Heading to Italy? Leave Your Cat at Home

Many restaurants in the Italian region of Tuscany offer wild boar on their menus. But apparently things can get much more exotic than that. According to the Associated Press:

Italian state TV has suspended a cooking show host who shocked the nation by saying cat stew is a Tuscan delicacy he swears he has enjoyed many times.

... When his 27-year-old female co-host looked stunned as (Beppe) Bigazzi said he has eaten cat stew "many times," the white-haired grandfather figure defended his tastes. "Why, people maybe don't eat rabbitt, chicken, pigeon," Bigazzi said.

... "Cat, soaked for three days in the running water of a stream" in Tuscany, "comes out with its meat white, and I assure you -- I have eaten it many times -- that it is a delicacy," Bigazzi continued.

The Italian Health Ministry issued a statement reminding Bigazzi and the public that cats "are pets protected by law."

Worst Cooks in America

Do you still shudder to recall those awful holiday dinners cooked by your aunt? Or are you trying to forget about your mother's semiregular meal of dried-out meatloaf and boiled-to-death veggies? Then there's a new reality show that you can relate to.

The show, airing on the Food Network, is called "Worst Cooks in America." According to Food Network:

Twelve of the most hopeless cooks in the country will compete in a high-stakes elimination series in Worst Cooks in America. At stake for the last two standing is the chance to cook for a panel of esteemed culinary critics and win the grand prize of $25,000. This six-episode series will put the "recruits" through a culinary boot camp ...

Something tells me this show will make the rest of us feel very good about our culinary skills.