Selected Food Standings

Restaurants and Institutions Magazine, chronicling the changing menus of the last 20 years, finds that while prunes used to be served at nearly half of all restaurants at the end of the ‘60s, only 20% of restaurants still serve them. Two decades ago fewer than 1% of restaurants served chicken filets; now 63% do. (Cheeseburgers and ice cream have held steady at around 72% and 65%, respectively.)

Where to Bring Your Own

Nations where taxes on beer account for 50% or more of the retail price: Norway, Ireland, Canada. In the United States, the tax is about 17% of the price.

Prawn Rationing Prospect Looms

The catch of large-sized shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico is getting smaller and smaller. We now face dependency on imported tiger shrimp.

Venison the Menace

Ever wondered why 85% of the venison eaten in U.S. restaurants comes from New Zealand? Deer are a pest there. They were introduced in the 19th Century and, like rabbits in Australia, multiplied like crazy because they had no natural predators. The mild flavor of New Zealand venison is due to a diet of vegetables poached from farms, much against the farmers’ wishes.

And the Roe Is Terrific

The Japanese eat more venison per capita than Americans. Here’s a typical recipe: Don’t cook it. They like their venison as sashimi.

Warning: Contains No Milli Vanilli Jokes

On a chocolate bar label you’ll probably see the word vanillin (accent on the first syllable: van- illin). It’s one part of the vanilla flavor, but only one--real vanilla, made from the seed pod of an orchid, contains hundreds of flavoring elements. Commercial vanillin is artificially made from wood pulp and lacks the richness of real vanilla, but unlike real vanilla, it can survive the kind of cooking needed to make a chocolate bar.

Don’t Ask Kwai

There’s a new garlic pill on the market, said to reduce cholesterol by around 11% without the necessity of eating garlic as such. The brand name is Kwai (as in the River Kwai, though the pill is from Germany) and only 5% of the people who take it are said to smell garlicky. However, you have to eat six tablets a day for the equivalent of chewing up one whole raw clove.