Strange Foods. Jerry Hopkins

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      “People who feel that a lamb’s cheek is gross and vulgar when a chop is not are like the medieval philosophers who argued about such hair-splitting problems as how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. If you have these prejudices, ask yourself if they are not built on what you may have been taught when you were young and unthinking, and then if you can, teach yourself to enjoy some of the parts of an animal that are not commonly prepared.”

      Calf brains, sheep tongues, chicken feet, pig entrails, fish heads, the list goes on and on. Add “unusual” species such as ants and termites, beetles, bats, water buffalo, algae, cactus, rats and mice, flowers, elephants, whales, grubs, and earthworms, the start of another long list. And, yes, add all those protein sources that so many regard only as pets: cats and dogs, hamsters and gerbils, horses, exotic birds and fish. How many of us would push ourselves away from the table when such dishes were served, as the late Ms. Fisher said, because of what we learned when we were young?

      All that said, much regional individuality remains in the world. In Taiwan, serpent blood is a tonic. Many in the southwestern part of the United States swear by rattlesnake steak, just as kangaroo meat is a principal part of the diet for many Australian aborigines and appears on restaurant menus in dozens of Aussie restaurants. A small neighborhood in Hanoi and several in Seoul specialize in dog dishes (not to be confused with dishes from which dogs eat). Bulls’ and sheep’s testicles called Rocky Mountain Oysters are accepted in the American west, while in China, pigs’ ears, fish eyes, and rooster wattle are chopsticked up with gusto. In Southeast Asia, fried locusts are regarded as tasty snacks, just as monkey stew is a staple in parts of Africa and the Amazon, guinea pig is an essential protein source in Peru. Ants and termites are cherished in Africa and South America, yak milk is made into butter in Tibet and then added to tea, and horse-meat has an avid, centuries-old following in France, with another market expanding in Japan. These foods, accepted in one region, are rejected by diners in others. What is considered repulsive to someone in one part of the world, in another part of the world is simply considered lunch.

      In the November 22, 1890 issue of the French publication Le Don Quichotte, the French deride acts of cannibalism allegedly taking place in the British colonies of Africa.

      I’ve followed Ms. Fisher’s lead and tried to make this book a guide to how the other half dines and why. I’m no Frank Buckland, but over a period of twenty-five years I have rejected my meat-and-potatoes upbringing in the United States frequently to try a wide variety of regional specialties, from steamed water beetles, fried grasshoppers and ants, to sparrow, bison and crocodile, the latter three served en casserole, grilled, and in a curry, respectively. I have eaten deep-fried bull’s testicles in Mexico, live shrimp sushi in Hawaii, mice cooked over an open wood fire in Thailand, pig stomach soup in Singapore, minced water buffalo and yak butter tea in Nepal, stir-fried dog and ”five penis wine” in China, and the boiled blood of a variety of animals in Vietnam. This list, too, goes on, and I share some of these experiences in the chapters following, along with some recipes. After all, no matter what humans eat, by choice or circumstance, the one thing all the dishes have in common is that they must be prepared properly. Of course, there are some people who oppose such exploration. Conservationists are concerned, correctly, about the disappearance of endangered species. Others worry about animal rights, objecting to the manner in which even non-threatened species are penned or caged and slaughtered. A third group-called ”bunny-huggers” in wildlife circles-cries out when people eat animals that they, the protestors, call pets, reminding me of Alice at the banquet in Through the Looking Glass, who turned away the mutton because it was impolite to eat food you’d been introduced to.

      The ingredients for a special Balinese version of pepes, a dish cooked in banana leaf packets over an open grill. Garlic, ginger, lime, chillies, fish paste, tamarind paste, monosodium glutamate, coconut paste, and freshly caught dragonflies (less wings).

      I will not engage animal rights people in debate. Their point of view is valid and, in fact, carries incalculable weight in a world where resources and environment are being threatened in a manner that is as alarming as it is unrelenting. Many argue that this alone will expand our gastronomical frontiers, whether we like it or not. As Mr. Kyle wrote, cattle are notoriously unkind to the earth and in time there won’t be enough pasture to accommodate the world demand, forcing us to dine on alternate protein sources. The one mentioned most often? Insects.

      I don’t insist that you to add ostrich or dog or grasshopper to your menu, although I do suggest that you consider expanding your diet to include something outside the ordinary. However, as a frequent traveler, I do urge anyone who shares my passion for new places and peoples to heed that old but good advice about “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Try some of the local food; I believe that it’s a path to understanding the culture better than any other outside learning the language, marrying a native, or converting to the local religion.

      Of course, species on the endangered list are not recommended, except under special circumstances. (There are sections on elephants and whales.) There is no need. There are too many other tasty choices.

      There also is the matter of curiosity and the pleasant surprise that frequently follows it. “I have always believed, perhaps too optimistically,” Ms. Fisher wrote in a book called An Alphabet for Gourmets (1949), “that I would like to taste everything once, never from such hunger as made friends of mine in France in 1942 eat guinea-pig ragout, but from pure gourmandism.”

      Remember the person who first tasted the oyster. It’s not just dinner, it’s an adventure.

      The appeal of raw seafood-here abalone, sea squirt and octopus-lies as much in the interesting, often rubbery, textures as in the delicate flavour.

      What could be stranger than Space Shuttle food? A dinner of marinated shrimp, noodles, peas, sliced fruit, and candies would make anyone long for comfort food.

      Previous: Irula rat catchers in southern India fill their sack with the day’s haul of animals caught from their nests and tunnels under the rice fields.

      mammals

      No one is sure what the first humans ate. In Neanderthal times, the mammoth played a large role in human life: courageously brought down by hunters with spears, a mammoth could feed, say, a dozen or more caves full of people for a week or more. Many drawings found in such caves in Europe, North America, and elsewhere show men hunting great hairy beasts. Archeological digs have uncovered the well-chewed bones of dozens of animals.

      Since then, of course, the number of mammal species consumed throughout the world has multiplied quickly as hunting, transport, and marketing advances have enabled all types of meat to reach a larger audience, and in smaller, more manageable portions. It is not necessary nowadays to deal with a dead mammoth outside the cave when there are steaks in the freezer and quarter-pounders at the fast-food outlet.

      The embryo of a calf on sale at a meat stall in the morning market of Phayao in northern Thailand.

      That said, despite these advances and a current upward trend in the consumption of certain exotic foods, it can be argued that the number of protein sources for a growing СКАЧАТЬ