Pabulumary Ponderings

• The above is an Asian dish of beetles and a sauce.




• I would starve to death first, which would be true for most westerners and even a lot of Asians. When they show people from other countries eating gastronomic nightmares such as this picture them being like calf fries in the US or Marmite in England ; )- yes, a lot of people eat them but, a whole lot more don't.




• PS forget the notion of A person will eat anything if they're hungry- it's not true- people have always died from starvation or related diseases in confinement or survival environments because they won't eat unpalatable things while others around them survive. It would be more true to say people will eat a lot of things they never thought they would but, that's kind of a boring truism.




• I get known (which I hate) at work or other circles for liking to try strange types of foods. I also get known for being able to handle disgusting tasks without tossing my cookies (I just take the gross thing and think of the few good memories I have of my marriage wad them up together into a little ball and push them down into a place where I can never touch them again and forget about them.)




• Man, that was a long parenthetical thought.




• Anyway, this leads to Vietnamese friends bringing pickled embryonic duck eggs to work for me to try, redneck friends and family members offering me fried testicles, Mexican friends offering stews made of guts and offers to have dinner with African families that there is no telling what you're eating AND where on earth would you get that in America anyway?




• Although, I love chorizo and yes, I know what it's made of.




• I try new things that seem appealing to me- not things that will pose a challenge getting past my gag reflex.

• The men of The Corp Of Discovery (otherwise erroneously known as The Lewis And Clark Expedition) ate 9 pounds of meat per man per day (I think that's about half a stone marmi.)

• Ughh




• Ever wonder why all (it seems) Chinese meat dishes are spicy, sweet, heavily sauced, smoked or otherwise crazily flavorful? It's because for most of their history the average person got by on very small amounts so it was a big deal when they had it to prepare. Since their industrial revolution I don't know if that has changed though.

• Also oddly (to me) I think I get known for eating a lot. This is really strange since I normally only eat one meal and then some kind of snack per day. Maybe the one meal seems large-ish and if people have lunch with me they assume I eat that way three times a day.

• Saw a truism/challenge the other day that I will never forget: At least once in your life you should kill, prepare, cook and eat your own food.