Toblerone repackaged
Toblerone seems to be testing a new way to pack its usual prism shaped chocolates we’ve loved since as far back as we can remember.
A closer look, they would appear to be Toblerone Tobelle but not as individual triangles.
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The 10 Best Food Trucks in the United States
Buying food from a playfully decorated van with a pop-up service window on the side of the road has become quite popular. Food trucks are popping up everywhere and chefs that are leery of dropping the cash on a restaurant are joining the phenomenon of mobile restaurants instead. They are using social media to their full advantage to get their name out there and grow their list of faithful customers. Social apps can now show the exact location of a food truck, list their daily specials, and show pictures of not only the delectable food you can purchase, but where the ingredients were bought, what the end product looks like, and the crew that will be making it and serving it. The following are 10 of the best food trucks in the U.S.
Kogi Barbecue – image via http://huffingtonpost.com
Kogi BBQ, Los Angeles, CA:
Classically trained chef Roy Choi opened his first Kogi BBQ truck in 2008, serving a Korean-Mexican combination of food. His signature dish is a taco made with beef short rib meat and drenched in his special sauce comprised of 21 ingredients. An empire in the making, Chef Choi now has five Kogi BBQ trucks and four restaurants.
GastroPod, Miami, FL:
This polished 1962 Airstream pod has been parked on the streets of Miami since 2009. Customers are loyal to its unique fusion food items, including banh mi pork tacos, shitake flan, and its famous Mo’ Better Burger, which is a mix of sirloin, brisket, and short ribs, with a poached egg on top.
Lardo, Portland, OR:
Chef Rick Gencarelli opened his cottage-inspired truck in 2010 and has been a staple in Portland ever since. He focuses on Italian flavors made from locally farmed ingredients.
Clover Food Lab, Cambridge, MA:
MIT graduate Ayr Muir opened his first truck in 2008. College students are his prime customer base and even the mayor loves his soy B.L.T. His vegetarian food is made from locally grown ingredients. Obviously a popular food choice, he has since expanded to five trucks and two restaurants.
Fojol Brothers, Washington, D.C.:
In keeping with the local eclectic crowd of the nation’s capital, this truck is a mobile culinary carnival. You can order cuisine from Volathai, Benethiopia, and Merlindia. Serving this multifarious food are the Fojol brothers, dressed in colorful costumes and donning playful alter-egos.
Schnitzel & Things, New York City:
Despite stiff competition of up to 50 specialized food trucks in N.Y.C., Schnitzel & Things won the Rookie of the Year Award for a “Vendy” in 2009. Austrian schnitzel is their main fare, which is basically hand-pounded chicken, veal, cod, and eggplant, breaded with Panko bread crumbs. Oleg Voss, the Ukraine native owner, had such great success with Schnitzel & Things, he opened a restaurant in 2011.
East Side King, Austin, TX:
This Japanese fusion food truck first opened behind a hole-in-the-wall bar in Austin in 2009. In a few short years it expanded to three trucks, each with a different, yet similar Japanese fusion menu. Anthony Bourdaine loves their beef tongue sticky buns.
Sugar Philly, Philadelphia, PA:
Started in 2010 by local college graduates, this truck is known around college campuses for their unconventional take on seasonal desserts, such as salted caramel or blueberry lemon macarons.
Street-za, Milwaukee, WI:
This truck makes pizzas to order in its 650 degree oven. The owners take suggestions for pizza creations from faithful fans on Twitter on Facebook.
Hapa SF, San Francisco, CA:
Chef William Pilz serves technically sophisticated, organic Filipino food. He is famous city-wide for his lumpia – savory pork egg rolls.
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Shaun D. Russell Entrepreneur and owner of russellconcessions.com, a concession trailer manufacturer located in Lucedale, Mississippi.
A food truck in San Francisco
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Attack, Cruise, Consolidation, Stabilisation
The Dukan diet weight loss plan is a two year old online phenomenon that is made up out of several easy-to-follow concepts. The creator, Pierre Dukan, has been working as a nutritionist for over thirty years and is the author of 19 books published throughout his career. One of the most interactive and personal online dieting experiences the market has to offer, you can track your progress, check out new recipes and set goals for the future with the Dukan diet.
Protein in 100g = 26g
There are four Dukan diet phases. The first is Attack which comprises of 72 protein rich foods combined with extensive exercise in a brief and impetuous life changing outbreak. Following this is the Cruise phase which is designed to allow you to reach your True Weight (calculated by taking into consideration your ideal and perfect weight) at a reasonable pace. This phase works by alternating between pure protein days and protein and vegetable days.
The next phase is called Consolidation as that is exactly what it does; it consolidates your True Weight so you can become comfortable with yourself and how to manage your new self before the final stage and returning to a balanced diet. It is almost as if you are ironing out those few remaining creases before folding it up and putting it into storage, the storage being the Stabilisation phase. This final phase is the easiest yet most important as much more often than not, people who lose weight gain it shortly after their diet has ended.
At each stage, you are introduced to a wider variety of the Dukan 100 foods. These are the foods you can eat as much as you like of. More recently, the idea of eating a few tablespoons of oat bran a day has been promoted at each part of the diet as it is proven to lower cholesterol as well as aid weight loss through intestinal caloric loss. There are many different recipes to try with all of the 100 foods making it difficult for you to get bored with any repetitions.
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Profitable Beer Has a Unique Appealing Flavor
Wine tasting events have drawn crowds for years. Now it’s time for beer to start gaining more attention from event organizers and sponsors, people who have the skill and experience to generate significant word-of-mouth marketing for beer tasting events. But, first people who make beer, particularly people who make homemade beers, may need to put the drink in a different light, similar to how wine and champagne are perceived as classy, rich drinks. Oddly, taste itself will drive any shift in perception. Furthermore, when it comes to homemade beer, actual beer brewing kit equipment brewers use may have as much influence on beer taste and quality as recipes brewers use.
Quality cappers, fermenters and filters are just a few beer brewing kit pieces that all brewers must use. Other kit pieces home brewers need include:
· Burners (i.e. floor burners, patio stove burners, banjo cooker
· Grain mills (i.e. adjustable malt mills, bare bones grain mills)
· Curd skimmers
· Thermometer
· Kettle (i.e. stainless steel kettle with or without a spigot)
· Kettle screen
· Beer bottle gaskets and caps
After home brewers get the right beer brewing kit pieces, it’s a good idea to start experimenting with different recipes and flavors. This is important, because it’s unique flavors that home beers are made with that could most help home brewed beer to stand apart from mass manufactured beer, that could help home brewed beer develop more supporters, especially at beer tasting events.
Consider some of these flavors when using a beer brewing kit to develop unique tasting beer:
· Tea beer
· Chocolate donut tasting beer
· Milk flavored beer
· Steak flavored beer
· Pizza beer (yes, pizza tasting beer!)
· Fruity tasting beer
Brewers who feel they could use help making their first kettles of beer might be able to seek out the help of a teacher or scientist. That’s exactly what happened in Boston when microbiologist, Sam Fogel, taught local brewers how to refine the taste of their beer. As reported in the February 1, 2013 Boston Globe “Newton Scientist Teaches Beer Making” article, “The Newton resident prefers to talk about the perfect anaerobic conditions, the right temperatures, and how stored carbohydrates are coaxed out of their endosperm to make lager or ale.”
As with some other home brewers, Fogel’s interest in home brewing goes back to a desire to create. Fogel shares, “So much of what we do in life these days is not hands on. It’s pretty much a black box, electronically speaking at least.” Fogel continues, “I turn my iPhone on and I don’t know how it works really, but with beer making and hard cider making we can get our hands into it enough that we feel a connection with the process.”
Even if you don’t have the scientific knowledge that Sam Fogel possesses, with a bit of patience and experimentation, you could use your beer brewing kit to develop hard-to-find beer flavors, ones that will be a hit at beer tasting events. Start getting media attention as well as word-of-mouth marketing by people who attend beer tasting events your home brew is showcased at, and you could find yourself making beer for profit as well as pleasure.
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Rhonda Campbell is an East Coast journalist who loves offering tips and advice about home brewing and small business ownership. Her work has been published in national periodicals like USA Today, Yahoo! Education and The Pittsburgh Quarterly.
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Famous MOCHI SWEETS Now in Manila!
Now here’s something to envy! A Japanophile nonetheless, I would want to try this sweet fare soon!
Banking on Filipino’s sweet tooth and penchant for embracing food from around the world, the wildly popular MOCHI SWEETS has made its way into the local food scene and is sure to create a mochi craze as seen in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.
“Mochi” is a well-loved Japanese rice cake made from glutinous rice flour pounded into shape. Mochi Sweets has taken this traditional dessert further by creating small balls of luxurious and flavorful cream and wrapping it in chewy mochi skin. Think dessert dumplings with frozen cream or mousse in the center and a mochi covering made with just the right thickness, moistness and stickiness.
Business partners Jason Yap and Samatha Paz chanced upon Mochi Sweets in their trips to Malaysia and Vietnam and saw the store drawing huge crowds. Both only in their early 20s but with entrepreneurial exposure from their parents, they decided to write to J Sweets in Hong Kong and were soon awarded the official franchise for Mochi Sweets in the Philippines.
Garry Cheng, President of J Sweets was in Manila to grace the unveiling of the first Mochi Sweets store in the SM Mall of Asia. He was very excited for Filipinos to try Mochi Sweets. He says their dessert is superior to other desserts which loosely uses mochi but don’t produce the right texture and experience. Cheng offers a clue on how premium their product and standards are: “We learned from Japan. We had a Japanese chef who creates these delectable concoctions for us and we use only 100% Japanese mochi.”
Just looking at the cute and colourful balls of Mochi Sweets neatly placed in its classic gift box and you understand why it has earned raves abroad. “First impression counts,” says Jason Yap, president of Mochi Sweets Philippines. “Mochi Sweets first tempts you with how it appeals to the eyes. But the real pleasure is the taste and experience once you bite into it. This is because Mochi Sweets is made from the best ingredients. There is meticulous control to ensure consistency of quality. We do not short-change our customers. We aim to satisfy each customer and make them enjoy life’s simple indulgent treats.”
Hence, the real test is resisting the urge to sink your teeth into these decadent sweets. Mochi Sweets comes frozen and you have to wait 10-15 minutes for it to thaw before you can bite into its gummy goodness. But unlike those with ice cream filling, Mochi Sweets is not prone to messy meltdowns as you eat it. It is also a perfect to-go or bring-home treat since it does not melt all the way through and will be thawed and just-ready by the time you meet your family and friends.
Jason Yap further shows how Mochi Sweets will be enjoyed: “We are a gifting society. A box of Mochi Sweets has 6 to 12 pieces and will definitely be a fun gift for sharing during those special moments and celebrations. Customers can pick different colors and flavors of Mochi Sweets based on the personality and preference of the lucky recipient and this makes each box of Mochi Sweets special and personal.”
Mochi Sweets indeed has a wide array of flavors – from the classic favorites to inspired special concoctions. Clear winners for chocolate lovers are the wickedly good Chocolate Mousse, Cream Chocolate and Dark Chocolate. Coffee aficionados will find delicious comfort in Caramel Macchiato. Kids and kids-at-heart looking for something wholesome will enjoy the fruity confections: Strawberry Mousse, Mango Yoghurt and Honey Lemon Cream. Those who want something different and exotic can try Sakura (or cherry blossom, which is very popular in Japan), Green Tea and Durian Mousse. Currently, Mochi Sweets offers 17 flavors and will continue to dish out cool and yum variants that will make customers think Mochi Sweets when they crave for desserts and comfort food.
From the first Mochi Sweets kiosk in SM Mall of Asia (beside the Skating Rink), the team of Jason Yap and Samatha Paz will open three more Mochi Sweets stores this quarter. The next two stores will be at Robinsons Galleria and Eastwood Mall. They promise rapid expansion in 2013 with the biggest Mochi Sweets shop already slated at SM Aura which will open at BGC.
Mochi Sweets grand opening at SM Mall of Asia
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/MochiSweetsPh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MochiSweetsPH
(A press release)
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