The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Tuesday, February 5

Hi, everyone!

Can’t think of anything to leave in this space, so I’ll just head to the ramble.

Ramble of the Day

If you’ll recall, the Super Bowl was on Sunday, a day in which people across the United States are more thoughtful about their food choices. By that, I just mean that they frequently go out of their way to pick out certain foods to enjoy, and lucky for us, all that means there’s something to chat — or ramble — about. I present to you Google’s findings on the favorite Super Bowl foods in each of the U.S.’ 50 states:

To the surprise of probably no one, there are some normal and some weird entries on this list. Nachos naturally made the list, as did chicken wings, and a few types of dips. Cakes and cupcakes were pretty popular, which is always good in my book. We’re not here for the normal entries, though, so I’m going to get started on picking out some uniquely popular foods.

The first one I saw when looking at this list was that people in Maine like eating paella. Unusual, sure, but I respect it. Similarly, I appreciate Oregon’s choice of banana bread, and think it would be a good addition to anyone’s Super Bowl festivities because it’s very good for snacking.

I love the specificity of certain states’ favorite foods. In Massachusetts, gluten free pretzels are popular, and also sound tasty, as does Hawaii’s choice of football cupcakes. Delaware’s chocolate peanut butter cake also sounds like it might be worth trying, considering chocolate and peanut butter is one of those classic food combinations. North Carolina’s specificity lies in the salad department, where the Cobb salad reigns supreme.

Speaking of salads, Idaho is a contender for most boring of the 50 states in this category. They’re not specific about it, but apparently the majority is into salads on Super Bowl Sunday. I try not to give salads a tough time; I believe that they don’t have to be boring, but I need more clarification from Idaho before I say more. Rivaling that state in the boring department is Mississippi, where granola bars are popular! I’m shocked; the picture, and the day, has become a celebration of enjoying food without hesitation. Granola bars are not that, and I’ve sampled many. They’re good to keep in your bag in case you get hungry on your travels, but otherwise have little purpose.

I’m going to cap this off by quickly highlighting a couple of very unique choices that I have questions about. The first is New Mexico’s choice of pea and peppercorn mash, and my question is: Why would you mash peas? Peas are quite good the way they come and can easily be inserted into several dishes. They’re not potatoes; there is nothing to gain from mashed peas.

Final question is to Utah, where they eat bacon wrapped smokies: What is a smokie?

tl;dr: Food and thoughts.

Links of the Day

A body has been found in the wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson.

Hakeem Al-Araibi, the footballer residing in Australia as a refugee from Bahrain, has been given a further 60 day sentence in a Thai jail as Bahrain attempt to extradite him.

Juventus winger Douglas Costa was in a car accident on Monday, but is not hurt.

Referees for the upcoming Women’s World Cup have started a two-week training period with VARs with four months to go before the tournament.

Hatem Ben Arfa is suing Paris Saint-Germain, saying he was the victim of workplace harassment as the club tried to force him out of the club.

Today’s longer read: Mike Goodman on Son Heung-min’s star turn for StatsBomb