Never would I thought to write a camera review on this site, but here I am.  I was never satisfied with the quality of the food pictures that my compact camera snapped, and I was fed up carrying my dSLR every where I went.  So when I heard the Canon S90 was a compact camera that performed well at taking low light pictures, I went out and got myself one.

I spent a month taking pictures of almost everything I ate when I dined out with the S90.  It’s not as slim as the other present Canon compacts, it’s about the size of the older Canon PowerShot Digital Elph 400.  Still, it’s small enough to fit in the front pants pocket without being too bulky.

While it’s not the best camera to use in low-light situations, it sure has beat out every other compact camera I have owned.  This model is also marketed to camera enthusiasts, but I think photographers of all levels should own one of these babies.  For those unfamiliar with using manual settings on a dSLR, there will be a learning curve.  Sure, the automatic function is good and all, but to truly make the pictures shine, they should be taken in manual mode, so the files can be saved in the RAW format for further tinkering as well.

Below are a bunch of pictures I took in the past 30 days or so.  All pictures were taken in Manual mode with an aperture of 2.0, shutter speed of 1/6 to 1/250, and ISO ranging from 200 to 400 in macro mode.  No flash was fired, the pictures were taken indoors and saved in RAW format, and some were enhanced with the included photo editing software (Canon’s Digital Photo Professional).  I only tinkered with the brightness, contrast, tone, and saturation settings.  No noise reduction was used either.

Tonkatsu ISO 250, F2.0 1/50 – No Retouching.

Stuffed Pancakes ISO 250, F2.0, 1/250 – Increased saturation and brightness a bit post snap

Sushi ISO 200, F2.0, 1/40 – Increased saturation and brightness post snap.

Beef Chow Fun ISO 400, F2.0, 1/30 – Increased saturation, tone, contrast, and brightness post snap.  I was seated in a very dark corner.

Shepherd’s Pie ISO 400, F2.0, 1/6 – Increased saturation, tone, contrast, and brightness post snap.  This place was pretty dimly lit.

Penne Vodka ISO 400, F2.0, 1/6 – Increased saturation, tone, contrast, and brightness post snap.  Same location as above.

Roti Canai ISO 200, F2.0, 1/10 – Slight tone correction post snap.

Toasted Bread ISO 400, F2.0, 1/25 – Increased saturation, tone, contrast, and brightness post snap.

Biscuits ISO 400, F2.0, 1/20 – Increased saturation, tone, contrast, and brightness post snap.

Meat ISO 200, F2.0, 1/30 – Slight saturation increase post snap.

Clams ISO 200, F2.0, 1/30 – Slight saturation increase, tone correction, and brightness increase post snap.

The camera performs remarkably well up to ISO 400, any more and the pictures will start to get noisy.  The image stabilization performs well and those with minor hand trembles will find this camera to be a good ally. Unfortunately, the camera’s cost comes at a premium, hovering around the $400.00 mark.

So it’s time to be the food photographer that you were meant to be!  Check out more samples here.

~ Kin

Question: What do you do when 6 feet wide and 440 pound jellyfish invade Japanese waters?

Answer: You turn them into sweet confectionaries of course!

The giant jellyfish, known as Nomura’s jellyfish or echizen kurage have been invading Japanese waters and are threatening fisheries and even nuclear power plants.

image:  fastcompany.com

In an attempt to make use of the overpopulation of jellyfish, Obama Fisheries High School students have created a caramel space candy that’s infused with a powder made from the jellyfish.

image:  fastcompany.com

While that does seem odd to those outside of Japan, it’s actually the second product from the team of students.  Already on Japanese store shelves in the Fukui prefecture, locals can dig into the jellyfish based Ekura-chan saku-saku cookies.

Having low expectations, I wasn’t expecting much, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.  It cooked evenly and had a nice ‘al dente’ bite after six minutes of cooking.  It holds together really well and has a crisp and bouncy texture to it.  The size of the macaroni in the box might be a bit deceiving at first, but they’ll grow to twice the size after cooking.

Andean Dream Quinoa Macaroni Pasta is gluten free, %100 organic and kosher.  One down side of it is that for $4.00 a box, you don’t get much bang for your buck.  Available at Whole Foods.

Clean, simple, and inevitable.  It’s only a matter of time until that chef at Benihana is replaced by a mechanical counterpart.  First it’ll slice and dice the meat, and then proceed to slice and dice the customers.  The T-shirts are printed on American Apparel and are available in 4 different colors for $24 each.  I got myself one and it arrived in about 7 days.   Also available in long sleeve, V-neck, and girly fitted short sleeve.  Get yours here.

So I finally got my hands on a couple bulbs of black garlic.  When I was searching for it months ago, I couldn’t find it, and when I’m not looking for it, it just pops out of nowhere.  Nowhere being Whole Foods.  Black garlic is created by fermenting garlic for a month under a special process where the meat softens, turns black, and the flavor mellows out into a sweet, yet light  tangy taste.

I took one bulb out of the package and brought it to my nose.  After a prolonged sniff, it reminded me of something familiar.  It was at the tip of my tongue, and after a few minutes of deep thinking, I had it.  It smelled just like Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic Sauce!  While I can’t say the flavors of the two products taste the the same, they do turn out to be similar, since the jarred sauce contains fermented black beans and garlic.

Here’s a look at the packaging.  The actual color of the garlic bulbs aren’t white, but are more brown and caramelized, similar to that of roasted garlic.

Black garlic is quite palatable eaten raw, but can still be used in cooking as well.  Chances of coming across them in a store might be difficult, but it looks like Whole Foods is one of the company’s selected resellers.  Check out Black Garlic, Inc for more information.

A package of Black Garlic contains 2 medium-sized bulbs (about 36g) and costs $2.99.

The release of Bakon, the bacon flavored vodka, doesn’t surprise me.  What’s surprising is, what took so long?  For most of us in the states, this item is going to be hard to come by.  Limited quantities are available in only four states so far.  Who are the lucky states?  Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.  Production expansion will be based on demand, and I hope demand is far exceeding supply.  We need this stuff in the East Coast!

Bakon Vodka is a superior quality potato vodka with a savory bacon flavor. It’s clean, crisp, and delicious. This is the only vodka you’ll ever want to use to make a Bloody Mary, and it’s a complementary element of both sweet and savory drinks.

I guess it was inevitable, it was bound to happen…like Judgement Day.

I wonder if chicken sausage is any healthier than pork sausage?  Somehow I doubt it.  But it does sound healthier, and that’s good enough for me.  I picked up a package of Brat Hans Chicken Sausage: Spicy Andouille flavor, a couple of days ago at where else, Whole Foods.  I don’t usually eat sausage because it is loaded with preservatives, nitrates, and a heaping dose of sodium.  However, this brand of sausage doesn’t contain nitrates and monosodium glutamate.  It also follows  the trend of listing “no antibiotics” on the packaging.

The directions call for grilling the sausages.  Since I don’t own a grill and I didn’t feel like busting out the stove-top cast iron grill, I cooked it in a stainless steel pan, with a bit of oil.

I didn’t have high hopes at first.  I envisioned the sausage to be bland and mushy.  To my surprise, it wasn’t so.  It definitely had that smoked sausage flavor, it  just wasn’t as strong as that of a pork sausage.  The texture was firm, and the bit of spiciness gave some depth.   All in all, not bad at all, in fact, it was good.

Sausage doesn’t have to be boring.  Set on a bed of guacamole, a perfect complement to the andouille flavor.

Brat Hans Chicken Sausage
$5.99 for a pack of 4 at Whole Foods

Well, let’s start out with the Cheeseburger in a Can.

This product was making the blog waves early last year, and the folks at AVClub.com managed to get their hands on one from Ebay.  A few initial reactions before the taste testers took a bite were: “Oh, that looks so gross. It’s so grey. It’s the greyest meat ever,” “It looks more greenish to me, ” “It’s got this horrible film on it.”

More pertinent than the taste is the texture. The bun is only very slightly soggy on the bottom, and surprisingly fluffy and ordinary otherwise. The cheese is clammy and clumpy. The burger itself is weirdly, unpleasantly smooth, again something like a bad grain-burger. It lacks the chewiness of actual meat; it’s grease-slick, smooth, and eerily regular. Imagine modeling clay lightly dipped in meat drippings. We’re not sure what kind of meat drippings. Horse, maybe?

As you can see, the product looks nothing like the product picture.

And here are some post taste test impressions:

• “No, it really is the meat that’s the problem. Oh God.”
• “When I first tasted it, it didn’t bother me, but it festered.” “Really? I gagged the second it hit my tongue.”
• “It’s pretty much like a dog-food patty.”
• “It’s like this chicken-fried steak that I got once at a disreputable diner, then left in the fridge for three days, then ate in a drunken stupor. No, it’s a little worse than that.”

This product isn’t available in the states, probably for good reason.  If you happen in Germany though, go nuts.

Next up is the Whole Chicken in a Can, yes, you read right.  Man, that picture of the chicken sure does look delicious, and I sure am hungry!

Foodnetworkhumor.com has the complete article and I think the writer has a great description of the product:  “I don’t know about you guys, but I wouldn’t eat anything that looked like forgotten leftovers from the “Neo Being Birthed In The Matrix” scene…”

Serving suggestions are as follows:

Remove chicken from the can.  Be sure to save the delicious broth.  Place chicken in an uncovered pan, baste well with  some of the broth.  Place in a hot oven, 475 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Baste two or three times while heating.  To prepare a delicious gravy, brown two tablespoons of flour, mix in a cup of broth.  Allow to thicken over burner until desired consistency, A delicious chicken soup may be prepared by adding rice, cooked noodles or dumplings to the broth.

Wee!  Lookout world, here I come!  Wait, is that amniotic fluid?

The results after being cooked in the oven.  It looks like the crows and buzzards got to it first.  Was it chicken in a can, or carcass in a can?  Pass.

Introducing Squeez Bacon.

Vilhelm Lillefläsk’s Squeez Bacon® is fully cooked 100% bacon. Due to the patented electro-mechanical process by which Squeez Bacon® is rendered, it requires no preservatives or other additives. Each serving is as healthy as real bacon, and equivalent to 4 premium slices of bacon! You can put it on sandwiches, pizza, pastas, bacon, soups, pies, eat it hot or cold (warm Squeez Bacon® on toasted rye is to die for), substitute it for bacon in your recipes, or even eat it right out of the tube like we do! If it’s edible, it’s better with Squeez Bacon®. In the immortal words of Vilhelm Lillefläsk, “Aldrig kommer att ge dig upp!” Once you get a taste of Squeez Bacon®, you’ll know exactly what he meant.

That’s right, Squeez Bacon is “as healthy as real bacon…”  Somehow I doubt that statement.  I mean, if these guys define foods such as fried chicken and French fries as healthy, then who am I to judge?

Product Features

• Each tube contains 21oz (595g) of Squeez Bacon®.
• 16 servings – equivalent to 64 slices of bacon!
• Bottled in Sweden, made from U.S. bred swine.
• Shelf Life of 12 years.
• No refrigeration needed.
• Jätte gott!

You can get your own tube at ThinkGeek.com for $7.99

Thanks to Angela for the link!