The Culinary Union doesn’t relish surprises.

The 60,000-member union of casino and hotel workers is known for running a tight shop, and its discipline is second to none in Las Vegas when it comes to keeping internal business — well, internal.

So Culinary officials were as shocked as local political scribes when they read a report in the Washington Post last week, on the eve of the Democratic debate, that pinpointed the unveiling date of the union’s coveted presidential endorsement. Apparently, it’s Dec. 2.

“Tonight’s event could also sway the outcome of the state’s most important political prize, the endorsement by the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union, expected to be announced Dec. 2,” the Post wrote. “Union officials have held at least 16 meetings with Democratic candidates, and the union boasted on its Web site that ‘The road to victory in the Nevada Caucus is going to go through us!’ ”

Then, the Culinary revelations continued Monday, when the Wall Street Journal reported that the union had narrowed its choices down to Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. It also mentioned an early December endorsement.

“This union, which is expected to endorse a candidate in early December, could hold the key to the state’s caucuses, which are expected to be lightly attended. The prize is likely to go to Mr. Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, or Sen. Obama of Illinois. Both have received endorsements from powerful national unions.”

All of this has left Culinary leaders fuming, especially given the fact that neither D. Taylor, the union’s secretary-treasurer, nor Pilar Weiss, the union’s political director, had spoken with either publication.

“It’s ludicrous,” Weiss told the Sun. “They’re not talking to me. They’re not talking to D. I think people just want a story.”

The union has said it won’t endorse until after Thanksgiving, and has said somewhat facetiously that its nod will come sometime between the holiday and Jan. 19, the date of Democratic caucus.