[Sca-cooks] "Soul food" that others can't stand... (Was Re: [Sca-cooks] GIFILLTE FISH )

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Lord Boroghul Khara wrote:

> Oh, lordie.....
>
> Chitlins......  gag me with a smurf.  Quite possibly the only thing I'll
> never eat.
>
> A person could tell someone in my neighborhood was preparing chitlins
> from six blocks away.


You know, I've heard the same things about tripe and haggis, and I
wonder if there's a correlation between foul odors, digestive organs,
and inadequate cleansing of the organs before cooking, because I have a
particularly sensitive nose (as my local fellow cooks will attest; I
walk into other people's kitchens from outside and tell them their stew
is _about_ to burn) and I've never noticed any particularly powerful
odor to them (although I confess I've never cooked or even eaten
chitlins; my experience is with Cantonese red-cooked pig's intestines,
stomachs, etc.), apart from a very slight organ-meat gaminess/bitterness.


> I think about the only other food like substance I couldn't stand was my
> Great-Grandmother's okra. My Great Grandfather was the only human I know
> that actually liked his okra slimey ::shudders::  If I want slime, I'll
> just boil and eat a prickly pear cactus pad.

I can imagine. I think, though, that it should be pretty easy to figure out where to draw the line, and cook it accordingly. If you're using it in gumbo, it pretty well has to be mucilaginous because the slime thickens the sauce. If you're frying it, I agree, slime is anathema, but in some cases it more or less belongs there.


Adamantius

--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98