That’s Outrageous

TURNING GREEN During a visit to Darwin earlier this year, the future king of England, Prince Charles, was served a rather unusual dish – a canapé topped with zucchini pickle and green ants. Yes, green ants. The peculiar catering was part of a MasterChef world first, as His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales made his cooking competition show debut. The contestants were told to use only native flavourings, indigenous ingredients and local produce.

After MasterChef judge Matt Preston revealed the presence of insects in one, Prince Charles appeared noticeably surprised.

“Green ants?!” the royal foodie and long-time greenie responded.

Other delicacies served up included barramundi, wallaby tartare and quandong chutney.

PIZZA PEACE Icelandic President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson unleashed a global firestorm when he joked about banning pineapple as a pizza topping. When the news got out, Hawaiian-pizza enthusiasts voiced their outrage online, prompting the president to clarify that he likes pineapple (just not on pizza) and doesn’t have the power to enact a ban anyway. “I would not want to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding that which I don’t like,” he wrote last year, adding, “For pizzas, I recommend seafood.”

BIG CHEESE Many things have been recreated in cheese: R2-D2, Mount Rushmore, the Colosseum. Artist David Bradley moulded another dairy-based homage for a British food and wine festival, spending 28 hours carving a 20 kg sculpture of popstar Beyoncé striking the pose she’d assumed in photos of her pregnancy. While the statue was made of cheddar, Bradley couldn’t resist giving it a cheesy nickname – Brie-yoncé.