The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, April 10

Hello, everybody!

I got the day right today! It is actually Tuesday (obviously depending on your time zone and when you’re reading this)!

Ramble of the Day

This may come as little surprise to many of you, but I frequently think about the challenge I would bring to Top Chef (or MasterChef — I’m not picky) contestants if I was ever so lucky.

I would have a rather large feast, inviting all of the people I liked and wanted to share food with. I would introduce myself to the contestants, and begin talking about all of the meats I like, probably mostly chicken. I would begin to talk about how versatile they are. Then, I would tell them that, as tasty meats can be, I was in the mood for something else: vegan food.

Being that I know a few vegetarians, I’ve had plenty vegan food over the years, and have almost always been impressed by the results. I have a lot of respect for people that make vegan food. They come up with such creative ways to replicate tastes and textures, frequently successfully. It’s a style of cooking that is hardly celebrated on these types of shows, and I would like to give it some love.

The biggest reason why, though, is that the contestants on these shows get very whiny when someone takes meat out of the picture. They act as if food cannot exist without meat, though that is a horrifically closed-minded view on food. I want to watch them roll their eyes and sigh out of disappointment before I tell them that there is so much food out there that doesn’t require meat and that they need to broaden their horizons. Then I get to eat (hopefully) good food. Sounds like a fun day or two.

I must admit that this was originally supposed to be a challenge celebrating vegetarians that would require the contestants to center their dishes around potatoes, but at the moment, I will stick with vegan to make life a bit harder for the contestants.

tl;dr: I have some Top Chef (and/or MasterChef) fantasies.

Links of the Day

Fernando Torres will leave Atlético Madrid this summer when his contract expires.

Fabio Capello has retired from management, and would like to begin a career in punditry.

West Brom’s plan to introduce a safe standing area in their stadium was rejected.

Each Udinese player wore a different jersey against Lazio this weekend after they found a loophole in the rules that allowed them to do so.

Today’s longer read: The New York Times’ Tariq Panja reports on the billionaires who offered to take the Club World Cup off FIFA’s hands