Reindeer Sacrifices, Michelin-Worthy Leftovers, and All the Other Edible News You Missed This Week

Praise Mother Gaia and all of the Earth Trolls. Spring is finally here.

Naturally, we'll celebrate the equinox with a sacrifice. But we'll get to that in a second.

In this final week of winter, MUNCHIES headed to the frosty nation of Sweden with our host Ivar Berglin. Our first stop was in Sweden's seafood capital of Göteborg, complete with a classic smörgåsbord and even a taste of the highly potent fermented fish known as surströmming. From there, we went to Skåne to learn about spettkaka, a meringue dessert that's not exactly popular with Swedish youth, but a piece of Swedish culinary tradition nonetheless.

And what trip to Sweden would be complete without a stop in Stockholm? There, Ivar spends some time taking fika—the Swedish term for a leisurely coffee break—before heading out to Sweden's only real Viking restaurant.

Then comes the sacrifice: Ivar goes north to snowy Umeå, where he meets a reindeer herder who graciously slaughters one of his stock for a meal. Finally, he returns south for some of Sweden's take on that New Nordic Cuisine we've all heard tell about, eating at Ekstedt, Koka, and Bastard along the way.

Of course, Sweden's wasn't the only culture we celebrated this week. For St. Patrick's Day, we heard from Irishman James Nolan on why his countrymen are just fine and dandy with their reputation for being drunken souses. We found out that the original green beer was colored with laundry whitener, and even got some advice from Male Chef on where to go drinking in New York City to avoid the usual crowds of violently inebriated Irish-Americans. Oh, and it turns out that Irish cheese is pretty sweet, too.

In the UK, we heard from the guy who wanted to open an owl bar but got shut down by fun-hating, bird-loving jerks. It's all a big misunderstanding, he told MUNCHIES. (We heard a similar story from a Belgian chef who is making lobster-flavored gin with whole lobsters.) But that wasn't the only controversy to hit the country. Grocery chain Waitrose was slammed for advertising what critics called Israeli food propaganda by publishing an insert in its weekly magazine that made no mention of Palestine.

We heard from some voices inside the food industry, too, including chef Matt Basile, who argued that the non-stop, stress-fueled life of professional cooks is nothing to lionize. We spoke to an anonymous food safety inspector who will make us think twice about ever ordering soft serve again. We chewed the fat with Chris Nuttall-Smith, longtime food critic for The Globe and Mail, who explained how his kind make shitty dinner dates. Finally, we heard from the wonderful Dan Barber, chef of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, whose new pop-up is turning kitchen waste into meals worthy of a Michelin-starred kitchen.

On the weird side of things, we heard about a kid whose traumatic brain injury turned him into a cursing cheese addict, and how a Missouri state senator effectively told the federal government to pry his grill from his cold, dead hands. We spoke to some Canadian scientists who are fighting the spread of genetically modified superweeds with yet more GMOs, sipped some excellent wine made from rotten mangoes, and visited a disco-themed dinner party that did not give us Saturday Night Fever.

Finally, we met a ceramicist who is making some of the most terrifying tableware we've ever seen, and heard from a young woman who found herself hosting a cooking show in her underwear. "Nothing in that kitchen was left with its dignity intact," she writes. I am probably on some sort of watch list."

All in a week's work.