[Sca-cooks] Seljuk/Rumi/Sufi Cuisine

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Apr 29, 2010, at 11:22 PM, Elaine Koogler wrote:

> Well, who said phobias were logical, pray tell?  For whatever reason, I
> cannot deal with the texture of raw oysters...the same way I cannot deal
> with eggs that are undercooked...they have to be cooked until the white is
> solid and that funky slimy part is solid.  So far as oysters are concerned,
> they only have to be cooked just enough to solidify them...I have had them
> pulled directly from the Bay, put on a grill just long enough to let them
> cook a bit in their own juices...dipped in butter, they were to die for.
> But for whatever reason...I just can't get a raw one into my mouth without
> gagging!

No argument with that...

> Call me silly, illogical, whatever.

Silly, no. Illogical, definitely, but also refreshingly honest, which compensates for much in my book.

I've just gotten into a habit of essentially demanding an honest answer when confronted with the patently illogical justified by an apparent (or sometimes patent) untruth.

People don't have to be logical, but if they choose not to be, they shouldn't pretend. Ain't no slime on a fresh oyster, ergo, their texture may be many things, but slimy, no. If you don't like non-slimy oysters, either, that's cool, too!

> But there it is!  Oh, and by the way, I
> grew up unable to eat okra the way my grandmother (south Georgia) fixed
> it...she steamed it to the point that even my father referred to it as
> "slick willy".  Only when I discovered that it could be sliced, dipped in
> cornmeal and fried could I eat it...and am now seriously addicted to it
> cooked that way!

It's good stuff! Try it with semolina instead of cornmeal sometime!

A.






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls, when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter