"UK" news and stories

For one lucky person in London, the 9 to 5 grind is about to be a thing of the past. Spitalfields Market, a collection of covered shops and dining venues just outside of London, has resurrected an age-old job, and they're taking applicants. The position? Beer taster.

Reps for the market call it simply, "the best job in the world." The employee would essentially stop at venues throughout the market and taste test the beers for quality. It's a role that's been around almost as long as the market itself -- almost 400 years. (King Charles I of England first gave permission for fish, poultry and produce to be sold on the site in 1638.)

Sure, Monty Python has had plenty of fun at Spam's expense (and made plenty of money in the process, I might add), but there's still a fair share of Brits who like being creative with their meat. (No giggling!)

Case in point, word has just come across the wire that "following the resounding success" of last year's inaugural event, Spam UK will once again be holding their Spam® Cook of the Year competition!

Spam chefs are encouraged to upload their unique Spam recipes and pictures to www.spam-uk.com. From there, seven regional winners will have the opportunity to showcase their canned meat concoctions at the "star studded final in London in June 2009." [Their emphasis, not mine. Personally, I wouldn't have the audacity.] The grand prize? An all-expenses-paid trip to the 2010 SPAM JAM® Festival!

Now, I know what you're thinking, but muffle those arrogant guffaws... The 2010 festival location: Waikiki, Hawaii. Not too shabby, huh? (Plus £500 spending money, which in American dollars, depending on the economy, is worth approximately somewhere between $1000 and absolutely nothing.)

Unfortunately, Spam® UK Cook of the Year is only open to residents of the United Kingdom -- though I'm sure die-hard, international Spam chefs will consider achieving British citizenship just an "added kink to the application process." But before you go hunting down a green card, fun can still be found for us Americans on Spam.com including details on the Great American SPAM Championship. Dry British wit not included.

More details on SPAM UK Cook of the Year here.

[Photo Credit: spam-uk.com]

This isn't a vegetable you see every day, and, depending on how well it does in England, you may never get a chance to see it in person. Named the C-thru-cumber, it's a new variety of cucumber that has a very thin skin that doesn't need to be peeled before using it in a salad or sandwich. It's quite pricey compared to the regular cucumbers at grocery stores in the UK.

I am in no way, shape or form a fan of cucumbers, so the question of whether to peel or not to peel is a non-issue for me. I know that they peel the cucumbers for finger sandwiches where I work, but not for salads. Also, as I understand it the nutrients are mostly in the skin, so are these veggies less nutritious?

Judging from some of the comments in the Daily Mail Online article, the C-thru-cumber isn't going to go over well. What do you think?

A bakery in Haverfordwest has issued a recall on rolls and baguettes because of a production error.

Snowdrop Bakery says that some of the filled rolls and baguettes that they sell did not have a label on them warning customers that the product contains milk and soya (is that the same as soy?). They ask that customers not eat the rolls and return them to the store for a refund. The breads have a use by date on or before April 22, 2008.

They company is also calling stores that might have the food on their shelves, including stores in Pembrokeshire, Swansea, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion.

Despite urges from various British food organizations, the European Food Safety Authority decided against banning additives in food.

Their reasoning? A recent £750,000 study, which found a link between eating food loaded with additives and colorants and impulsive/hyperactive behavior in kids, was not a substantial enough reason to ban the additives entirely. In the study, eight and nine year olds who had ingested food with additives could not sit still long enough to complet simple tasks, like a 15-minute computer exercise. (Yeah, but neither could most of the eight year olds I know, with or without stimulants. Heck, most 25 year-olds I know don't have the patience to finish a 15-minute computer task).

But the study did prompt some retailers to change their ways: Marks and Spencer, a British department store that sells everything from shirts to iPods to gourmet foods, vowed to stop selling food and drink that contain additives by the end of the month.

The study results should not be ignored, but I don't blame the EU for not jumping to conclusions. Banning food with additives falls along the same lines as banning food with trans-fats, and I have the same opinion in each case: use your own good judgment and discretion. If packaged foods make your kid hyperactive, don't buy the foods, or at least limit their intake. Simple as that.

[via] Times Online

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