What Are Hot Items, Where Can You Eat Them, and Why Is Everyone Obsessed

A diet of hot items inspires a discourse never seen before

“Wraps. Falafels. Hot dogs. Samosas. Bits of hot meat. Greggs vegan sausage rolls. Buttermilk fried chicken cutlets from the branches of Sainsbury’s that have a hot oven.” These, are hot items — the food discourse straight from the uncanny valley launched by an op-ed in the New Statesman. Twitter users have taken to its strange folds, declaring themselves hot items enjoyers; questioning whether it’s all a parody (of what?); asking whether such a blasé look at the choices behind diets is an okay thing to write in an era of food inequality.

Beyond fervent internet recycling, the article’s enduring claim is an ambitious one that the corn dog is the “ultimate hot item” (close behind the idea that eating a tin of peas with soy sauce is normal behaviour.) What would a tiered ranking of hot items look like? The list up top suggests that hot items are to be eaten outside their place of origin, either at home or in transit — but many menus at restaurants also serve hot items. Are hot items instead defined by their portability, even more so than their temperature? Is a sandwich on a plate no longer an item? Are all bits of meat hot, really?

Perhaps it’s best not to get into it. [New Statesman, Twitter]

And in other news...

• London’s most extra restaurant was Gloria, in Shoreditch. Now, it’s Circolo Popolare, in Fitzrovia, which is seducing the city’s restaurant critics with ... “Crap” food?
• Here are all of London’s newest restaurants — including the city’s hottest food court, Arcade Food Theatre at Centre Point.
• Brazilian-inspired chain Cabana could undergo a company voluntary arrangement to ease the sale of the group, which has five locations in London. [Propel]
• KFC is testing Taco Bell-inspired crispy chicken tacos, in the latest instalment of fast food brands abandoning all principles in service of growth. Will the U.K. be blessed? [Food Beast]
• A fascinating study of Amazon food reviews suggests that lots and lots of people think food is too sweet these days. [Science Direct]
• Good tweet: