this week, the entire food world was fixated on news out of nyc that klee's daniel angerer was making cheese out of his wife's breast milk. it's something that the village voice reported on almost ten days ago, but this week the story really picked up steam, getting national attention & a warning-of-sorts from the board of health. while it's made in a fashion that's similar to most other cheeses, the critics who sampled it thought it was "softer" & "more slippery" than regular cheese. regardless of what the critics thought, there's something about it that gives me the willies. on a related note, klee will be unveiling their spring cheese menu next thursday. breast milk cheese will not be on the menu. for that matter, it never has been, but it sure has created a lot of buzz for klee. luckily, the rest of the week's news quite so nasty.

• late last week, the FDA announced a recall of a ton of products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein, a common flavor enhancer. this week, that list of products extended to include two meat-inspired pringles flavors--restaurant cravers cheeseburger & family faves taco night. while i've never tried the cheeseburger flavor, i polished off a tube of the taco night flavor a few weeks back & am happy to report that i didn't die as a result. i'm also happy to report that taco night pringles are strange but amazingly good. after all, they're inspired by tacos. (christian science monitor)


• on another taco-related note, austin's SXSW got under way this week & for attendees, they can rest easy knowing that when they wake up with the worst indie rock & tequila-inspired hangover known to man, they can nurse it with an austin delicacy--the breakfast taco. the ny times notes that "when it comes to breakfast tacos...austin trumps all other american cities." the breakfast taco, which is "inspired by mexico, but not mexican," is basically a tortilla filled with standard breakfast fare such as scrambled eggs, bacon & sausage. some places like torchy's tacos get creative & serve items like "migas tacos, made with a scramble of eggs and strips of fried corn tortillas, pocked with green chilies, capped with avocado slices, enveloped by flour tortillas." the best part? they're not just for breakfast. (ny times)


• with st patrick's day only five days away, it's time to start getting wasted & downing copious amounts of corned beef & cabbage, right? well, not entirely. you should still get wasted but it turns out that corned beef & cabbage, which has become shorthand for "irish food," isn't really an irish dish. in fact, most of the "irish food" you find in america, stuff like irish nachos & reuben egg rolls, has nothing to do with traditional irish fare. the reality is that a lot of traditional irish cuisine is rather bland & the stuff you typically find in irish pubs here in the u.s.--"burgers, chicken wings and pizza"--is often similar to what you'll find in pubs in ireland. there really is no "irish cuisine" to speak of. it's cool with me though. corned beef & cabbage sucks. (chicago sun-times)


• in a week where the producers of the academy award winning documentary the cove busted a restaurant in l.a. for serving endangered whale sushi, serious eats took a look at a more legal (& likely tasty) form of sushi--the sushi pizza. as they reported, a japanese tv show that profiles "wacky 'japanese' food" served at japanese restaurants in america" visited hyde park's edo sushi to try out their sushi pizza. to their surprise, they actually enjoyed the dish, which is made up of "a lightly toasted rice patty" topped with spicy mayo, chopped maguro, green onion & tobiko. sure it's not technically pizza, but it still sounds awesome. (serious eats)


• over the past year or so, nyc's become known for their vibrant food truck scene, but in the midst of all the food truck hype, not enough attention has been paid to another portable food trend that's on the rise--the pop-up restaurant. they're locales where chefs set up shop for a day or evening & hock their creations. since they're hip & trendy & only temporary, there are four lessons that the la times thinks are key to the pop-up experience: don't expect to stumble on a pop-up, expect to wait, stay current on twitter & go at opening time. if you keep those four things in mind, you'll be just fine. if not, they'll be gone before you know it. (la times)

since all of our politicians apparently believe that everyone on the other side of the aisle has cooties, this week mr president gathered democrats & republicans together in d.c. to try to get both sides talking about the current health care legislation. during the televised six-hour summit, the president basically learned what he already knew--republicans just aren't going to offer anything, so the democrats have to go it alone. yay washington! it makes sense though, since it took them forever to decide whether there would be snacks on the table at the summit & whether they would be eaten on or off camera. sure it's an important issue, but it's largely symbolic of the whole health care debate. luckily, it wasn't representative of this week's food news.

• as i've noted many times on this here blog, i'm a huge fan of delaware's dogfish head breweries. i've always wanted to take a trip down to delaware to visit their brewery or their restaurant, but have never made the journey. now it looks like i may not have to. on tuesday, dogfish announced that they're coming to me & opening a rooftop bar & restaurant in midtown manhattan with mario batali, the jolly, ginger-bearded chef & food network star. until recently, i haven't had cable for years, so i don't know jack about him, but if he's smart enough to pair up with what may be the top microbrew in the country, he's cool with me. (grub street)


• are your chips not meaty enough? fret no longer, meat lover. chadwick, a british food company, has submitted a patent for "meat crisps," a snack product that would be made by pulverising meat, mixing it with an emulsion, seasoning it along with a range of binding agents & heating it in a wrapper before slicing it into thin pieces and microwaving it. they'll be lower in calories, fat & salt & if testing works out, they'll be in stores by the end of the year. the name i'm suggesting for their product: "moo crisps." brilliant, right? chadwick, you can use that name if you want...just send me a bag. (the telegraph)


• if you've ever wondered who the mad scientist behind mcdonald's creations was, this week chicagonow did an interview with dan coudreaut, the director of culinary innovation for the fast food chain. coudreaut, who started his career as a dishwasher at the four seasons, has been in his current position since 2004. he's the man responsible for the angus burger, the now-defunct asian salad & the current mcdonald's darling, the snack wrap. given mcdonald's enormous reach, when it boils down to it he's the most powerful chef in the world. it doesn't mean a thing though if he can't get mcdonald's to add that artichoke spread & asiago cheese burger they have in italy to the menu here in the states. (chicagonow)


• on tuesday, the ny times ran a piece about "snackbot," a robo chef designed by graduate students at carnegie mellon university. snackbot, who is "outfitted with a $20,000 laser navigation system," is designed to learn about robot-human interaction through serving food. i can picture it now. "hey snackbot, make me a sandwich." "hey snackbot, go get me another beer." "hey snackbot, fresh guacamole. stat!" snackbot bows his head obediently..."yes, shawn." he's not the only robot chef on the block though. the chinese unveiled the “world’s first cooking robot” back in '06 & famen, a japanese restaurant, has "two giant yellow robot arms preparing up to 800 bowls of ramen a day." it's pretty cool, as when the robots take over the world, they'll hopefully still make us dinner. (ny times)


• consolidation! yesterday, diamond foods, who's best known for pop secret & tasty tasty nuts (including my #1 snack of 2008), announced that they're buying oregon's kettle foods for $615 million. diamond, who started off as a co-op before going public in 2005, is the leading u.s. exporter of walnuts & has recently been running bizzare ads which, given this week's events at seaworld, may or may not be in good taste. for diamond, buying kettle foods is a smart investment, since they've doubled sales & increased earnings significantly over the last four years. also, their chips pretty much rule. (financial times)