Tag Archives: national

National Corn Dog Day and the Super Bowl

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Tomorrow Saturday 15th March is National Corn Dog Day! A traditional American fast food snack, the corn dog is commonly associated with large sporting events in America among other popular snacks such as the giant turkey leg, the funnel cake and churros. The Corn dog consists of a hot dog sausage coated in a thick layer of cornmeal or cornflour batter, stuck on a stick and then deep fried until it is a nice golden brown.

[penguin]corn-dog blogCorn dogs were first thought to have been introduced by German Texan sausage makers who applied for dipping, cooking and holding apparatus in conjunction with the deep frying of various foods on a stick. One of these foods was the sausage, and so the Corn Dog was created. The Americans are well known for their intense sporting enthusiasm and it is hard to get into the cheering spirit without a snack or two to keep your energy levels up.

The most famous event of the year for sporty America is normally the Super Bowl; the championship game of the National Football League which was held on February 2 this year. Each Super Bowl is played in a different host stadium, and a total of 22 different stadiums have hosted the Super Bowl so far.

The stadiums are chosen three to five years in advance and it is considered a pretty big honour to be able to host the Super Bowl. Wembley stadium has even occasionally been mentioned as a possible future Super Bowl host stadium, but so far the Super Bowl has not yet been hosted in a region that lacked an NFL franchise.

[penguin]american-football blogThe Stadium that has played host to the Super Bowl the most frequently is the Louisiana/Mercedes-Benz Superdrome, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hop into a New Orleans hire car to take a look at this iconic stadium while you are on your next holiday to Louisiana.

Will you be taking part by supporting any of these events? Do you follow a particular American Sporting team and are looking for a way to take your patriotism that one step further? Corn Dogs are such a staple when it comes to watching sports in America, even if you’ve never tried one it is good to take the plunge just to see what you could be missing out on.

National Tug of War Day

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Wednesday the 19th of February is National Tug-of-War day, so today we here at Penguin are going to have a look at where in the world tug of wars regularly took place. Originally thought to have been practised in ancient Egypt, Greece and China, the Tug of War sport was first made popular in Great Britain in the 16th century by Lord Elliott Simpson.

‘Hook pulling’ in the Tang Dynasty

According to a book dating back to the Tang Dynasty, tug of war was a training method used by military commanders of the time as an exercise of strength for warriors. The Emperor at the time; Emperor Xuanzong of Tang promoted the use of large scale tug of war games to train warriors, and these games normally used ropes of up to 550 feet long with shorter ropes attached for people to hold onto.

Each side of the ‘war’ had over 500 people on it, on the larger tug of war matches, and each side also had a set of drummers to encourage the participants.

Helkustinda in Ancient Greece

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There were three different variations of tug of war in ancient Greece; helkustinda, efelkustinda and dielkustinda. All of these variations come from the word helko which means ‘I draw, I pull’. The first two variations of ancient Greek tug of war seem to be ordinary versions, whereas dielkustinda was tug of war without the rope.

This was done by linking hands with your teammates, and was considered much more difficult as it is harder to sustain grip on hands than on a rope.

Like in the Tang dynasty, all types of tug of war were used by the ancient Greeks as strength building games and also to build up strength in preparation for battle, when they would have to move quickly in heavy armour.

As an Olympic Sport

Tug of War was an official part of the Olympic Games from 1900 to 1920, but has not been included since, perhaps because of health and safety reasons as people have been known to had fingers severed and limbs broken as a result of the rope snapping.

The Tug Of War International Federation hosts annual world championships for tug of war, with both indoor and outdoor contests. The 2014 World Championships is being held at Olin-Turville Court in Madison, USA. Why not hire out a car to help get you to the Championships if you are thinking of going?

‘Naha Tug of War’ in Okinawa

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Originating in the 17th Century, an annual festival held in Naha, Okinawa Japan, holds a giant tug of war contest that correlates with the competition between two ancient rulers in the Naha area. The event attracts over 25,000 attendees each year.

Strawberry Ice Cream Day; Bon Appetit

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2552806737_959657e7bf_oSo today is national Strawberry Ice Cream Day. A universal snack for during the summer, often accompanied by a romantic film or used as a soothing technique when confronted by an awkward break-up. Not many people dislike this fantastic sugary treat – those who are intolerant to lactose not included – and though it’s not a spectacular culinary dish, there can be no denying the popularity of ice cream on holidays. Ice cream and holidays are synonymic in that you can’t have one without the other. So why not have a look at the best places to have one of the world’s most famous holiday snacks?

In the Persian Empire, residents would pour grape juice over snow and eat it as a treat in the hot weather. Later on it was adopted by several other civilisations, where they would use various fruit syrups over ice to make different flavours. Originally it was thought that the Arabs first used milk to make ice cream, using sugar as opposed to fruit juices to sweeten it, and then flavouring it with fruit and nuts. many people dislike this fantastic sugary treat – those who are intolerant to lactose not included – and though it’s not a spectacular culinary dish, there can be no denying the popularity of ice cream on holidays. Ice cream and holidays are synonymic in that you can’t have one without the other. So why not have a look at the best places to have one of the world’s most famous holiday snacks?

Italy first brought ice cream to Europe in the 16th century and since then its popularity has grown immensely. There are countless flavours, both predictable, and strange, such as eel and octopus ice cream made in Japan (where else?), and every country has an associated favourite flavour. So where is the best place to eat it?

Perché No! In Florence, Italy

Translated as ‘Why not!’ This ice cream shop was founded in 1939 and is one of the most iconic ice cream shops in Italy. The ice cream is all made fresh from produce daily, using carefully chosen ingredients. The fruit ice creams and sorbets are made entirely from fresh juice and are free of colouring agents. There are some more inventive flavours; such as the ‘Chesnut Honey and Sesame Seeds’, or you could try the classical ‘Whipped Cream’ flavour, ever present as a favourite.

Glacé In Sydney, Australia

Established in 1984, Glacé has quickly become famous throughout Australia for its innovative ice creams, sorbets and ice cream based desserts., Because it uses fresh ingredients, including full cream milk and fresh cream, Glacé is incredibly popular as a manufacturer of ice cream. The company itself has won over 100 awards by industry groups for their creative ice cream based desserts. Plus they do wedding cakes!

Special Mention: Ice Cream City

19Known for their eccentricity, what is Japan without dipping their toes into the market of ice cream? The ice cream city is a magical place inside the indoor theme park in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, with hundreds of flavours of ice cream, from the traditional vanilla, chocolate and story, to the more exotic crab or snake flavoured ice cream.

Located in the Sunshine City Complex, only a short drive by hired car from the Ikebukuro subway station, the theme park has a small entry fee plus an additional fee to purchase each miniature tub of ice cream, but it is certainly well worth it!