And while we're on the topic of food...

Here's one for those of you who aren't so much into bug-infested cheese: cardboard dumplings courtesy of a particular 'chef' (let's use the term loosely) in Beijing.

Key quote: "You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.

Update: I guess I get a 'hoax horn' -- CNN has recanted their story.

Italian maggot cheese

I know the above title sounds like the name for a fictional metal band, or an insult from a brainy 9th grader. In fact neither is the case -- I'm referring to "casu marzu," a delicacy in certain segments of Italy.

I've got to thank NPR for this one, I heard a story on my way back from school on Tuesday (I think it's the one linked to at the top of that page) and it opened my eyes to a whole new world of cheese I don't want to eat.

For right around $100 a pound you too can purchase some maggoty sheep cheese -- on the black market, that is. The Italian government has banned the sale of casu marzu, but apparently it is still fairly readily available. Essentially it is a pecorino cheese that has been seeded with particular maggots which grow throughout the cheese, burrowing tiny tunnels through it and thereby changing the texture. The cheese is consumed maggots and all, and eye protection is recommended as the little buggers have a nasty habit of jumping all over you as you try to eat them.

I know, I know, there's nothing wrong with bug-eating and nutritionally I'm sure this stuff must be a protein whallop. But for better or worse I've got a thing against eating bugs (see question 8 on the meme below) and I think I'll give the marzu a pass for now.

I hate getting beat to the punch

As usual, Hutch is a faster blogger than me. Suffice it to say that I, too, really really liked the meal we shared last night. Everybody ought to have the chance to eat at Marrakesh at least once in their life.