Flashback, 2003: I'm sitting on a bench in Queenstown, New Zealand. It's a beautiful day and I have a lunch from the nearby sushi hut. There was no menu...whatever they had available was rolled tightly and packaged up to go. I'm 1/2 of my way through my raw lunch when the coloring of one fish has me questioning what it is. Flipping over the box to inspect the handwritten label, I suppress a gag. That light pink fish? More like raw chicken. After a few moments of shock, horror and questioning if every tummy gurgle was the beginning of salmonella poisoning, I realized that it didn't taste bad and finished lunch.
Everyone avoids food of some sort or another. I've spent the majority of my life avoiding eggs. I've managed to work scrambled eggs into my diet, although they end up being more of a "Tabasco delivery device" than anything. While I work hard to avoid ova, I will willingly eat escargot, abalone that goes straight from sea to mouth, and quite enjoy both jellyfish and sea cucumber.
Chicken sushi was something that I had heard of years earlier. I had decided that Japan had gone mad. Chicken sushi?! "Only a country that eats live octopus could think of something so insane," I thought. I wouldn't have willingly tried it, but I would willingly eat it again.
Would you willingly eat chicken sushi? How about deep fried moose balls, stir-fried scorpions or an ant burrito?
Some people will eat just about anything. Then there is the guy I had once read about who didn't dare to try an apple or any other fruit, for that matter. What are your limits, or lack thereof?
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I wouldn't eat any of that! I'm not what one would call, an adventurous eater...
ReplyDeleteLissa: What is adventurous for you? I have a coworker who thinks that adventure is putting pepper on a salad.
ReplyDeleteI've tried grubs (cooked only--like fatty bacon), rattlesnake, adore welks (like escargot), and ate baracuda before I knew it could poison me! The absolute worst were pen shell oysters--never could get the grit out of them--with chitons being a hard rubber close second. Hey, when you are poor and live on the sea, you'll try just about anything you can catch. I love octopus (had an octopus salad to die for in Wilmington CA), but didn't get the hang of cooking it and felt terrible for killing one (they are so cute!) I cooked conch too, but hated killing them--their little eyes have circle around them (on stalks) that look like little bullseye cartoon characters...Aunt Gay
ReplyDeleteAunt Gay: Grubs? Seriously? Eww. They look like little puss packets to me. David wanted to try one the last time we were in Bangkok but I totally blocked him. I refused to kiss him for 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteI've ate good pen shells before, but did notice that they were a bit grittier than most. I don't think that I've ever tried anything from the sea that I don't like. Then again, I've never tried a chiton. I'd imagine it to be like chewing on an eraser.
I love octopus as well. I've seen a really happy octopus (I've heard that they're happy if they're bright blue, like an iguana's happiness is indicated by it's bright green color) and it almost prevented me from eating octopus ever again. Notice I said almost...love tako!
I love conch but, after googling an image, I'm broken hearted. I shall never eat conch again!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/symbion/53269021/