Sun-Times & Tribune: Odds ’N’ Ends

Neither the Sun-Times nor the Tribune have much of a theme this week, but so what. We enjoyed many of the articles anyway, which highlighted the wisdom of Chicago’s various and sundry food writers.

• Bill Daley advances the theory that Chicago is a great oyster town because it’s midway between the three coasts. And its position on the fourth coast enabled local oyster consumption as early as 1835! [Tribune]

• Leah Zeldes knows that you can get great food deals in the unlikeliest of places, most intriguingly in sporting goods stores like Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World [Sun-Times]

• Lisa Donovan is on top of the newest development in the cutlery world: the knork, a portmanteau of knife and fork (in the mode of spork). Everyone and his mother has envisaged such a product, but this one guy finally designed and marketed them. They claim it doesn’t slice your mouth up, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try! [Sun-Times]

• Mike Nagrant chronicles the effects of raging euro on European wine imports to the area. This would be a good time to remember that California uses the dollar as its form of currency! [Sun-Times]

Fact: 99% of the olive oil used in this country is imported [Tribune]

Fact: “The NHL Alumni Association has rolled out a Signature Wine Series, a 12-bottle collection — six Chardonnays, six Cabernet Sauvignons — featuring the likeness of some of hockey’s greatest players” [Sun-Times]

There is a huge, untapped market for made-in-America olive oil in bottles featuring the likenesses of the WWE’s greatest wrestlers. Right?

[Photo: “knork knork.” “Who’s there?” “A fork that can cut.” “A fork that can cut who?” “Anyone who tries to eat with it.” HAHAHA!]