"Sure, they're playing the bloody diarrhea card."

As a microbiologist, I endorse this:

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Home-made bacon is better. Really.

This is why you should make your own bacon.  Industrial bacon is gross.  Roughly handled (that's why it's flabby-textured).  Squirted full of water (that's why it shrinks so much in your pan).  Not cured very long, and not smoked (that's why it's not very flavourful).  It's no wonder that home-smoked bacon is ridiculously better.  Make yourself some bacon.  Today.

Mario Batali agrees with me on the double down

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If only I could speak German.

A new German magazine. Via EatMeDaily:

BEEF! is for men who are interested in recipes –as well as Tokyo's tuna market, the sharpness of knives and the water pressure in their espresso machine. For men who find noodles boring unless they've made them themselves... In the past, cooking magazines were for women, and men's lifestyle magazines were for men. BEEF! combines the two in a fresh, informative and entertaining manner.

If only I could speak German. *sigh*

Worcestershire sauce

Of interest to barbecue fans everywhere:

After more than 170 years, the original recipe for Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce has been revealed. It was found in notes dating from the mid-1800s that were dumped in a skip by the sauce factory. Brian Keogh, a former Lea and Perrins accountant, discovered the notes, which were neatly written in sepia ink in two leather-bound folios, and rescued them.

As it happens, Worcestershire Sauce is related to Asian Fish Sauce. They both use fermented fish. Go figure.

The recipe?

Gourmet is dead. Long live gourmet!

A few months ago, I fired Gourmet magazine. While I was on vacation last week, they sent me this letter:

Dear Bbq Dude,

You've got the insider's knack for knowing where to go. What to order. Where to shop, stay and dine the world over. How to re-create top chefs' best dishes in your own home.

Or at least you did... until your GOURMET subscription expired recently.

Wait, I used to be cool because I subscribed to Gourmet? And now I'm not cool, so I should subscribe to be cool again? Really? I remember what it was like to be 14. It wasn't that much fun the first time around, and I'm rather surprised that a food magazine is trying to get me to relive that era of pimples and insecurity.

And, as it happens, turns out that I'm ahead of the curve. I'm a trendsetter. Condé Nast closed Gourmet magazine. While most news agencies have treated the death of Gourmet as a huge blow to quality food-writing, I, for one, greet the news with more relief than sorrow. Gourmet was already dead. Condé Nast just finally pulled the plug.

Worst recipe evar.

"Italian salad p50. Sounds just about the most revolting dish ever devised."

You should read it in the original to get the complete context, I merely present it here without comment:

Italian salad

1 pint cold cooked macaroni

½ pint cooked or tinned pears

½ pint grated raw carrot

French dressing to moisten

2 heaped tablespoons minced onion

½ pint cooked or minced string beans

Mix the chopped macaroni and vegetables; moisten with French dressing, flavouring with garlic if liked. Serve on a dish lined with lettuce leaves. Decorate with mayonnaise and minced pimento or chives.