March 27, 2004

Is it "breakfast" or "blargh"? Food considered delectable in some cultures, scary or "git me a 12-foot pole" gross in others. More controversial comestibles here, as written by one of those (self-proclaimed) "annoying travelers who boast about the disgusting food they've lived to tell about (and tell about and tell about)."

Paging the long-lost foodie-monkey. Here DizzyDizzyDizzyDizzyDizzy!

  • Wow this recipe for Pruno(the type of alcohol made in prisons) was very interesting to say the least.
  • Interesting link, and made me hungry. Glad the author appreciates black pudding and whitebait, but I feel doesn't well grasp the delicacy that is dulse -- [which dried is dulicious!] Most dulse nowadays is well washed and sold dried, so there's only an occaisional wee snailshell to crunch.
  • The only reason I know what durians are is because you could get one in Super Mario Sunshine and kick it about the place. Computer games are educational.
  • That should have been durians.
  • Eating durian is like eating pesto or other garlic dishes; you do have to plan the social occasion around its persistent odor. Don't create a negative experience by neglecting this aspect. You wouldn't give a first date a garlicky salad dressing, would you? Do pesto and garlic really smell so bad? Having pretty much no sense of smell, I'm usually fairly unaware of these kinds of things. No wonder people avoid me...
  • Apparently if you eat durian within a couple of hours of drinking alcohol you get a pretty strong and unpleasant reaction. I may thus forgo this wonderful fruit, the taste of which has been compared to eating a sorbet in a public toilet.
  • A friend of mine in middle school brought a couple packets of fried crickets with his lunch. I remember them being quite tasty, but I don't think I'd be able to eat one now. It would just creep me out too much.
  • The only alcohol you can have with durian, IIRC, is beer (according to Chinese medicine practices, durian is exceedingly 'heaty', while beer is the only liquor that is 'cooling'. Too much 'heaty' stuff makes you go - very badly). Actually, garlic and durian have the same problem; it can smell really nice (even honey-like for certain types of durian), but once you start eating it, the smell that comes from the eater can be pretty whiffy.
  • One time in Indonesia I asked a waiter to serve me an iced durian drink. He told me I didn't want it. Interesting concept of service.