Western Europe

Ask a Mexican Answers Questions from Brits on Tex-Mex and Authentic Mexican Food

Baby Eels Reappearing on British Menus for the First Time in 30 Years

This season, fishermen in the U.K. have been able to pull extremely high numbers of elver eels out of Britian's River Severn. The baby eels, sometimes called glass eels, used to be a cheap regional treat but high demand boosted prices in the '70s and '80s, making the little worm-like fish too pricey ... More >>

How to Make a Hanky Panky Cocktail

Here I go again with drinks with weird names. Hanky Panky? It manages to be hopelessly outdated, yet still carries a lurid aura with it. The origin of the drink's name is a bit more innocent. It goes back to the early 20th century, at the American Bar in London's Savoy Hotel. See Also: - Corpse Rev ... More >>

Ask a Mexican on Mexican Pride and Speaking English

Marijuana-Flavored Mayo Now Available for Your Fry Dipping Pleasure

If you've been to Brussels, you might already know about little Manneken Pis, the "emblem of the rebellious spirit of the City of Brussels" or a fountain of a urinating boy. He's kind of a big deal over there and, apparently, so are his French fries. Because aside from being the name of that little ... More >>

Bubble Bobble 5 @ Arizona Event Center

Water Buffalo and Donkey Found In South African Mystery Meat

As if the horror across the pond concerning horse meat wasn't enough, a recent study has revealed that more than two-thirds of the processed meat in South Africa is contaminated with, well, a lot of things. Meat scientists who conducted the testing estimated that fully 68 percent of the processed me ... More >>

Greatness Emerges at the Year's First Major Film Festival

2012 Beaujolais Nouveau Debuts and Celebrates 30th Anniversary November 15

It's here.... Beaujolais Nouveau refers to the first wine of the new harvest and ushers in the new vintage year (in terms of wine). It debuts for sale the third Thursday of November, and it's a pretty big deal in France. In fact, in France you can go to jail if you sell Beaujolais Nouveau before m ... More >>

Ask a Mexican on Discrimination, Lard Over Butter, and Premarital Sex

Ask a Mexican on Mexican Spanish and Hijos de la Chingada

How to Survive a Plague: The History and Survival of ACT UP

French Connection

Extraordinary Animals at the Heard's Berlin Gallery

Bell's Oarsman Ale

Beer: Oarsman Ale Brewery: Bell's Brewery Inc. Style: Berliner Weisse ABV: 4 percent To everything there is a season, and this applies to beer, as well. Whereas frosty winter nights can be thawed by a powerful stout or winter warmer, the furnace that we like to call the Arizona summer calls for li ... More >>

Masters of Wine: The Test

Welcome to Vine Geeks, where Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic of AZ Wine Merchants take the drinking game quite seriously. Pay attention -- you might just learn something. This past week, a record 98 students took the test to obtain their Masters of Wine, trying to join the mere 298 worldwide who curr ... More >>

Trappist Westvleteren 12

Beer: Trappist Westvleteren 12Brewery: Brouwerij WestvleterenStyle: QuadrupelABV: 10.2 percent It usually follows that the most highly rated beers in the world are also the hardest to get. This shouldn't be surprising; as a beer's acclaim grows, demand for its flavor will eventually outstrip the su ... More >>

AndyTalk: Why Would Anyone Eat (Stinky, Mushy) Brussels' Sprouts?

The smell of steaming or boiling Brussels' sprouts is anathema to any sort of mouthwatering Pavlovian response. When I was a kid and my mother made Brussels' sprouts (or anything cabbage-related) I'd avoid the smell by staying in my room with the door closed. Self-imposed exile was the lesser evi ... More >>

Six Favorite Specialty Cocktails in Phoenix

​ Who says Tuesday morning is an inappropriate time to talk cocktails? Not us. Cheers, Phoenix -- here are six of our favorites. And yours? 6. Caramel Appletini from Amsterdam One of the many things Amsterdam, the haven for gay and straight alike in downtown Phoenix, is known for is its too-long- ... More >>

Ten Favorite Metro Phoenix Craft Beer Bars

​Let's discuss craft beer bars. We're not just talking about one or two handles here. We're taking about the bars that have devoted just about every handle to the art of craft beer; the folks that know that power of a freshly tapped keg of Hopslam and who would sell a large part of their soul to ... More >>

Art Condoms: For When You'd Rather Just Display Your Goods

​If you get​ lucky enough to stumble across a limited-edition rubber by the GARAGE collaborative, you should know better than to use it. The condom packages are stamped and pasted with designs by Keith Haring, Mat Collishaw, Sue Webster, and Tim Noble. They'll be scattered about F ... More >>

Joanna Bolme of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: "I Want to Warn You: We Still Jam."

Here's kind of a crazy realization: Stephen Malkmus has been performing and recording with The Jicks longer than he played and recorded with Pavement. But following Pavement's reunion (I saw them at Coachella 2010, and had one of those mythic "Brochella Moments" with a complete stranger during "Cut ... More >>

Sadie Madrid Left Dead Dogs To Rot In Her Apartment For Nearly Two Months

Dead puppies are no fun -- just ask 21-year-old Sadie Elizabeth Madrid, who was apparently so bored with her dead dogs that she left them to rot in her apartment for nearly two months.Madrid's two dogs got sick in early December -- they were throwing up, losing weight, etc. Rather than take the pooc ... More >>

The Quakes' Paul Roman on New Lineup, Getting Deported, and Psychobilly in the '80s

Melissa Fossum​ In spited of limited commercial success, The Quakes are one of the most influential bands in the tatted up, creepers-and-pompadour subgenre psychobilly. The band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1986 and relocated to London shortly thereafter, where they established a reputatio ... More >>

The House at Secret Garden's Wine Dinner and Ox Tail Soup in Today's Eater's Digest

www.livelovepasta.com​ Seasonal FeastDidn't get enough of dinner under the stars last week? Well, here's your chance to really have dinner under the stars on one of the best patios in town. South Phoenix's House at Secret Garden will be hosting a "Four Seasons Around the World" wine dinner to ... More >>

Historic Gastronomy: the New Trend in Haute Cuisine

http://foodists.ca/2011/06/05/a-london-lunch-at-dinner.htmlChef Heston Blumenthal's take on "meat fruit" (c.1500) at London's Mandarin Oriental.​If you've had quite enough, thank you, of hi-tech food manipulation techniques and long for simpler, perhaps more barbaric times when you might drown spa ... More >>

Berlin @ The Canyon Club

Five English Riot Songs

London is burning. Storefronts are busted. Looting is rampant. And rioters are reducing many of the city's buildings to piles of timber. But what is it all for?

Artists React and Reach Out as London Riots Continue

Sony warehouse fire in London on August 9, 2011 The people of London are taking Bob Marley's song "Burnin and Lootin" to heart with a multiple-day riot that has not yet ended. The riots, which are a response to police shooting and killing 29-year-old Mark Duggan, have affected other citi ... More >>

Brit Player

U.K. Buzz Band A Silent Film Relocates to Phoenix

A Silent Film​It's logical for a band from the U.K. that's been compared to Coldplay and Snow Patrol and received more than a thousand spins for their first single on Sirius-XM's Alt Nation channel to move to the U.S. seeking stateside success. But Phoenix seems like an unlikely relocation choice ... More >>

Cakey Perry: The High Tea Pop-Up to Melt Your Popsicle

"Perry Pops" from Molly Bakes​Who says London tea parties and fine, fresh, and fierce California girls don't mix? Not Emma Thomas, more commonly known as Miss Cakehead and creator of the adults-only cake shop Eat Your Heart Out. Inspired by Katy Perry's "California Gurls" video, Miss C ... More >>

Ask a Mexican on Mythical Aztec Origins and Ash Wednesday

Neutral Milk Hotel, "Holland, 1945"

Song: Neutral Milk Hotel, "Holland, 1945"Context: One of my favorite songs from an Elephant 6 act, in honor of tomorrow's Holiday Surprise Tour at The Duce. Holland, 1945

Middle of Beer Week Events and Party Pancakes in Today's Eater's Digest

traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com​Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Beer Week 2011 Continues...4 days down and 4 days to go. Tonight's events start early and end late, that means you have no excuse to fit at least one pint into your W ... More >>

Ride's debut album, Nowhere, gets 20th Anniversary Edition with Bonus Live Disc

​One of the touchstones of the short-lived-but-fondly-remembered shoegaze movement, Ride's debut album, Nowhere, has been given the deluxe 20th anniversary treatment for re-release with a bonus live disc on Rhino Handmade. Along with My Bloody Valentine's classic, Loveless, Ride's remarkable b ... More >>

Jan Brewer Can Solve Mental-Health Crisis By Looking to Bedlam

So, a new batch of thousands of mentally ill Arizonans are going to lose most, if not all of their current benefits (counseling, transportation, etc.), ostensibly because of the state's ongoing fiscal crisis.   ​We wrote about the dire situation a few weeks ago in "Hindsight," and w ... More >>

Eat the Worm

Or just drink the stuff it’s floating in

Another Possible Best-Seller of the Year in the UK for Susan Boyle?

​Could overnight British superstar Susan Boyle have the top album in the UK two years in a row?It's very possible, according to Billboard.Boyle just released her second album, The Gift, which debuted at the top spot on the UK charts. Her first album, I Dreamed a Dream, which was a Christmas album, ... More >>

Luis Millan of Canteen Modern Tequila Bar, Part Two

Chef Luis Millan of Canteen Modern Tequila Bar fuses together his Mexican heritage, French cooking techniques, Spanish food adoration and Arizona kitchen experience to create really interesting dishes with international flair.

German Bundestag Delegation in State This Week to Study Immigration and Security Issues; Polls Show Germans Worried About Islamic Migrants

Image: http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/index.html​ Eight congressmen and congresswomen from the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, will be in Arizona this week as part of a delegation to study immigration and security issues. The delegation will be traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border, naturally ... More >>

Club Candids at Amsterdam Bar in Phoenix

Adriane GoetzAnother crowded Friday night at Amsterdam in downtown Phoenix.​No doubt about it, Amsterdam is the most poppin' place to be downtown on a Friday night. The music is loud, the drinks are strong and crowd is wild and crazy, but also super friendly and welcoming. Check out the scene ... More >>

Chef Talk: Tracy DeWitt of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, Scottsdale

Tracy DeWitt, the American Culinary Federation Western Region's Pastry Chef of the Year for 2010 who is vying for the national title this week, had no career aspirations of being a chef. But when she started working part-time in a New Jersey bakery at age 15, a fascination with the bakers and cake d ... More >>

Morning Glory

Wake up, y’all. The Americans are on the tube.

2010 World Cup: USA vs. England

American Gods Show Their Love for Hamsters, and Other Local Music News

American Gods​Local metal band American Gods has a thing for hamsters. That's right--hamsters. The group has a song called "Hamster Stomp" on their current album, Ec-10, but don't think the group is serious about crushing those cute little furry animals--a bad-arse pic of one of the rodents graces ... More >>

Where Do Arctic Monkeys Fit Into Britain's Many Regional Scenes?

Christopher's Wine Dinner, The Yippity Yo Cooking Show and A.M. Food Porn in Today's Eater's Digest

An early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives. ​ Tuesday April 20th Christopher's will be hosting a wine dinner featuring an assortment of wine from Spain. The night starts off with a Sangria Cocktail reception which is followed by a four course meal. Each course ... More >>