Top 10 quirky food stories
Sejal Sukhadwala offers a smörgåsbord of recently reported quirky food stories from around the world.
Food news these days can be so full of doom and gloom. Obesity is on the rise! Beansprouts can kill you!
But it’s not all bad. We’ve assembled choice cuts of weird food stories that will make you chuckle, laugh out loud and, in one or two instances, hide behind the sofa.
Cucumbers in space
There’s been a lot of concern about E coli in cucumbers lately (although the recent outbreak of E coli has since been linked to beansprouts) – so perhaps a novel solution would be to grow cucumbers in space?
Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa is on a mission to grow this healthy salad vegetable on board the International Space Station, currently in orbit. It’s part of his research on whether future gastronauts could harvest their own food. If it weren’t for the small matter of air miles, I’m sure this bright idea could, ahem, take off.
Indians swallow live fish for asthma relief
Indians in the city of Hyderabad have been queuing up to eat live fish flavoured with ‘secret herbs’ that would no doubt be the envy of many a Michelin star chef. It’s believed to cure their asthma, in a legend perpetuated by an enterprising local family.
This fishy business is followed by a 45-day diet of 25 different foodstuffs which, let’s face it, sounds lovelier than languishing on an NHS waiting list.
The world’s most expensive kebab
Kebabs are just for Friday night on the bus journey home when you’ve had a pint too many, right? Well, not this one. UK chef Andy Bates has created the ‘world’s most expensive kebab’ for an eye-watering £750.
It’s made from milk-fed lamb, violet potatoes and edible gold leaf, and topped with a Krug champagne sauce. There might be a recession on, but someone clearly forgot to tell this chap.
Business Cookery Book
Is it a cookery book? Is it a business manual? It’s both! The new Business Cookery: Tried and Tested Recipes for Success by Hannah McNamara and Patrick White (HRM Global Ltd, £14.99) includes such gems as ‘what does tuna curry tell us about running a business?’
Destined to be a modern classic, this unique tome gives business and personal development advice via cookery-themed storytelling, recipes and food analogies.
Website lets women sell breast milk
Earlier this year, innovative British ice cream company, The Icecreamists, hit the headlines for putting breast milk ice cream on its menu, which was swiftly banned.
You may wonder: ‘but where does one source breast milk from?’ Well, wonder no more as some enterprising soul in the US has set up a website selling breast milk. It may never catch on as an ingredient (well, except for babies), but we should marvel at the fact that absolutely anything sells on the internet.
Cicada ice cream gets banned
It’s not just breast milk ice cream that’s been banned. Following the current trend for both insects in food and sensationalist ice cream flavours, a Missouri ice cream parlour’s cicada ice cream was pulled by those party poopers, the health and safely officials. Boo hoo.
Celebrity baby food diet
I hope baby food doesn’t become a big food trend (hmmm… yes, except for babies) because the next thing you know, some Michelin star chef might become ‘inspired’ enough to put it on their menu – and that would be rather disturbing, wouldn’t it?
Lady Gaga, Madonna, Cheryl Cole, Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow are reportedly turning to baby food to keep their svelte figures, well, über-svelte. Oh those crazy celebs, eh?
Teddy bear ‘kidnappers’ demand ransom in gluten-free cupcakes
Talking of babies – well, okay, a two year-old toddler from Brooklyn in this case – it’s worth remembering that they are humans too and, you know, they too can experience pain. Particularly when they lose their favourite teddy bear, and the ‘kidnappers’ demand a ransom of $10,000 worth of gluten-free cupcakes.
Thai chef deep-fries with his own bare hands
Kids, don’t try this at home! Chiang Mai chef Kann Trichan deep-fries chicken pieces with his own bare hands.
Did he discover his special talent after one too many glasses of vino? Did somebody challenge him at a stag do? No, apparently a squirrel once knocked a piece of mango in his boiling hot wok and he survived to tell the tale – and turned it into a Guinness world record-earning party trick.
Incredible cabbage leaf models
These sexy, amazing cabbage leaf models were created by respected Chinese artist Ju Duoqi – and NOT a bored housewife with too much leftover salad. Don’t they look uncannily like glamorous, baby food-eating celebrities?
Also worth your attention:
Comments
Be the first to comment
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature