1). I just took the nerd test that I saw on Mark Ashton’s blog. According to the people as Wx Plotter, I am a lot less nerdy than I thought… although I have to say that “nerdiness” was qualified, rather skewed, in terms of science… click below to get assessed:
2). Update on my post about chocolate: For those of you who saw the Iron Chef America last night, I wasn’t surprised by the winner once the show got under way… (there, I didn’t ruin it for those of you who didn’t see – but fyi, it will be airing again on the Food Network at 11pm EST – it is definitely worth your while). I just wanted to point out that chocolate was successfully used to compliment a number of dishes – savory and sweet. As predicted, Laiskonis made his signature “Egg” dessert (see previous chocolate post) – which almost makes me think that chocolate might be another “perfect food.” Also, in line with my opinion that chile powder is another such food – chile was paired with hot chocolate (sweet).
Last night, Batali also made a pici, a pencil thick twisted noodle that I just read about in an article in Holly Hughe’s Best Food Writing of 2004. It’s weird how things you read about suddenly pop up in your life… but then again, when you’re reading about food (latest discoveries) and your watching cutting edge world-class chefs, I suppose the chance that two different references collide isn’t that remote. As well, Katrina Markhoff, who I just talked about in my previous chocolate post was one of the judges on this episode… how odd…
3). Did you know that coconut water (liquid inside the coconut shell) is nearly identical to blood plasma? In fact, in emergencies, it can be tapped directly into your bloodstream for intravenous hydration. This technique was employed during WII in the Pacific theater. I know what your thinking… however tempting, this does not give you an excuse to hook yourself up to an IV of pina colada…
