Fuddland

I had a nice treat last night, being taken out to dinner by a student who had just completed a marathon twenty-five-week one-to-one course with yours truly. He also brought along his wife, their daughter, and a colleague [with his family], and it was lovely to just chat and see them being family-men rather than talking about business-related things or the subtleties of the English language [why do we say “If I were you…” rather than “If I was you…”?].

It was a Cantonese-style restaurant, like many of the Chinese restaurants you find in the western world, but there were still a couple of dishes I hadn’t sampled before, including jellyfish — served cold, with a sesame-seed-flavoured dip, it was like eating a meaty piece of lettuce [with about the same nutritional value].

I usually don’t mind trying out new foods [or parts of animals] that I’ve never considered eating before, but there’s one local dish — served up last night and with many other meals before — that I just cannot bring myself to try: chicken feet.

Friends have told me they’re not all that bad: there’s hardly anything but skin around the bones, and I happily chewed on the delicious roast goose’s skin during the meal, but I just can’t seem to get beyond the fact that these are feet from a chicken. Having said that, my host couldn’t get his head around the notion that, in other countries, including my own home nation, people just chop off the feet and throw them away. His way is certainly less wasteful … but they’re feet!

#1

susannah | 2007 / 01 / 08 – 00:12

I know what you mean about the chicken feet. I had a few at New Years last year. There’s just something about the toenails that gets to me…

#2

val | 2007 / 01 / 09 – 06:35

Hymn sheet. Chowing on any class of hoof always reminds me of Fergie’s elegant toe-sucking incident a while back. Which then associates with pig’s crubeens. Unsure what’s most unsavoury.
Happy New Year
x
Val

#3

David | 2007 / 01 / 09 – 12:20

Re #1: You’re similarly freaked out, yet you had a few? Now that’s peer pressure. ;)

Re #2: I’m not sure how I managed to grow up with an Irish father, regular visits to see cousins and granny, yet had no idea what crubeens were — and now I wish I still didn’t know.

#4

Em | 2007 / 01 / 09 – 20:21

Funnily enough I was talking about eating chicken feet (in China) a few days ago with a work colleague. He goes there a lot and apparently is quite fond of a chicken foot or two (he’s British by the way). I’m siding with you though!!!

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