Dare You Eat Them?

17-11-21. N6

A few years ago I traveled to China, I spent a few months in that legendary country. Enjoy fully its culture, its landscapes, its people. I have very fond memories of those days. Some experiences were new to me, I come from a western culture, but I quickly embraced many of their eastern customs.

I tell you something that impacted me a lot, since I am a bit conservative and traditional according to my roots, when talking about culinary tastes.

During my stay there I could see how in supermarkets in the fishmongers, we could find ponds full of toads, ready to be bought and eaten, a bit creepy because of the fear I have of them, luckily they were so big that their weight prevented them from jumping, I suppose which are an exquisite delicacy but I prefer to keep them at bay. Perhaps who knows some day I ate it, in our outings and street lunches, better not even know.

I was in Beijing for a few days, and we visited an alley known as Wangfujing Market, very crowded by certain foreigners and locals, it was difficult to walk among so many people. We visit them precisely in search of the exotic delicacies that are tasted there. One of my friends wanted to experiment, I really only went to look and see them with my own eyes, but I did not think to try them. There I was very impressed by all kinds of insects, live scorpions that moved inserted in sticks ready to eat, seahorses, crickets, cockroaches, starfish, worms, I suppose as the Lion King say "slimy but tasty" , in spanish "Viscosos, pero sabrosos", that's how I would see myself me 👇😀.

A friend who had eaten a scorpion told me that you have to know how to eat it because poison can make the part of your mouth that comes into contact with it numb. The way of preparing the insects is once they are thrown in hot oil on the skewers to fry them, their crunchy shape and flavor is what makes many want to try them. I wanted to show you photos taken by my camera but I did not find them among so many.

It was also very common to find fish and ducks hanging in this way on the streets on clotheslines. The technique of drying raw meat using the sun as a dehydrator is a primitive technique and custom.

It was very common to find street vendors who prepared very rich dishes, and typical, those well-stocked tortillas with vegetables and meat inside were the favorite of a friend.

A very common smell near each food point was that of tofu, a cheese that has a fairly strong smell. Just as it was very common for street sandwiches to be eaten on skewers, a toothpick where the bites were strung.

Other of its peculiarities is the consumption of cat and dog meat, for many of us considered domestic and affectionate animals. Although not all the cities of China have these habits, nor do all people, if they were common to see these images while walking the streets of a rural town. Although I have read that after the pandemic some Chinese provinces have banned the consumption of this type of meat as well as the elimination of certain culinary practices of eating live animals.

There are many countries with exotic dishes that impress, either for their flavor or eccentricity, the truth is that we are a universe of cultures and knowing them is a challenge.

I hope you liked what I shared about my experiences, would you eat them? Or have you eaten some of these exotic dishes, in your country you have seen a similar one?.

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Thank you for reading.