"olympics" news and stories

In Japan, the "flavor of the month" isn't barbecue, or citrus, or licorice, it's...citrulline.

Sound strange? It's an amino acid found in large amounts in watermelon, and it's being touted as a performance enhancer to the Olympic athletes in Beijing, China. It widens blood vessels, allowing for improved circulation, as well as increasing levels of nitric oxide, as well as breaking down lactic acid, (which, as our readers have gently reminded me, is not the scary substance we once thought it to be).

L-Citrulline has long been available in supplement form, but the Japanese are seeing how far they can market it, putting it into sports drinks, sports bars and even gum.

But mainly, it's just another excuse to eat a huge, juicy slice of watermelon.

via [inventorspot]

Source

Every Olympic year, the torch goes on a journey from Athens to wherever the Games will be held that year, making stops in a good number of participating countries. This time, the Olympic torch will make only one stop in the US: San Francisco. And Ben and Jerry's is headed there, too.

Ben and Jerry's is sending a caravan to that city to intercept the torch. The move is intended to bring attention to China's involvement in Sudan. The hope is that the three vehicle convoy, which each carry a replica of the Olympic torch and sport mobile billboards, will put a spotlight back on the troubled Darfur region.

The torch is scheduled to be in San Francisco on April 9th. The arrival of Ben and Jerry's caravan is slated to be the same date. The vehicles will make stops at college campus' and Ben and Jerry's stores along the way. Wow! What do you think about this one?

Needless to say I would rather raise a glass to the athletic-bods in Turin rather a ski or a curling thingie. So here are three cocktails I am going to test out tonight...

White Knuckle Ride Shooter

• ½ shot Coffee Liqueur
• ½ shot Irish Cream Liqueur
• ½ shot frozen vodka

Layer each ingredient in a glass by careful pouring in the order above.

Ski Breeze

• 2 shots Absolut Kurant
• 3 shots Apple Juice
• 3 shots Ginger Ale

Pour ingredients into a Collins glass, filled with ice, and stir.

Olympic

• 1 ½ shots Cherry Brandy
• 1 ½ shots orange curaçao
• 2 shots orange juice

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass.

The wonderful food that Turin, Italy is famous for is not making its way onto the plates of the Olympic athletes. In fact, there have been numerous complaints about the food, including accusations of food poisoning from the Canadian curling team. Athletes from all over the world, including America and Lithuania, are saying that they "expected more from an Italian kitchen" and wonder "how can you screw up pasta?" Because the Olympic Village is not in a central location, with athletes spread over many villages, the food is not all being prepared by the same kitchen staff. Some athletes are fortunate enough to have a personal or team nutritionist who will prepare all their meals, while others can only look forward to the time that they can spend in Turin itself, sampling the city's non-Olympic offerings.

Source

I've always been attracted to Caffarel's yellow wrapper and stylized Italian logo. But it wasn't until the Olympics began and I learned all about the mysteries of gianduia, the hazelnut-flavored chocolate native to Olympics host Torino, that my attraction turned into a purchase. Last week I brought home the beautifully-wrapped, gold-accented chocolate bar.

It was a few days before I tasted it, and when I did, I was truly in a new cioccolato heaven. From this day forward, Caffarel will be my chocolate of choice when I just need something incomparably creamy, rich, melt-in-mouth-able.

You know how most chocolate bars settle on one extreme of the creaminess scale, either too soft and sticky, or so hard they hurt your teeth when you break off a chunk? Caffarel's gianduia bar is so soft and delicate, it's already melting when it hits your tongue; but yet the bar is solid, easily broken into chunks by hand. And still, no chocolatey fingerprints. The hazelnut taste is perfect, just the essence of flavoring, not tipping the balance to bitter, as so many hazelnut-flavored chocolates do. I give Caffarel the chocolate gold medal. My bar was $3.89 (definitely not cheap) at Pastaworks. Hopefully I'll be able to afford it more than once every four years.