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) so it keeps a uniform spreadable texture. From the company that makes Alouette cheese spread, and available at supermarkets.

Go for the Foam

Pub Draught Guinness may come in a can but it’s closer than bottled Guinness to Guinness Stout on draught: less sweet, less thick and, thanks to a pressure cartridge in the base of the can, a lot foamier. The head is definitely creamy, though it doesn’t seem to last as long as draught Guinness’s. At liquor stores.

Fresh Corn Smut

Sure, huitlacoche sounds disgusting when you call it corn smut fungus, but Mexican gourmets have raved about the stuff since Aztec days. The grayish, swollen corn kernels have an exquisite mushroom aroma mixed with a little sweet corn flavor, delicious in soups or crepes. Now Maizteca Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. of Athens, Ga., has developed a technology for harvesting huitlacoche in mass quantities and will overnight it on the day of harvest for about $10 a pound. The season starts July 1, and Maizteca’s number is (706) 543-1629.

New Hope for Chocoholism?

A “chocoholism treatment” called the Chocolate Patch is exactly like the nicotine patch except that it’s not supposed to work. You tape a wafer to your skin the same way, but “seriously addicted chocoholics,” the maker warns, may “have so much chocolate in their systems that the therapeutic chocolate will melt instead of being absorbed by the skin . . . . If that occurs,” the tongue-in-cheek instructions continue, “ingest the chocolate orally and apply the adhesive patch to the mouth to prevent further chocolate intake.” For a “week’s supply”--seven pieces of chocolate and seven adhesive strips--send a check for $8.95 to Callaghan Promotions, 3137 Phillips St., Berkeley, Mich. 48072. In case of emergency, call (313) 547-0701.

The All-Breakfast Diet

If you eat only one 2,000-calorie meal a day, you will lose weight if you eat the meal in the morning but gain weight if you eat it at night, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. Why? Blame it all on the daily rhythm of your metabolism.

One Sausage and

Potato Pizza, Hold the Mayo

Most common pizza topping in Japan: teriyaki chicken with spinach and corn. Other Japanese pizza favorites include curried squid, German sausage and potato with mayonnaise, and chicken and seaweed with shredded bonito fish.