Welcome toDelicious or Distressing, where we rate recent food memes, videos, and other decidedly unserious news. Last week, we talked aboutthe fitness and diet influencer Liver King confessing his impossibly muscled body is thanks to steroids, not raw meat.
Charcuterie and butter, formerly rivals in theboard arena, have graduated from planks of wood to structures more elaborate—avant-garde, even. You say charcuterie board, I raise you charcuteriechalet.While you’re swooshing your bread chunks on a butter board (yawn), I’ll be basking in the warm rays of a buttercandle. Jury is out on the practicality of either, but points for creativity in any case.
On the other side of the pond,Great British Bake Off host Matt Lucas is leaving the tent. GBBO has seen manyoff-key blunders under Lucas’s reign, and we’ll be curious to see how the next season pans out in his absence. Also: Nestlé is trying to make “smeals” (a portmanteau of “small meals”) happen. It’s not going to happen.
Matt Lucas is leaving Great British Bake Off
Great British Bake Off host and comedian (?) Matt Lucas announced he would no longer appear on my emotional support baking competition and it’s, well, a start. From my view, Lucas’s humor—which trended toward edginess and cringe—just wasn’t compatible with what makes the show great. That is, wholesome vibes, lovable contestants, and tall gender-norms-defying waif Noel Fielding, who is blessedly remaining on the show.
I say Lucas’s departure is a start because GBBO could stillbenefit from a good look in the mirror. For starters, judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith could spend less time calling flavors from outside of the UK’s Brexit-locked borders “strange,” as they did with superstar baker Syabira Yusoff’s use of Malaysian ingredients literally all season long. The show’s creators could also spend less time on poorly thought-outideas like Mexico Week and more time allowing us to get to know the contestants, who are consistently the best part of the show. If the showrunners really want to make the show great, they can find plenty more ideas in my tweet below. 3.1/5 delicious. —Nico Avalle, digital production associate
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People are making charcuterie chalets instead of gingerbread houses
Have you ever had the extremely common and relatable experience of building a gingerbread house, only to find yourself yearning for an experience that’s...meatier? Yeah, me neither, but if there’s one thing the internet’s gonna do, it’s come up with something that nobody asked for. That’s where charcuterie chalets come in. These miniature cottages, made presumably of salami, speck, and soppressata, have been created to take the place of gingerbread houses. Reactions have been mixed—the pull of cured meats is great, but many are (understandably) grossed out by the idea of presenting them as a quaint decoration as a part of the Christmas season. Personally, I don’t really see why these absurd and arguably unnecessary craft projects, decorated with cheeses and breadsticks, wouldn’t make an effective grazing board that does double duty as a party icebreaker. To the charcuterie chalet haters, I have this message to share: Allow joy into your life. 2.4/5 delicious. —Sam Stone, staff writer
