Kitty Kurry

The Japanese have been eating curry since the 1860s, when they learned about it from . . . the English. Curry has the same position in Japan that it has in England, too: an exotic break from the bland food of every day. Japanese markets usually have sections specializing in ready-made curry with rice (known as kari-raisu ), such as (believe it or not) Hello Kitty hamburger curry.

Your Underwater Hit Parade

Norwegian fish scientists are trying to restore the stock of cod in the fjords.

To make sure the baby cod get enough food, they have trained them to return to a feeding site by piping tuba music underwater.

The Lunch Bar

The Popcorn Diet, a chocolate-coated bar of caramel popcorn, contains 35% of the recommended daily allowances of vitamins and minerals plus 14 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber and 45 grams of carbohydrates--in other words, a full meal, but with only 290 calories. It tastes like a chewier and less-sweet cousin of Cracker Jacks. Available at a suggested retail price of $2.50 per bar through Micro Diet distributors, or telephone (800) 934-TRIM.

Strange Brews

The Microbrewery Beer-of-the-Month Club is the beer-connoisseur’s version of the wine-of-the-month clubs that were so popular a while back. For $13.95 a month, plus shipping and handling (to California, that adds $7.95), you get a six-pack each from two specialty breweries whose product is almost certainly unavailable in your area, together with a newsletter on the beers. If enough members like a selection--say, Wasatch Beer (Utah) or Crazy Ed’s Cave Creek Chili Beer (Arizona)--the club will get more for them at a discounted price. Beer Across America’s number is (800) 854-BEER.

Next: the Rocky Road Enchilada

Out of some obscure curiosity, the Dreyer’s ice cream company recently tried out some pickles ‘n ice cream flavors on pregnant women, but 69% said they didn’t crave them. (Those who did leaned to vanilla ‘n dill.) By the way, research shows that 27% of pregnant women crave ice cream, but twice as many want Mexican food (8%) as want pickles.

Do You Have Caesar in a Box?

From Canada comes Et Tu Caesar, a complete Caesar salad (except for the romaine lettuce) in a box: dressing, baked croutons (white, whole-wheat and dark rye), grated Parmesan and bacon-flavored bits. Hold on--bacon bits in a Caesar salad? Well, the recipe is from Hank’s Restaurant in Markham, Ontario, which moves 50 Caesars a day, so they must be doing something right. Available at major supermarkets at $1.99 per 4.2-ounce box.

Readin’, Raisin and ‘Rithmawhatsit

The new commercial featuring California Raisins, who have appeared in spots encouraging literacy, promotes raisin-eating at breakfast. Does this have something to do with the statistics showing that children who eat breakfast do better on tests? We hope so.