a gastronomic adventure

I've eaten my fair share of exotic food since I started teaching ESL. My general rule is that as long as it doesn't have multiple, still-wiggling legs, I'll try it. I've discovered that: I really really like (almost love but not quite) Korean food, yes, even kimchi. Chop Chei is my favorite. Kim chi pancakes (at left) are not awesome, but might be better warm than cold like the ones I ate. Japanese food made with ingredients found at the regular grocery store is not nearly as good as the "real" thing from the Asian market. Empanadas/samosas are pretty much awesome no matter where they come from. Eastern European food has a bit too much vinegar and cabbage for my taste. Chinese rice balls have the texture of eye balls (at least what I imagine eye balls would be) and should be avoided at all costs. Tongue tacos are the best. Tamales made by a student's mom who woke up in the middle of the night to finish cooking them so her daughter would have something to share with the class taste infinitely better than the ones you buy at a restaurant. Mongolians make killer dumplings. If I could spend a week lounging in the Middle East doing nothing but eating kunafa (see the picture-shredded phyllo dough on top of a layer of sweet cream cheese and soaked in rose water syrup), Lebanese pudding, and baklava, I might never leave. I might also collapse from a sugar overdose and then look down at my hips to see them double in size.

Today, however, I am bringing something home that I haven't yet tried, at least in this form. You see, today was they Gtown potluck lunch, and when the Saudis cook khabsa (rice and meat/chicken) they don't mess around with small pieces of meat. They roast the entire beast. And then they serve the entire beast...including the head. So today I am carrying the skull of a lamb in my bag in order to carve out the tongue because the tongue is the best meat, and I simply "must" try it. So I was blessed with the leftovers and the dubious privilege of digging out said tongue. And while this seemed like an excellent, adventurous idea while at school with my co-teachers rooting me on, it's suddenly feeling like a less good idea, especially considering that I'm only carnivorous these days when someone feeds me meat. And now I'm going to dissect a poor lamb?

Yes. I think I am. After all, I might as well try it, right? Wouldn't you?