Are you going to have what?!
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I think I watch more TV than I should. I have several books to read but, sometimes, I just want to be idiotised. On Tuesdays, one show I can’t wait to watch is Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. To those who are not aware of the show, Anthony Bourdain, (former?) executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles, visits different locations across the globe and, in addition of providing some cultural background and display of the daily life, he gets to eat almost anything from fine dining to “delicacies” but, most importantly, local non-tourist fare. Forget certain travelling show with Rachel Ray (thumbs down) or Giada De Laurentiis (thumbs sideways), this is the real deal. Spam? Check. Live Octopus? Check. Snake heart? Check… Well, actually, I think this was in A Cook’s Tour (another former show of his) but, he had it, nonetheless. This is one of the reasons I like the show. As for myself, when it comes to food, I think I can eat almost anything. Well, there are some exceptions; however, I think what I do not eat (Chinese salted fish, fermented bean curd, et al) are things most people won’t eat anyway. In the past, if my mother prepared something with these ingredients, my options were simple: either I ate it or I skipped dinner. No exception. That’s how I learned to appreciate some dishes like eggplants and bitter melon. OK, let me correct that: I learned that being able to have 3 meals a day (add or take depending on snacks I might have) was something I was taking for granted. Food is not only nourish to your body but also your soul and mind. And, in the case of dishes from other cultures, their background. If an animal was killed to feed you, make it worth by consuming everything possible. For vegetables, consider the time it took to grow and effort to harvest it. Of course, you can overindulge and, in my case, I ended up way overweight to the point of being a prime candidate of cardiovascular diseases. I am digressing here but, at least I can say I am more “stable” now. |
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Because of my Chinese background, I learned to appreciate lou mei type dishes, i.e, offal. Not a delicacy but the idea of eating everything is still there. Likewise in Panama, I enjoyed morcilla (a variety of blood sausage), fried chicken heart, gizzard, etc. When I came to Canada, this type of dishes was not available. OK, I lie partially. You could get lou mei in Chinese stores/butchers. You could also get pork blood or german blood sausage or chicken heart. But, it was not the same as it was sold in bulk/raw so you had to cook it. Cooking some form of offal can be difficult and tricky. That is why, whenever I am in a restaurant and I see offal type dishes, I jump into the opportunity to have some of it. Unfortunately, for my meal companions, reactions might be a really funny one…
Once, I went for lunch with a group of colleagues to a HK-style cafe. Our party included Korean, Indonesian, Filipino, Chinese and… A Caucasian. I will be blunt here and probably stereotyping him, we had a “white guy” in our party. I am not sure if he knew what he was up to before we went to this restaurant. I have the odd impression, had he known, he might not have joined us. Anyway, while browsing the menu, something caught my attention. So, when it was my turn, I ordered ox tongue. The “white guy” freaked at what I said. “Are you going to have what?!”. Again, I will be blunt here: He was the only one who freaked out. To the rest of us was just “normal”. Was it really that weird? To make sure I was not exagerating, we had other lunches. Eventually, I found out he did not even like “bone soup” (reality: good stock is made from bones and connective tissues) and did not know why we like chicken feet (or “dragon claws” as they are named in Dim Sum). In the end, everything boiled down to culture: since he is a steak-and-potato type of person, he was used to regular meat cuts. Offal? Not even with a stick… Of course, here is the loaded question: would he eat haggis? The answer was no…
As I “white girl” I can identify with the white guy. He probably thinks all of that is icky because that’s what our parents taught us. I wish I was more adventerous.
Funny thing is, my dad and his best friend just got back from a fishing trip. His friend is Japanese. I was over visiting while they were unloading the boat. His friend asked me if I wanted any dried squid. I said “ewww no!”. He started laughing and said when I was a baby he gave it to me to teethe on and I loved it. It’s just a shame that my mom contaminated me by saying everything that isn’t steak or chicken breast is “icky”!