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A Glimpse Into a Gourmet Bug Tasting

YumSugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:50:09 -0800

It's one thing to say you'll try any sort of food, but another entirely to truly follow through on your promise. That's why, right before an eight-course gourmet bug tasting this week, I started bugging out over it. If I screamed when I saw insects in my apartment, how was I going to bring myself to eat them?

The one-of-a-kind dinner was organized by the Stanford Club of San Francisco, and featured everything from grasshoppers to dung beetles. Read on to find out how I fared throughout the meal.

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Would You Eat This Meat Hand?

YumSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:15:06 -0700

We've shared snippets of our own Halloween-themed edible body parts, but Not Martha has us eating out of her hand with her latest creation. She's just fashioned a meat hand, made of meatloaf, smothered in ketchup, topped with cheese, and finished off with nails and wrist bone made of onion. It's served on a bed of brain matter. In my opinion, the result is eerie, yet not too gruesome to eat.

Would You Eat Burger King's Windows 7 Whopper?

YumSugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:15:00 -0700

Last month, many of you said you'd chomp down on Red Robin's Wise Guy Burger, which includes not only a burger patty, but also mozzarella sticks and pepperoni slices. But what would you do if faced with Burger King Japan's Windows 7 Whopper?

To promote the new operating system, the limited-edition burger - available for seven days only - includes seven beef patties for the cost of ¥777 (about $8.50). Could you tackle this tall order?

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Would You Drink Kopi Luwak Coffee?

YumSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:50:33 -0700

In honor of today being National Coffee Day, I thought I'd ask all you coffee lovers out there how far you'd go for a good brew. At more than $100 a pound, kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, likely takes the title of the world's most expensive coffee. But it also holds the title of world's only twice-consumed coffee.

Before you've enjoyed it, it's been consumed by the palm civet, a cat-sized mammal native to Southeast Asia. The civet, or luwak, eats fresh coffee berries, which are collected by coffee specialists after they've been excreted. The beans are then washed in spring water and sold as coffee.

According to civet coffee connoisseurs, the animal's digestive enzymes help to mellow out the acidity, causing it to taste mild and smooth. I think I could give it a try - so long as you didn't tell me what it was first. What about you? Have you ever tried civet coffee?

Would You Eat This Wise Guy Burger?

YumSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:50:04 -0700

If the world's largest burger wasn't too much for you, maybe you can appreciate the newest addition to the burgerverse. Grub Street reports that casual chain Red Robin has created a breakthrough called the Wise Guy Burger, which consists of a burger patty, marinara sauce, pepperoni slices, peppers, tomatoes, and yes, mozzarella sticks. Although they say it "just seems wrong" to go there, as a lover of The Palin sandwich at Ike's, I must respectfully disagree. Is it something you'd try?

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Would You Drink Chicha Beer?

YumSugar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:15:36 -0700

"Off-centered stuff for off-centered people" is the slogan used on every beer at Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, a Milton, DE-based craft brewery. Although the company is perhaps best known for its 60-Minute India Pale Ale, it's made headlines recently for being one of the few to produce chicha, a traditional Peruvian beer made out of corn that's been milled and moistened - in the brewer's mouth.

"Ancient brewers through trial and error learned that the natural enzymes in saliva would convert the starch in corn into sugar, so it would ferment," Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione told the New York Times.

Although the beer's boiled for an hour and Calagione claims it's "completely sterile," I simply don't know if I can stomach a drink that has a stranger's saliva in it. What about you?

Source: Flickr User zieak

Would You Buy Wine Bottled in Plastic?

YumSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:50:22 -0700

Over the past couple of years, the wine industry has gone from mostly glass bottles with corks to a bevy of boxed varietals and wines with screwcaps. Now meet the industry's newest container contender: plastic wine bottles. Because they're one-eighth the weight of a typical glass bottle and take up 20 percent less space, plastic bottles are more cost effective and environmentally friendly. They also enable winemakers to save fuel by shipping more wine per truck. The downside? Plastic simply doesn't provide the same seal as glass, and the bottles come with "drink by" dates - so they'll only be used to package wines that are meant to be enjoyed right away. I can't help but wonder whether the plastic containers could pose a health hazard. How do you feel about the matter?

Would You Eat This Taiwanese Fried Bread Sandwich?

YumSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:00:28 -0700

Earlier this week, a new study found that different generations have distinct ideas of foods they consider to be comforting. The same goes for various cultures. In Taiwan, this fried-bread-on-fried-bread sandwich, known as sao bing you tiao, isn't just a popular breakfast item - it's also considered the ultimate in comfort food. You tiao (literally, "oil sticks" which resemble long, savory doughnuts) are sandwiched between sao bing, a flaky, sesame seed flatbread. Together, the two make a craveworthy, if greasy sandwich with a carb content that rivals Domino's Bread Bowl Pastas. In Taiwan, they're favored with a great, big warm bowl of Chinese soymilk. Would you try one?

Would You Drink This TruBlood Beverage?

YumSugar — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:50:00 -0700

True Blood fans: If you've ever wanted to know what a TruBlood, well, truly tastes like, you're in luck. At last weekend's Comic-Con, the producers of the show announced the launch of an official beverage, made from - what else? - the juice of blood oranges.

In the HBO series, vampires are accepted into society and coexist with humans - but rather than drink human blood, they imbibe a synthetic supplement, TruBlood. And while Tom Colicchio recently concocted a bloody good substitute, thirsty viewers can now pre-order the real McCoy.

I celebrated the season premiere with festive food of my own, so I can't wait to try the drink just for the novelty of it - although I won't likely be stocking my shelves with it. Would you buy this drink?

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Would You Eat This Taco Salad?

YumSugar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:50:10 -0700

While it's true that airlines have recently expanded their food offerings, the airport still dominates the market when it comes to travel meals. But - like Party and I witnessed during last year's trip to Aspen - airport food often falls incredibly flat. During recent travels, I experienced something similar when I ordered what I expected to be a taco salad, only to be greeted by a heaping pile of white rice, stringy chicken, overcooked corn, and wilted cilantro. Although I was starving, I was also completely grossed out, and tossed my takeout after just a few bites. Does this bowl of overcooked matter look like something you'd be willing to eat?