King Of Herring Found Off Swedish Coast

A maritime expert says a 12-foot (3.65-meter) Giant Oarfish – the world’s largest bony fish – has been found in Swedish waters for the first time in 130 years.

Also known as the “King of Herrings,” the dead fish was picked up by a west coast resident who found it floating near the shore over the weekend. It was handed over to The House of the Sea aquarium in the town of Lysekil, where expert Roger Jansson says it’s being kept pending a decision on what to do with it.

Johansson said Wednesday the Giant Oarfish can grow up to 36 feet (11 meters), and is believed to live in deep waters. He says the last recorded discovery in Sweden was in 1879.

The Beer Won’t Run Out During World Cup

World Cup fans need not fret, South Africa will not run out of beer during the month-long tournament, its biggest brewer says.

“There’s no need to worry, guys. There will be plenty of our beer for all the fans during this period,” said Norman Adami, managing director of South African Breweries, the local arm of global drinks giant SABMiller.

The company, which produces roughly nine of every ten bottles of beer drunk in South Africa, is predicting a 5 percent increase in sales during the tournament starting on June 11.

However, it will be able to meet the extra demand — equivalent to 30 million bottles — because the southern hemisphere winter is normally its slowest sales period, Adami said.

Burger Ranch Takes Over Burger King

The 55 Burger King fast food restaurants across Israel will soon be rebranded under the Israeli Burger Ranch chain, which will have a total of 107 fast food restaurants at the end of the change.

Orgad Holdings, the company that owns franchise rights to Burger King in Israel and is full owner of the Burger Ranch, announced the change on Sunday. 

Brothers Eli and Yuval Orgad, owners of the company, said taste tests and various trials conducted over recent months have shown unequivocally that the “Burger Ranch Bull” is the preferred brand in Israel. 

“We were very excited to learn that, for many Israelis, Burger Ranch is not just a hamburger, sauces and vegetables, but is also large bites of nostalgia. And for this, credit goes to the chain’s founders, who nurtured this brand with so much talent over so many years,” the Orgad brother said in a statement. 

Mild Beer Making A Comeback After 50 Years

Mild beer, last in fashion when the Beatles were still at school, is making a comeback in Britain, according to a real ale lobby group.

Responding to a growing number of requests from beer buffs, breweries are beginning to produce more Mild and pubs are finding demand for the dark, malty ale is rising.

In a survey of 500 real ale drinkers across the UK, the group found that 64 percent of them had seen an increase in the number of Mild beers served at pubs and beer festivals over the past 5 years.

Similarly, 75 percent had noted the availability of Mild beers in pubs and brewery shops within a 30 mile radius of their homes.

Two Arrested Over Monkey Meatballs

Indonesian police have arrested a couple who made meatballs from the flesh of protected monkeys, an animal conservation group said.

 

The pair poached dozens of rare Javan langurs, also known as silver-leaf monkeys, from Baluran National Park in the east of Java island, according to a statement released by Indonesia-based animal protection group ProFauna.

“Police found 30 kilograms (65 pounds) meat estimated to come from 20 – 25 individuals, two rifles and a live langur,” the statement said.

“The couple admitted that they had known what they did was against the law and they hunted the monkeys for their meat because beef and chicken were more expensive than the protected monkeys.”

3,000-lb Steer Sold At Auction

A nearly 3,000 pound Hereford steer that kept the herd in line on a southwestern Montana cattle ranch for nearly a decade has been sold for $1,670 at auction.

Owner and breeder Bill McIntosh of Avon watched the bidding at the Montana Livestock Auction in Ramsay, saying he hates to see him go, but he’s got to be practical.

“The cattle market is about as high as we’re apt to see it, I think, and finally I can get a little bit of the feed bill back,” McIntosh said, noting that Cletus ate about 90 pounds of hay per day during the winter.

The 10-year-old steer, named Cletus, was sold to a Minnesota buyer and sent to slaughter.

Cletus was the largest steer McIntosh has ever seen and the heaviest to come through the auction yard in memory, said field representative Dick Perkins. When Cletus entered the auction ring, the crowd whistled and gasped.

Russian Elite Miss Their Volcano-Halted Oysters

Russia’s super rich are lamenting a shortage of oysters and peaches, whose deliveries have been cut by the Icelandic volcano which caused air traffic chaos in Europe, a popular daily reported.

Exorbitantly priced seafood and fruits from Spain, France and Italy, regularly lapped up by the Moscow elite, are missing from the Russian capital’s most glistening stores, Komsomolskaya Pravda said on its front page.

One worker in a luxury shop on the outskirts of Moscow said oysters, which stay fresh for 10 days, will be missing from parties this Saturday. “If will be dreadful if they don’t make it,” he told the paper.

Imported Spanish peaches that fetch 1,250 roubles (28 pound) a kilo have been replaced by much cheaper apricots from ex-Soviet Azerbaijan, but the moneyed Russians have been turning their noses up at them.

Doner Kebab Becomes Germany’s Favorite Fast Food

Forget about bratwurst, currywurst and other kinds of sausages — doner kebab, or shawarma, has overtaken traditional German fast food as the country’s favorite snack on the go.

First brought to Berlin by Turkish immigrants in the 1970s, the grilled meat snack that comes wrapped in a pita bread with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions and different dressings, is now being sold everywhere in Germany from the Baltic Sea to the Bavarian Alps.

Students and late night revelers relish it as much as construction workers, children and foreign backpackers on a tight budget.

“We assume that doner kebab is the Germans’ favorite fast food by now,” said Yunus Ulusoy, an expert from the Center for the Study of Turkey in Essen, who has done extensive research on how the ethnic specialty conquered Germany’s culinary mainstream.

The secret behind the doner’s success story is not only its satisfying grilled taste, Ulusoy said, but also the big portions and its affordability — a regular doner in a pita costs only between (EURO)2.50 and (EURO)5 ($3.30 to $6.70).

Pizza Sales Soar After Passover

As Passover came to an end Monday evening, Israelis rushed to consume leavened food.

The Mishlohim website reported of a 38% rise in fast food deliveries at the end of the holiday compared to a regular day on the week before Pesach.

The website measured the food delivery orders as of 7:30 pm, when the holiday ended. According to its report, the sharpest increase – of about 50% – was recorded in the pizza arena, while hamburger orders saw a 30% rise.

The yearning for leavened food appeared to be bigger than last year, as deliveries were up 20% on Monday night compared to the end of Passover 2009. 

Guy Naor, director-general of the Mishlohim-Shop company, said that most orders were made in Tel Aviv and central Israel, from national chains and local restaurants which continued to sell bread during the holiday. 

Fast Food Axed At Afghan Bases

Fast food joints where soldiers wolf down burgers and pizza will soon be a thing of the past at bases in Afghanistan, as the U.S. military reminds soldiers they are at war and not in “an amusement park.”

In the sprawling military base at Kandahar, the fast food outlets facing the axe include Burger King, Pizza Hut, and the U.S. chain restaurant T.G.I. Friday’s that features a bar with alcohol-free margaritas and other drinks — all set along the bustling “Boardwalk” area of the base.

On any given day, the giant square-shaped walkway features the surreal sight of soldiers sipping gourmet coffee and eating chocolate pastries with guns slung across their shoulders, while Canadians play ice hockey at a nearby rink and fighter jets thunder overhead.