Et Tu, Newman?Paul Newman is adding a...

Et Tu, Newman?

Paul Newman is adding a Caesar dressing to his line of Newman’s Own condiments, with a label depicting the famous actor as Julius Caesar. FYI: Newman’s version does contain anchovies. Also in supermarkets.

My Monthly Spudder

New Penny Farm, in Presque Isle, Maine, will ship five pounds of a different potato variety every month during the potato year. In other words, it’s more or less the potato of the month club (well, less, actually--potatoes are only available eight months of the year, September through April). If you want to get your order in now, call (207) 768-7551.

Good News for Anchovy-Haters

Restaurateur Caesar Cardini invented the Caesar salad in Tijuana, Mexico just 70 years ago, on July 4, 1924. The salad conquered the world, but Cardini--and since 1948 Cardini Foods Co., maker of The Original Caesar Dressing (available in supermarkets)--have always insisted the Caesar salad contains no anchovies at all.

Top Chefs

Saturday, Aug. 20, America’s Top Black Chefs Awards will honor three prominent chefs: Southern specialist Edna Lewis; restaurateur T.J. Robinson of Gingerbread House in Oakland, and Johnny Rivers, who has directed the opening of over 20 Walt Disney properties, including food and beverage at Euro-Disney. The awards will be given at Matanzas Creek Winery in Sonoma County, which sponsors the awards jointly with 100 Black Men of Sonoma County. Each chef will prepare a course of the meal for the 400 guests attending the awards evening; the event benefits the Scholarship Fund of 100 Black Men. Tickets are $125; call (415) 389-0177.

Whoa, Dude

Waheed Awsim, manager of a pizza parlor in Virginia, took first place in the Domino’s International Pizza-Making Contest in Orlando, Fla. July 31, tossing 14 perfect pizzas in 3 minutes, 21 seconds, for an unprecedented fifth world championship. The Afghanistan-born pizza champ has symbolized his awesome status in the pizza world by changing the spelling of his last name, previously Asim, to Awsim.

Whoopee, Wahoo!

When tuna are in a hurry, they streamline themselves by retracting their fins into grooves in their bodies, which is one reason they’re among the fastest swimmers in the sea, easily hitting 40 miles an hour. A relative of the tuna, familiar on restaurant menus as ono, is even faster. It’s been clocked at 47 mph, which perhaps explains the ono’s other name: the wahoo.