la.foodblogging

There are so many reasons to be a proud Left Coast fast food snob (think Skooby’s, In-N-Out Burger and Pinks!) but today local gourmets on-the-run have yet another reason to crow. Los Angeles’ very own hometown chef boyardee Wolfgang Puck is leveling his “fresh cooking” franchise at business travellers by introducing a line of coffee beverages in self-heating cans. The fancy food technology is not exactly new but it is really frickin’ hot. If the hype is to be believed we’re talking 145 degrees of canned hotness in 6-8 minutes. The press-button container, home to an “actuating puck” (wot?!) and some iffy sounding chemicals, was first introduced by San Diego-based OnTech during a hotel/motel tradeshow this fall in New York. At the time OnTech announced a deal with Hillside Coffee to distribute its hot canned java. Puck represents the first widely recognized gourmet franchise to sign on. OnTech’s device, for which the company has claimed numerous patents, can also be used with tea, cocoa, soups, and alcoholic beverages. A similar disposable self-heating device is already used in ramen containers sold in vending machines in Japan. Me personally, I’m having a hard time imagining myself kicking it at a Super 8 on the I-5 clutching a Puck Mocha Latte, but a girl can dream can’t she? For more details check the New York Times story Taking the Heat Out of the Kitchen by Kim Severson. (05/11/05) If you don’t subscribe to NYT, or if you’d like to see a pokey ‘how it works’ slide show, the OnTech site has more.

Photo credit: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times