No French lunch without wine for an Iranian president and other food and drink news and views

Hollande-Rouhani lunch scrapped after Elysée Palace 'refused to remove wine from menu' - France, unlike Italy, has reportedly refused to take wine off the table for Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, meaning he will lunch alone during his historic trip to Paris – the first for an Iranian leader in 17 years. As anger mounted in Rome on Wednesday over a decision to cover up nude statues with large white panels so as not to offend Mr Rouhani, the French have already made it clear that no such cultural concessions would be made regarding its cherished gastronomy. In Rome, alcohol was not served at an official dinner held in Mr Rouhani’s honour – a standard Italian diplomatic gesture for visiting Muslim dignitaries. But in Paris, an originally planned lunch at the Elysée Palace with François Hollande was dropped because the French refused to cede to the Iranian presidency's demand for halal meat to be served and for the wine to be left off the table, citing “republican traditions”.

Why Tokyo is the World’s Best Food City

Chile overtook France as top wine exporter to Japan in 2015

The Wine Trend No One's Talking About (Yet): An Insider's View - Lower Alcohol Wines for Boomers

Everything You Need to Know About the Wine World's Next Big Thing - the organically farmed, unfiltered, low-to-no-sulfur natural wine movement. 

 
Aldi joins new push to stock alcohol in supermarkets - The debate to stock alcohol in supermarkets has started to bubble again as Aldi joins the push to sell liquor in its soon-to-be-opened South Australian stores.

Meet The Most Pampered Vegetables In America - There's a small corner of the restaurant world where food is art and the plate is just as exquisite as the mouthful. In this world, chefs are constantly looking for new creative materials for the next stunning presentation. The tiny community of farmers who grow vegetables for the elite chefs prize creativity, too, not just in what they grow but in how they grow it. They're seeking perfection, in vegetable form and flavor, like this tiny cucumber that looks like a watermelon — called a cucamelon. The Chef's Garden is a specialty vegetable farm in Huron, Ohio, about an hour west of Cleveland. It's a family farm, where three generations of the Jones family work side by side with about 175 employees. It's a place where vegetables are scrupulously selected and then painstakingly coaxed from the ground.

Israeli veganism takes root in land of milk and honey - Veganism has become so prominent in Israel that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has started catering to followers in its ranks by offering vegan-friendly ration packs, non-leather boots and wool-less berets.

World's Oldest Tea Discovered In An Ancient Chinese Emperor's Tomb

First US vegan 'butcher' shop open in Minneapolis

Almonds Are Getting Cheaper, But Here's the Catch - The wholesale price for almonds—the one paid by supermarkets to stock their bulk bins, or by processors to make their trail mixes—has fallen from a high of $4.70 last August down to $2.60