You Don't Know WHERE That's Been!!

Thursday, January 16, 2014                                                                            Volume II, Issue 1

A Note From Paul:  The Five Most Disgusting Things* You Might Eat When You Travel *and why you should try them! It's been some time since my last update, blame it on the holidays and family and kids off from school.  And since so much of the holiday season is taken up with eating, I thought what better topic to start out this first update of 2014 with than a post about food?! Oh, not your ordinary food.  Nope.  This is special food.  Unusual food.  In fact, some of the items I've come across would only barely fit the description of "food".  And yet... they're delicious! Read on...                                                                                              P.S. -- I've said it before and I'll say it again:  There's nothing worth more to me than your recommendation!  So please forward this to friends and associates who might be interested.  They'll be so grateful they might take you out to dinner!

Get That Out of Your Mouth, You Don't Know Where It's Been! or  The Five Most Disgusting Things You Might Eat When You Travel* *and why you should try them! Hachinoko (Bee Larvae) Twenty years ago you probably thought sushi was weird, right?  Well get ready -- not only is hachinoko not an unusual Japanese dish -- it's a traditional Japanese dish!  They're said to taste sweet, starchy and rich, with a bit of a smoky aftertaste. Sort of crunchy outside, soft and mushy inside.  (Yeah, that's a surprise huh?)  Cook them up with a little soy sauce, spread them on a cracker, and surprise your guests at your next party with the new, hip canapé! Kopi Luwak Starbucks™ has nothin' on our next entry.  Kopi Luwak are coffee beans that have been eaten by a Civet -- a cat-sized mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa -- and have, ummm, well... shall we say, "come out the other end".  Yes, they are harvested from Civet poop.  Pretty crazy, huh?  Yeah... crazy like a fox!  (Or would that be "crazy like a Civet"?!)  Because Kopi Luwak sells for up to $600 a pound!  So I don't know about you, but I'm just about *this* close to getting myself a barn full of Civets and starting a Kopi Luwak factory.   Casu Marzu (maggot cheese)Oh those crazy Sardinians!  It's not enough that they gave George Clooney his longtime girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis, they gave the rest of the world casu marzu!  Yes, I'm afraid so --  George Clooney gets Elisabetta Canalis, and we get maggot cheese.  This is the way the world works.  But it's ok, casu marzu is an amazing taste treat!  In fact it's so good that Sardinians continue to eat it on the sly despite the fact that it is illegal.  Casu Marzu is made just like the Italian cheeses you know and love, right up to the moment when they let it get infested with maggots.  And the maggots are still alive when you eat the cheese.  (Because, seriously, who wants to eat dead maggots?!  Am I right?)  Just be careful when you take a bite, the maggots are known to jump, and they have a knack for aiming for the eyes.   HaggisMy inclusion of Haggis in this list will be seen as heresy to many, especially those of Scottish ancestry.  But look, let's face it:  it's sheep's innards boiled inside a sheep's stomach!  I mean c'mon, would you eat that if you didn't have to?! Sure, it's a long winter's night in ancient Scotland, the Roman soldiers are sharpening their swords and banging at the city gates, and all that's left of ol' Bessie is a few gnawed-upon leg bones and... innards!  Yup, you bet you'd eat it!  And you'd enjoy it!   Hell, you'd write an epic poem in its honor!  That's what a True Scotsman does! Mountain Oysters I must admit, there is only one item on this list that I have actually eaten.  That I have tasted, swallowed, and enjoyed.  Yes, it's true.  I have eaten Mountain Oysters.  And they were delicious!  Thin-sliced, like medallions of veal, fried in batter in a cast-iron pan that was probably older than I was, served up in the kitchen of a small country restaurant in the mountains of North Carolina... it don't get much better than that! And this is why I say you should try the foods I've described.  The world is a big, strange place, and you never know what you might find.  That's the joy of travel!  Would you journey all the way to China or Africa, then eat at a McDonalds?  Encountering native cuisine, at times the mind may reel, but the stomach knows... trust me.  You may find a favorite new food.  Heck, at the very least... you'll get a blog post out of it!    Until next week...