Devil's Picnic

Just finished reading the book "The Devil's Picnic" by Taras Grescoe. The author travels the world in search of illicit and illegal food and drink. He enters Singapore with a bag full of outlawed chewing gum, he hunts down real moonshine absinthe in Switzerland, and chews coca leaves in Bolivia. The book has a solid examination of the history of prohibition, and how some current laws work in some societies, but not in others. It's all a fun read, at least until the last chapter, on legal euthanasia, which is downright disturbing.



There's also some weird meat in there -- hunting for criadillas (bull's balls) in Barcelona, in an EU-regulated Spain, and how to smuggle stinky raw milk cheeses into North America. Does the European Union mean no more weird meat in future Europe? What do you think about the EU's regulations on food and beverage? Comment below...

Anthony Bourdain's "A Cook's Tour"

The subtitle is "Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines" but the real goal is a mildly macho food travel show, not shock value. We like Mr. Bourdain -- he's funny, idiosyncratic, and opinionated. But why is he whining like a wussy when he has to eat bird's nest soup, natto, or mountain potato? We've eaten all these things in our home country, America, and we didn't freak out about it, even long before we began the Weird Meat Project. Our favorite suburban sushi chef dishes out natto and mountain potato all the time, and plenty of white people eat it and even ask for it. I even cook with satoimo mountain potato or yamaimo mountain yam at home, my local grocer carries them in California. They're white and slimy like semen, but we like how the stuff soaks up sauces and provides a unique contrasting texture on top of a crunchy or chewy dish.



Natto we like for breakfast. We buy small cases of it in the frozen section. It is kind of a chore to eat it without being messy, but the flavor is worth it, especially mixed with hot mustard and MSG broth. It also feels nourishing and healthy and we know that's not macho, but whatever, we like a dose of good-for-us-ness from time to time. Like listening to jazz.

We agree with Jeffrey Steingarten's method of trying everything multiple times before deciding if it's good or not. We've tried a lot of food that didn't impress us on the first try, and kept an open mind about it. Give it another go. Taste is acquired. There are millions of people who enjoy natto -- are you sure it's bad after one try? What about from a different chef or producer, or in a different setting?

Now, we have found some things that are simply bad, even after many many tries and in different settings. As we've mentioned many many times before, Shanghainese food is one of these sad bad things -- it's just not good. And even though we shrugged off warnings from Chinese and foreign friends alike, we finally have to admit that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, good about bai jiu. Báijiǔ is the strong, sweet clear wine that is to China what vodka is to Russia or sake is to Japan. Tastes like gasoline with sugar.



Speaking of disgusting things, I guess I'm obsessed, but I was "treated" to another Shanghainese meal the other night. Shanghainese food is sadistic. One dish, for example, was ... pork cuts, deep-fried with crunchy corn meal. Over that, they poured a sickly sweet mayonnaise, and then -- the horror -- they sprinkled those little rainbow-sprinkles that kids like to put on cheap ice cream sundaes. It doesn't get weirder than that, nor more unpalatable. Give me natto! There's a lot of talk about the joys of mixing east and west cuisines, but this is what they came up with?

In The Devil's Garden

Stewart Lee Allen's "In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Foods" is one of my favorite books, and if you're interested in weird things that people eat, food taboos, and other bizarre culinary wonders, it's an absolute must-read.



Allen links food and food taboos to the seven deadly sins. It's an enlightening and balanced history of forbidden foods around the world. If you think other cultures have some strange eating habits, this will probably shock you.

Find out why tomatoes were once considered satanic food in Britian, why some Italians scream curse words at their basil, and how a famous Catholic nun ate cat vomit to induce holy visions. Oh ... and why do the men in a certain tribe in Papua New Guinea have the village boys provide fellatio?

Books about Weird Meat

There's quite a few books out there related to weird meat. Give us some time, we plan to eat everything these books have covered, and more. Here's a few of the weirdmeat-related books out there so far...

Book review: Jeffrey Steingarten

Jeffrey Steingarten is a food writer for American Vogue magazine. I've gone to great lengths to read every article I can get my hands on in the issues, but blessed be, he's collected many of them into two books that any food fan should not miss. I really mean it. Actually, even if you're not into food, the writing is so fun to read that I'd recommend them still.

Steingarten's shtick is to obsessively, and at great costs, seek out the very best in the world, at particular dishes he seems to randomly admire. It can be cotton candy, organic peaches, Thanksgiving turkeys, sushi delicacies, or silly fad diets -- he finds the best, and tries to replicate and analyze them in his home kitchen. These articles are best read out loud to a friend. You'll want to share his sense of humor and wit.



So it's in the same obsessive vein that WeirdMeat seeks out not only the weirdest, but the best of the weird. Whenever possible, we'll go straight to the source and find weird foods in their most authentic form and birthplace. We also hope they will taste good.