Gastronomie

I’ve been thinking about the things I will and will not eat ever since I read RW’s entry about his latest bistro adventure...

• For instance, why can I eat shrimp, which is basically a marine insect, but I can’t eat crayfish
• Why do I like clams on the half shell, but I won’t eat cooked green-lipped mussels?
• Why do I eat fried hot dog sandwiches, but I don’t eat Spam?
• Why will I eat sushi (as long as I’ve downed a lot of sake), but I won’t touch lox on a bagel
• And why can’t I eat something if it still looks like itself, i.e. fish with the head left on, Coq au vin with the chicken’s feet sticking out of the pot, luau roast pig with its head and legs still attached, etc?

It doesn’t make any sense. I’m not a picky eater, but even gnawing on fried chicken can get to me if I stop to think about what I’m actually doing. And it’s not that I’m a borderline vegetarian, because I did that already and I didn’t like it. For three years I didn't like it. It’s a good thing I don’t have Anthony Bourdain’s job. I’d never make it.

Here’s a list of things. Do you/would you eat any of them? And is eating them really any different than eating more “normal” foods?

• Kangaroo
• Rattlesnake
• Dog
• Veal
• goat
• Horse
• Dandelion Root
• Ostrich
• Fried grasshopper
• Mountain oysters
• Calf’s brains
• Acorn mush