| I have eaten some weird and wonderful | | | | even me with my cast iron constitution |
| dishes around the world but some of the | | | | couldnt stomach what I am about to |
| more interesting concoctions have been | | | | describe to you. Anyway I am not sure if |
| served up to me in China. | | | | its just a popular folklore or if people |
| A particularly interesting delicacy I | | | | really did this. I am sure it must be |
| ate some years ago consisted of Cow\'s | | | | illegal now, if its not it should be! |
| bronchial tubes - the airways between | | | | Legend has it that, particularly in the |
| the cow\'s lungs and windpipe | | | | southern parts of China, people had a |
| (gruesome!) in a light white wine sauce. | | | | specially designed ritualistic table |
| The appearance of a plate full of | | | | with a hole in the centre, just big |
| macaroni, the taste of nothing but the | | | | enough to take the upper part of a |
| white wine sauce and the consistency of | | | | Monkeys head. |
| over-cooked calamari, you could describe | | | | Apparently the ritual consisted of |
| this dish as the original Chinese chew | | | | capturing a live Monkey and securing it |
| recipe! | | | | with its head wedged up in to hole in |
| Another time I was served with a plate | | | | the centre of the table. The next step |
| of vermicelli with 20 or so delicately | | | | in the ritual was to trepanne the top of |
| arranged deep-fried crispy scorpion | | | | the live monkeys skull off and pour |
| complete with sting! | | | | boiling water into the Monkeys brain. |
| The trick to eating this particular | | | | People sitting around the table would |
| delicacy was to convince myself it was | | | | then proceed to eat the braised Monkey |
| nothing more than a prawn and all I had | | | | brain with chopsticks directly out of |
| to do was to pick it up with my | | | | the Monkeys skull. |
| chopsticks and slip it into my mouth. | | | | I did warn you it was gruesome it cant |
| Actually once I had said to myself its a | | | | possibly be true, can it? |
| prawn, its a prawn 20 times this was not | | | | Fortunately the dishes that we are more |
| such an ordeal and basically the texture | | | | familiar with are not quite so |
| was, well, just crisp! and the only | | | | outlandish and use much more traditional |
| taste was of the oil it had been fried | | | | ingredients. There are many easy Chinese |
| in, not so much of a Chinese chew, more | | | | recipes on the Chinese food menu, just |
| of a Chinese crisp! | | | | as well really because I dont know about |
| But Cows bronchial tubes and deep fried | | | | you but I think I must be part Chinese |
| crispy scorpion are not the most | | | | as I love the food and all about the |
| gruesome dish I am aware of. | | | | place. |
| I say aware of rather than ate because | | | | |