World’s Oldest Cheese Found In China
Image Source: Wanjing Ping
About 20 years ago in the Tarim Basin of China's northwest Xinjiang region, researchers discovered three ancient mummies with strange off-white clumps around their necks. The clumps turned out to be chunks of preserved cheese, important artifacts revealing China's ancient culinary customs. Last month, scientists determined that the clumps were 3,600 years old, the oldest cheese ever discovered. They also found traces of cow and goat DNA as well bacteria and yeast DNA, all the ingredients needed to ferment a soft kefir cheese. While cheese and dairy products may not be the first foods that come to mind when you think of Chinese cuisine, China has been making them for thousands of years. In fact, today, China is the world's second-largest consumer and third-largest producer of dairy products.
Battle Heats Up Over Who Invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos
Image Source: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Have you seen the Oscar-nominated movie Flamin' Hot? Or heard the inspiring (and well-paid) speeches of its real-life hero Richard Montañez? Or read his memoir, Flamin' Hot? For more than a decade, Montañez has been telling the feel-good, rags-to-riches story of how he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, one of Frito-Lay's most popular snacks. Problem is, it's not true. This 2021 LA Times article shares a mountain of evidence debunking Montañez's Flamin' Hot claim to fame. Frito-Lay says, “None of our records show that Richard was involved in any capacity in the Flamin’ Hot test market.” Montañez has just sued his former employers for fraud, defamation and other violations, claiming he was harmed when they denied his role in creating the Flamin' Hot phenomenon. A parable of the information age, this complex story makes it hard to determine what's real and what's fake. Who will be the ultimate arbiter? The courts.
Chiquita Banana Brand Held Liable For Deaths During Colombian Civil War
Image Source: Chiquita
In mid-June, Chiquita Brands International was found liable for financing the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a far-right Colombian paramilitary group known for mass killing, kidnapping civilians and mutilating their corpses. Chiquita was ordered to pay $38.3 million in damages to the families of eight men killed by the group during the country's recent civil war. The landmark federal ruling came after 17 years of legal proceedings and adds to the $25 million Chiquita was ordered to pay back in 2007 for funding the AUC. Chiquita may argue that it takes a bunch of cash to stay top banana in a war-torn country, but I'm now re-thinking my shopping list.
Momofuku Abandons Effort To Enforce Its "Chile Crunch" Trademark
Image Source: Courtesy of Momofuku
A few years ago, celebrity chef Dave Chang released his Momofuku brand of chili crunch. He also trademarked the term "chile crunch" and has a pending trademark on "chili crunch" with an "i." To protect the trademarks, Chang's lawyers recently began issuing cease-and-desist letters to competitors. But after vehement backlash about stifling competition, crushing immigrant dreams, and cashing in on Chinese culture, Dave Chang did an about face, publicly apologized, and abandoned the trademark crackdown. Because, really, should anyone own the rights to a term like "chili crunch"? That would be like owning the term "BBQ." No one has exclusive rights to BBQ! Or to chili crunch. Good on ya, Dave Chang, for realizing that.
Discovery Of 8,600-Year-Old Bread Gives Rise To Half-Baked Claims
Image Source: Getty Images
Archaeologists in southern Turkey's ancient Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük recently discovered unbaked, leavened bread containing wheat, barley, and pea seeds dated to around 6,600 BCE. "We can say that this finding in Çatalhöyük is the world's oldest bread," claimed Ali Umut Turkcan, Head of Anadolu University's Excavation Team. However, back in 2018, researchers in Jordan uncovered an older, unleavened flatbread at the Black Desert Shubayqa site that dated to around 12,400 BCE. Which country can lay claim to the world's oldest bread? It depends on how you define bread. If unleavened breads such as lavash and tortillas are indeed breads, then Turkey's recent claim to the world's oldest bread doesn't hold water.
Scientists Discover 1700-Year-Old Egg That Still Contains Liquid
Image Source: Edward Biddulph
An ancient Roman wishing well called Berryfields sits about 50 miles northwest of London. Archaeologists have pulled various objects from the muddy pit, including coins, bones, and the world's oldest unintentionally preserved egg. Apparently, Romans tossed eggs into the wishing well to pray for fertility. The eggs went to the right place: Berryfields' clay composition and anaerobic conditions created a protective cocoon that safeguarded this egg for 1700 years. Recent micro CT scans also revealed that the egg, miraculously, is still full of liquid. Scientists plan to carefully extract the liquid to determine the breed of chicken it came from. Roman chefs, meanwhile, are contemplating the egg's resurrection as a frittata.
Would You Wait 43 Years To Taste This Kobe Beef?
Image Source: Asahiya
Real Japanese Kobe beef is notoriously expensive, but you can taste it in a beef croquette for only $18.20. You just have to wait 43 years. Back in 1999, the family-run butcher shop Asahiya in Takasago City, Japan, began selling its Kobe beef online. As a trial incentive, they offered low-priced, deep-fried "Extreme Croquettes" made from three-year-old female A5 Kobe beef and potatoes sourced from a local ranch. The marketing stunt was so successful that there are now 63,000 people in ‘line’ for the loss leader product. Third-generation store owner Shigeru Nitta said that about half of the people who try Extreme Croquettes end up ordering their Kobe beef, so it’s been a sound marketing strategy. Personally speaking, though, I don't have that long to wait!
The First Tomato Grown In Space Goes Missing For 8 Months
Image Source: NASA
Last March, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio grew a red robin tomato on the International Space Station, a giant leap forward for plant-kind. Rubio also completed the longest single spaceflight for an American astronaut, 371 days. But when Rubio returned to Earth in September, there was a blemish on his legacy: He lost the tomato. "I was pretty confident that I Velcroed it where I was supposed to Velcro it, and then I came back and it was gone," said Rubio. Did it just float away? Did he dare to eat the first tomato grown in space, and with it, reams of valuable scientific research? Luckily, he was exonerated by Major Jasmin Moghbeli, a NASA crew member currently aboard the space station. “We found the tomato,” said Moghbeli. Whew—the OG space tomato is safe. What will astronauts grow next?
FTC Cracks Down On Food Companies For Paid Posts By Nutrition Influencers
Image Source: The Examiner/Washington Post
Big sugar is getting a slap on the wrist. The Federal Trade Commission sent a warning letter recently to American Beverage, a lobbying group funded by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The same letter went to the Canadian Sugar Institute and a dozen health influencers with over 6 million followers on TikTok and Instagram (collectively). The charge? Influencers failed to disclose that big sugar was behind their paid advertising. Tsk, tsk. Beware the side on which your bread is buttered! And good on the FTC for enforcing transparency on social media. It's a jungle out there.
Image Source: Imaikouba
Just a decade ago, quality handmade pasta tools were found mostly in Italy in the occasional specialty shop or from a local craftsperson. Today, a new wave of artisan pasta toolmakers has emerged around the world, mostly outside of Italy. Take, for example, Japan's Imaikouba, Oregon's Wooden Essentials, or Nonna's Wood Shop in British Columbia. These boutique companies make gorgeous hand-carved wooden ravioli molds, brass pasta wheels, and intricate corzetti stamps with stunning details. If you like playing with pasta dough (or know a cook who'd appreciate a unique gift), beautiful pasta tools are now much easier to come by.
