New Potato Tastes Exactly Like Roast Chicken

Row 7 Seed Company has developed a new variety of potato by crossing French heirloom and New York potato varieties. The Poulette is savory, nutty, rich, and deeply roasted in flavor, with those who have tried it saying it tastes exactly like roast chicken. For now, the Poulette potato is available at select Whole Foods Market locations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, selling for about $6 a bag. Considering the chicken comparison, you have to wonder how much of that flavor really comes through once you cook the potato.

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Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in New Mexico Case

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Thread has a net worth of $1.88 trillion, and it’s a good thing. The tech company, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, was just ordered to pay $25 billion in penalties by a New Mexico court as part of a data privacy case that stemmed from the company’s Cambridge Analytica scandal from nearly a decade ago. The court found the social media giant liable for misleading New Mexico citizens about how it safeguards and collects user data and prevents harmful information from flourishing on its services. District Court Judge Francis Mathew pointed out in his statement that the intentional nature of Facebook’s repeated misstatements and the involvement of senior Facebook leadership warranted the highest level of penalty allowed, which is $5,000 per violation. The judge added that interest on the penalty shall accrue at the rate of 15% each year until the fine is paid in full. Meta said it disagreed with the New Mexico ruling and plans to appeal.

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Is Dowsing Real, or Just a Bunch of Hocus-Pocus?

Dowsing rods — forked sticks or metal rods that are used to find underground water — have been around for at least five centuries. When it comes to dowsing, there are two distinct possibilities. One, dowsers are either really good at pulling a fast one on desperate landowners looking for groundwater, or two, the process actually works. You may have seen people with a dowsing rod, wandering arid land until the wand moves toward a spot in the dirt where life-giving water, at some depth underground, waits to be liberated. It may sound like some kind of hocus-pocus, but it’s estimated that some 60,000 water dowsers are practicing in America today. That's almost 10 times the number of hydrologists, who provide many of the same services as dowsers, substituting science for dowsing rods. All this pointing and feeling has led to real tension between scientists and dowsers. Some of it, undoubtedly, comes from the fact that the dowsing rods indeed have a measure of success in locating underground water, which has led many landowners in search of water to call on dowsers instead of scientists. The scientists push back, saying that hydrologic, geologic, and geophysical knowledge is needed to determine the depths and extent of water. They suggest that the added expense of calling in a dowser is simply not worth it. If dowsing is such a waste of money, why does it remain so popular? The main reason is because farmers and landowners trust dowsers. Despite the head-butting between the dowsers and the scientists, the accuracy of dowsing remains a mystery. Still, the fact that the American Society of Dowsers has over 2,000 active members can’t be ignored.

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Is Expensive Pasta Worth It?

There are two types of people in the pasta aisle: the connoisseurs with a penchant for good penne, and the budget shoppers just reaching for the cheapest pasta box they can find. If you’re like most people, you may be wondering whether the big-name pasta brands warrant their equally big prices, and — more importantly — whether you can really taste the difference between the two. Believe it or not, the difference between cheap and expensive pasta is bigger than just some fancy logo or container. There are, in fact, three things that separate the Ferraris from the Fiats of the pasta world: the quality of the wheat, how it’s dried, and how it’s cut. Mass-produced pasta is often dried at high temperatures in just a few hours, while premium pasta may be slowly dried at lower temperatures over 24 to 60 hours. Slow drying can help preserve the wheat's natural flavor and contribute to a firmer texture. Great pasta is also forgiving. Even if you accidentally cook it a minute or two longer than planned, it should maintain its structure rather than quickly turning soft or mushy. Pasta label terms actually matter. While most don’t mean anything, home cooks should keep an eye out for “bronze-cut,” which means the pasta was cut in a way that lends a slightly rougher surface that will grab the sauce much better. Cheaper pasta is usually cut with Teflon dies that can leave it shinier and smoother. Beyond the labels, pay attention to the ingredients. If there are more than just a few ingredients, put it back on the shelf. Pasta color is often a dead giveaway. Look for a more natural, pale golden color, rather than an overly bright yellow. So, is expensive pasta really worth it? Ultimately, yes. That doesn’t mean you have to splurge on a $12 box of pasta, but paying a little more is worth it in the long run. Finally, what most chefs will tell you, whether you buy expensive pasta or some of the cheaper brands, don’t overcook it and don’t drown it in sauce. A little goes a long way.

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