Culture

Weekend Reading: 3D Printed Candy, “Weird Al” Yankovic Videos, and More

What we’re reading, cooking, and clicking this week.

I've always wondered what 3-D printed food would taste and look like. Buzzfeed editors answered some of my questions when they taste-tested 3-D printed candy from The Sugar Lab. While the neon ombre sours and geometric peppermints received mixed reviews, their futuristic designs are pretty impressive. You can purchase the candies here and try them yourself. [Buzzfeed] —Andrea Kang, digital editorial assistant, @AndreaKang1

Ever since I was eight, I've been a fan of pop music satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic. Yankovic's parodies of the pop hits of the 1980s ("Eat it" for "Beat It", "Lasagna" for "La Bamba", "I Love Rocky Road" for "I Love Rock and Roll"). They were the ones I committed to memory (and belted out at the top of my lungs while dancing in my living room) and they are still the ones I know best. I was tickled to find a full collection of music videos for Weird Al's food-themed songs (and there are a lot of them!) over at Bon Appétit. Check them out. In many cases, they're even better than the real thing. [Bon Appétit] —Karen Shimizu, senior editor, @karemizu

Though I'm hardly picky about coffee, I'm fascinated by the story of Blue Bottle's pre-packaged iced coffee being sold in big-name chains like Whole Foods. It raises questions of economies of scale: Is it possible to produce a product of integrity in huge quantity, or will Blue Bottle, hailed by coffee-lovers for its careful, excellent brews, go the way of Starbucks? Their success so far is encouraging, and the story of how they achieved it a compelling read. [The Atlantic] —Zoe Schaeffer, assistant digital editor, @zschaef

Eid Mubarak! This week, in honor of Eid, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting, Y-Pulse of Oman posted a fun infographic highlighting the relative lengths of fasting days (between the Fajr prayer in the morning and the Maghrib prayer at sunset) around the world, from Iceland's nearly 22 hours to Australia's mere 10. The graphic is followed by a beautiful photo gallery of global Iftar dinners. [Y-Pulse of Oman] —Felicia Campbell, associate editor, @hungryfi

Finally, a potent retaliation to substantiate other, more wishy-washy suspicions of "gluten-free": Although a bit heavy handed on the criticism at times, and perhaps not agreeable to all, chef Marc Vetri explains how wheat isn't the enemy—industrial processing is. He shares ways to avoid heavily processed frankenbreads, and adds in a rather hilarious illustration of some diners' mistaken assumptions about the issue. HuffingtonPostAllie Wist, art associate, @AllieWist

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