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Showing posts with label taste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taste. Show all posts

Friday, December 12, 2008

CULTURE//SOCIETY: Happy National Poinsettia Day

Well, I found out from that today is National Poinsettia Day. So, in honor of that, I provide the following info - as a sort of public service announcement thingy! - OlderMusicGeek

From Suite 101...
National Poinsettia Day

December 12th is National Poinsettia Day. The day was named in honor of Joel Poinsett who died on this day in 1851, and after whom the plant is named. Joel was the First United States ambassador to Mexico and it was this gentleman who first introduced the bright red plant to his homeland. The traditionally red leaves against the bright green of the plant are a particular favorite in North American homes at Christmas time. Poinsettias now come in a variety of colors as well red as the traditional. Look for ones that are white, salmon pink, lilac or even with spots on the leaves. Occasionally blue and other colors are marketed too, but these are not natural hybrid colors, rather the plants are fed a colored dye to produce unique colors in the bracts (the colored leaves at the top of the plant).

From the Wikipedia entry...

Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly named poinsettia, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Mexico, and native to the Pacific coast of the United States. The shrub occurs in some parts of central and southern Mexico, and a few localities in Guatemala.[1] The name "poinsettia" is after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the US in 1828. The alternative names for the poinsettia are: Cuetlaxochitl (in Nahuatl Mexican language), Mexican flame leaf, Christmas star, Winter rose, Noche Buena, Lalupatae, Atatürk çiçeği ("Flower of Atatürk", in Turkey), Αλεξανδρινό (Alexandrian, in Greece), Pasqua and Stella di Natale (in Italy).

The plants' association with Christmas began in 16th century Mexico, where legend tells of a young girl who was too poor to provide a gift for the celebration of Jesus' birthday. The tale goes that the child was inspired by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Crimson "blossoms" sprouted from the weeds and became beautiful poinsettias.[4] From the 17th century, Franciscan monks in Mexico included the plants in their Christmas celebrations.[5]

Rumoured toxicity

In the United States and perhaps elsewhere, there is a common misconception that poinsettias are toxic. The origin of this could be found in the fact that most plants of the spurge genus are indeed toxic and also because the name of the plant seems to refer to the word poison. This misconception was spread by a 1919 urban legend[8] of a two-year-old child dying after consuming a poinsettia leaf. While it is true that the plant is not very toxic, those sensitive to latex may suffer an allergic reaction and it is therefore not advisable to bring the plants into the home of sensitive individuals.

From Snopes.com's "Poinsetting It Out"...

Since that non-poinsettia death in 1919, there haven't been any real ones either. And on wonder: a 50 pound child would have to eat more than one and a quarter pounds of poinsettia bracts (about 500 to 600 leaves) to exceed the experimental doses, according to the POISINDEX Information Service. (POISINDEX is the primary resource used by most poison control centers.) Further, the American Medical Association's Handbook Of Poisonous And Injurious Plants lists nothing more than occasional vomiting as a side effect of ingesting otherwise harmless poinsettia leaves. And in 1975, The Consumer Products Safety Commission cited lack of substantial evidence in its decision to deny a petition requiring warning labels for poinsettias...

Thom David, marketing manager of The Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California, has a way of convincing people (that poinsettias aren't poisonous). He's been known to grab a few bracts off the nearest poinsettia plant and eat them in front of persistent disbelievers. Seems to work, too - they don't doubt him after that.

Speaking from "bitter" experience, he says it's unlikely a kid or an animal will eat more than one bite. He describes the taste as far worse than the most bitter radicchio. Frankly, he says, the flavor is indescribably awful.

Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
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Saturday, January 19, 2008

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Hmmmm, Beer Mixed with Clam Juice and Tomato Juice

Electonica artist Moby did this rather humorous take on a new drink on his blog. While looking for a photo to put in this post, I found someone's rather humorous description of drinking the stuff! - OlderMusicGeek

you might know that i'm always sort of on the look out for new products that make absolutely no sense to me.
January 18, 2008

you might know that i'm always sort of on the look out for new products that make absolutely no sense to me.
('nuts and gum-together at last' as featured on the simpsons, for example).
years ago i found a flavored bottled water for pets. oh, that was a good one.
they had 'crispy beef flavored water' for dogs.
and 'tangy fish flavored water' for cats.
i'm not making this up. really. i even bought some just so people would believe me that such things existed.
well, today someone sent me a link to 'chelada'.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/37389

'what is chelada?' i hear you asking?
and 'is it disgusting?' i hear as your potential follow-up question.
well, here are the answers:

a-chelada is a new product from the anheuser-busch corporation. it combines budweiser beer with clam juice and tomato juice. in a can. for convenience and portability.

b-is it disgusting? well, i haven't tried it, but really, how could beer and clam juice and tomato juice in a can not be disgusting? i mean, how could it not be ipecac-like in it's ability to immediately cause the consumer to start vomiting uncontrollably?

maybe i'm mistaken. maybe people love it and swear by it and find it to be refreshing and tasty.
here's the scene: it's august 10th and it's very hot outside. you've just come back from a long and healthy bike ride and you're hot and sweaty and boy do you want something refreshing to slake your thirst.
'honey! i'm back from my bike ride and boy am i thirsty!'
'welcome back honey, would you like a room temperature can of beer mixed with clam juice?'
'boy would i!!'

i personally see the target market for chelada(clam flavored tomato beer)as being senior citizens who smoke those dark brown 'more' cigarettes and are on their 3rd bypass operation and need oxygen tanks to walk to their car and who've given up and life and want to ingest things that will fill them with a feeling of self-loathing and despair. but i could be wrong.
maybe the clam flavored tomato beer market is younger and more vibrant, sort of like the people who watch the bam margera show and drink mountain dew and listen to rape rock and punch waiters?
here's the ad campaign:

4 guys in a contemporary suv, nu-metal music playing. the 4 guys are drinking chelada clam flavored tomato beer and high-fiving while throwing their empty cans at homeless people and baby deer and bunnies.
voice over: 'extreme! when all you wanna do is party, go with chelada!'
commercial ends as the 4 chelada drinking guys chase a nun down a dark alley, high-fiving all the way.

maybe they're going for the youth market? a jaded youth market, tired of being catered to in unimaginably varied ways, hungry for something new. and what's newer than clam flavored tomato beer(in a 'lite' version for our fitness conscious consumers)?

it makes me wonder what's up next in the anheuser-busch new-product pipeline.

how about:

'partita': mexican rose wine in a can, flavored with real 'south of the border' lizard blood.

'G-filte': sweet passover wine, flavored with whitefish and guarana, for a 100% kosher-kick.

'coro': deep fried beer, filtered through grade-b beef, with 2 tablespoons of lard in every can.

it's a fantastic time to be alive.

-moby


...what the hell? I love you and the flavor combination does sound intriguing enough that you might try it. So, I crack the can and sniff (because that is a trait common amongst males in my family), in order to determine whether the substance has gone bad. Despite the "Born On" date, I still don't trust it. So, I take a whiff and am greeted with a sort of odd combination of water, beer sweat squeezed from a bartop cocktail napkin, and loneliness. Yup! That's Budweiser.

But, I'm not drinking this crap without first seeing it. I bust out one of the pint glasses I stole and fill it. Words cannot describe the horror .

Things that are wrong with this picture:

1. I am holding the glass up to the light, but you cannot see through it.

2. The fluid holds little resemblance to either of the base fluids it is made of.

Oh my Christ, what have I gotten myself into? I mean, I love you. I really do. But this seems a bit far. Like Santa leaving coal in your stocking only to beat you senseless with it.

Wary of my prey, I engaged it in a stare-down. It must know I am stronger and, thus, the victor in this battle:

Due almost entirely to my incredible sideburns, the Chelada backed down and I raised the glass, firing off a short prayer to my colon hoping my sudden faith would halt it evulsing my entire GI tract. Bottoms up? And...

Seconds pass in an eternity of silence...

Nothing. It just tastes like Budweiser, which is kind of a let down. I smell the drink again, wait, then take another sip assuming some critical mass need accumulate before catalyzing a chain reaction of "flavor bursts." Sadly, nothing it me. I put the pint down on the counter, dejected, and pick up the can to see if I needed to shake it or add my own clams or something.

And then it hits me.

Loved one, the evil of the Chelada is perhaps the most evil kind of evil. It is subtle. It sneaks up on you. You sip it and encounter almost nothing yet as I sit here writing, I can still taste the horrid combination of tomatoes, clams, and hops. The aftertaste of this vile substance is probably one of the most veiled evil things I have known and I can't get it to go away. I've brushed my teeth twice already and every time I burp (which has been several times) it comes right back.

So, please, don't imbibe this foul drink. I did it because I loved you enough to find out. To find out if this was the attack on humanity I suspected. It is. It is that and so much more.

The original site of Moby's piece
A link to Moby's blog
A link to Moby's website

The complete piece on Matt, the AntiGenius trying chelada
A link to antigenius.net/blog

Friday, January 04, 2008

CULTURE/SOCIETY: A Short Inquiry about Dry Fruit

This is from me, and is NOT a reprinted article. - OlderMusicGeek

Okay, I like dry fruit. I think trail mix - a mix of nuts and dry fruit is a delicious, healthy snack. I could eat a ton of the stuff.

Except for one part. I just have trouble with this.

Is it just me? Or do other people feel that bananas shouldn't crunch?

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