• 
• Greek yogurt experiences a revival

• A tour through Oxford's pubs

• A meat eater sings tofu's praises

• What is a mangosteen?
  

• Need some spice? Try piri-piri sauce

• When you get a craving for noodles and cannoli ice cream cones...

• Forget chocotinis, these are the real deal

BloggingBaby found an interesting piece of news about a boy in South Yorkshire, Chris Hardacre, who might just be the world's youngest bartender. At twelve, he is the youngest person on record to have passed the British Institute of Innkeeping exam and become a fully licensed bartender.

Chris said that he was inspired by the fact that he eventually wants to take over the pub that his father runs and thought that it would be a good idea to learn all he could about it. After only a few weeks' worth of study, and probably a good deal of time spent in the pub, and he was ready to take the exam. He passed on the first try. His license allows him to serve beer with adult supervision, but does not allow him to drink anything that he serves.

Susan La Tempa spent the last few weeks on a massive LA pub crawl and has found the fifteen best in the city, taking into account authenticity, and how well they pour.

SIV visits the new Simon LA and gives the kitschy cool place now famous for its junk food platter one-and-a-half stars (*1/2). Chiu-Chow via Vietnam can be had at Chaus Kitchen in San Gabriel, where the kitchen is "concentrated on perfecting a few house specialties."

For cooking at home, cookbook Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon, offers recipes for "sophisticated tagines from Morocco, fragrant Turkish kebabs and a dazzling assortment of Lebanese mezes."

Russ Parsons cooks up a seafood stew, and reminds us that Brussels sprouts are sprouting up at the local farmers' markets.

In southwest England, Trading Standards officials carried out a survey of various pubs and other alcohol-serving venues and discovered that one in five pints had noticeably less liquid than it should. Given that this shortabe happend with such regularity at many different locations, perhaps the theory is that once you've had a few pints, you won't really be worried about a few extra mouthfuls. Or, perhaps the quality of bartenders has simple declined, since it is much more difficult to pull a drink with the appropriate amount of foam than you might guess.

Officials recommend asking for a top-off if the drink appears to be a bit short, not only to ensure that you're getting what you've paying for, but to encourage vendors to be a bit more careful in their pouring in the future.

Local authorities in Preston, Lancashire want to ban "vertical drinking." Based on that verbiage one might think that they're bent on promoting "horizontal drinking." But that's not what they're on about.

The police want to stop pubgoers from standing while drinking, not because they're likely to fall if they imbibe too much, but because they feel that standing and swilling promotes rowdy, sometimes violent behavior. The solution, they say, is to have all drinkers be seated. While rowdy drinkers causing fights does seem to be a problem in Lancashire, I'm pretty sure that forcing them to remain seated won't help things a bit. If anything it might make the punters surlier.

I'm not sure if this article will remain free or if you will eventually need to register (why do newspapers still do this?) but here are six London pubs as recommended by the Vancouver Sun.

1. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, 145 Fleet St., near Blackfriars station. [more]
2. The Market Porter, 9 Stoney St., near London Bridge train station. [more]
3. The Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit St., near Russell Square underground station. [more]
4. The Lamb and Flag, 33 Rose St., near Covent Garden underground station. [more]
5. The Anchor Bankside, 34 Park St., near London Bridge train station. [more]
6. Seven Stars, 53-54 Carey St., near Holborn underground station. [more]

Figures published last week reveal that in the last twenty years cirrhosis death rates for men in England and Wales have risen by over 60% and the rates for women have increased by nearly 50%. While Austria still has the highest cirrhosis death rates in Europe, followed in an ever-narrowing margin by Scotland, where cirrhosis deaths have doubled in the past two decades, many other countries have seen a 20-30% decline since the 1970s. Excessive and binge drinking - which results in some 22,000 British deaths each year - rates have risen among young men and women, and doctors report treating cirrhosis patients in their twenties, while only two decades ago nearly every patient with the disease was in late middle age.

England switched to 24 hour licensing at the end of last year, which permits clubs and pubs to serve alcohol around the clock. The medical profession is worried that this change will lead to an increase in alcoholism and alcohol and cirrhosis related deaths. They are encouraging the government to put more money into alcohol-treatment programs and to consider putting more restrictions on liquor licensing.

Slashfoodies love their cocktails. Particularly on festive occasions, football games and New Year's Eve, or when we decide to get spirited with our cooking. But we know when to stop and would like to take this opportunity to remind our friends and readers to do the same. Please drink safely, responsibly and in moderation.

We manage to pack an awful lot into this little island you know (that's the UK by the way). Ok so a swathe is taken up with housing 60 million people and providing roads they can all drive on but that still leaves some of the most beautiful and diverse countryside in the world.

 

National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty abound - I live in one the Chiltern Hills that sweep round the north west corner of London half way to Oxford. All these areas are superb locations for walkers and photographers. And drinkers of course! More excellent pubs than you can shake a stick at.

The Telegraph has published an article on cosy pubs for walkers and recommends the roaring fires in Dartmoor, Sussex, Kent, South Wales, Cumbria and elsewhere. No recommendations for the Chilterns though. Shame. In Hampshire though there is a Food and Drink Trail leading to pubs and farm shops.