Extremely Difficult Trivia About "Prince of Darkness" (1987)

      I know this is a bit early, being only mid August, but I would like to take a break from writing about food and drink.  So I'm going to do another movie trivia quiz this week.  Also, I'm breaking from my tradition of only featuring very popular and successful movies for a quiz.  "Prince of Darkness" was only moderately successful at the box office, and only received middling reviews.  Clearly I think it's very good to excellent, though, so that's why I picked it.  It's the second film in John Carpenter's so called "Apocalypse Trilogy," with 1982's "The Thing" and 1994's "In the Mouth of Madness" being the others.  Usual format otherwise--questions followed by the answers, many SPOILERS ahead.

Questions.

1)    What is the name of the super secret sect that guards the evil cannister of green liquid?

2)    And what is the name of this organization's head guardian priest?

3)    What is the name of the church where most of the movie is set?

4)    What is the full name of the physics professor character that Victor Wong portrays?

5)    What school does this professor teach at?

6)    Brian briefly watches a television segment about a science topic.  What is it?

7)    How long did the head guardian priest live at the church?

8)    When was the church built?

9)    According to the priest played by Donald Pleasence, the huge book about the Cannister is written in what language, or languages?

10)   According to the head guardian priest, how long ago did the evil Sleeper awaken?

11)   What two reasons or life goals does Catherine give for getting a doctorate in physics?

12)   And what reason does Walter give for getting a doctorate in physics?

13)   What is Catherine's last name?  (She only says it once, and it's not listed in the credits.)

14)   What school did Brian transfer from?

15)   What subtype of physics is Brian a student of, and what subtype is Catherine in?

16)   One of the characters knew someone who attended the church back in the 1950's.  Name them.

17)   Walter says he had to break a date with a beautiful trial attorney.  Where was this person from?

18)   What is Calder's field of science, and what is Lomax's?

19)   What is Lisa's field of study, and specialty?

20)   Walter briefly watches a cartoon show on television.  Which one?

21)   Walter mentions that at age 12 he broke out in a strange rash due to a psychosomatic cause.  What caused this rash?

22)   Who is the first character seen being killed?  (Not counting the guardian priest, who died of natural causes, the first murder victim.)

23)   According to the carbon dating of the corrosion on the lid of the Cannister, how old is it?

24)   What is Susan's science specialty?

25)   Lisa is working in a room that had a previous function, as it's written over the door.  What was the room previously used for?

26)   One character is killed, and then possessed, and gives the remaining characters a dire verbal message.  Who is this character?

27)   And what is their message?

28)   What is Possessed Lisa typing as Calder enters the room?

29)   By what method are the future scientists sending back messages in time to the characters within the church while they're dreaming, according to the characters' best guess?

30)   What song does Possessed Calder sing as he ascends the stairs?

31)   Which Possessed character tries, unsuccessfully, to pull the Devil through the full-length mirror before Kelly awakens?

32)   What animals do we see throughout the movie?

33)   What is the symbol on Kelly's arm, according to Catherine?

34)   The priest tries to stop Possessed Kelly at the mirror twice.  Describe the results.

35)   The message seen by every character in their dreams was sent from people in the future.  From what year?

36)   What is the name of the priest played by Donald Pleasence?

37)   Who wrote this movie?

38)   How many characters enter and work in the church for the weekend, and how many survive to the end?  (At least in our dimension.)

39)   How many of these characters are possessed by Evil in the movie?

40)   Who is the only character who gets possessed by Evil, but not from ingesting some of the green liquid?

41)   Who is the only character definitely killed, but who then doesn't return in a possessed state?

42)   Who is the only character seen being killed twice?  (As in, once as a human, and once in possessed form, before the Devil's son in Kelly's body is pushed into the other dimension by Catherine.)

43)   Was Walter gay?  (Conjectural)

44)   The movie appears to be set in the real year of release, or 1987 or so.  But the message from the future people in characters' dream is from the 1990's, perhaps the late 90's (see Question #35).  Why the several year, or over a decade gap?  Why isn't the Devil leaving the church immediately after being pulled into our dimension?  (Conjectural)

45)   What is the complete history of the evil Cannister?  (As far as the characters can determine.)

46)   Was Kelly the only person who could be the Host for the Devil's son?  (Conjectural)

47)   Is it possible for Brian to pull Catherine back into his dimension using a mirror, as he's attempting to do at the film's very end?  (Conjectural)

Answers:

1)    The Brotherhood of Sleep.

2)    Father Carlton.

3)    Saint Godard's Church.

4)    Howard Birack.  

5)    The Doppler Institute of Physics, with the University of the Sciences. in Los Angeles, California.  In reality there is a real Doppler Institute, but it's in Prague, in the Czech Republic, and not Los Angeles.  Also, there is a real University of the Sciences, but that's a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based college of pharmacy.

6)   It's about a newly discovered supernova, which has expelled particles from the Precambrian Era that are just now reaching Earth.

7)    Over 30 years.  (That poor guy must have gotten SO sick of that message dream!)

8)    Back in the 1500's with the approval of the Spanish government.  (Presumably the building had been renovated some over the centuries!) (Also, in reality the Spanish didn't colonize the area that became Los Angeles until the mid to late 1700's.  Although it is a super secret group, maybe it was the only building in the area.)

9)    It's written in several, including Latin, Coptic, Greek, and some just in numbers.

10)   About a month ago.

11)   Particle beam weapons, and research grants.

12)   Becoming a millionaire when he's 40.

13)   Danforth.

14)   Kneale.  This is not a real school, it's a fake one named for an author Carpenter liked, Nigel Kneale.  See the answer for Question #37 for more info.

15)   Brian's specialty is theoretical physics, and Catherine's is applied physics.

16)   The parents of Susan's husband attended the church in the past.

17)   Century City.

18)   Calder's field is microbiology, and Lomax's is biochemistry.

19)   She's getting her doctorate in theology, specializing in the analysis of ancient manuscripts.

20)   A "Tom and Jerry" episode which has Tom descending into Hell.  (Foreshadowing?  I think so!)

21)   According to his doctor, it was from homosexual panic.

22)   Etchinson.

23)   7,000,000 years ago!  A couple of problems with this--they said they dated the corrosion on the lid, which would not have carbon, and so couldn't be dated that way.  Also, the limits of carbon dating are only about 60,000 years ago.  There are other radiometric dating methods that can date things millions of years old or even much older, though.  Apparently Carpenter just made a mistake.

24)   She's a radiologist.  And she wears glasses, as every character who describes her mentions.

25)   It was a nursery.

26)   Frank Wyndham.

27)   "Pray for death."

28)   She's been typing "I Live!" over and over for quite some time.  Then, right before she attacks Calder, she adds, "You will not be saved by the Holy Ghost.  You will not be saved by the God Plutonium.  In fact, you will not be saved!"

29)   They theorize that maybe the future scientists are using tachyons, which are theoretical particles that can go faster than the speed of light.

30)   "Amazing Grace."

31)   Calder.

32)   Ants, maggots, earthworms, beetles, and a dead, crucified pigeon.

33)   She says it's the symbol for an astrologer's staff from the Middle Ages.  Checking into it, I read that it's also the symbol for Kronos (Saturn), and is similar to a Greek symbol associated with chaos.  It was also used on the cover of the 1972 self-titled Blue Oyster Cult album.

34)   First he chops off her extended left arm with an axe, and it falls into the mirror dimension.  She quickly regrows it.  Then he cuts off her head with the axe.  She picks it up, puts it back atop her head, and seems to suffer no ill effects.  She even seems darkly amused by his attempts to thwart her.

35)   It keeps getting cut off as the message reveals the year it was sent, but we definitely hear "199--".  Then, in Brian's final dream, we hear it as "1999."  Although this is away from the church, after the Devil is thwarted, so this may be just a regular dream of Brian's, and not an official message from the scientists.  So it's clearly 1990 something, perhaps 1999.

36)   Oddly, it's never spoken, or seen anywhere in writing.  And in the credits he's just listed as "Priest."

37)   This is a trick question, since in the credits it's Martin Quatermass, but that's a joke.  John Carpenter wrote it, and used the name of a character he liked, Bernard Quatermass, who was part of several BBC television series, and created by Nigel Kneale.

38)   14 go into the church--Professor Birack, the Priest, Brian, Susan, Calder, Catherine, Lisa, Leahy, Walter, Etchinson, Kelly, Wyndham, Mullins, and Lomax.  4 survive, at least in our dimension--Birack, the Priest, Brian and Walter.  Kelly's body is presumably in the other dimension, possessed by the son of the Devil, and with him.  It's unknown whether or not Catherine is still alive in the other dimension.  Brian's dream and his final attempt at the mirror seem to postulate that he can pull her back into our world, but if he can, is she still Catherine, or would it be her body possessed by the Devil or his son?

39)   8 are seen being possessed--Susan, Calder, Lisa, Leahy, Kelly, Wyndham, Mullins, and Lomax.  As I mentioned in the previous question's answer, Catherine may be possessed, but in the other dimension, and we can't be sure.

40)   Frank Wyndham.  He's seen being killed by a homeless lady wielding some scissors, and then is seen possessed later without ever getting any green liquid inside his mouth.  Although he doesn't last very long in this state, dissolving into a pile of bugs after his short declaration.

41)   Etchinson--he's impaled on a broken tricycle by Alice Cooper's homeless guy, and killed, and we never see him again.  He's killed outside, so no possessed characters are around to spit green liquid into him, so maybe that's why.  (Although Wyndham was possessed--I don't know the reason why.  Maybe the actor only had like 2 days available to work on the movie.)  

42)   Mullins.  Possessed Susan breaks his neck, killing him, but later some of the green liquid drips into his mouth and possesses him.  Then Birack stabs him through the eye with a pencil, and this seems to "kill" his possessed state body, as he doesn't move anymore.

43)   Maybe.  There are several references to ponder.  When he mentions having to break the date with the lawyer, Brian asks what "his" name was, which seems to piss Walter off, and he doesn't answer the question.  He then tells the story about getting the weird rash allegedly caused by homosexual panic.  Both of these might have been jokes, but still.  Finally, he's trapped in a closet by the Possessed Lisa and Susan while Kelly "gestates" into the Son of the Devil, before eventually escaping, so maybe that was "subtle" symbolism.  Alternately, he hits on Lisa in an obnoxious way, which could be overcompensation, to pretend to be hetero in front of others, or it could be genuine.  Ultimately I think it was some dated attempts at humor.

44)   This doesn't make much sense to me--why would the Devil wait?  So my answer to this is the following:  In an alternate timeline, the events of the movie play out as shown, BUT Catherine and the Priest don't stop Possessed Kelly from pulling the Devil into our dimension.  Therefore, the Devil does get through.  He and his minions then kill the remaining non-possessed survivors.  He directs the homeless to unblock the front door.  Then, as the Devil emerges, someone outside of the church sees him, and presumably videotapes or films him.  The Devil rampages the Earth, killing tons of people, overthrowing human civilization, etc.  But not completely.  At least a handful of scientists remain.  Over the next 3-12 years they learn how to send messages, including video footage of the Devil coming out of the church, back through time into people's dreams within the church, perhaps using tachyons.  In at least one timeline, this helps the students and Catherine prevent the Devil' from traveling into our dimension.  I know, this is convoluted.  I'd welcome alternate explanations.

45)   Sometime before 7,000,000 years ago the Devil built the Cannister, to house his son in liquid form, as a bizarre insurance policy to get back to Earth if he was banished to another dimension.  The Devil buried the Cannister somewhere in the Middle East, and then was indeed banished.  Then, around 2,000 years ago an alien of a human-like race, Jesus, warned humans about the Devil, and his son.  (And maybe about the Cannister specifically?  It's unclear.)  Most of the people of this time thought Jesus was crazy, and was getting too powerful, so they had him killed.  But, his disciples kept the secret, and somehow recovered the Cannister and kept it hidden.  They started The Brotherhood of Sleep, which continued to do this, and decided to transport the Cannister to what would become Los Angeles as long as 400-500 years ago.  They were waiting for science to progress sufficiently until it could prove what the Cannister was and contained scientifically.  Then about a month before the Devil's son woke up and started to gain in power.  So the Priest investigated, and called in the scientists.

46)   Part of me wants this to be true, because then we're presented with the absurd image of the Devil and his son, the latter still in liquified form, flailing about helplessly.  I mean, I guess they could possess a lot of people, but the whole point was to bring the Devil over to our world.  If Kelly had to miss the weekend because she'd make vacation plans, or had a sick relative, and thus the world was saved from Evil, that would be hilarious.  But, that said, I think the more likely answer is "no," and Evil just chose her from the 14 people in the church that weekend.  Presumably, if Kelly was absent, it would have picked someone else, and they would have gotten the bulk of the green liquid inserted inside them, and thus would have become the host for the Devil's son.  Because no one was able to resist become regularly possessed when infected with a mouthful of green liquid, no matter how "good" or "bad" they were, so it stands to reason that any human would become the host for the Devil's son if they had most of the liquid put inside of them.

47)  I'm going to guess that no, he couldn't.  Because pulling someone through a mirror from another dimension appears to be something only very powerful supernatural creatures can do.  We see that Possessed Calder can't do it, for example.  So I think only the Devil's son, possessing a human body, could manage this, and maybe his opposite, i.e. the Son of God.  Since Brian isn't Jesus, or the Devil's son, or even a saint or anything, I don't think he could accomplish this.  I think his final dream was just a regular dream, not a message from the future scientists, since he's not in the church, and the Devil and his son are safely trapped in the other dimension.  Therefore, there's no important reason for the scientists to send another message.  I mean, I guess you could say God might intervene and let Brian perform a miracle to rescue Catherine, but this seems far-fetched.  Or it's the Devil tricking Brian into doing this, and managing it, so the Devil could sneak into our world by possessing Catherine's body, This also seems unrealistic.  But, in conclusion, it does make for an interesting final scene for the movie, though.  Again, I'm open to other explanations or theories.

   

   

   

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A German Cheese, Plus a Brief Blog Announcement

      It's back to my favorite food ever once again--lovely, wonderful cheese.  In this case, an Edelblu kind from the Bergader brand.  Will this be the first cheese I've ever disliked?  Keep reading to find out!

     Bergader is a moderately old company, having started in 1902.  Basil Weixler, German man living in the Bavarian town of Waging am See, started a small cheese dairy.  In the 1920's he developed his own cheese, one that was similar to the French Roquefort.  The major difference was that Weixler's was made using cow's milk, not sheep's milk.  Weixler didn't try to hide the similarity, as he named his cheese "Bavarian Mountain Roquefort."  Which caused some legal problems for him.  The folks who owned the rights to Roquefort brought him to court, and beat Weixler.  Therefore, he had to rename his cheese "Bergader Edelpilz" instead.  However, the attention sparked by the media's coverage of the court proceedings actually helped, and Weixler's cheeses gained in popularity.  Weixler died in 1945, but Bergader has remained in his family, with his descendants continuing to own and control the company up until the present day.  Bergader's line of products isn't that extensive.  Most are soft, blue cheese variants, including Edelblu (aka Edlepilz), several kinds of Bavarian blus, and other types of soft cheese.  And a couple of semi-hard types as well.  If you're curious about the name, "Bergader" translates directly into "mountain vein."  "Berg" is German for "mountain," and "ader" means "vein."  Usually this word refers to a vein of metallic ore, as in what fuels a mining operation.  But, Weixler picked the name because the blue mold streaks going through his cheeses reminded him of the veins of metal that can pass through a mountain or rock formation.

Bergader Edelblu cheese, gourmet variant:  This cheese was white, with bluish-black streaks of mold visible.  It had a strong, almost pungent odor.  The texture was fairly soft, although not spreadable.  The flavor was salty and sourish.  I had some plain, and it was very good.  Not my favorite blue cheese, but still very tasty.  On a potato chip was even better--the texture and taste of the chip improved the experience.  So, to answer the kind of ridiculous, click-bait-y question I posed in the opening paragraph, no, this wasn't the first cheese I disliked.  It was very respectable and tasty, and I would recommend it enthusiastically, unless you're a person who doesn't enjoy strong, blue-type cheeses.  (On a spelling note, I've been using the spellings used by Bergader throughout this post--most notably, they spell "blue" as "blu."  Which seems to be something that Bergader does on their own, as the internet claims the German word for "blue" is "blau," not "blu."  But just so you know.)

     Spooky Month, known more boringly as October, is approaching fast, and I've been working on my posts for that time.  As I always do lately, I'll include several horror movie trivia quizzes.  I am making a concerted effort to cover slightly more recent movies this time.  So two of them will be 21st century offerings.  And the one that is from the (late) 20th century is VERY famous and popular, so if you're not familiar with it, that's your mistake. 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Puerto Rican/Dominican/Filipino/American/Irish Alcoholic Drink

      In about four decades of drinking booze, sometimes illegally, more times legally, I've had my decent share of different alcoholic drinks.  Probably all of the major types of alcohol, and probably most of the major mixed drinks.  But, I realized recently that at least one was still missing--the pina colada.  I vaguely recall having something pina colada-flavored--a candy perhaps--but I don't remember having the adult alcoholic drink type.  If I ever did, it was very long ago, and it didn't make an impression on me one way or the other.  So, I set about rectifying this.  And since some of the ingredients were foreign, I could then write about them on this blog.  For the record, my pina colada was made using Coco Lopez cream of coconut (from the Dominican Republic), Dole pineapple juice (an Irish-owned company, using pineapples grown in the Philippines), Caribaya coconut rum (from that tropical hotbed, Maine), and the drink itself was almost certainly developed in Puerto Rico.  (I realize that Puerto Rico is technically American territory, and its citizens are American citizens, but it's also a Caribbean Island, and not a state, so I'll mention it separately.)

     Coco Lopez was created by a Puerto Rican man named Ramon Lopez Irizarry, who lived from 1897-1982.  A World War I veteran, he later became a professor of agricultural sciences at the University of Puerto Rico.  In his spare time he tried to solve the issue of extracting the cream from coconut pulp.  Working in his small laboratory, he was eventually successful in 1949, using a secret blend of the cream with cane sugar.  Sensing a viable commercial idea, he left teaching to sell cream of coconut, and later other coconut-related products, with his company named Coco Lopez.  The creation of the pina colada drink in 1954 (or at least the latest, most popular form of that drink) helped the business enormously, since Coco Lopez cream of coconut was one of the libation's core ingredients.  Lopez joined with Industrias La Formosa Puerto Rico in the 1960's to expand his production.  And in 1966 he sold the brand to his partner company's owners, the Parkhursts.  Later the Parkhursts sold the brand to the American Borden family, and my can was put together in Miramar, Florida, from coconuts grown in the Dominican Republic.  Coco Lopez has very few products.  Aside from the cream of coconut, they sell coconut milk, pina colada mix, and coconut water.  Which makes sense, since "coco" means "coconut" in Spanish.

     Like a lot of drinks (and foods, really), the exact inventor of the pina colada is disputed.  The oldest, and probably most apocryphal version is that the pirate Roberto Cofresi created it for his crew, sometime before his death in 1825.  In the 1920's there were pina colada-like beverages--one type was made with sugar, lime, pineapple juice, rum, and ice, and a 1950's Cuban variant consisted of rum, pineapple juice, and coconut milk.  However, the official recipe for the drink uses cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and rum, sometimes garnished with a pineapple wedge and/or other fruit chunks like cherries.  A Spanish guy named Ricardo Garcia claimed he developed it in 1953 while working at the Caribe Hilton Hotel, which was located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  But, most folks attribute the drink to another employee at that same Caribe Hilton, a bartender named Ramon "Monchito" Marrero, who invented the pina colada in 1954.  The initial pina colada was more like a milkshake, and kid-friendly, but Marrero quickly added rum to it for adult customers.  This is by far the most accepted, "official" invention story--the governor of Puerto Rico endorsed this version while honoring the drink's (alleged) 50th anniversary in 2004.  Some folks maintain that Don Ramon Portas Mingot invented the drink while working in the Barrachina restaurant (in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico), also in 1954.  Whoever actually invented it, Puerto Rico definitely seems to be the place of origin, and in 1978 it became the island's official drink.  Over the years many folks have added a few tweaks to the pina colada.  Some add heavy cream, and others add Angostura bitters to balance it out.  Still other people mix the drink in layers with a strawberry daiquiri (called a "lava flow" or a "Miami Vice"), or layer it with Scotch (called, not very creatively, a "Scotsman Colada.").  And some drinkers add tepeche, which is an alcohol derived from the fermentation of pineapple rinds and peel.  Additionally, I missed out on an opportunity--July 10th is National Pina Colada Day in the U.S.

Pina colada, made with Dole pineapple juice, Coco Lopez cream of coconut, Caribaya coconut rum, and ice.  I followed the recipe on the Coco Lopez can as well as I could--Combine 4 ounces (about 118.3 mL) Coco Lopez cream of coconut with 4 ounces (118.3 mL) of pineapple juice, 3 ounces of rum (about 88.7 mL), and 2 cups of ice.  Then you're supposed to mix it well in a blender, and garnish it with pineapple and cherries.  I didn't have a blender on hand, and I didn't bother buying the pineapple chunks or cherries.  So instead I just mixed it up as well as I could in the glass with a spoon.  It looked milky and frothy.  I could pick out the extreme sweetness of the cream of coconut, and the tart/sweet taste of the pineapple juice.  The rum was pretty hidden, but since it was coconut flavored, it probably didn't stand out from the cream of coconut.  Overall I really enjoyed it.  I've wasted my life.  Just kidding!  That's a bit strong, but I did miss out on a tasty drink.  Unless you really hate pineapple juice or something, I think people should give this one a try--definite recommend.  I will say that the cream of coconut is ridiculously high in calories--130 for 2 tablespoons (39 grams), so it's probably not a good idea to drink a lot of these, unless you're super thin or burn calories like a champ.  It was also messy to make, to throw out a very minor complaint.

     Finally, this post has a personal record for me--5 areas of origin, as seen in the absurdly long title.  (Or 4 if you don't want to distinguish Puerto Rico from the U.S.)  I hope to break this record at some point.

 

 

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Couple of Portable Protein Balls

      This was yet another discovery from my Shop-Rite's nutrition/protein bar section.  This brand was at least a little different in that it was protein balls rather than the usual protein bars.  Anyway, I tried the cinnamon bun protein balls from Day Out, and their peanut butter cup ones.

     Day Out is a fairly recent brand and company, having started only in 2018.  Both its founder, and its brand name have changed from their initial versions.  Becky Pleat became Becky Dheri after getting married, and Protein Power Balls became Day Out.  The label on the ones I purchased were called "portable protein balls."  Which kind of amuses me.  Aren't all protein bars/balls and such snacks portable?  Are there any that are like 400 pounds (about 181.5 kilos), that you need a vehicle and/or a few strong friends to help carry around?  I'd like to think so, for absurdity's sake.  But back to Becky Dheri.  She's a pharmacist by trade, and got tired of the snacks that she would pick up for lunch and breaks at the local stories every day, worrying that they were unhealthy.  So she started developing some of her own, with "ingredients you could pronounce, no gums, emulsifiers, questionable oils, and artificial preservatives."    Her protein balls are plant-based, fiber-rich, protein-packed, and lack gluten, soy, dairy, GMOs, and artificial preservatives.  Her products have become decently popular.  They were featured on NBC's "Today Show" in a segment called, "Best Healthy Snacks," and were also in a Men's Health Magazine article titled, "17 Best Healthy Snacks on Amazon."  Day Out's reported marketing scheme is to focus on attracting Millennial females of ages 28-45, who are doing shopping for their families.  But, they got at least one sale to a Generation X male over 50, who was just shopping for products to talk about on his blog.  Alternate flavors of Day Out protein balls include brownie batter, cookie dough, and occasional seasonal ones like peanut butter crunch. blueberry muffin, peanut butter & jelly, peppermint bark, apple cider donut, and pecan pie.  Also, Day Out is based in Montville, NJ, so I'm representing for my home state once more.

Day Out portable protein balls, peanut butter cup flavor:  There were three balls in the bag, and they were roughly oval, being about 1.25 inches by 1 inch (or about 3 by 2 cm.) with a dark brown color.  Not much of an odor.  The texture was chewy, and a little grainy.  The taste was very peanut buttery, not shockingly, and pretty good.  Not great, but better than average

Day Out portable protein balls, cinnamon bun flavor:  These also came three balls to the pack, and were about the same size as the previous.  Although the shape was slightly different, as they were a bit rounder, with a nose-like protuberance on one end.  The color was brown, with some streaks of white.  Again, not much of a smell.  The texture was dense and chewy.  And these were...very cinnamon-y, to the snack's credit.  Nicely sweet.  I enjoyed these more than the peanut butter cup ones, surprisingly, given my love of peanut butter in general.  These were just shy of exceptional.  

     Overall I'd recommend both of these--the peanut butter cup ones slightly, and the cinnamon bun kind more enthusiastically.  I'll have to look for different flavors of Day Out as well, and if these are available I'll add to this post.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--English Baked Beans (aka "Beanz")

      I've been vaguely aware that English folks were into baked beans, but I hadn't taken the opportunity to explore them until now.  I saw some Heinz baked beans in tomato sauce in the alternate Shop-Rite, in the same aisle that had some foreign foods.  A quick look at the label confirmed that they were indeed made in England, so I bought myself a can.

      I've heard about the English loving baked beans in general, and Heinz's beans in particular, and this caused me some confusion.  Because Heinz is an American company, based out of western Pennsylvania, starting in the late 1800's.  (If you want a more detailed account of Heinz's origins, check out my post on the Dutch made salad cream dressing on June 8th, 2019.)  So what gives?  Well, all of that is true.  However, Heinz exported some canned baked beans to England starting in 1886.  For quite some time this was a niche treat, as only one store, the upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason, sold them.  Because of this store's "upmarket-ness" and because they were imported, the beans were relatively expensive.  However, in 1905 the first Heinz bean factory was opened in England, in South London.  Another followed in 1919.  Because they were now locally made, prices plummeted.  Thus, Heinz's baked beans became popular to people of all economic classes.  During World War II, they even received an "essential food" designation for wartime rationing purposes.  Therefore, baked beans, and Heinz's baked beans in particular, became an addition to the traditional "full English breakfast."  Similar versions are called the "full Scottish breakfast," or the "full Welsh breakfast,"--you get the idea, part of breakfasts for folks with United Kingdom backgrounds, such as former colonies.  If you're curious (I was), the traditional full English breakfast has some variants, but most commonly it consists of bacon, sausage, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, and fried bread or toast, washed down with tea.  Other fairly common additions include the Heinz baked beans (often put on the bread or toast), black (blood) pudding, and coffee.  Aside from being part of traditional breakfasts, Heinz beans are also typical fare in cafes and pubs.  (You usually don't find them on the menus in posh, high-end restaurants, though.)  Otherwise, English baked beans differ from their American counterparts in that the latter usually are made with molasses and/or brown sugar, while the British ones aren't.  Meaning the English beans are less sweet, and more savory.  On the cultural front, Heinz baked beans have been featured in the English television program "Dr. Who."  And a popular advertising campaign in the 1960's and beyond came up with the slogan "Heinz Meanz Beanz," and even up until the present some English Heinz cans (mis)spell "beans" that way.  (Not mine, alas.)

Heinz beans with tomato sauce:  The beans were tannish-white, in a red tomato sauce.  They had a slight beany odor.  And they tasted like beans in tomato sauce.  Or decent.  Oddly, considering what I later learned about the ingredients, the sauce was a tad sweet.  (Despite the lack of molasses and/or brown sugar.)  Plain I liked these, but didn't love them.  With some hot sauce mixed in they were improved, as the spiciness helped.  I also mixed in some Vienna sausages, and this also made them more interesting.  I didn't have them on bread or toast--I didn't find out that this was one of the traditional English ways of eating them until afterwards.  All in all I would recommend these beans slightly.  They weren't spectacular or anything, but they were okay.  Maybe I'll pick up another can and try them on toast.  If I do, I'll re-edit this post and include my thoughts on that combination.

     Perhaps not surprisingly, given their cultural importance, baked beans have been the subject of at least two museum exhibits.  A man named Captain Beany (nee Barry Kirk) ran a museum dedicated to beans, including Heinz's contribution, out of his council flat (aka apartment) in Port Talbot, Wales from 2009-23.   And in 2019 there was a pop up exhibit about Heinz Beanz specifically in Covent Gardens, in London.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Thai Tunas

      Regular readers will probably recall that I post a fair bit about canned seafood.  So, it's not too surprising that I happened upon a new-to-me brand a while back, Genova.  When I saw that the fish included inside the can was a product of Thailand I bit, buying two cans--the yellowfin tuna in olive oil seasoned with lemon and herbs, and the albacore tuna in olive oil.

     There wasn't much online about the origins of the Genova brand, so I'll have to provide what little I could find out, which was largely indirect.  Way back in 1914, a man named Gilbert Van Camp bought up the California Tuna Company, and renamed it the Van Camp Sea Food Company.  (Although his father, Frank Van Camp, is listed as the founder.)  Van Camp's most popular product was its tuna, which it called "chicken of the sea," a slogan which eventually became a brand name.  Ralston Purina bought the company in 1963, and then in 1988 an Indonesian company named PT Mantrust briefly acquired it.  Shortly thereafter Prudential Life Insurance owned it for awhile.  Finally, in 1997 a partnership made up of three companies bought Chicken of the Sea.  These three firms were Edmund Gann's Caribbean Marine Services Company, the Singapore-based Tri-Marine International, and the Thailand-based Thai Union International.  Their partnership was called Tri-Union Seafoods, LLC.  In 2000 Gann and Tri-Marine sold their shares to Thai Union International, so it became the sole owner of Tri-Union.  So, I'm not sure if Genova started as an independent company and then was acquired by Chicken of the Sea, and then Tri-Union, or if it was a brand of Van Camp/Chicken of the Sea from the beginning, or if it was a brand of Chicken of the Sea after Tri-Union bought that company.  Moving on, Thai Union is a mammoth seafood company, which owns many brands and subsidiaries aside from Chicken of the Sea and Genova.  It has had its share of controversy, though.  In 2015 Greenpeace accused it of conducting human trafficking.  Other human rights organizations have also made this claim.  (In short, the company is said to have forced its employees to work in unfair, or unsafe, or underpaid conditions while out on the fishing boats, which may be away from land, and thus the law, for weeks or months at a time.)  Predictably, Thai Union has denied these claims, and its official company website documents their fair working conditions, and concern about fair labor practices and such.  I'd like to believe that these employees are being treated well, but, we live in the real world.  It wouldn't shock me to learn that Greenpeace and the other organizations may be right, or at least partially correct.  Sorry, this blog post about a couple of cans of tuna took a turn for the serious, I know, with it being largely about company acquisitions and mergers, and possible labor abuses.  Sometimes that's where the information takes me.  Getting back to the food, Genova does make a couple of premade tuna-based salad bowls, but most of their products consist of canned yellowfin tuna packed in various liquids, and/or different seasonings, or canned albacore tuna packed in various liquids, and/or different seasonings.

Genova yellowfin tuna packed in olive oil, with lemon and herbs:  The tuna itself was a pinkish-tan color, and it had the usual tuna-ish odor.  Plain it tasted like regular canned tuna, or okay but bland.  It was the usual chewy and soft texture.  Next I mixed up some with potatoes, squid, sauce, and ketchup, and this was improved, and pretty good.  But overall it was like most of the canned tuna I've had in my life--no better, no worse.  I don't know if I could have distinguished it from cans of Starkist or Bumblebee, etc.

Genova albacore tuna packed in olive oil:  Had the same pinkish-tan color, and typical tuna smell.  Same soft and chewy texture.  Plain it was fairly bland, and tasted like regular canned tuna.  Mixed up with mayonnaise it was quite good, a solid tuna salad.  Once again, this was like pretty much every other canned tuna I've had.  If you like canned tuna, both of these were fine.  But if they're more expensive than another common brand, I don't think I'd pay the extra price.  (I forgot to save the receipt, so I can't remember if these did cost more than the other brands of canned tuna.)

     To end this on more light-hearted note, I did find out that the human model for the Chicken of the Sea mermaid logo was Grace Lee Whitney.  Who is best known for playing Yeoman Rand in the early episodes of the original Star Trek television program (1966).  She also appeared, apparently as Rand, in many Star Trek movies, and other Star Trek television programs.  Otherwise, she was in movies such as "House of Wax" (1953), "The Naked and the Dead" (1958), and "Some Like it Hot" (1959).

 

  

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Colombian/American Hot Sauce

      I realized recently that I've been neglecting a very common edible in these posts--the condiment.  I've done a few posts about jams, marmalades, spreads, and such, but very few about savory sauces.  A post on June 8th, 2019 is a rare exception.  I'll try to rectify this, starting today with a hot sauce.  Or, more specifically, the sriracha chili pepper with garlic hot sauce from the Badia brand.

     The origins of the Badia brand, and company, date back to the 1960's.  Jose Badia, a Cuban hardware store owner, fled the country for political reasons.  Resettling in the "Little Havana" part of Miami, Florida, he switched his profession, and began selling spices, assisted by his wife, Azucena Badia.  The Badia company officially began in 1967.  By 1970, Jose had his son, Joseph, take over the day-to-day operations of the company.  The Mariel Boatlift in the early 1980's reportedly helped the company, as thousands of Cuban refugees settled in the Miami area, and bought a taste of home in the Badia products.  Also, distribution deals with the grocery behemoths Publix and Winn-Dixie helped the brand even further.  Baden Spice, Inc., sells spices, obviously, both raw and blended.  They also sell herbs, dried chili peppers, specialty salts, sauces and marinades, olive oils, and teas.  The Badia company was family owned for most of its history, with Joseph "Pepe" Badia taking over for his father.  However, in late 2024 it was sold to a group of investors, including the owners of Bia Foods and some banks.  There is one legal case involving Badia, as in November of 2018 the Gel Spice Company was required to pay Badia $564,000 for trademark infringement.

Badia chili with garlic, sriracha, picante hot sauce:  Had a spicy odor, and a reddish-brown color.  Plain it tasted spicy at first, and it built up a little with time.  A decent heat--not ridiculously overpowering, but a reasonable medium amount.  I also tried some on some Vienna sausages, and in some beans and tomato sauce, and for both it aided the experience, but adding some nice spicy "ummpth" to the dish.  Overall then, I would recommend this hot sauce, to folks like me, who don't want crazy, momentous spice hotness, but instead a manageable, spice "bite" to the proceedings.

     While covering this blog post topic, I was once again intrigued by the question of what is the official hottest pepper in the world.  I went into this category in some depth previously, along with some discussion about the methodology used to determine the winners, in my post on June 6th, 2015.  Anyway, the current champ, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is "Pepper X," created by Ed Currie of the U.S.  Currie is no stranger to the hot pepper game, since he also grew the previous champion, the Carolina Reaper.  Pepper X has a Scoville rating of 2,693,000.  So, case closed, right?  Not quite.  Some peppers growers maintain that Currie's creation is probably not the real champion, or at least its hotness is highly exaggerated.  Because reportedly Currie has not allowed his alleged champion pepper to be tested independently.  Critics point out that Pepper X is a mustard yellow pepper, and all of the other extremely hot candidates are reddish, or orange.  So, we're in a conundrum.  I'm certainly no authority about pepper hotness, but I do find it suspicious that Currie doesn't allow independent testing of his Pepper X.  If it's the real champion, what does he have to lose?  But maybe we'll get a thorough test, and a final assessment at some point.  (Part of me enjoys the drama over a food, but it also would be cool to get a final, scientific judgement on which is the hottest pepper, and what its strength is.)