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Are the French developing a secret fondness for British cuisine? And will they ever admit it? Paris-based blogger Naomi Firsht explores this spikey issue in the first of a new series that will see The Local France team up with some of the many talented bloggers in France, as they share their musings on life in our adopted country.Having lived in France for five years, the number of times I’ve heard my home cuisine insulted by a French person is too high to count. It seems to be wired into their DNA: French food is the best in the world...

Norwegian cuisine is generally sneered at by the country's Scandinavian neighbours. This is unfair, as some of it is very tasty. But here's a list The Local has put together of 15 dishes foreigners find particularly challenging.The list, available here, mixes outlandish dishes made from things like sheeps' heads or fermented fish, with the boring but unpalatable, drawing on a group of Oslo expats for their opinions. Feel free to comment on any glaring omissions or complain about unfairly maligned favourites.

The New York Times has declared down home Southern cooking undignified in a story that heaped praise on a new generation of Southern chefs while denigrating fried chicken, Cracker Barrel restaurants and the Queen of Southern Food — Paula Deen. The food snobs at the Times attacked Miss Paula in the second sentence of their lengthy diatribe – calling her a “so-called queen of Southern food, who cooks with canned fruit and Crisco.” The Times bemoaned the “hayseed image” of Southern cooking while praising “a new generation of chefs who have pushed Southern cooking into the vanguard of world cuisine.”...

A US government delegation has been invited to Scotland in a bid to overturn its 40-year ban on haggis. Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead's invitation comes two days ahead of Burns Night, when suppers are held in honour of poet Robert Burns.

Vietnamese expats get 45 days each in Saudi prison for slicing the camel aliveA Saudi court sentenced two Vietnamese expatriates to 45 days in prison after they were found guilty of cutting off a leg of a camel alive just to taste its meat, the Saudi Arabic language daily Alwatan reported on Tuesday. The two sneaked into a farm in the southwestern town of Najran with a heavy metal bar after seeing the camel pasturing alone, the paper said. “They clubbed the camel with the bar on the head and it fell unconscious…they cut off its leg and left the...

Troops from nearly 50 lands dine on combat meals in Afghanistan — each reminding them of where they’d rather be. PHOTOGRAPHS BY ASHLEY GILBERTSON/VII NETWORK, FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; FOOD STYLIST, MARIA WASHBURN

The chain has replaced bacon with smoked halal turkey in restaurants in three branches in a Paris suburb, two in Marseille, and the remainder in Toulouse, Villeurbanne, near Lyon, and Roubaix, northern France – all of them areas with high Muslim populations. These restaurants now serve only halal food, seen as permissible according to Islamic law. The company said the move was part of a test, which began in November, and that pork may return to the menu at a later date. However, it has sparked angry reactions from Catholic groups. A comment on E-Deo, a Catholic website, said: "Quick...

If there is one thing that you can find wherever you go in the Middle East - Jerusalem, Gaza, Beirut or Cairo - it is hummus, that mashed-up festival of chickpeas, olive oil, sesame paste, lemon juice and garlic. It should be touching - a food that unites. But the Middle East is a place where passions are quick to ignite. And so, where there is hummus, there is also intense rivalry - over who has the best recipe, over who invented it, and over who can make the biggest bowl of it. Last year, Israeli chefs came up with...

Man escapes charges for barbecuing pet dog By Saeed Ahmed CNN (CNN) -- A man who roasted his pet dog to enjoy as a meal with his family and friends escaped prosecution after authorities in New Zealand determined the animal was killed humanely. "We were in a dilemma at seeing something we were fairly upset about -- but being in a position of being able to do absolutely nothing about it," said Garth Halliday, of the Auckland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, on Monday. The SPCA -- which investigates acts of animal cruelty and presses charges --...

Giant rabbits to return to Spanish menus Spaniards will soon be enjoying a diet of giant rabbit under plans to reintroduce the rare breed for human consumption. By Fiona Govan in Madrid The Valencia Agricultural Research Institute has launched a breeding programme of the rare Valenciano rabbit and predicts that it could be on supermarket shelves within three years. It is hoped that the animals, which can grow as big as a lamb and produce 7kgs (15lbs) of meat, will prove popular as a healthy and cheap alternative to red meat. The Valenciano breed was established in 1912 when farmers...

The biannual Bocuse d'Or culinary competition in Lyon, France, ended on a familiar note Wednesday: A chef from Norway won again. It was a disappointment for U.S. contestant Timothy Hollingsworth, who placed sixth.

Stalin's last army: hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe - By Julius Strauss in Kirkenes, Northern Norway Millions of giant Pacific crabs, whose ancestors were brought to Europe by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s, are marching south along Norway's coast, devouring everything in their path.The monster crabs, which can weigh up to 25lb and have a claw-span of more than three feet, are proving so resilient that scientists fear they could end up as far south as Gibraltar. Energised by a mysterious population explosion a decade ago, whole armies of the crustaceans - known as the...

Would You Eat Your Buddies in a Blizzard? Suppose you were stranded in a blizzard and were forced to cannibalize your friends. This short survey will tell you how likely you would be to eat your buddies. Note: Click onto the link provided to take this self survey. Bon appetit!

Tuesday, BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- It's the most talked about conflict in the world -- but the food remains a mystery. Despite decades of attention to the Mideast, Palestinian cooking is all but unknown to a world more familiar with images of angry Palestinians with AK-47s than chefs creating delicate salads or carefully roasted stuffed pigeon. "We do have (Palestinian) fighters," said Fadi Kattan, organizer of the Second Palestinian Culinary Competition, a recent effort to raise the profile of the region's cuisine. "But we also have other things that make us Palestinian." One reason so little is known about those...

Mexico City man suspected of being cannibal serial killer By Jeremy Schwartz COX NEWS SERVICE October 12, 2007 MEXICO CITY – On the stove, a frying pan with chunks of flesh. In the refrigerator, a leg and part of an arm, both deboned. The bones were stuffed into a cereal box. Mexico City police made the grisly discoveries this week as they arrested the man the Mexican media are calling a cannibalistic serial killer. Police said José Luis Calva Zepeda, 40, was arrested Monday and was being held on suspicion of homicide after an investigation into the disap-pearance of his...

A convicted Scottish sex offender who ran up a 140,000 kronor bill at one of Stockholm's top restaurants has said he wants to serve his sentence in Sweden. John Cronin, from East Lothian in Scotland, is well known as a confidence trickster and sex offender in Britain and Ireland. Earlier in August, he ran up a huge bill at Stockholm's exclusive Operakällaren restaurant, which he refused to pay. Following his arrest, police found that he had also run up a big bill at Malmö's Hotel Savoy. Cronin's lawyer, Bengt H Nilsson, said he had no desire to serve his sentence...

So you think you know the McDonald's menu like the back of your hand? Think again. From McDonald's international, here are some menu items you have probably never tried before. Good morning, welcome to McDonald's. May I have your order please? INDIA In India, there are no Big Macs because the Hindu people don't eat beef. However, they have the Maharaja Mac, which is a Big Mac made of lamb or chicken meat. There is also a vegetarian burger, the McAloo Tikki.NORWAY In fish-loving Norway, they have the McLaks, a sandwich made of grilled salmon and dill sauce.GERMANY It's...

A British man ran up a bill of 139,435 kronor ($20,000) at one of Stockholm's top restaurants. When he refused to pay, the restaurant called the police. Fine by me, was the man's reaction. "He admits everything. He said he wants to go to jail," said Lars-Erik Baarsen of Stockholm Police. The 36-year-old, smartly-dressed Brit ordered scallops, entrecote and ice cream at Stockholm's exclusive Café Opera restaurant. The rest of the bill was made up of drinks of various kinds. The man was served bottle after bottle of expensive wine, although according to staff he drank no more than one...

President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet this weekend at the coastal Maine home of Bush's parents, the White House said Wednesday. Sarkozy is vacationing at an estate on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, N.H., about 50 miles away from Kennebunkport, Maine, where former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, own a seaside compound called Walker's Point. The president arrives in Kennebunkport on Thursday, staying through the weekend for a wedding. The Bushes are having Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, to a private lunch on Saturday, presidential spokesman Tony Snow said. Laura Bush extended the invitation during...