may be linked to high-fructose corn sweeteners
posted on Mar 26, 2004 - View this thread

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmm, Banana Worm Bread....... Most of us would cringe at the thought of eating our six legged friends, but many cultures eat insects as a standard practice. Perhaps we should lighten up and give it a shot ourselves! If one is so inclined there are clubs to join and resources available. Chocolate Chirpie Cookies, anyone?
posted on Mar 21, 2004 - View this thread

All This Progress Is Killing Us. "Increasingly, Western life is afflicted by the paradoxes of progress. Material circumstances keep improving, yet our quality of life may be no better as a result - especially in those cases, like food, where enough becomes too much."
posted on Mar 19, 2004 - View this thread

Interesting info for even the ardent salad dodgers (via bifurcated rivets)
posted on Feb 23, 2004 - View this thread

Do Most People Even Know What They're Eating? Pork is served as veal; tilapia as red snapper and who knows what goes into sausages and other processed meat and fish products? You don't have to be an observant Jew or Muslim to be worried. How many years have those chicken pieces been frozen? How much pork and beef have been added to them? As food is increasingly disguised (fish fingers, chicken nuggets, beefburgers) to hide its origins, feeding on hypocritical popular revulsion with animals' existence, death - and carcasses! - aren't consumers setting themselves up for an ever greater measure of food fraud? That is, if they still care. (And no, it's not just an American phenomenon.) [Via The Daily Gullet. ]
posted on Jan 23, 2004 - View this thread

Is It Politically Incorrect To Decry The Eating And Killing Of Civet Cats? Is Western consciousness of hypocrisy (due to the enormous number of animals we kill for food) preventing us from criticizing countries, like China, where practically all animals are eaten? Is sentimentality and the protection of animals we regard as cute better than having no qualms at all? I'm sure that the ratio of animals killed-per-capita is higher in the West than in China. Is there any moral difference? Probably not. Why, then, is it so shocking?
posted on Jan 19, 2004 - View this thread

Here are some ideas for Thanksgiving dinner, though not a circumstance I'd like to participate in. If ever there was a time to say Grace before dining, this certainly is one of those times. Pumpkin pie anyone?
posted on Nov 27, 2003 - View this thread

Food, Glorious Food - Of The Real Kind! What pumpkins? Forget about the pumpkins. What you really need is to get your lips round some courges d'hiver, you Yankee varmint philistines! (More inside.)
posted on Oct 31, 2003 - View this thread

Just Because They're Celebrity Chefs Doesn't Mean They Aren't Damn Fine Cooks: We're all supposed to yawn when it comes to TV Chefs, but that's just as silly as ignoring a writer or an actress because they're famous. Wolfgang Puck's website, for instance, is generously full of the most enticing recipes. On another note, my favourite TV chef, Rick Stein, has online a superb list of UK suppliers. Do you know of any other cuisine auteurs on the Web who are as generous with their savvy? Which chef wouldn't you mind having as your own private cook?
posted on Jun 28, 2003 - View this thread

50 ½ hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes? Will the belt come back to the USA this July 4th? Is The Fridge our best shot for the world title to come back? But with Kobayashi returning to defend his title, is William Perry just a 100 to 1 longshot? And in the excitement about the Hot Dog race, let's not forget the other great competitions! Who could ever forget Zhornitskiy's immortal achievement of 74 chicken wings in 12 minutes?

Welcome to the wide world of competitive eating! The runup to the grand 4th of July contest in Brooklyn may be winding its way to a city near you!

At 131 pounds, people didn't take him seriously - last year, some even thought that he should have been disqualified. But you gotta admit it - someone who can eat over 17 pounds of cow brains in 15 minutes is...well, awesome is one word....
posted on Jun 19, 2003 - View this thread

Chocolate, Blue 'Funky Fries' pulled from shelves The notorious freedom french fries with the flavors of chocolate, cinnamon and blue-colored variety have been pulled by Heinz due to poor sales and overall revulsion by consumers around the nation (especially here at MeFi). Can you think of other such horrific failed foods that were disgusting from the start?
posted on Jun 18, 2003 - View this thread

Are You A Food Snob? Do you like Posh Nosh? Does it turn you on or put you off? Find out! Watch it, though: you might be a reverse food snob or a junkista. Aha! OK, I'll go first: "My name is Miguel, I'm 47 and I'm a food snob..." [ Real required to view the funny clips in the second link.]
posted on May 25, 2003 - View this thread

Yes! Gulp Your Food Down! Feast your eyes on snackist salamanders and this future classic: not a salamander, but a very strange suction-feeding tadpole. [Quicktime required. ]
posted on May 23, 2003 - View this thread

"I explain to them that they are in my restaurant. And they must have the flounder the way I make it."
One of Washington's top chefs draws the line with picky diners. Welcome rebellion or self-important rant? Discuss.
(This is a Washington Post "Live Online" chat. The chef's letter is the first entry; scroll down further for reactions on both sides.)
posted on Apr 30, 2003 - View this thread

"64 grams of fat, 2,090 milligrams of sodium, and enough cholesterol to kill anything that's ever lived." 104% of your USDA daily requirements of saturated fat. 231% of your daily intake of cholesterol. Swanson's Hungry-Man All-Day Breakfast! (Pancakes included.)
posted on Feb 25, 2003 - View this thread

Don't know how to cook? You might find Cooking for Losers helpful, with new tips and recipes every day. Today:

Take one flour tortilla from the fridge and warm it slightly in the microwave. Spread a bit of cream cheese on it. Spread a bit of spicy sweet mustard on it. Top with a few slices of your favorite lunchmeat - pastrami, ham, turkey; this recipe does not work well with tofu products. Roll and consume. May be cut into multiple little rolly-things if more food is desired.

Share your own carefully hoarded recipes and be a guest loser.
posted on Feb 16, 2003 - View this thread

The Best Food You Never Had: Reading Jake Adam York's juicy essay on the art of the barbecue, I was once again sadly reminded I've never had the pleasure of tasting real, Southern U.S. open-pit barbecue. I have no idea whether it's better in Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky or Georgia; whether pork is better than beef; smoked is tastier than plain... Then I realized there are quite a number of other delicious foods (like fresh abalone sashimi; Alaskan king crab cooked live; a clam-bake on the beach; real wasabi; smoked sablefish; fresh unsalted caviar; an oyster Po'Boy...) I've never tried. It's an interesting gastronomic category: something you've read about and heard about and probably drooled over, that you just know you'd love if only you had a chance to try it! So forgive my curiosity: what's the best food you've never had? [Main link via Arts and Letters Daily]
posted on Feb 12, 2003 - View this thread

Oklahoma's state senator has made a prolific move for all of humanity He wants to require Oklahoma barbacue restaurants to offer napkins. Yes, seriously.

No confirmation if he was paid off by the napkin lobby.
posted on Feb 10, 2003 - View this thread

Teenage Girls Not Getting Enough Meat... At least, not according to the American Beef Industry, which concoted this laughably ridiculous "lifestyle" site to appeal to god knows who, ostensibly focused on teen girl issues (prom? dating?), but with a thinly veiled meaty agenda beneath it all. Bonus points for the horrifically Avrilesque domain name. Marketing. It's what's for dinner.
posted on Feb 1, 2003 - View this thread

The Year In Pizza is a review of the happenings in one of the worst years ever for the pizza industry; what's touching, and quirky about this corporate industry wrap up is the inclusion of brief memorials for pizza murder victims, those workers slain by hungry robbers for whatever little cash they had on them. It's hard to imagine a "year in printing & bindery" review listing all the victims of industrial press manglings.
posted on Jan 6, 2003 - View this thread

Not by Bread Alone: America's Culinary Heritage This online companion to a recent Cornell University Library exhibition has a handful of interesting images from the annals of food and drink. Does OXO make a Good Grips raisin seeder yet?
posted on Dec 6, 2002 - View this thread

Bad Flash! A little respect, gentlemen, please! Er, it's not that I'm a vegetarian, but, just this once, I think I'll stick to the hors-d'oeuvre and the Wild Turkey on the rocks, thank you very much. But have a happy Thanksgiving all the same - and don't let this Flash animation or that NYT registration ruin your appetite!
posted on Nov 28, 2002 - View this thread

An L.A. restaurateur just won a rare 2-pound mushroom in an annual "charity truffle auction" in Santa Monica. The winner paid $35,000 for the truffle after a fierce bidding war between a New York-based restaurant owner and Gunther IV, who placed his bids through a subsidiary due to the fact that he is, in fact, a dog. The canine heir to a vast German fortune lost the auction, and the honor of placing the highest recorded bid ever for a mushroom. Go ahead, read it again. This is all, mind you, before anyone actually got their hands on the giant 'shroom.
posted on Nov 11, 2002 - View this thread

The Quest for the Three Year Sandwich "This bad boy will last a minimum of three years at 80 degrees, six months at 100 degrees. They will travel to the swampiest swamp, the highest mountain, the most arid desert." Great. So glad my tax dollars are getting put to good use. If they want prepackaged food that's been around for ages, there's a corner store near my house that can fix them right up. Is this sort of thing really needed?
posted on Oct 29, 2002 - View this thread

Milk and meat from cloned cows and their offspring may be on store shelves by next year. Apparently breeders are already raising "scores" of clones in America. Just another step to making animals to suit our needs (domestication, organ cloning, and Silk from goat's milk.
posted on Sep 25, 2002 - View this thread

Ah, inspiring food and good writing. Recounting "first taste" experiences of Sea Urchin, Hearts of Artichokes à la Isman Bavaldy, and Cock in Wine, the perfect Pastrami sandwich, the sweet memory of honey and green mangoes, and about the late-onset cook, THE DOMESTIC MALE.
posted on Aug 18, 2002 - View this thread

Idiosyncratic Personal Recipes: You Say Yummy, I Say Yuck! Who the hell says de gustibus non disputandum est? On the other hand, doesn't everyone have a secret culinary delight that would have the rest of the world heaving and retching at the very mention of its ingredients? I know I do. Don't worry, though. Comfort is at hand, whatever your mental age: for we are not alone. Bwahahahaha!
posted on Jul 21, 2002 - View this thread

It's national vegetarian week, apparently. After reading this article on chicken nuggets, I might be converting, not that I have ever eaten a chicken nugget, of course. It's not just junk food that leaves one feeling green about the gills though. I identified all of the vegetables in this quiz, I don't know that I would want to eat all of them though.
posted on Jul 8, 2002 - View this thread

Accusations hurled at hot dog contest! Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi scarfed down 50.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes at Nathan's Famous Fourth of July international hot dog eating contest... but did he keep them all down for long enough? And you thought the National Spelling Bee Championships were intense!
posted on Jul 5, 2002 - View this thread

Chillies. Everything you never wanted to know about the fiery stuff can be found here. Apparently they provide a natural high.
posted on Jun 30, 2002 - View this thread

Betty Crocker makes it easy to eat well. On her website she has (among other things) a dinner planner, a page that figures out what groceries you need for a given set of recipes, and my favorite, a page where you input your ingredients, and she tells you what you can make with them! Everybody eats, and most of MeFi is just news or pop culture, so I think this is incredibly appropriate. What other uses do MeFites get out of the web, besides news, games, and their daily pr0n fix?
posted on Jun 20, 2002 - View this thread

What would you do to live to 150? (more inside)
posted on Jun 3, 2002 - View this thread

Very cool artwork made out of pieces of toast of various done-ness. "The toaster toasts and when it does this it reproduces itself." If I had a nickel for every time I made that observation. (via Bifurcated Rivets)
posted on May 23, 2002 - View this thread

The real story behind Krispy Kreme mania The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has become an object of derision in some journalism circles (scroll down a bit) for sending *four* reporters to cover the opening of a Krispy Kreme. In fact, it was just the latest victim of a carefully orchestrated campaign by KK and its p.r. minions (that first link is a PDF).
posted on Apr 30, 2002 - View this thread

Where are your limits? Inspired in part by mikhail's earlier post on the gelatin used in Guinness (and Bass), for those with voluntary diet restrictions (kosher, halal, vegetarian, etc.), what unexpected choices have you faced? Does it go beyond food? Toothpaste? Collagen injections? Silk? Buying a car with leather seats? A used car with leather seats?
posted on Mar 18, 2002 - View this thread

Eating Healthy Can Make You Sick With the current societal obsession with getting thin, what happens when people take this obession too far? Steven Bratman has researched this obession extensively and labeled it "orthorexia nervosa". But as interesting as this disorder is... (more inside)
posted on Feb 12, 2002 - View this thread

Chocolate french fries? I thought Heinz might have gone too far with green ketchup, but Cocoa Crispers, "brown chocolate fries designed for kids with a sweet tooth" really make my stomach turn. Also announced: Crunchy Rings - basically Tater Tots with a hole in the middle. Yum.
posted on Feb 11, 2002 - View this thread

The Food Timeline: Want to know when people first started eating watermelon? This site claims to tell you (roughly). I've no idea how accurate their dates are but this is a grand place to surf foodstuffs. (Also links to some ancient, ancient recipes that sound mouth-watering.)
posted on Jan 19, 2002 - View this thread

SF Chronicle article about a condition that I have seen but didn't know had a name. . . .Orthorexia Nervosa. . .The obsessive quest for healty food. . .I would suspect that your average computer-active person would NOT experience this condition but perhaps you know someone or perhaps live with someone who could be described in this way. . .
posted on Jan 7, 2002 - View this thread

As Seoul Prepares for Soccer World Cup, a Debate Is Unleashed Over Dog Meat. Cultures collide as FIFA warns and Brigitte Bardot threatens to organize boycotts of Korea over their Canine Cuisine. Koreans are offended. (more)...
posted on Dec 11, 2001 - View this thread

Love the Iron Chef? Be the Iron Chef! Some fan has reverse engineered selected Iron Chef recipes and put them on a site. As a frequently terrified fan of the show, I find them fascinating. Veal Stew Cheese Sauce, anyone? No?
posted on Nov 1, 2001 - View this thread

First they turned your ketchup green. Then, they turned your ketchup purple. Undaunted, Parkay has introduced that its margarine is now available in... pink and blue!
posted on Oct 31, 2001 - View this thread

Forget the Anthrax, Honey: Eat your Apple Pie According to the NYT's restaurant critic William Grimes, comfort food is making a comeback in the wake of WTC. Mine is cream and butter-loaded mashed potatoes with garlicky lamb chops. What's yours? And what does it all mean? (This is No. 629 in the All-American Anti-Terrorist Counter-Measures Series) Reg: rebarba/pachacha
posted on Oct 24, 2001 - View this thread

Today I had a great burrito at Tacos Guaymas. What kinds of food did you eat today? What do you normally eat? Where do you usually go? What kinds of food did you hate as a kid but find delectable now? What do you find yourself eating more of this summer than you did last?
posted on Sep 9, 2001 - View this thread

"People can eat Godzilla and become energetic and powerful. It's got dreams mixed in with fun," Takara spokeswoman Yoko Watanabe said Tuesday. Do I even need to comment? They've chopped up Godzilla and they're eating him. Where's Greenpeace when you need them? (Of course, maybe it's the pseudo-Godzilla from the recent American picture...I'd feel less bad about that.)
posted on Jun 13, 2001 - View this thread

Reports of the peanut's demise are greatly exaggerated. Efforts to counter the declining consumption of peanuts seem to be working, the National Peanut Board has announced. Sometimes you should feel like a nut.
posted on May 14, 2001 - View this thread

"If a Chinese cannot understand why Swiss people get so upset that they are eating St. Bernards, I would ask that same question: If Swiss people eat China's panda, how would Chinese feel?"

I expect they'd ask for a bite of the penis.
posted on Mar 28, 2001 - View this thread

In 2000, 40% of chickens sent to stores from seven plants was contaminated. And this is just the one we've heard about. Between stories like this and the animal diseases in Europe, meat is looking less and less appetizing. It looks like what the food industry gets away with may finally be too outrageous to be ignored. Not to mention whether non-meat foods are processed with any more attention to sanitation than meats. Of course if they can get away with cutting costs this way, they will.
posted on Mar 2, 2001 - View this thread

Enjoy what may be your last royalty-free Christmas dinner... Opinion solicitation: is either extreme right here? Is there a compromise solution that will satisfy both sides? Where do the rest of us (i.e., the food consumers) fit in to this?
posted on Dec 24, 2000 - View this thread

Eating food on the D.C. metro, revisited. I think it's funny that the girl is being represented by the Rutherford Institute.
posted on Dec 15, 2000 - View this thread

The Hacker's Diet has been around for a while (since 1991), created by John Walker, one of the founders of Autodesk. There's no major gimmick, just eat less than you burn. What it does offer, though, is a handy way of keeping track of your true weight using a weighted moving average, that helps dampen the oscillations of your daily water input & output. The author made Excel charts at first, but now he offers a version for the Palm. Happily, it works on even my ancient, wussy little Palm Pilot Personal edition (512K memory). I've been using it for about a month, and lost about ten pounds so far. Your mileage will almost undoubtedly vary.
posted on Jul 17, 2000 - View this thread

What a BIZARRE food site... I don't know which is more disturbing: watching young ravioli struck down in their prime, or witnessing a 10-year old Tammy Faye Baker chug a cold can of pasta & sauce.
posted on Apr 11, 2000 - View this thread

Internet snacks have been here for a while. It's when reality starts to look a little too much like parody when I get scared. At least they have their demographic pegged.
posted on Mar 14, 2000 - View this thread

One of the holy grails of the infosaturated overworking computer professionals like myself is a single food capable of giving all the nutrients you'd need for a meal, and be as easy as possible to prepare and eat. Some friends used to call this dream creation "food paste" or "foodstuff capsules" or most simply "fuel." I never thought my Jetsonian dream would ever come true, but now there's the Dilberito, with 100% of 23 vitamins and Jamba Juice's Smoothies. Why do I mention Jamba? Because I saw this poster in the SFO airport last night, and they even go so far as to answer the question "can I get too much Jamba?"
posted on Mar 6, 2000 - View this thread

For the low price of only $220, you can have 40 lbs of M&M's candies in your choice of 21 colors. School mascots could throw school-colored candy at crowds, but it's all fun and games til someone puts an eye out.
posted on Feb 22, 2000 - View this thread

The Ultimate Bad Candy Website is not the most high-end in production design but the stories of these two guys eating everything under the sun provided me with a a good 15 minutes of joy.
posted on Feb 10, 2000 - View this thread

From the "You learn something new everyday" file: apparently, if you're a vegan, you can't drink most red wines. Luckily for them, there's people selling vegan friendly wines. I've been a vegetarian for about 10 years now, and I was a vegan for a few months until I heard that you're not supposed to eat honey. That was a bit much for me, but like most things, there's always someone willing to take it even further.
posted on Feb 8, 2000 - View this thread

fast(er) food in so-cal. looks like we'll all be able to get our big macs a whopping 15 seconds faster at orange county drive throughs. why haven't they done this *inside* their stores, where it usually takes the cashier at least a minute to do the math, after the people in front of me spend 3 minutes digging through their pockets/wallets/purses to find their money and change.(disclosure: i was once a mcdonald's cashier)
posted on Jan 28, 2000 - View this thread

I saw this Butter site advertised on a billboard today. It's kind of funny, mostly fluff. I was expecting to see Surgeon General recommendations of 3-5 servings of butter a day, or recipies for butter cookies that use 3 sticks of butter per cookie, but thankfully, they didn't.
posted on Sep 4, 1999 - View this thread