Photograph by The Truth About

When one thinks of a ban on alcohol, an image of snazzy flappers in a tucked away speakeasy comes to mind, not an image of disenfranchised chefs. A new policy in Dubai states that no menu can offer a dish cooked with alcohol, not even hotel restaurants, which cater largely to non-Muslim tourists. A 2003 law banned the usage of alcohol in foods, but because it was widely ignored and because of “complaints from customers,” the new policy will force chefs to remove dishes with a little extra sauce from their menu. The fine for a little wine? Between Dh5,000 and Dh20,000, approximately $1,360 US.

[via Cold Mud]

—Ann Marie Awad

Alcohol, 8-bit Mario, and vibrators? Adult Mario is a cocktail robotics project for Roboexotica 2009 in Vienna by Nonpolynomial Labs that uses an emulated Super Mario Bros. NES game hooked up to a drink pouring mechanism. Kill an enemy, vodka pours in your cup. Get a coin, and coke gets poured. Whenever you die, the robot dumps water in your drink. In addition it creates an immersive experience by offering "ambient environment feedback" based on events in the game: make Mario run faster and a fan blows on your face, sliding down the flagpole gives you more vodka and triggers a vibrator. See this Flickr set for construction photos.

Then there's also Bartris, a version of Tetris that serves you a drink depending on the color makeup of the lines that you create while you play the game: Brown pieces give you Coke, grey pieces rum, and blue pieces water, so "you actually have a chance of making a drink that absolutely sucks."

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Well, this is depressing: enough people are putting date rape drugs into the drinks of unsuspecting women that an entire preventative industry had grown around the phenomenon. Drink Safe Texas is a company that produces coasters and test strips that will let you know if your drink has been spiked with either GHB or ketamine. (They also sell the bizarre alcotops, plastic seals for your bottle.)

Last week their drink safe coaster resulted in the arrest of an off-duty reserve officer who had spiked the drinks of two women at a bar in Dallas. While we're glad that the women were unhurt, and that this empowers people in what is usually a very powerless situation, we're dismayed at how prevalent this phenomenon is. Below, a creepy video of how quickly someone can slip something into your drink. Be careful out there, kids.

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Earlier this year, British anti-alcohol groups protested the launch of Tokyo, and 18.2% ABV Imperial Stout flavored with jasmine and cranberries and billed as "the world's strongest beer." For comparison, the average alcohol content of a glass of wine is 11.5%; the average for a glass of sake is 13%-15%. Nanny State, a mild imperial ale, has an alcohol content is low enough that it is not regulated or taxed as a beer in the UK.

—Paula Forbes

Left: Proclamations. 1576-12-14. London, 1576. via folger.edu. Right: The Armada Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, attributed to George Gower, c.1588-89.

Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) has been a leading lady throughout the ages. The daughter of divorce-happy Henry VIII has been written about at length; she has inspired movies, plays, and artwork; and her strict politics were felt throughout Europe (she effectively outlawed Catholicism). But we at Eat Me Daily don't really give two ducats about that stuff. We're interested in how she affected food.

Apparently she affected the edible world quite a lot: Over the course of her 45-year reign, Lizzy made 382 proclamations, and 200 of those concerned food. Examples of these proclamations can be found in The Proclamations of the Tudor Queens (buy at Amazon). Here are but a few:

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Kate Hopkins is a writer best known for her blog, Accidental Hedonist, which chronicles her interest in and consumption of all things food and drink. Out of this website came Hopkins's book, 99 Drams of Whiskey: The Accidental Hedonist's Quest for the Perfect Shot and the History of the Drink (buy on Amazon), not a direct adaptation of her blog, but certainly a direct result of it.

Getting a book deal is blogger nirvana. In signing that contract, you're legitimized, your writing on track to being introduced to the large (but ever-diminishing) demographic of people who mostly read print. Plus, maybe you can make some money. Food bloggers have had their fair share of book deals grow out of an online fascination with food and drink — who out there with a Typepad account doesn't dream of delivering the next Julie and Julia? — and yet few of those paper products have met with a great amount of success. Often, the blog does not transition smoothly to book form thanks to a multitude of factors: blogs' serialized nature, the immediacy of online media, the length (or lack thereof) of a blog post. Even though 99 Drams is not based on a blog, Hopkins is — and writes like — a blogger, which isn't always in the best interests of her book.

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It's certified organic and kosher, distilled from corn gathered from a Minnesota farming co-op, and "packaged in a recyclable glass bottle, packed in a kraft cardboard box made from sustainable forest wood pulp, and uses organic inks on the labels." As if that's not enough, they even put the corn cobs and other processing leftovers to work, converting them to bio-gas energy on-site.

Up until now, I've used vodka as a tool to feel better about myself, not worse. Thanks, guys.

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