The Carnivore Project

Carnivore Heroes!

The Onion A.V. Club, one of my favorite web sites, runs a regular feature called the Taste Test, where they try all those foods you've always wondered about.  You know the ones - the dusty cans at the grocery store; the knock-off candies at the local dollar store; the stuff your weird great uncle Ralph brings to family pot-luck BBQs.

This week they tried pickled pig lips and Cajun Crawtator chips, in what might possibly be one of the best taste tests ever.  It was certainly a most worthy moment in the glorious history of meat-eating.

Noted one taster:  "It's not the taste, it's the texture. It's all chewy and kind of mooshy and gooey at the same time. It's got little bits of gristle that get caught in your teeth, so the flavor just lingers."

Well done, A.V. Club!  You are Official Carnivore Heroes.

Abel & Cole and the Christmas Goose (Updated with new images!)

    The Friday morning before Christmas, the Carnivore and I received a box of  fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, compliments of Abel & Cole.  Our box contained apples, fairtrade bananas, carrots, clementines, leeks, mushrooms, parsnips, potatoes, red onions, and a Savoy cabbage, with a liberal helping of good English dirt.  Leeks and parsnips are vegetables not usually found in the average American grocery store, so I’d never prepared either before.  Fortunately, my wonderful Fanny Farmer Cookbook provided plenty of guidance, and the Carnivore and I dined like kings for a week on the goodies we’d received. 

 

Restaurant Review - Maria's Market Cafe, Borough Market

   

On a recent trip to Borough market, the Carnivore and I stopped for breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast places in London - Maria's Market Cafe.  Located smack in the center of the market, Maria's is always worth a trip, both for its location and for its food.

Our intrepid Carnivore, bearing breakfast.

Restaurant Review - Isolabella, Red Lion Street

    Friday the ninth of January was one of those rare, awful, bone-chillingly cold nights here in London.  Jared and I met up after work at the Holborn tube station with the intent of finding someplace convivial to drink off the chill on Lamb’s Conduit Street, but only made it as far as Red Lion Street before we were sidetracked by an inviting-looking Italian restaurant.

Moo & Oink

Bacon: A Love Story (Pre-Orders)

Without even seeing the cover, I'm going to go out on a (short) limb and say that this will be the book of the year.

Heather Lauer is the blogger behind Bacon Unwrapped, an unrivalled bacon expert and the reigning champion of the Carnivore Project's Meat Bracket for her spirited championship of bacon. She's also a published author, with this recent announcement of "Bacon: A Love Story", coming from Collins.

"Bacon: A Love Story" hits the shelves in May. You should pre-order. (If it sits around too long, it gets cold and greasy).

Restaurant Review - Isolabella, Red Lion Street

    Friday the ninth of January was one of those rare, awful, bone-chillingly cold nights here in London.  Jared and I met up after work at the Holborn tube station with the intent of finding someplace convivial to drink off the chill on Lamb’s Conduit Street, but only made it as far as Red Lion Street before we were sidetracked by an inviting-looking Italian restaurant.

Good intentions

From Krispy Kreme:

To celebrate the upcoming inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America, we are treating our customers on this side of the pond to a Free Americano! 

From Monday 12th - 16th January 2009, leading up to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on the 20th January, customers can visit our stores and live the "Americano dream" with a complimentary coffee.  Simply visit one of our participating stores and declare "Yes We Can" to a member of our team to receive your coffee.

With coffee as good as our doughnuts, while there why not treat yourself to a Cinnamon Bun, our feature doughnut for January!

This is quite sweet, but also extremely wrong.

Americanos are a hideous bastardization of a good cup of coffee. Americans are prone to drinking coffee. Normal coffee. 'Filter' coffee. 'Brew' coffee. 'Percolated' coffee. Not espresso with added hot water. There's a difference, and you'd think that Krispy Kreme would know it. Especially since they're one of the few chains here that actually does serve a normal coffee-coffee.

Born Free.

The feel-good factor is lessened by PETA's involvement, but still - who doesn't like the idea of a 19th century sea creature the size of a Labrador being released into the wilderness to terrorize the Bush family?

(By way of Chris Perridas)

NYC eatery grants freedom to lobster centenarian

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer Verena Dobnik, Associated Press Writer - Sat Jan 10, 2:05 am ET

NEW YORK - A 140-year-old lobster once destined for a dinner plate received the gift of life Friday from a Park Avenue seafood restaurant.

George, the 20-pound supercentenarian crustacean, was freed by City Crab and Seafood in New York City.

"We applaud the folks at City Crab and Seafood for their compassionate decision to allow this noble old-timer to live out his days in freedom and peace," said Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA spokesman Michael McGraw said the group asked City Crab to return George to the Atlantic Ocean after a diner saw him at the restaurant, where steamed Maine lobster sells for $27 per pound. George had been caught off Newfoundland, Canada and lived in the tank for about 10 days before his release.

Some scientists estimate lobsters can live to be more than 100 years old. PETA and the restaurant guessed George's age at about 140, using a rule of thumb based on the creature's weight.

He was to be released Saturday near Kennebunkport, Maine, in an area where lobster trapping is forbidden.

The Canton Arms, Stockwell

    There were blackouts all over London last night, and the Carnivore and I found ourselves smack in the center of one.  A long, skinny swath of our neighborhood was left without power for several hours, rather inconveniently both after dark and during the dinner hour.  Nothing loath, we bumbled around in the dark for a while in search of candles and a lighter before deciding to ride the storm out in true English style:  at the pub.