The big news on the international spirits scene today is that the country of Sweden has sold state-owned Absolut Vodka to French conglomérat de boisson Pernod Ricard for $8.9 billion after a competitive auction. From Reuters:

Pernod beat the favourite, Jim Beam bourbon maker Fortune Brands (FO.N: Quote, Profile, Research), to win control of Sweden's Vin & Sprit VSG.UL, owner of the fast-growing Absolut brand, and gain a bigger presence in the U.S.

"The combination of a full price and the amount of debt to be raised definitely seems to have unnerved certain investors," said Stephen Surpless, senior analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald.

According to a report earlier this month, the three most popular drinks in the United States are martinis (with vodka or gin), mojitos and Red Bull with vodka. The New York Times just ran a big feature on feminine-oriented vodkas in Russia, which might work for Absolut, with its mastery of marketing and its wide variety of infused flavors.

For its part, Pernod Ricard expressed confidence in its new brand's market strength. From its press release:

In the United States, Absolut is the top premium spirits brand, selling more than 5 million 9 litre cases. It has a unique brand image built around values of creativity, innovation and cultural leadership.

In the rest of the world, with close to 6 million cases sold in 2007, Absolut is one of the most global brands in the industry with a significant presence in all the continents and a strong perception as a leader in the premium vodka category.

Pernod buys Absolut vodka [Reuters]
Traditional Martini Ranks Most Popular [Wine and Spirits Daily]
Russian Vodka with a Feminine Kick [NY Times]
Photo: Absolutini [Absolutdrinks.com]

Blogston Proper is your weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•How can a meal that includes marshmallow-topped pudding be a disappointment? [A Boston Food Diary]
•Yo, Ma! Can you lower the sound at YoMa? [Eat and Destroy]
•This is a little late in the making, but aww! [Dishing]

[Photo: Flickr: JDinBawlmer]

You know it happens, but it's still disturbing to be reminded of it: News came across the wires Friday that a cook and Seahawks fan in the Seattle suburb of Port Orchard, Wash. allegedly spit in a burger ordered by a customer wearing Steelers gear. From the Kitsap Sun:

Deputies said the 37-year-old man in Steelers garb took his daughters to a Mile Hill Drive fast food restaurant Saturday evening, and "began trading friendly barbs about his team and their victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL," reports said.

One employee told the man that he'd "better not say that to the guy that's making your food," but the man thought it was a joke, reports said.

That is, until he opened his "clamshell-style" hamburger container and discovered what he called a "loogie" on his hamburger.

The manager, hilariously, told Kitsap County sheriff's deputies his 24-year-old employee might just have hawked something into the food. What the deputies were hoping to find in the way of evidence of the crime when they searched his home, we couldn't tell you, but they found some marijuana when they got there, and brought the guy in.

The man also confessed to spitting in the 37-year-old's hamburger container to "gross him out ... because he was a Steelers fan," deputies said.

With a new sports season just starting and a lot of old rivalries coming back into the spotlight, we're here to remind diners to keep it civil and maybe wear neutral colors if you're in enemy territory, at least while picking up short-order food. It's not right that a few disgruntled sports fans/kitchen employees play like that, but you'd be naive if you thought they didn't.

Cook Accused of Spitting on Fan's Burger [AP]
Seahawks Fan — and Fast Food Cook — Arrested for Spitting on Steeler Fan's Burger [Kitsap Sun]
Opening Day 2008 [MLB]

By today's end, temperatures should be creeping up to the mid-40s and before the week ends, we'll be seeing whole days in the 60s! Yes, spring is almost here and while we couldn't be more excited to ditch our winter coat, we're feeling a strange burst of preemptive nostalgia for winter's foods, especially venison. Venison, for the uninitiated, is deer meet (don't think about Bambi's mother!). It's extremely lean, which makes it a nice choice for the diet-conscious, yet when it's prepared well, it's quite flavorful. The Hub has plenty of gorgeous dishes to offer the venison enthusiast. Here are three of the best.

•Amelia's Trattoria serves up a plate bursting with the flavors of cold-weather New England: pan-seared venison tenderloin with parsnip puree, blueberry demiglace, and fresh bay leaves. Parsnips! We'll miss those as well.
•If you can manage to get into the very popular O Ya, treat yourself to an order of very briefly seared venison tataki, which comes with a porcini crema and a drizzle of ponzu oil.
•Venison gets raw at Via Matta, where it's served as carpaccio alongside freshly cracked black pepper and smoked ricotta, two ingredients that make everything better.

Amelia's Trattoria [Official Site]
O Ya [MenuPages]
Via Matta [Official Site]

[Photo: Novelty Guns]

• Lopsided economy drives record nationwide food stamp use [NYTimes]
• Food prices up 9% since last year; pork bellies mostly flat [Forbes]
• Asia's stomach rumbles as rice prices have doubled in the past year [AsiaSentinel]
• Record high profits for egg co. led by record high egg prices [CNBC]
• Absolut, once produced by the Swedish gov't, bought by Pernod for $9b [Guardian]
• Californian megadairy proposal for NW Illinois gets mixed reception [Tribune]
• DC woos Fancy Food Show away from NYC starting in 2011 [WaPo]

We generally try to avoid large chains. Very broadly speaking, the food isn't usually that awesome and the experience results in us giving our money to some sort of mega-corporation that has a ton of policies we find objectionable. The exceptions to the rule? New England based pizzeria Bertucci's, which makes truly solid margherita pizzas, and nationwide burrito chain Chipotle. Chipotle's burritos have often satiated our craving when we find ourself in a Mexican-food wasteland (read: much of New York City) and if you have any self-control (we don't), they can easily comprise two meals. We also love the company's focus on sustainable foods (the company uses rBGH-free sour cream, an ever-increasing amount of organic produce, and meat from green companies like Niman Ranch).

Recently, we learned of a reason to like Chipotle even more when the Washington Post reported that the chain has started using pork from Shenandoah Valley based Polyface Farms in its Charlottesville, VA location. Polyface is, of course, run by Joel Salatin, the man immortalized in Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma. Although Chipotle has faced numerous challenges, including the need to install a new kitchen in Charlottesville, over the seventeen months its taken to bring Polyface products to the restaurant, it hasn't given up. Here's hoping that Chipotle takes this focus on local farms nationwide!

Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria [Official Site]
Chipotle [Official Site]
In Trial Run, Chipotle Heads to the Farm [Washington Post]
Polyface Farms [Official Site]
The Omnivore's Dilemma [Michael Pollan]

[Photo: Carnitas burrito, Flickr: skeptict]

We love watching people try roasted bone marrow for the first time. Inevitably, their faces quickly change from disgust at the sight of the marrow (which looks like...well, innards) to bliss at their first taste. Marrow is intensely rich and a little unctuous (in a good way) and just might be the ultimate comfort food. Best of all, it's a royal pain in the butt to make at home, so you never feel guilty about ordering it at restaurants. Try the following dishes, but take warning: once you try marrow, you'll crave it constantly.

•KO Prime serves their roasted bone marrow with our very favorite accompaniment: oxtail marmalade. Yes, that means that you're eating bread topped with beef topped with beef. Embrace it.
•At The Metropolitan Club, the roasted bone marrow dish is listed as one of the "eighth sins." It comes with whole-grain mustard and sweet hot pickles. Intriguingly unorthodox!
•Persephone, on the other hand, keeps things very traditional with marrow accompanied by a parsley/caper salad, Dijon mustard, grilled bread, and Maine sea salt. This last ingredient intensifies the marrow's flavor to such a degree that you just may find yourself making inappropriate noises of pleasure in the middle of the restaurant.

KO Prime [Official Site]
The Metropolitan Club [Official Site]
Persephone [Official Site]

[Photo: Amazon]

As you probably read in the FYI roundup, the U.S. is sending some health inspectors to Honduras to try to get a handle on a crop of tainted cantaloupes that have given a handful of Americans and Canadians salmonella. The melons, sent over by grower and packer Agropecuaria Montelibano, have of course been recalled, but not before they were distributed pretty widely, with 50 illnesses reported in 16 states.

But Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said the fruit was just fine, according to CNN.

"It's not in our fruit," he said about last week's report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that some Honduran cantaloupes may be contaminated with salmonella. "It's not true what they are saying. Logically, we believe it is an error."

"Permit me to make a demonstration," he said, then cut open the fruit, sliced off a chunk, put it in his mouth and chewed vigorously.

"I eat this fruit without any fear," he said with his mouth full. "It's a delicious fruit. Nothing happens to me!"

The FDA recommends that consumers take the following steps to reduce the risk of contracting Salmonella or other foodborne illnesses from cantaloupes:

* Purchase cantaloupes that are not bruised or damaged. If buying fresh-cut cantaloupe, be sure it is refrigerated or surrounded by ice.

* After purchase, refrigerate cantaloupes promptly.

* Wash hands with hot, soapy water before and after handling fresh cantaloupes.

* Scrub whole cantaloupes by using a clean produce brush and cool tap water immediately before eating. Don't use soap or detergents.

* Use clean cutting surfaces and utensils when cutting cantaloupes. Wash cutting boards, countertops, dishes, and utensils with hot water and soap between the preparation of raw meat, poultry, or seafood and the preparation of cantaloupe.

* If there happens to be a bruised or damaged area on a cantaloupe, cut away those parts before eating it.

* Leftover cut cantaloupe should be discarded if left at room temperature for more than two hours.

* Use a cooler with ice or use ice gel packs when transporting or storing cantaloupes outdoors.

FDA Warns of Salmonella Risk with Cantaloupes from Agropecuaria Montelibano [FDA Press Release]
US Health Inspectors Sent to Honduras [AP]
Honduran president defends melons by eating one [CNN]
FSIS to Host Public Meeting to Discuss Challenges and Solutions for Reducing the Incidence of E. coli O157:H7 in Raw Beef [USDA Press Release]
Photo: Askobac [Flickr]

Your weekly Boston restaurant review roundup, in convenient haiku form!

JP's coffee shops:
the Dig loves Sweet Christopher's
and Ula Cafe.

Nadeau stops by Banq,
finds it too loud to taste food,
which is quite a shame.

MC Slim JB's
at Burlington's New Jang Su:
great Korean fare!

First: shabu-shabu!
It's awesome for everyone
and Hub has great spots.

Cafe Italia
is excellent, finds Pfeiffer,
but menu puzzles.

Morris finds Z Square
way too college dining hall,
except not as good.

Inman's Benatti
gets A- from Schaffer.
That counts as a rave.

• Italian mozzarella contaminated with dioxin [BBC]
• Honduran cantaloupes with salmonella [AP]
• New Zealand tahini with salmonella [NZHerald]
• New Zealand honey with toxic tutu nectar (!) [Times]
• North Dakota venison with lead particles [StarTribune]

Hilarious: We have been giggling over these cereal boxes on Serious Eats all day. They got it from xkcd. Thought it was only appropriate to share:

Honey Bunches of Goats? Amazing. Truly.

Meat Cereals [Required Eating]
xkcd [Official Site]

As we've mourned before, Massachusetts abolished liquor-based happy hours in 1984. This means that, much to the dismay of the profligate yet penurious people of the state, bars and restaurants cannot offer free or reduced-price drinks. They can, however, offer free or reduced-price foods, which leads to very happy situations like that at Brasserie Jo, which offers free tarte flambees (like Alsatian pizzas!) from 5pm-7pm every day.

Excitingly, South End hotspot Pho Republique is getting in on the action as well with a special menu of "dim sum" available only at the bar from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Hey, you can name it after a meal generally served around brunch time all you want, but if it's only available at the bar and in the early evening, that's a happy hour you're dealing with. Misnaming aside, the menu looks delightful (curry potato samosa! candied garlic spare ribs!). The deal starts on April 1 and runs through May, so make your plans!

Brasserie Jo [MenuPages]
Brasserie Jo [Official Site]
Pho Republique [MenuPages]
Pho Republique [Official Site]

[Photo: Neon Boston]

Sad news to report. Herb Peterson, creator of McDonald's uber-popular Egg McMuffin, died on Tuesday of natural causes. He was 89 years old. A longtime advertising reprentative for McDonalds, he actively pushed the restaurant chain into expanding into the breakfast market. He eventually became a McDonald's franchisee. BY the time he passed away, Peterson was co-owner and operator of six McDonald's franchises in Santa Barbara and Goleta. From the International Herald Tribune:

Peterson came up with idea for the signature McDonald's breakfast item in 1972. He "was very partial to eggs Benedict," Fraker said, and worked on creating something similar. The egg sandwich consisted of an egg that had been formed in a Teflon circle with the yolk broken, topped with a slice of cheese and grilled Canadian bacon. It was served open-faced on a toasted and buttered English muffin. The Egg McMuffin made its debut at a restaurant in Santa Barbara that Peterson co-owned with his son, David Peterson.

Egg McMuffin inventor Herb Peterson dies in California at 89 [International Herald Tribune]

[Image via McDonald's]

•What food is depicted in this picture? [MP: Chicago]
•Why does the Phillies mascot look like a less awesome version of Wally, the Green Monster? [MP: Philadelphia]
•Why is San Francisco so pretty and filled with delicious burritos? [MP: San Francisco]
•Why is this tuna not in our belly right this second? [MP: South Florida]

• New USDA plan: to tell us less about meat recalls! [AP]
• Apparently, college students have poor food safety habits [Reuters]
• Much of the Asian Brown Cloud caused by cooking-related pollution [NYTimes]
• Chilean salmon factories rife with viruses, poor oversight [IHT]
• Training fish, in Pavlovian fashion, to swim towards a dinner bell? [Tribune]
• Inventor of Egg McMuffin makes it to the reassuring age of 89 [AP]

A fantastic read today in Slate got us thinking about this Chez Pim post from a few days ago. Both are about Spanish avant-garde cuisine, but while Slate wonders out loud whether technology-based trends such as foaming will make lasting marks on the food landscape even after their stellar popularity, Pim declares, in no uncertain or complimentary terms, the lasting impression a certain such restaurant left on her.

From Slate's Lisa Abend:

At its best, the Spanish version of "molecular gastronomy" stokes the emotions, shocks the senses, and, in the words (if not exactly the intentions) of that hedonistic gourmand Claude Lévi-Strauss, is "good to think." It's also often delicious.

But, from the beginning, some critics have scorned a mode of cooking that relies, in their opinion, too heavily on technology (as if an oven weren't a machine) and often chooses form over substance.

But Pim's complaint seems to cut to the heart of the matter: At "quite possibly the worst meal of my life" at Miguel Sanchez Romera's L'Esguard, north of Barcelona, she describes a meal that seems almost totally divorced from anything that seems like real food. With most dishes packaged in a gelatinous "Micrifilm," and served with what sounds like more attention to appearance than to taste, Pim pointedly complains about the chef's "grand idea:"

But you know what? Sometimes all we care about is if your grand idea tasted any good. Because if it isn't, then it's just a big pile of crap.

As for Slate's question of whether the 20-odd-year trend in hyper-experimental Spanish cooking will leave a long-lasting mark, well, we'll probably have to stay tuned. Likely, some techniques will become part of the long-term landscape, while others go away to die. What will become of Micrifilm? We'll let Pim cover that one.

Fish Foam and Spherified Mango Juice: Will Spanish Avant-Garde Cuisine Stand The Test Of Time? [Slate]
L'Esguard: Quite possibly the worst meal of my life [Chez Pim]
Photo: Salmon wrapped in Micrifilm at L'Esguard [Chez Pim]

The inability to resist a pun will be Diner's Agenda's downfall.

Wednesday, March 26
•Just when you thought the dining experience at UpStairs on the Square couldn't get any more lovelier or more baroque, they introduce a whole new element: opera. Tonight at 6:30, students from the Longy School of Music will perform arias and duets to accompany a three-course meal. Reservations for the meal, which costs $50, are going like hotcakes, so call (617) 864-1933 to reserve ASAP! [UpStairs on the Square]
•Boston Uncorked is celebrating its third birthday (coming soon: temper tantrums and an awful refusal to take naps) with a party at Vox Populi at 7pm. $39 gets you hors d'oeuvre, wine, and general good times and tickets may be purchased online. [Boston Uncorked]

Thursday, March 27
•Lucca goes luxe(r than usual) with a five-course dinner highlighting the wines of Castello di Ama, north of Siena. The oyster chowder with truffles is, in and of itself, a reason to pony up $125. Call (617) 742-5522 to reserve. [Lucca]

Sunday, March 30
•The lovely ladies of LUPEC Boston are throwing a ladies night at Toro to raise money for Dana-Farber. Admission is free, but the price of the delicious cocktails will go towards the cause. The fun starts at 9pm and no reservations are necessary. [LUPEC Boston]

Tuesday, April 1
•Hampshire House is having a party for (wait for it) bird conservation. Apparently, the proceeds from the cash bar will benefit the Audubon Society, which is lovely. The fun starts at 6pm and admission is free. [Hampshire House]

We imagine our parents laughing while reading New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov's article over whether or not to let his 16- and 17-year-old sons drink wine with dinner. He consults experts, some of whom tell him to give them sips, others who advise enforcing a strict no-alcohol policy until 21. (One even wishes the drinking age were 25!)

This was one issue that our parents never thought twice about, which is why, perhaps, Asimov's hand-wringing seems a little silly. Alcohol was never forbidden; if we wanted a sip of something, we could have it. For as long as we can remember, we had our own wine glass at dinnertime — it was just a lot less full than the other glasses. We were never offered beer or cocktails until we were 18 and had returned from college.

The other MenuPages editors had similar stories. MP: Boston's Leila was allowed a glass of wine with dinner throughout her teenaged years. Adam of MP: San Francisco was still in elementary school when he started taking sips from his parents' cups, although he didn't begin drinking wine or beer with dinner until he was 18. Neal of MP: Philadelphia was 14 when he was allowed a glass of wine on holidays and special occasions, and Adam of MP: Chicago wasn't all that interested in wine when he was first offered it at 14 or 15, but by 17 he was drinking wine with dinner and by 20 was sharing scotch with his parents.

So it's not exactly a representative sample, but it's telling that none of us has had any real drinking problems. Sure, we all drank more than we should have in college (didn't everyone?), but there are no stomach-pumping incidents or DUIs to report. Just a few bad hangovers. Which makes us think that Asimov should just chill out and let his kids have a glass of wine.

Can Sips at Home Prevent Binges? [New York Times]

Photo: gakrid [Flickr]

Hey, remember in February when we were so excited about the plethora of Boston-area chefs on the longlist of potential nominees for Beard Awards? Yeah, about that...on Monday, the shortlist of nominees (also known as "the actual nominees") was announced and somehow, the Hub suffered quite a blow. While Boston-area chefs and restaurants received thirteen nods on the longlist, the shortlist contains a mere three.

While we offer our very sincere congratulations to Patrick Connolly of Radius, Michael Leviton of Lumiere, and Marc Orfaly of Pigalle, we're a little sad that talented food folk like Oleana's pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick and restaurateur par excellence Christopher Meyers got the shaft. Oh well. If there's one creed we Bostonians hold sacred, it's this one: next year will be our year.

2008 Nominees [James Beard Foundation]
Radius [Official Site]
Lumiere [Official Site]
Pigalle [Official Site]
Oleana [Official Site]

• USAID cutting non-emergency food aid as prices soar [AllAfrica]
• Burmese refugees in Thailand going on an unexpected diet! [IHT]
• Illegal garbage dumps poison Italy's buffalo mozzarella industry [NYTimes]
• Ill. ties hunting and fishing licenses to child support payments [Tribune]
• Underground sugar economy taking hold in Calif. schools [Telegraph]
• Honduran president defiantly eats salmonella melon [CNN]

While celebrity chefs and other food personalities don't seem to be hurting for gigs and endorsement deals, actual restaurants are feeling the economic pinch right about now. Does that mean that food porn is more popular than actual food?

Over the weekend the trade magazine Restaurants and Institutions linked on its site an article from the Baltimore Sun that made the case that a faltering economy is leading to scrimping among restaurant customers:

Amid gloomy economic trends - falling real estate values, layoffs and stock market volatility - many consumers are changing their spending habits. And eating out is among the first expenses they look to trim in times of economic uncertainty, economists say. Consumers can adjust "in terms of frequency, spending levels and venues," said Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a food industry consulting and research firm.

But even as the trade rags paint a bleak economic picture for restaurants, restaurant-related media shows no sign of slowing down. Last month, the Baltimore Sun reported on the continuing popularity of the Food Network:

Now, almost 15 years later, the Food Network is going strong. In 2007, it had 90 million subscribers, which, according to Derek Baine, cable analyst with SNL Kagan, puts it on a par with such cable stalwarts as ESPN, Nickelodeon and MTV.

But for all the public's appetite for food media, where is its appetite for food? Perhaps the glossy pictures, lingo-filled dialogue and industry gossip work as a stand-in for the real experience for those unable to spring for frequent restaurant meals in these lean times.

Frankly, we hope not. Eating out is a good way to make a regular old evening special and can be done on the relative cheap. Part of the fun in eating out comes with discovering that perfect menu for your budget. We happen to know a great website that can help with that. Just saying.

CONSUMERS CUT WHERE THEY CAN; AREA RESTAURANTS, SMALL BUSINESSES SUFFER [Baltimore Sun, via Restaurants and Institutions]
Stagflation [Waiterrant]
From 'dump, stir' to reality, Food Network still cookingFrom 'dump, stir' to reality, Food Network still cooking [Baltimore Sun]
The Fat Pack Wonders if the Party's Over [NY Times]
Abstract: Chef on the Edge [New Yorker]
Photo: Courtesy of Sisudave [Flickr]

In this week's edition of The Tuesday Report, chains multiply like rabbits and West Roxbury suddenly has a busy dining scene.

Openings
Dedham: Today's Globe features a lengthy piece about Legacy Place, the mall coming to Dedham. It is CRAZY FANCY and will make the real Dedham Mall look even sadder than it already is. Aside from a Whole Foods (complete with cafe), the mall will include restaurants such as Ruth's Chris Steak House, Legal Sea Foods Finale , and b.good, as well as a new restaurant from the folks at the Aquitaine group. In contrast, the Dedham Mall that was referenced in The Departed will continue to hold it down with the nearby Pizzeria Uno. [Boston Globe]
Harvard Square: The Upper Crust is coming! The Upper Crust is coming! Harvard Square will soon have no less than ten pizzerias. Are we the only one who misses the pizzeria that used to be in the spot in the Garage now occupied by Crazy Dough's? They had delicious pies at very reasonable prices. [Chowhound]
Quincy: Guys, when Chipotle says they're going to enter a market, they mean it. They're getting set to open a Quincy location, which, if we're not mistaken (we wish the Chipotle website would stop crashing our Firefox!) will be the third new Boston-area location in as many months. [Chowhound]
West Roxbury: Something called Fresh Catch To Go is opening on Centre Street, near Holy Name. We're going to go out on a limb and guess that it will provide takeaway seafood. [Boston Food & Whine]

Closings
Brookline: Oh no! Taqueria Mexico, our second-favorite Brookline burrito spot, will be closing, to be replaced with a restaurant serving some sort of Italian-inspired sushi. We need a nap. And a carnitas burrito. [Brookline TAB Blog]
Newton: Yerardi's, the much-beloved Newton Italian restaurant, closed its doors on Saturday so that owner Fran Yerardi can focus on his burgeoning real estate career. [Newton TAB]
West Roxbury: Vintage, the high-end spot briefly helmed by Jeffrey Fournier, has closed, suffering the same cruel fate as the preceding restaurant in the location: Fontaine's Chicken, best known for their awesome neon sign. [Parkway Blog]

Changes of Plans
Charlestown: Looks like that third location of Petit Robert Bistro won't be happening after all. [Chowhound]

[Photo: Flickr: kylescollin]

The Comoros, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar, recently squashed a coup attempt on one of its three islands in a rather hilarious manner. Reuters reports that no one was injured in the invasion, and the rebel leader "was believed to have dressed up as a woman and to be trying to escape by boat to the nearby French-run island of Mayotte." They always try to escape to Mayotte! We make light of this because Comoros has had bloodless coups and coup attempts on average of once a year since it declared independence from France in the 1970s. National motto in this beautiful but isolated country of 700,000: "there's nothing to do, so let's have a coup!" (Their actual motto is "Unity - Solidarity - Development," but very few of those things have happened.)

This is a perfect opportunity to bring up the country's delightful and virtually unknown cuisine. Its basis is the standard Swahili assortment of coconut-based curries served with grilled meats and fish, fortified with Indian snack food and graced with a dollop of the French sandwich aesthetic. When we visited a few years ago, our very favorite food item was a particular sliced hard-boiled egg and cucumber sandwich, served in shops around the capital on fresh-baked baguettes (France's most laudable colonial legacy) with mayonnaise and spectacularly ripe tomato. We might have been biased toward the sandwich since we had been stuck in Africa for several months without decent bread, but we will say with some surety that it is was an artful combination of simple, fresh ingredients, and thoroughly satisfying to eat with two hands.

Our second favorite dish was tuna sambusas, which are basically like samosas but less flaky:

On mainland Africa, they're usually filled with beef or lentils, but here, it's a lot easier to source tuna than cow or pulses. At four to the dollar or so, one could really go to town on these.

Our third favorite dish was a beverage: tap water. After a few days, we were running low on funds to pay for the incredibly expensive French bottles that were the only available water supply in the marketplaces. Why no local bottled water like in every other country, we wondered? How do the people afford it? Surely they weren't drinking tap water, the septic scourge of the global South! But after several locals told us it was okay, we tried a glass and a light bulb went off: the country is a volcanic island chain, and we were sipping pure volcanic spring water! Don't tell anyone, or the next thing you it'll be crawling with Fiji executives.

Oh yes, they also have crazy-looking lobsters for you to eat:

If you go, avoid: the incredibly sour injera-like sponge cakes they try to serve you with fish curries. Ask for rice instead. Also, manioc; it's just not a very good tuber. Finally, plan your trip around avoiding election day &mdash they close all the roads in the country, and you'll have to hitch a ride with the Army. But it turns out the soldiers are quite friendly!

Comoros Claims Control Of Rebel Island [Reuters]
Comoros [Wikipedia]

[Photos: Lunchtime spread &mdash aidjihad/flickr; tuna sambusas &mdash kaysha/flickr (even though kaysha calls them samosas, they're really sambusas); lobster &mdash hughdoulton/flickr]

Boston Restaurant Weeks are behind us now and shan't return until the summer. Several restaurants are extending their deals, but for the rest, all we can do is look back and reflect. Predictably, Chowhound has been providing ample commentary on the various Restaurant Week menus. Below, a few highlights.

The Good: 'Hounder gini thought that dante was "one of the most enjoyable RW experiences I've had in the past few years", an opinion echoed by a majority of the thread's posters. Atos singled out Pigalle as "fantastic, great service." Olives won near-universal raves and, although Masa was chided for offering a reduced menu at Sunday lunch, 'hound Aphex thought it was "one of the best meals I've had in Boston."

The Bad: Rialto was called out for undercooked risotto and skimpy portions. Very sad, as we love Rialto like crazy.

The Decidedly Mixed: Sibling Rivalry was either excellent or just alright, depending on who you ask. Rocca may have sent out some lukewarm dishes, but lots of Chowhounders thought it was fun nonetheless.

What about you? Where did you go for Restaurant Weeks?

[Photo: Fish stew at Rocca, Flickr: kamico]

• How many times must we say breakfast cures obesity? [NYTimes]
• Portly Wales bans junk food from its hospitals [BBCNews]
• There's some kind of crazy poison honey going around NZ! [NZHerald]
• Note to Jared Diamond: corn's been in S. America 4eva [ScienceDaily]
• Canada's McD's to celebrate Earth Hour by dimming lights [NewsWire]

Blogston Proper is your weekly roundup of Hub-related food writing from all over the Internet. We read the blogs so you don't have to. But you should anyway, just to be nice.

•KO Prime is way sexy. [The Dish]
•Please stop leaving Cheerios under the table at Toro. [Undercover Blonde]
•The Taste of the South End was crazy delicious. [Bostonist]

[Photo: Flickr: afka bob]

Since reading this week's New Yorker profile of Momofuku chef David Chang, we've been fascinated with the idea of eating ostrich eggs. Early in the piece, Chang describes trying to cook one, with unappetizing results:

I wanted to pretend I was Fred Flintstone. So I got a big rondeau, put like two inches of oil, and I was gonna deep-fry the motherfucker, but there was so much water content in the white that it just sort of dispersed. It looked like cottage cheese.

We poked around online to see if there are any success stories of ostrich egg eating. After all, people have been trying to make ostriches a commercially viable livestock product for years, so there must be somebody out there promoting the eggs. We found some basic guidelines from the Indian Point Ostrich Ranch in Tehachapi (Kern County), Calif. Also a Chowhound thread on the topic. But our quick search couldn't turn up any in-depth recipes using the massive protein balls.

Meanwhile, the profile on Chang is great. Aside from the ostrich egg thing, he's inspiring both as a chef and a manager of people. The transcript of his speech to his staff is simultaneously riveting and shaming as you realize you don't even come close to understanding the word "dedication" as he does.

Abstract: Chef on the Edge [New Yorker]
Ostrich Eggs Are Edible [Indian Point Ostrich Ranch]
Ostrich Eggs?!? [Chowhound]
Momofuku Noodle Bar [MenuPages]
Momofuku Noodle Bar [Official Site]
Photo credit: Bartly2005 [Flickr]

[Above: First Lady Laura Bush with 2008 state Easter eggs]

The White House has a lot of great food traditions, from the presidential pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey to the traditional cheeseburger pizza enjoyed by George W. Bush. There's also, of course, a great to-do over holiday meals, not the least of which is Easter brunch. Thanks to Time magazine, we're pasting this year's menu below. Don't you wish you'd been invited?

Also, check the link below the menu to the 2008 state Easter eggs.

THE WHITE HOUSE

OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY

MENU FOR

EASTER BRUNCH

Honey Baked Ham with Maple Mustard Sauce

Eggs Benedict

Bacon

Biscuits

Spinach Salad

Waffles

Sautéed Asparagus

Cheese Grits

Fresh Fruit Platter

Double Coconut Layer Cake

Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries

2008 State Easter Eggs [White House]
White House Menu for Easter Brunch [Time]
Photo courtesy of the White House

As longtime readers know, we have an abiding fondness for the oasis of affordability in a sea of ridiculousness that is the Copley Place Chili's Grill & Bar. Tragically, however, we learned today from a tipster that the restaurant has closed. (Insert moment of silence here.)

Now that we've all recovered from the sadness of a restaurant we never went to closing its doors, let's look ahead. A call to the Simon Property Group, which operates Copley Place, revealed that, while the new tenant of the former Chili's space will almost definitely be another restaurant, nothing is known about what sort of restaurant it might be. We will, personally, die of shock if its anything other than a steakhouse or maybe, maybe a high-end, high-concept Italian restaurant.

What do you think? Are we doomed to yet another steakhouse or will the Chili's get an all-new dining concept? What would you actually like to see? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Chili's Grill & Bar [MenuPages]
Chili's Grill & Bar [Official Site]

[Photo: Christina O. Lee]

• Popeye's founder dies at 64 of scary saliva gland cancer [LATimes]
• KFC, bowing to healthy eating craze, introduces grilled chicken [USAToday]
• A primer on umami, if you've been living under a culinary rock [Tribune]
• After talking a good game, WFP now really needs emergency $500m [AFP]
• Nestle complaining that biofuels wiping out our food supply, etc. [SwissInfo]

Big news on the labor front from a big chain that's been all up in the headlines: After losing a big huge class-action suit in California, Starbucks has to pay more than $100 million to about 120,000 current and former baristas in that state whose tips it diverted to shift supervisors.

In California, owners, managers or other “agents” of business owners can't share in tips. In the first phase of the class-action suit, [San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia] Cowett ruled that shift supervisors were essentially agents under state labor law, and therefore the company's policy allowing them to share in tips violated that law.

The company argued that shift supervisors were not managers or supervisors, that they performed many of the same tasks as baristas, and should share in the tips.

As the coffee giant clamors to extract itself from its scalding pot of labor trouble, we were just a little delighted to discover that a heating element in that pot is the Industrial Workers of the World. That's right, at least some Starbucks workers are organized with the party of Eugene Debs and Utah Phillips. Wow. Could it be there's power in a union after all? This one's for you, Wobblies! From now on we're taking our coffee red.

Starbucks ruling: Pay $105 million in tips case [San Diego Union Tribune]
Starbucks Union [Main Site]
Starbucks [Main Site]
Industrial Workers of the World [Wikipedia]

Behold, five restaurants that can still seat a party of four on Easter Sunday. You're welcome.

•Beehive: pretty much any time after 5:30pm
•Hampshire House: 12pm, 2pm, 4pm. Although these may be early seatings, the restaurant stresses that this is Easter dinner, not Easter brunch.
•Meritage: 1pm
•Sandrine's Bistro: almost any time between 12pm-6pm.
•Terramia Ristorante: almost any time after 2pm.

Beehive [Official Site]
Hampshire House [Official Site]
Meritage [Official Site]
Sandrine's Bistro [Official Site]
Terramia Ristorante [Official Site]

[Photo: Bunny Rabbits]

It's Friday. We won't keep you. Just wanted to put in a word for one of our favorite courses. And who better to sing it for us than the Mighty Boosh? Nobody, that's who. So here you go: The Soup Song

Your weekly Boston restaurant review roundup, in convenient haiku form!

Dig visits Austin,
tries BBQ brisket, beer,
and lots of street food.

Nadeau's at Grezzo,
finds fabulous, if strange, food
that chefs just might steal.

MC Slim JB
tries Newton's Farm Grill, loves it.
Gyros are damn good.

Cafeteria
is just alright, finds the Globe.
Location trumps food.

Cheap Eats at Gitlo,
some say the Hub's best dim sum.
Hell yeah, it sure is!

Sauce: Persephone
is a good sign for Fort Point,
but sort of pricey.

Beehive gets a C
from Herald. Hype has calmed down,
but food makes "stumbles."

Canto 6 canneles
are like tiny creme brulees.
Fifty cents? Awesome.

• Starbucks whacked for $100m in Calif. baristi tip lawsuit [LATimes]
• If you YouTube your taco-related misdemeanors, you go to jail! [AP]
• Seemingly moral Volvo fined $20m in Iraqi oil-for-food schemes [Forbes]
• Newly discovered giant Antarctic marine species probably taste bad [NYTimes]
• Food makers' plan to weather recession: probiotics, i.e. health food [Reuters]

It didn't occur to us until seeing the below video that we've actually eaten this creature:

But we have and it was pretty good. On the plate it looked a bit like this (the white ones on the left):

It's called geoduck (pronounced gooey duck), but was listed on the menu as "giant clam," which we pictured looking more like this:

But of course that's something altogether different. Want to know how they turn that phallic mollusk into a pretty piece of sushi or sashimi? Serious Eats pulled this video from the Discovery Channel. We love Mike Rowe:

In Videos: Preparing Geoduck on Dirty Jobs [Required Eating]

Photos:
Geoduck in tank: Bee [Flickr]
Geoduck sushi: Mike Yung [Flickr]
Giant Clam: Barrierreefaustralia.com

•$15 for a croque madame? Oh hell no. [MP: Chicago]
•A year wait for a reservation? That's crazy! [MP: Philadelphia]
•Raw liver=gross. [MP: San Francisco]
•You know, you'd think that if you went to the trouble of trying to open a restaurant in a prostitute motel, the city might throw you a bone (no pun intended) and grant your licenses in a timely fashion. [MP: South Florida]

Just as you can't keep away from the farmer's market to try out all the produce newly coming into season, it's hard to keep away from the flea market, where that totally cool, vintage cutlery service refuses to let you go home without it. Let this happen a few times and you'll have a fork explosion, and that could hurt. But what to do with the stuff you're not using anymore? Unlike last week's farmer's market goodies it doesn't naturally disappear.

The folks at Boing Boing today showcased artist Osian Batyka-Williams, who is putting all those old forks, knives and spoons to good use elsewhere in the kitchen or dining room by making chairs out of them. Hope the tines are faced the right way!

Chair Made From Old Cutlery [Boing Boing]
Osian Batyka-Williams [Official Site]

Good Friday is tomorrow and for those observing, it's a time to abstain from meat. You could go vegetarian, but instead, we recommend fish, glorious fish. Good Friday is a time to keep it simple, food wise, so instead of defaulting to our usual endorsements of lobster stuffed with pancetta and truffles*, we've hunted down three relatively unadorned, yet excellent, picks from the sea.

•Visit Great Bay for the pan-seared Kona snapper with white rice risotto, roasted shallots, and baby carrots. It's delicious, but still earthy.
•All the food at Mare is organic, so you can feel good about treating the earth well. Try the sauteed halibut, which comes with preserved lemon, kalamata olives, and chantarelle mushrooms for a taste of the Mediterranean on a cold day.
•One of Boston's simplest and best fish preparations can be found at Yankee Lobster: a piece of salmon, broiled to perfection, and served unadorned, except for a wedge of lemon. Excellent.

*: Note: this is not, to the best of our knowledge, a real dish.

Great Bay [Official Site]
Mare [Official Site]