It is time to strap on the napkin because once again there is food in the news!
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We all knew that watching television makes for fat kids, but now we know why. It turns out, according to a new report, that the culprit may actually be the junk food commercials.
“We want kids to buy our products,” said Steven Rotter, chairman of the Rotter Group in New York, an agency that specializes in marketing to children. “But Mom and Dad, if your kid is eating too much and eating the wrong stuff, don’t let them have it.”
So, not only is it your fault you are fat, it is your fault that your kids are fat, as well.
- If you want to help kids get proper nutrition, and make a little money too, it seems that the New York City school system is looking for a head chef. The job, which pays $125,000 per year, requires the production of 800,000 meals per day that “appeal to youthful but discerning palates from Staten Island to the Bronx and cost about $2 each, if not less, to produce.” Piece of cake.
- If you think proper nutrition for kids is not important, you might want to look at another new study that “found that improving the diets of young offenders at a maximum security institution… cut offences by 25%.”
- While most kids think that school is prison, this guy waxes lyrical, in one of the most eloquent pieces I have ever read, about his sorrow over the introduction of fast food into the British prison system and longs for the good old days when he was “dining at Her Majesty’s table.”
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If you think cooking for the head of state would beat dining in prision, you might want to read Kim Jong Il’s Chef, which is excerpted in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly.
Kim Jong Il has an exceptionally discriminating palate. There is an episode I remember well that demonstrates this. I was preparing sushi in the Number 8 Banquet Hall. All of a sudden Kim Jong Il said, “Fujimoto, today’s sushi tastes a little different.”
He had had a lot to drink that evening before the meal, and I suggested that maybe that was the reason.
He replied, “Maybe…” He seemed doubtful, but didn’t pursue it any further.
However, when I returned to the kitchen, I checked the seasoning used that day and found that the sugar was ten grams less than usual! Kim Jong Il was the only one who had noticed. Even I was astonished at this.
With respect to rice, before cooking it a waiter and a kitchen staff member would inspect it grain by grain. Chipped and defective grains were extracted; only those with perfect form were presented.
- Finally, while I knew that French Toast was probably named for it’s inventor, rather than a country of origin, I always thought that the French Fry was named for the way the potatoes were cut, but now it seems that it was merely a case of mistaken identity¹. “The name French fries probably arose among non-Belgian allies fighting in the first world war alongside the Belgian army, which spoke French.”
- P.S. If you are suddenly thinking about fried potatoes, here is a recipe for fries and another for chips.
¹ This requires a subscription to see now. You can find a copy here.