SC - Thoughts on Food- reply, long.

[James Gilly / Alasdair mac Iain]

The fish in question (ie, Japanese cuisine) that is poisonous is fugu
(blowfish).  It is served as sashimi (raw).  If the fish is not prepared
properly, you will die. The fish contains a neurotoxin.  Sushi chefs must be
trained before serving it.. otherwise you lose customers... (grin)

meadhbh
(who loves sushi and sashimi but has no intention of trying fugu)

Philippa Alderton wrote:

> Lady Elisabeth asked :
>
>  I
> >especially would like to hear of some of the more unique recipes that
> everyone has found, especially period ones, containing unique
> ingrediants or animals.  I would also like to hear if you have cooked
> said recipe, or said unique animal, and your comments.<
>
> My lady, while I would not consider myself in a class in experience with
> many of the Cooks on the List, I have done a fair amount of reading about
> various foods eaten in many cultures, and I think I can truthfully say that
> there isn't a species of animal on this earth, and very few plant species
> as well, which have not been ingested by humans. The only exceptions I have
> seen have been items which are out right poisonous, and many of those have
> been processed for human consumption- look at poi, acorns, and poke weed.
> Also, the Japanese have a special delicacy, which if not prepared properly,
> is so poisonous that if you eat one of these fish, can't think of the name
> of it, with a drop of the toxin on it, you're dead before you hit the
> floor.
>
> Most insects are edible, and kosher as well. The Philipines have a
> specialty which is a fermented chicken embryo- its consumption is a macho
> thing, and according to a friend who tried it, and who had to keep a
> straight face at the time, is terrible. His Philipino wife taught me to
> cook and eat fish heads, bones and all, and when I asked her why her family
> ate them, she said that if they hadn't, there would not be enough food and
> they'd go hungry. I've come to prefer the heads to the rest of the fish.
>
> Adamantius and I were chatting one day, and jokingly started to come up
> with a menu that most folks wouldn't eat, including several types of
> seaweed, Gravlax (salmon spiced and fermented for a few days), brandade,
> jelly fish salad, beef tendon noodle soup, sea cucumber, pork and beef
> dumpling soup, Alys' recipe for bull penis, mountain oysters, kimchee, and
> a few other oddities such as 100 year old
> (duck) eggs.
>
> We've recently discussed on the List such things as Smithfield hams, which
> develop mold on them which needs washed off, cheeses like bleu or
> Roquefort, in which the mold is what you want, various fermented fish
> sauces including the Vietnamese thing, nuom duc (sp?) and recipes for cat,
> dog, guinea pig, dormice, whale, and porpoise.
>
> We've also discussed long pig, and I'll refer to a passage from a book I
> just read, "Aztec Autumn", where in the hero is talking to a friend who is
> telling him about the animals the Spaniards brought to the New World,
> including "porcus", which tastes just like the thigh meat of a healthy
> young man.
>
> As far as period oddities, Anthimus refers to organ meats such as kidneys,
> stomach (tripe), matrix (sow belly), udder, liver, and many birds and
> fishes, including lamphreys. Apicius refers to rose and violet wine, brain
> sausages among many others, intestinal fat and intestines as casings,
> nettles, smelt pie or sprat custard, ostrich, grane, thrush, figpeckers,
> pheasant, and many other birds, sow's womb, tails and feet, lungs,chamois,
> gazelle, wild sheep and dormouse, rays, squid, octopus and sea urchins, and
> eels, including conger. Platina includes omentum,  maidenhair fern, heads
> and giblets of capons and chickens, tounge, chicken and other animals
> testicles testicles, porcupines and hedgehogs, brains and heads of all
> species, eyes, hearts and lungs, liver, udders, spleens, kidneys, stomach,
> fish eggs, several for hemp (cannabis), turtles, murex, and eels including
> moray and conger.
>
> As far as my personal experience goes, there's very little I won't try
> once. I love sushi, octopus being my favorite, but squid I find to have an
> unpleasant oily taste. I would, if backed into a corner, try the Philipino
> fermented embryos, but hopefully will never have to, not being either male
> or macho. I might try the poisonous Japanese fish, but only after I'd seen
> someone else survive the experience, and from the same fish. I'm a hunter,
> and eat much of the local game, but I dislike the many bones of squirrel,
> although I love the flesh. There are no reptiles or fish I hate, but I have
> my preferences. Ras and I did brains and other organs at Pennsic, and
> brains are a bit rich, but good. Poke weed tastes like asparagus. The only
> things I passionately dislike/will not eat are Green Bell ) peppers and
> black licorice/anise flavors.
>
> I think we humans are called omnivores for a reason ;-)
>
> Phlip
>
> Phlip at bright.net
>
> Never a horse that cain't be rode,
> And never a rider that cain't be throwed.
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