This week in notable food-centric links:

◊ Are guinea pigs the new pork? NPR explores why many American diners are exploring the culinary use of these ultra-sustainable rodents that have been considered a delicacy in the Andes for centuries. 

◊ Nong At Home: Food cart superstar Nong Poonsukwattana has a new blog featuring fresh recipes and instructional videos beyond the iconic Khao Man Gai. 

◊ The cosmos... on your stove?: Norwegian photographer Christopher Jonassen seeks to visualize the universe in a frying pan with his series of hundreds of scuffed-up kitchen tool shots that recall moons, planets, and other extraterrestrial bodies.

◊ It's getting hot in here: New food-and-farm mag Modern Farmer profiles the competive sport of cultivating the world's hottest chile pepper, with contenders breaking ground in San Diego, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Australia. 

◊ Where is the New York chop on a pig?: There's a new naming system for beef and pork cuts, the first meat label overhaul in over 40 years, in an attempt to help home cooks navigate the often confusing array of cut names that can vary across the country.  

◊ The 2013 New York Times Magazine Food Issue lands this weekend, but you can get a preview online now, including stories on healthy fast food, exploding chickens in NYC kitchens, and an in-depth profile of Portland's own butchery guru Camas Davis.