"ask metafilter" news and stories

The other day, Sarah Gim posted about a Chicago meat market that was asking people to write meat-related raps. On a similar note, I recently came across an old Ask MetaFilter thread asking for songs about meat. Coincidence? Who knows. What I do know is that there were roughly 100 replies. I was glad to see that someone made the obvious connection to Southern Culture on the Skids (right) for their numerous meat related songs and album titles, including (but not limited to) "Too Much Pork for Just One Fork," "Chitlin Strut," and "8 Piece Box." Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five's "Struttin' With Some Barbeque" also made the list. Personally, I'm partial to the Willie Nelson version of that one. As you might imagine, Ween, Cibo Matto and Tom Waits all make appearances on the list as well. Sadly, two of my favorites, Blind Boy Fuller's "If You See My Pigmeat" and Louis Prima's "Closer to the Bone" didn't make the roster. I guess those aren't really about meat anyway.

Today, Ask Metafilter featured a question by someone named OmieWise (great handle, by the way) wondering what to do with a large tin of anchovies. As usual, the MeFites have no shortage of answers. Pizza, bagna cauda and pasta puttanesca come up, of course. Someone also suggested Heston Blumenthal's recipe for pan bagnat, and Jamie Oliver's anchovy pangratatto sounds like a good bet, too. There's also mention of a Jansson's frestelse, a Swedish potato and anchovy gratin. One of the best so far, in my opinion, is the recipe for Brussels sprouts fried with anchovies. Truly a love-it-or-hate-it dish. Personally, my favorite has always been to saute a few anchovy fillets with minced garlic and use that to dress some pasta, along with a squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh Italian parsley.