Marufish/flickr

KFC

As recently reported in The Washington Post, al-Yamama, a Palestinian delivery company, has been sneaking Kentucky Fried Chicken into the Gaza Strip from Egypt: a three-hour journey and an extra $20-30 for cold chicken, which admittedly can be good. Of course, if Colonel Sanders knew that the red-and-white boxes which bear his likeness were being smuggled under blockades in a conflict-torn part of the world, he'd probably be horrified.

Pressure fryer innovator and marketing genius, the Colonel did not like how his recipes evolved as KFC grew. The story of his involvement in the development and branding of KFC's products could consume even this short piece. Suffice it to say that, in interviews, Sanders once characterized the gravy as "pure wallpaper paste" and extra-crispy as "a damn fried dough ball stuck on some chicken." He would most likely be distraught to see that people were risking their lives, taking arduous journeys and paying substantially inflated sums of money for products he disparaged.

Thankfully, in the opinion of this former Kentuckian, there are Kentucky products far superior to cold chicken irrigated with wallpaper paste. It is our recommendation (though we can't speak for the Colonel) that smugglers wishing to import something from the commonwealth look elsewhere. Turn the page for a few suggestions.

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Malcolm Bedell/From Away

Cheeseburgers ranked No. 20 on the Tufts list, with 1,108 calories

On Tuesday we reported on two university studies that found that restaurant meals are really, really fattening. One meal, on average -- whether breakfast, lunch or dinner -- contains more than half the FDA's recommended daily calories for a healthy adult, as well as whopping amounts of salt and saturated fat.

Now the Weather Channel -- yes, the Weather Channel! -- has broken down exactly which meals contain the most calories, according to Tufts and University of Toronto researchers. The results may not surprise you! (And Tropical Storm Alvin could become a hurricane, just FYI.)

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Christine Chiao

Contenders in Lay's "Do Us a Flavor" contest

It's official: America loves cheesy garlic bread over Sriracha and chicken 'n' waffles. At least, in potato chip form. Lay's announced Wisconsin native Karen Weber-Mendham's flavor as the winner in its "Do Us a Flavor" contest on Monday. The contest in one form or another has been around since last summer.

This means a couple of things. For one, cheesy garlic bread will continue to be available at your nearest grocery store for the rest of 2013 -- and Weber-Mendham will be $1 million (or 1% of all sales, depending on the higher figure) richer as a result. More important for the rest of us, this concludes the commercials featuring the somewhat unlikely spokesduo of Michael Symon and Eva Longoria calling on us to vote for our favorite flavor.

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Christine Chiao

Drinkable pizza by Jean-François Piège at Le Fooding

Few countries have shown as adamant an objection against American food as France. Jokes about each countries' eats are familiar from both sides of the Atlantic: We put ketchup on everything; they have a rich sauce for, well, everything. When McDonald's opened its first location on famed Parisian boulevard the Champs-Élysées in 1988, local outcry became a national debate, grabbing international headlines in the process.

Now it seems French fears of a food takeover may have some basis. The Washington Post followed up this Monday on an NPR report about a culinary reversal through the growing popularity of American fast food.

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Felicia Friesema

Helio radishes from Windrose Farm

California chefs -- think Alice Waters and Suzanne Goin -- have led the way in using seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients, practically inventing the concept of "California cuisine" in the process.

And so it's surprising to learn that our state placed a miserable 42nd of 51 in a national index ranking accessibility and dedication to local food.

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IKEA Sweden

moose lasagna

This past weekend Swedes woke up to news of a pork contamination in the moose lasagna previously sold at their local IKEA stores -- in addition to 18 other European countries. Reuters reported that a little over 17,000 packs of the frozen entrees were quietly pulled from shelves after they were found to contain pork.

According to the Associated Press, it wasn't until Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet brought attention to the almost three-week-old discovery that the furniture super-retailer acknowledged the matter. Depending on the source, there was 1.4 to 1.6 percent pork found in the lasagna. Retailing at 19 Kronor (about $2.96) each, it was available for purchase roughly a month before it was recalled.

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Celia Soudry

Lunch at the Restaurant Industry Conference

In Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed's keynote address at yesterday's 17th Annual UCLA Extension Restaurant Industry Conference, he shared with a peer group of executives, restaurateurs and suppliers how the chain approaches food as an experience -- as opposed to simply fuel. And if you've seen any of their commercials lately, you'll get what he means when he joked that Doritos Locos is for his kids and Cantina Bell is for his wife.

Three hundred-plus restaurant industry insiders -- quite a few were local -- attended the conference to exchange ideas on this year's theme "Brand Relevance & Evolution" at UCLA's Covel Commons. Lemonade's Alan Jackson and Umami Burger's Adam Fleischman were among the panelists. In no particular order, we picked up a few industry lessons. Turn the page.

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Kristie Hang and Michael Liu

the door to Club 33

Club 33 may just be Disneyland's worst kept secret. In fact, depending upon who you ask, there are staff that will give you directions to the "hidden" entrance and others that still adamantly deny its existence. Try calling Disneyland for an official comment on the club and you will be told that they are prohibited from talking about it at all.

Open since May of 1967, Club 33 was created by Walt Disney as a secret venue for entertaining important celebrities, politicians and park investors. Decorated with antiques personally chosen by Disney and his wife, it remains the only place in Disneyland that serves alcohol.

Located in New Orleans Square above The Pirates of the Caribbean ride, with no ornate signs to help you locate it, one would have to go looking for the door in order to find it. Even if you've never heard of the Club, chances are you've unknowingly walked passed it; there's just a small, simple "33" address plate marking the outside.

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James Beard Foundation

The James Beard Foundation unveiled award finalists earlier this morning. Among the hometown candidates who remain contenders for the award are the following:

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal) for Best Chef: West (CA, HI, NV); Piero Selvaggio (Valentino, Valentino Vin Bar) and Carolyn Styne (Lucques, Tavern and A.O.C.) for Outstanding Restaurateur; Suzanne Goin (Lucques) and Nancy Silverton (Pizzeria Mozza) for Outstanding Chef;
Commune Design (FarmShop) was also named for Outstanding Restaurant Design: 75 Seats and Under.

On the media side, Los Angeles magazine's Lesley Bargar Suter (Food Coverage in a General-Interest Publication) and Patric Kuh (Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award) were named for their coverage of food in L.A.

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A. Scattergood

Reuters reports that Kathleen Merrigan, the deputy agriculture secretary and second in command at the USDA, has resigned. Merrigan had been known for promoting farmers markets and local farms, and had backed the USDA's "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative. She had also played a key role in developing national organic food-labeling rules.

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