In Case of Theft, Earliest Postmark Wins

This year’s National Broiler Council recipe contest winner turns out to be a recipe food writer Abby Mandel published last year, with two trivial changes (“a pinch” of clove became “ 1/8 teaspoon”). But the submitter will keep the $25,000 prize; the NBC holds that there are no totally new recipes.

Goat News

The chefs haven’t been announced yet, but keep your calendar clear for the annual Sonoma County Festival of Goat Cheese at Landmark Vineyard, Aug. 31.

Discriminating Diners: Their Eyes Are Brighter Than Their Mouths

“Your more discriminating customers get enhanced appetite appeal, while you get an easy-to-prepare, upscale product that boosts margins without costing you an arm, a leg--or even the price of an open flame grill.” That’s Icelandic (registered trademark) Brand Seafood, introducing SeaGrills (registered trademark): fish fillets with grill marks conveniently applied at the factory.

Next: Rattycakes

So a lot of people were horrified by James McGregor’s Wall Street Journal story about Super Deer, the restaurant in Guangzhou, China, which specializes in serving rat meat. They gasped at Lemon Deep-Fried Rat, Black Pepper Rat Knuckle, Seven-Color Rat Threads and Braised Rat (well, so did McGregor; in fact, he advised against any dish featuring “crispy rat skin,” which he said “coats the teeth with a stubborn slime” and tastes like “old chewing gum coated with Crisco”). But hey, look at rat cuisine this way. It’s how the French licked the snail problem: redefining it as a delicacy.

Known Throughout the World

In Italy seven men were recently found guilty of participating in a Bulgarian government conspiracy to sell counterfeit Johnny Walker Scotch.

Can’t Hear You--Our Taste Buds Are Going Out

Later this year McDonald’s plans to replace the traditional menu board and squawk-box in its drive-through lines with a live human being. They may decide to talk about “humanizing the ordering process,” but a big reason is those low-fidelity squawk-mikes, which . . . xxqtlzhbst well done, a side of fsktltss and a brkzzzzzzzzzpts.

This Bud Was Yours

As you grow older, you lose working taste buds. So: Since the average American eats four pounds of food a day, or altogether 36.5 tons between age 30 (when you have 245 taste buds) and age 80 (when you have about 88), figure on blowing one bud for, oh, roughly every 465 pounds of food you eat.