weird dishes and local cultures.

[mephisto794]

Dishes (no matter how weird they might appear) are tightly bound to the local culture of a community.

Wearing the skin of a foreign society, and thus tasting its food, can be of much help in understanding its culture.

The question is:
Would you go far enough to "adventure" and taste the weird (disgusting? crual?) dishes relative to a foreign society?

For instance, whenever we have a foreign guest in Lebanon, the first dishes we offer him are: Kebbeh nayyeh, tabbouleh, hommos, la7meh nayyeh.... and we expect him/her to adapt to eating uncooked meat!

[mephisto794]

To give you an idea of what you might be risking :

(quoting the 'least' shocking experience from a blog)

We decided to tag along with a Cambodian-American friend of ours to a rural area in the southeast near the Vietnam border. He was returning, after decades, to see his aging parents and family who had survived the Khmer Rouge years. The plan was to throw a big party with 100 Buddhist monks as a blessing for the elderly parents ... and for entertainment. No TV out here.



After hours on a bumpy dirt road, crouched in the back of a covered pick-up, passing rural villages, we arrived at the family home. Armed guards and an army of excited, curious children greeted us. We were led into a guest room, and told to stay put. It took a while for word to get back to us, but here was the deal -- road bandits had murdered some neighbors the previous night. My father and I were clearly foreigners, which means we must be carrying bundles of cash, so for everyone's safety, we were instructed to stay indoors or out of sight in the covered yard. For a day or two or three, depending on when they felt the road was safe. We had 5 armed guards and even still the local provincial mayor came by to tell us everything was safe ... as long as we stayed out of sight.

But the monk party would continue as scheduled.

There was no electricity in these parts, and so I psyched myself up for a couple days of quiet living. But then came the generators. BROOOMMMMMMM!!! Lights were strung up in our room (with no off switch) and cacophonus Cambodian Buddhist music was cranked up and left on all night and day. A TV with kung fu flicks, and I think Rambo, ironically, was brought in for the kids.

In these parts, the food comes from the fields. Flooded fields full of frogs, eels, and rats. I've had plenty of frogs and eels before, so I won't go into that, but this was the first time I'd dined on rat. These are not city rats, they're big fat field rats.



They were BBQ'd well done and (I've never used this before, OK) they tasted like chicken. Tough, stringy, BBQ-chicken-style rats. I suppose I could have stuck to the frogs and eels but this was as close I'd come to weird meat as a necessity. There were no shops here, and we hadn't brought enough food for our unexpected extended stay. Our Cambodian friends told us stories of what "weird foods" they ate to survive the darkest years under the regime. Rats seemed like a fortunate feast compared to some of these. And my fear and discomfort as we waited for a safe road out seemed petty.

(Seen the movie "The Killing Fields"? The man drinking blood from a live cow ... it's not fiction)

We left the next day, straight back to Phnom Penh. On the ride, we completely covered ourselves with traditional kramas (big scarves) to avoid unwanted attention. We did, however, stop along a safer section of road to get some fruit and here I found a man hunting for rats. They have a special stick -- a long pole with a hook -- to catch the rats. I asked if the rats were for sale but the man seemed pretty proud of his catch. Some of them had guts spilling out, which looked kinda icky.



I'd eat rats again, even if not by necessity. These are not filthy city rats, they're filthy field rats, if that makes them more appetizing for you.

[Rexus]

hmm let's see. French proly eat frogs because it's representative of their filthiness.

[di]

eeeeeeeeeeew YUUUUK!!!! cooked rats ... no way Id rather starve and not eat rats and frogs and birds and snakes ..In the far East you know they eat cats and dogs ..As for raw meat I dont eat it either .. I cant digest it ..

[mephisto794]

Originally Posted by di

eeeeeeeeeeew YUUUUK!!!! cooked rats ... no way Id rather starve and not eat rats and frogs and birds and snakes ..In the far East you know they eat cats and dogs ..As for raw meat I dont eat it either .. I cant digest it ..

This hits the core of the subject !

Do these "eating" habits give any prejudgment towards native population?
I mean does this make them perceived as "dirty", or "savages"? or culinary habits can be separated from the cultural aspect?

[di]

Originally Posted by mephisto794

This hits the core of the subject !

Do these "eating" habits give any prejudgment towards native population?
I mean does this make them perceived as "dirty", or "savages"? or culinary habits can be separated from the cultural aspect?

well I think they can be seperated from the cultural aspect .. It doesnt mean if they dont eat like us then they are "dirty and savages" we may be wrong too in their eyes for the way we eat raw meat and other food as well ..As for me if I were invited for a cooked rat why not Ill try tasting it ... its better than having it raw

[Bachir]

the most weird thing I ate was crocodile, in Australia I had crocodile soupe once, it was not bad at all, it is like a mixt between chicken and fish.

[Picasso]

I

أود أن أستوضح أمراً ثم أدخل إلى الموضوع المطروح

تناهى إلى سمعي أنّ أغنياءً في بعض البلدان يأكلونَ الطفل الذي تجهضُه والدته. فهل هذا صحيح؟ وهل تجري هذه الجريمة بشكل قانوني؟ أم أنّ وحوشَ البوادي يأخذونَ طبقهم المفضّل في السرّ

II

أعتبر الأطباق التي يُؤْكَل فيها ما ليسَ صحيّاً وما لا يجدر بإنسان أن يأكله، أعتبرها دالّة على اهتزاز في توازن الشعب المعنيّ بها صحياً ونفسياً يبعده عن المأكل الصحّي المنظّم المغذّي بدون التهام كائنات حيّة سواء أكنّا نحبّذها كالطيور أو نشمئزّ منها كالحشرات

مثلاً أولئك الذينَ يأكلونَ الحشرات ويُعدّون منها أطباقاً ومعلّبات للتصدير، أو يأكلونَ لحومَ القردة، أو اللحم النيء أو البزّاق وما شابه، كل ذلك يدلّ على اختلال في النظام الغذائي إذا صحّ التعبيرِ

لكن، كي لا يبقى ردّي في إطار الموقف المسبّق، أقول، فلندعْ العلم يحكم على الأمور فيما هو مغذٍّ أكثر من ضرره أو العكس. وعلى حدّ علمي فإنّ أكل اللحم النيء والحشرات لهما أضرار بالغة

(Seen the movie "The Killing Fields"? The man drinking blood from a live cow ... it's not fiction)

أنا شاهدتُ مشهداً مما يجري. يأتونَ بأكواب كبيرة كتلكَ التي يشربونَ فيها البيرة، ثم يثقبونَ بحَرْبَة الحيوان المسكين، وهو على قيد الحياة، فيخرجُ الدمُ كنافورة، فيبدأونَ واحداً تلوَ آخر في تعبئة أكوابهم ويشربون

III

من جهة ثانية، فإنّ ما تقدّم لا يجعلني أقف موقفاً حاداً من شعبٍ ما، فيظلّ النظر إلى ثقافته كواحدة من ثقافات العالم، بنجاحاتها وغناها وأيضاً بغرائبيتها في المأكل وسواه. فهذا أيضاً ثقافة وإن لم يعجبنا

لكن، في نهاية الردّ، أريد أن أقول إن خطاً فاصلاً يجب أن يوضَع، وهنا يأتي دور الأمم المتحدة كإطار لإنتاج القيم الكونية والقوانين الدولية وما شابه. فأنا مثلاً لا أستطيع أن أعتبر ما رأيته مرةً في "سي دي" شأناً خاصاً بهذا الشعب. فقد كانوا بالحِراب يطعنونَ أعداداً كبيرة من الدلافين. هذا الكائن الحيّ من أحبّ الحيوانات إليّ، وهؤلاءِ كانوا يقومون بعمل وحشيّ. أنا أرى أنّ حيوانات كثيرة يجب أن يُمنَع اصطيادها نهائياً

بعدَ هذا يتوضّح أني سأمتنع عن تذوّق المآكل الغريبة عليّ، إلا إن كنت أعرف مما حُضِّرَتْ وكانت موادها مقبولة مني

[mephisto794]

Originally Posted by Bachir

the most weird thing I ate was crocodile, in Australia I had crocodile soupe once, it was not bad at all, it is like a mixt between chicken and fish.

I googled for some "Crocodile" dishes, and i must admit they looked quite... delicious.

The most important is to pay credit not only for the person cooking dishes, but also for the ones hunting crocodiles ! not an easy task, i assume !