Controversy

Last week, we got into a heated discussion in our office pod at Sugar headquarters about the world's most polarizing foods. Kristy hates coconut, Kelly hates celery, and Camilla despises mayonnaise.

While I'm sure each one of us has a grave hatred of some ingredient or another, it occurred to me that these three condemned foods all have something in common. They're famously controversial, all of 'em: you either like mayonnaise/coconut/celery or you don't! On top of those, I'd add raw onions, Bloody Marys, and of course, cilantro. What foods would you add to the list?

Source: Flickr User peterme

Let's face it: dining out is a totally subjective experience, and I've often wished there were hard and fast rules in place for issues like splitting the bill or whether coat checks should be mandatory. The question du jour? Whether it's OK to bring a birthday cake to a restaurant.I've just turned 30, and I'm celebrating by having dinner with a dozen friends at a small, family-owned ethnic restaurant. It feels apropos to have a cake for the occasion, but since the event takes place at a restaurant, I worry that the whole cake-and-candles thing could not only be disruptive, but also put a strain on the restaurant.

Guidelines on birthday cake etiquette seem to vary. Some restaurants are happy to do it; some request a call ahead; many other high-end establishments charge an (often pricey) cake-cutting fee. Still, others think it's a practice that should be cut out entirely. "I'm always baffled by people bringing their own cake. Do you bring your own steak?" one commenter asked rhetorically on a discussion board about the topic.

I want to hear what you think: if a restaurant doesn't focus on dessert, is it OK to bring your own birthday cake, candles, and lighter to dinner? What do you think of a per-person plating fee? Please weigh in below.

After a Missouri ice cream shop was banned from selling cicada ice cream to customers, San Francisco's health department has followed suit by telling one restaurant that it can no longer sell chapulines or grasshopper tacos, citing the fact that the purveyor isn't USDA approved.

Although purportedly no one has gotten sick in the two-and-a-half years that the item's been offered on his menu, "the city is worried people will get sick," La Oaxaquena owner Harry Persaud told the San Francisco Chronicle. In Persaud's native Oaxaca, grasshoppers are par for the food course; here in the US, there isn't a single domestic grasshopper purveyor with federal approval.

While there are agricultural health and safety issues at hand, food bans like this open the floodgates to prohibit other cultural delicacies (turtle, pigeon, and snails, anyone?), something that I worry may undermine our country's vast array of ethnic food options. Do you believe this will set a precedent for other food bans?

Source: Flickr User william.neuheisel

Remember Duncan Hines's controversial "Hip Hop Cupcakes" commercial? Well, it wasn't the first (and certainly isn't the last) supermarket food campaign that's wrought with racially charged undertones.

The latest company to fall under attack is candy company Cadbury, which has come under fire for a new advertisement comparing supermodel Naomi Campbell to one of its latest products. The ad's tagline reads: "Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town," with an image of its Bliss chocolate bar.

An infuriated Campbell fired back, "I am shocked. It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women and black people. I do not find any humour in this. It is insulting and hurtful." Members of the civil rights community have asked Cadbury to apologize, and Campbell is reviewing her options against the company. Meanwhile, Cadbury has countered with an insistence that their campaign was "a light-hearted take on the social pretensions of Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss," although they've stopped circulating the ad.

In today's socially conscious culture, It's hard to believe that this classless campaign made it all the way to consumers. Cadbury: do the right thing, and issue an apology, otherwise you're almost sure to face a consumer boycott.

Source

Don't think that counterfeit bags and cosmetics are the only phony items on the market. Recent evidence suggests that the fake fish trade is rampant, too.

Studies and survey documents from private national universities to state regulation agencies show escolar masking as white tuna, tilapia sold as red snapper, and emperor fillets marketed as grouper in staggering numbers, by both food distributors and dining establishments.

Suppose that steamed red snapper sashimi you're reveling over is merely your garden-variety tilapia. Would you want to know the truth about its mislabeling — or, since you're enjoying it anyway, would you prefer to turn a blind eye?

For female chefs, the kitchen still feels like a man's world, but recently, a number of gender-centric events and accolades have been filling the food circuit, attempting to remedy the solution.

San Pellegrino announced its short list for its first-ever Best Female Chef award, and much of Manhattan's top talent has signed on to participate in a female chef dinner series, designed to "showcase and celebrate the talented women in the hospitality industry."

It's great to see women getting wider acknowledgment for their contributions to the restaurant industry, but I can't help but wonder if singling them out will only emphasize the divide between male and female chefs. Are female-specific industry acknowledgments helping to further women in whites — or simply perpetuating the differences between guys and gals in the kitchen?

I wonder what Prince William and Kate Middleton would say about this zinger. Burger King's CEO, Bernardo Hees, is in deep water over calling English food "terrible" and British women "unattractive." Hees told a group of University of Chicago students: "The food is terrible, and the women are not very attractive (in England). Here in Chicago, the food is good, and you are known for good-looking women."

Burger King spokespeople countered that the statement was merely a "humorous anecdote to connect with his audience," but the gaffe has British gastronomes up in arms. Some of the country's culinary authorities have spoken out against the statement, including Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing, who remarked that the CEO's comments were "an insult to British gastronomy."

From a marketing perspective, it never seems wise for restaurants to voice controversial opinions. Still, for the first time ever, British food and drink exports topped more than £10 billion. Looks like England is enjoying the last laugh.