No-nonsense, no-frills potato news stories from around the world
From an airplane to an ancient ruin, yes, you can get fries with that, writes Sam Lin-Sommer, Gastro Obscura Editorial Fellow in this article. For a chain that prides itself on conformity, McDonald’s boasts some rebels among its franchises, Lin-Sommer writes. In Taupo, New Zealand, kids eat Happy Meals inside a red-and-silver 20-seater airplane from 1943. Sometimes, the chain’s deep fryers sit atop historical artifacts.
“You’ve got your foodies, you’ve got your chefs and then the category of bloody good cooks. But somewhere in there are the foodsters, people who simply like food and prefer to eat it without deep fried grapes, sun dried pansies or a jus,” writes Diane Cassere in a tongue-in-cheek article published by the Daily Maverick. In her opinion, “the most prevalent abuse of a vegetable is that of the potato. Manipulate the potato at your peril, it is the start of a moral decline let alone a crime against foodstuffs…”
Robertson, the small New South Wales village that is home to film stars such as Miriam Margolyes and the movie Babe, has had its biggest win yet. The town’s Big Potato sculpture has officially been named Australia’s Sh*ttest Big Thing. The large icon was described by competition organisers as “looking like it’s been up for three days straight”.
Happy Fathers Day to all Spud Dads out there! I received a copy of a delightful little piece sent to a good friend of mine by his kids, and I translated it into English. I hope you enjoy it as well? It is titled “My Dad is an Iron Man”…
Cold french fries are bad enough. But cold, old french fries are even worse. That’s the surprise from Ronald McDonald that one Illinois couple stumbled upon during home renovations, as Sara Smart reports for CNN. Researching the logo on the bag they discovered, the couple learned it was used in McDonald’s production from 1955 to 1961.
In a video shared by a Reddit user earlier this week, it is shown how an adorable dog is enthusiastically assisting two men to plant potatoes. “I can help with potatoes too,” reads the caption. The video has since gone viral and accumulated more than 48,000 upvotes on Reddit since it was shared and the numbers are quickly increasing.
Potato company Albert Bartlett in the UK is on a mission to track down #DougsLittleBro after the ‘world’s largest spud’ was discovered. Colin Craig-Brown, from Hamilton, New Zealand, found the huge 7.9kg potato in his vegetable garden last August, which went on to become a local celebrity in its hometown. Now the Airdrie-based potato brand have launched their #Dougslittlebro to dig up the spud’s sibling.
Canada’s spud conundrum is no small potatoes and it’s causing quite the commotion on Twitter. On Friday, January 21, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) tweeted a call-out asking for feedback. As Sarah Anderson writes on dished, they want to know: is it ok if they change the size of cubed and diced potatoes sold in cans?
This past Friday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) posted this following on its Twitter feed @InspectionCan: “We want to hear from you! We’re seeking comments from Canadians on a proposed change to the size of diced white #potatoes sold in cans. Our consultation is open until February 21, 2022.” The response from Twitter users was swift and ongoing.
A massive Kiwi potato that is in the running to claim a world record has gone viral after the man who found it gave a hilarious interview to British TV. Waikato man Colin Craig-Brown in New Zealand spoke to former NZ broadcaster Philip Schofield on his popular This Morning breakfast show about the trials and tribulations of securing official recognition for his giant potato.
Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were having a bit of a cleanup in their vegetable garden in late August, to get ready for their usual flurry of spring planting. So he dug around it with a fork until he dug up the large root vegetable – which he realised, after poking it with the garden fork and tasting it, was a potato.
Accounting classes have never been this fun! Professor Ryan Ball, 47, has been teaching at The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business for more than nine years. This summer, he was teaching a master’s level class and decided to spice things up: He used the potato filter while teaching on Zoom, and his students loved it…
In Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a $200 plate of french fries stretches the definition of haute cuisine. The restaurant Serendipity 3 already claims world records for the most expensive burger ($295) and ice cream sundae ($1,000), so if the question is, “You want fries with that?” its answer is a resounding yes…
The picture above was spotted on British based cycling website, road.cc. The caption reads: “Gels and bars stuck to the top tube? Fine, we’ve seen it before. French bikepackers bundling baguettes back in their pockets? All good. Pizza slices taped to the top tube? That’s a new one… and as for raw potatoes packed into a pouch for a crunchy mid-ride snack… Well…
According to an article by Morgan Cutolo, published by Reader’s Digest, the Queen is privy to only the very best potatoes, to such an extent that every single one served to her is hand measured beforehand to ensure it’s suitable…
After the huge success of the inaugural competition last year, the Potato Photographer of the Year returns for 2021. The competition may not take itself too seriously, but like last year its proceeds will go to a very worthy cause – helping to tackle food poverty in the UK. Last year’s winner was Ray Spence, thanks to his inspired image ‘End of lockdown’.
Courtesy Jonny Hawkins.
Mr. Potato Head is no longer a mister. Hasbro, the company that
Soon after the photo above was published earlier today by Faces in Things on its channel @FacesPicks, it went viral – creating thousands of “likes”, retweets and of course many comments from other members of the Twitter community. Several thought that simply “hippotato” will do for the now famous spud, while @Blitz4532 replied “Sure you mean
From the tip of Farewell Spit to the very arse end of Stewart Island, there is one delicacy that unites Te Wai Pounamu: the humble green onion chip. But why? Alice Neville embarks on a quest for the true story behind this regional snacking quirk in a delightful article. We publish a brief excerpt here – the full story can be read on The Spinoff.
Or Belgian girl perhaps? Either way, men will be men…
Folks, a couple of Tweets featuring fashionable potato sack pants are making the rounds in cyberspace and have apparently gone viral to some extent. So I thought I’d scour Google to see what’s out there if burlap is your thing. And there seem to be plenty and more…
New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years, and there’s no doubt she ‘s-mash-ed’ the election. Her big wide smile is ‘ap-peeling’, inspirational messages ‘spud-tacular’ – and according to election results, 49 percent of Kiwis ‘rooted’ for her, writes Crystal Wu in a news story published by Newshub.
When you
“Whether you call them French fries, pommes frites, or chips, the fried potato is one of the most elusive of foods to get right, though countless entities try and most fail on a nearly daily basis,” writes David Todd McCarty in this delightful article published in The Standard. “The fact they they appear so simple, yet seem to be so difficult to master, may be one of the reasons we are so drawn to them,” McCarty figures. “They are a bit like good summer corn, random sex, or a perfect golf shot…
Folks, this remarkable photo of a pivot that so accurately resembles the skeleton of a dinosaur was sent to us by Dr Eugenia Banks, potato specialist working with the Ontario Potato Board in Canada. She told us that she “made the find” and took the picture when inspecting a potato field located in Everett, Ontario (near Alliston).
Well, so it is that there come times during one’s life when you just need to be on-target and on-time, and you just have to move as fast as you can, right? Even if you arrive slipping and sliding…
Well, as the expression goes – where there’s a will, there’s a way, right? Especially if a plan’s got to be made to rid one’s potatoes of them free-mealing Colorado potato beetles…
In this tongue in the cheek piece by columnist John Wetrosky in Minnesota, he recounts his own and other gardeners’ run-ins with Colorado potato beetles in the past. And he comes up with the perfect solution…
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