Lucky Dip – Friday, June 3rd, 2011

The big food news in the US this week was about the new plate-shaped food guide. And while still not perfect, it more appropriately addresses proportion of food consumed rather than number of portions or overall portion sizes, which always seemed to confuse people because there were so many different rules (is it a serving of meat that should be the size of a deck of cards, or is that cheese?). Also, “meat” is now just “protein” and dairy products are off to the side, indicating that they’re optional, not required, which is how it should be. [Globe and Mail] [Reuters via Toronto Sun] [The Atlantic]

This is going to stir up some controversy – next week a Toronto councillor will put forward a motion to ban shark fin. Given the number of places in Chinatown that serve it or sell it, I’m expecting a big fight. [Toronto Life: The Dish]

Are cupcakes the answer to world peace? They are when British intelligence groups hack an Al Qaeda bomb manual and replace it with cupcake recipes. [The Telegraph]

In case it was ever disputed – nachos are a dish for sharing. [Toronto Star]

You can bet the farm that “farm to… “, well, pretty much anything should be dead and buried. [Food & Wine]

Eat some dirt, it’s good for you. [Toronto Sun]

Wait, can we really blame meat eaters for “killing vegetarians” by linking the various e.coli outbreaks to meat consumption? [Good.is]

Because baby humans are not baby cows – alternatives to feeding children’ cow’s milk. [Globe and Mail]

Why you’ll never see a rich person drinking a Pepsi. [Vanity Fair]

Some facts about food waste. [Chow]

 

How to Make a Lobster Roll When There’s More Than One Maritimer in the Room

We were lucky enough last week to be in on a delivery of Nova Scotia lobster. It seems that, once again, the supermarket chains are undercutting the fishers and are offering a dollar less per pound than it would cost to catch the things. So one enterprising fisher from Yarmouth decided to fill a truck with lobster and head to Toronto. Word went out through a local CSA network and at the appointed date and time, we all showed up, happy to pay $7 a pound  – a couple of bucks less than the cheapest local price and $3 more per pound than the chains were offering the fishers. There were even some local restaurants getting in on the deal, and the general concensus was that it was the best lobster we’d ever had outside of the Maritimes.

Greg and I were relatively conservative, buying only a half dozen. Our plan was to eat a couple, put two more into risotto and freeze the meat from the last two to pair with fiddleheads in a quiche at a later date. That didn’t happen, of course, because last Saturday, despite having had lobster for dinner the night before, we both had a hankering for lobster rolls.

The lobster roll is a specialty of the Atlantic provinces. McDonald’s even offers them in Nova Scotia. They do show up in the occasional fancy restaurant, but they are, for the most part, a roadside treat, purchased while driving around places like Peggy’s Cove; sweet chunks of fresh lobster meat presented on a soft white bun.

Problem is, there are as many ways to prepare this simple dish as there are Maritimers. And none of us can agree on the correct way to do it.

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