05 Sunday Jan 2020
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Shirako (or shiraku) is a white paste that is served atop rice, fried in tempura batter or even tops custard. It has a rich, velvety texture and tastes mildly sea-like. It is…fish semen. However, it is not only served in Japan. In Sicily, tuna milt tops pasta. In Romania, they fry carp milt. And in the U.S., fish milt is common. (Milt is the same thing as sperm.) Milt can be harvested by hand, but the easiest way is to retrieve it from the genitals of dead fish.
15 Sunday Dec 2019
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2000s, banned, beverage, caffeine, Christ Hunter, energy beer, Food, Four Loko, guarana, Jaisen Freeman, Jeff Wright, Ohio State University, Phusion Projects, taurine, wormwood
Phusion Projects was founded in 2005 by Chris Hunter, Jaisen Freeman and Jeff Wright after the boys graduated from Ohio State University. During their university days they often bought Thai energy drinks from a nearby Asian market and sold them at a markup. They themselves also enjoyed drinking caffeine with alcohol. So they designed a prototype of “energy beer” which became Four Loko. Four Loko was marketed as a “premium malt beverage,” originally in cherry and berry flavors and contained taurine, guarana, caffeine and wormwood (the supposed psychoactive ingredient of absinthe). After a year of production, running low on capital they had to drop the wormwood and increase the alcohol content. By 2008, the line of drinks were very popular and led to more flavors being offered in the U.S. and saw Four Loko go overseas.
With increased popularity so did increased scrutiny. In 2010, many legal, ethical and health concerns (including marketing to underage drinkers and the dangers of combining caffeine and alcohol) saw Four Loko (which previously had been sold in 49 states) become banned in several states. This forced Phusion Projects to reintroduce the product in December 2010 with no caffeine, taurine or guarana and to no longer be marketed as an energy drink.
Though Four Loko does still exist and can be still be purchased, it is not nearly as widely available and little resembles the product that is was in the beginning.
01 Sunday Dec 2019
Posted in Food
In 2006, Coca-Cola introduced Coke BLAK, a coffee-infused cola that consumers really liked. What they didn’t like was the $2 price tag for a standard 8 oz can. It slowly disappeared from American store shelves and for a time was only available in Canada for a while longer before completely disappearing in 2008.
17 Sunday Nov 2019
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10th Avenue East, 75 cents, Broadway Locksmith, Capitol Hill, Coke, Facebook page, Food, John street, mystery button, Seattle Mystery Soda Machine, Went for a Walk
If you were in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, on the corner of John Street and 10th Avenue East (it was chained up outside of Broadway Locksmith) prior to June 2018, you may not realized it but there was a tourist attraction. The attraction was the Mystery Soda Machine. This Coke machine spit out soda cans for a mere 75 cents. As a Coke machine, it was pretty progressive, spitting out Coke, Mountain Dew, Pepsi and Barq’s. Certain buttons were labeled “mystery” so you had no idea what the machine would actually spit out for you. People have claimed to have gotten long discontinued sodas like Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum! Others have tested it spending five dollars in change and getting six different soda brands from the same “mystery” button. The other “mystery” of the machine is who is caring for and stocking up the aging, rusting machine. It would seem to be most natural to assume that the Locksmith shop would be refilling it, but no one has claimed ownership. At one point, all the buttons were changed to “mystery.”
So let’s go back to the beginning of this post. Why did I say “if you were?” Well as of June 2018, here comes mystery number three, the Coke machine is no longer there, just a sticker saying “went for a walk.” Again, it is unknown who took it and why. Mystery number four: You can follow the escapades of Seattle’s Mystery Soda Machine via its own Facebook page, Mystery Machine.
03 Sunday Nov 2019
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1960s, 1970s, Bill Scott, breakfast, cereals, corn cereal, Food, Jay Ward, public popularity contest, Quake, Quaker Oats, Quangaroo, Quisp, saucer-shaped
In 1965, Quaker Oats introduced two cereals — Quisp and Quake. They decided to have the cereals battle each other out in a public popularity contest. Both cereals had mascots created by animators Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who had previously created Cap’n Crunch. (They both also created Rocky and Friends.) Despite the different mascots, Quisp and Quake were essentially the same cereals, just in different shapes and had different slogans. Quisp was “the quisp new cereal from outer space!” and featured a pink space alien with a propeller on his head (voiced by Daws Butler in commercials). Quake was “the power cereal from inner space!” and featured Quake, a lunkhead miner with oversized biceps that wore his helmet and was voiced by William Conrad. In 1969, Quake underwent a makeover and became a cowboy. Finally in 1972, Quaker asked kids to vote for their favorite cereal. Quisp won and Quake was quickly discontinued. In 1976, Quaker resurrected the idea with their new orange-flavored cereal Quangaroos. Quake stepped in as mascot with a orange kangaroo sidekick named Simon. Of course, Quake had undergone another makeover: he was slimmer and Australian. Wasting no time, they ran their head-to-head popularity contest from the beginning. Quisp won again and Quangaroos quickly disappeared.
Today, you can still buy the saucer-shaped crunchy corn cereal that is Quisp.
20 Sunday Oct 2019
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deconstructed, double-sided polystyrene container, fast food, Food, McDLT, McDonald's, Quarter Pounder
The McDLT was a deconstructed quarter-pounder burger with the lettuce, tomato and mayo all served in separate parts of a double-sided polystyrene container to “Keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool.” This way you could avoid getting hot lettuce and an oiled down tomato by grease.
06 Sunday Oct 2019
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1970s, candy, chocolate, Food, fruit, peanut butter, quarter sized, Wonka Oompas
Wonka Oompas are now the name of fruit candy, but back in its inception in the 1970s, the Wonka Oompas were half filled chocolate and peanut butter candy pieces. They were about the diameter
of a quarter and they bulged in the middle.
22 Sunday Sep 2019
Posted in Food
McDonald’s have served apple pie pastries for quite some time now. But they used to serve their apple pie with a crispy fried crust. As consumers want increasingly healthier menu choices McDonald’s swapped to a blander baked pie crust. Unfortunately the “healthier” option doesn’t really scream “healthful” benefits. The fried crust gave you 240 calories, 13 grams of fat and 25 grams of carbs. The baked crust gives you 240 calories, 11 grams of fat and 35 grams of carbs.
01 Sunday Sep 2019
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2010s, bacon, breakfast, cheese, egg patty, Food, French Toaster, sausage, Sonic, Texas toast
In 2015, fast food chain Sonic introduced the French Toaster: two slices of French toast sandwiched around an egg patty topped with cheese and either bacon slices or a sausage patty. It wasn’t around too long before they replaced the item with the Breakfast Toaster which is essentially the same sandwich except the French Toast slices were replaced with Texas toast slices.
18 Sunday Aug 2019
Posted in Food
Family-run Brock Candy initially produced penny candies early in the 1900s. By the 1920s, they expanded into marshmallow and jelly candies. In the 1930s, they introduced Chocolate Covered Cherries which became a Christmastime favorite. Under their catalog, they produced Candy Puffs, very soft, melt-in-your-mouth candy balls. In the 1990s, the E.J. Brach Corporation purchased the controlling interest in the Brock Company.
While not exactly the same, there are currently a few incarnations of Candy Puffs available. The assorted candy puffs or peppermint puffs are as close as http://www.oldtimecandy.com can get you to the original. Try the Jooblers Candy Crumble Melts in either assorted or just strawberry from http://www.candywarehouse.com. Candy Warehouse also sells the peppermint puffs available at Old Time Candy.
