A Hair of the Worm That Bit You

Bundo Dried Earthworm Extract, imported from South Korea, makes no gourmet claims (the words “Captures the full flavor of fresh earthworms!” are nowhere to be found on the package), but some people believe if you dissolve one of the individually wrapped packets in warm water, it’s a hangover cure. In fact, just the thought of it might be a hangover cure. A box of 30 Dried Earthworm Extract packets is $75 from the Amoo Corp. of Columbia, Md., (410) 997-5504.

Fingo Food

First came granola, a crumbled cookie that munchers regarded as a cereal. Now there’s Fingos, a cookie built like a very thick cereal flake, expressly for milk-less munching. It has the approximate crunchy texture of pork crackling, but it’s low in fat (15% less fat by weight than bran muffins, half as much as whole-wheat crackers, a third as much as potato chips) and fortified with vitamins. There are two rather heavy-handed flavors, cinnamon and honey toasted oat, the latter with a strong vanilla scent. In supermarkets everywhere.

“Fat” From Flowers

Quaker Oats has teamed up with a company called Rhone Poulenc to create Oatrim, a fat substitute for use in baking, prepared foods and dairy applications, which is made from oat flowers. (Actually, we’re only mentioning this because we like the sound of the words Oatrim and Rhone Poulenc. )

What’s in a Can?

Tom Chasuk, who calls himself the Bean Gourmet, points out that like all beans, canned beans are fat-free, high in fiber, nutritious and inexpensive--except that they’re also ready to use right now. His “The Canned Bean Cookbook” (48 pp., $5.95 plus $1 shipping from the Bean Gourmet, P.O. 4565, Simi Valley, Calif. 93093) gives 20 recipes for dips, burgers, pancakes, even chocolate mousse enhanced with canned beans.

Cooking Dangerously

Joseph Iannuzzi, once a Florida-based associate of New York’s Gambino crime family and now in the Federal Witness Protection Program, was esteemed for his cooking talents in the Mafia and will follow up his book “Joe Dogs, the Life and Crimes of a Mobster” later this summer with “The Mafia Cookbook.” “Now, I know you’re gonna say,” he observes of his shrimp scampi recipe, “whoa--half a pound of butter and sour cream? But remember, these guys ain’t exactly concerned about their cholesterol count.” In their line of work, death by heart attack is not the big worry.

Malt Master Passes

Walter Fredenhagen, inventor of the first malted milk shake machine, died recently in Naperville, Ill., at 97. Another of his fast-food contributions was hiring a Multimixer salesman named Ray Kroc.