Cod Is Dead

Codfish has become so expensive, reports Seafood Leader magazine, that the country’s largest fast-fish chain, which used to buy 50 million pounds of cod fillets a year, doesn’t plan to buy a single pound of cod this year. Long John Silver has totally switched to hoki and Alaska pollock.

Barq Here

Barq’s, “the Root Beer with a Bite,” has managed to become the second-best selling root beer in the country without being regularly available in California. Now the New Orleans-based brand is moving here big time with a regular and a very credible diet root beer, offering a removable tattoo (a “Barqtoo”) free with every 12-pack. At markets and convenience stores.

PS, We Love You

With every six-pack of Ralph’s Private Selection cola, you get . . . a penny back. It’s an unbelievable 99 cents a six-pack, and it even tastes like cola.

And We Thought They Were Natives of Vegas

Vegans aren’t aliens from the star system Vega, they’re rigorous vegetarians who won’t even consume milk or eggs. They tend to throw the word “yummy” around pretty carelessly about any food that follows their dietary restrictions, but there actually are good vegan cooks, and even non-vegans enjoy Paulette Vu’s Gourmet Vegetarian Restaurant in Anaheim. Vu has produced a 75-minute vegan cooking video giving 14 main recipes plus sauces, all based on supermarket ingredients. It’s $24.95 plus $3.95 shipping; call (800) USA-TAPE.

At Last: Convenience Brie

Bongrain Creme de Brie, an American version of the famous French cheese, is packaged in a wedge-shaped plastic cup (with a resealable lid) instead of a white, powdery rind, so it keeps a uniform spreadable texture. Also in herb-flavored form (Bongrain is, after all, the maker of Alouette spreadable cheese). In supermarkets.

Picnic Secrets

Anyone looking for picnic food ideas can get a free booklet, “Reunion Recipes to Go,” by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to Reunions Magazine, Dept R1, P.O. Box 11727, Milwaukee, Wis. 53211-0727. They’re overflow recipes from Reunion’s summer issue on family reunion food memories.

Serve With Curds and Whey

Large orb-weaving spiders of the genus Nephila , plucked by the legs from the web and grilled over an open fire, are considered a delicacy in New Guinea. The Maring people of the Central Highlands eat a large, hairy spider that sometimes bites back; fortunately, the spiders have poor eyesight.