Scary movie

Industrial Food Machine of the Day: Automated Lamb Boner

The lack of human narration in the accompanying video is both surreal and fitting. In other 'how it's made' videos, the narrator explains not only what is happening, but also why the manufacturing is done in a particular way.

Here, we watch eviscerated lamb carcasses (shortly after they've been mounted to a conveyor) being mindlessly disassembled into optimal pieces calculated with precision, without understanding why the cuts are being made. Through every 'whrrrr' of a saw cutting through cartilage and bone, the automated system tells the same story whether it's on screen or not. For the machine and its long red eyes, every cut is the same. Some parts fall to a secondary conveyor and go one way, others are shoved off in the other direction.

And then there's the tool at 4:40 that jabs itself into the hindquarters, roots around a bit, parts the pieces, and then sends the tailbone off with a love tap.

All of this is overseen by one human operator, who presumably also gets to debug this production line should some flesh or cartilage break unexpectedly, or in case one of the dozens of blades hits a tumor or pocket of pus or liquid or something.

(Also, it's apparently easier to get an X-ray for a lamb carcass than for a human...)

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-06/industrial-animal-processing-video-o-day-automated-lamb-boning

Smaksatt kvarg

Smaksatt kvarg (roughly flavored curd) is a slightly fluffier version of the cream cheese layer of cheesecake, but still almost as rich. It's sold here in 200 ml containers as a breakfast item alongside yoghurt.

After digging in assuming that it was just a variety of yoghurt, I discovered that four teaspoons of the stuff nicely flavored two slices of bread.

I don't think I'd want to consume half a pound of light cream cheese in one sitting on a regular basis. This container's waxpaper lid is designed to be less re-sealable than those on tubs of yoghurt, which suggests that I am breaking with tradition by saving the rest for later.

(There's at least one holiday each month during which major retail shops close. A day or two before that, perishables with expiry dates are sold at 30 or 50% discounts. Valio smaksatt kvarg citron is regularly priced at (e)0.80, but I purchased this one a day before the midsummer holiday.)