china

The sudden end of the soda ban, a new Pope who likes to cook, Shanghai's dead pig problem and more after the jump. 

This year, the Year of the Snake, does not neccessarily have to taste like snake. Start off the year with a feast of Long Life noodles and whole steamed fish, which are supposed to guarantee you with a long, prosperous life but are probably both just better at tasting delicious.

The Perennial Plate is a highly ambitious documentary series founded by chef and activist Daniel Klein — before traveling the world to produce his films, the NYU graduate worked in some of the world’s top kitchens including The Fat Duck, Craft and Mugaritz. Klein is back with a new season where he will be traveling to 12 countries — filing 2-3 documentary shorts from each. His latest work is a profile of rooftop farms in China. In Beijing and Hong Kong, he discovers two community farms operating atop soaring skyscrapers (people can rent spaces to grown melons, pumpkins berries and various herbs).