Friday 16 January 2009

Could You Eat an Elephant?

Pour moi, pas de problèmes.

I watched the programme on C4’s Catch-up last night. I must say that I was disappointed with both Fergus Henderson and Jeremy Lee. The hype surrounding this programme was based primarily on these two being the UK's most daring chefs; alas this questionable accolade allowed Messrs Henderson and Lee to appraise the world of eating ‘out of the norm’ foods that we otherwise classify as taboo. The disappointment with this potentially gripping documentary arose from these two chickening out from at least half of the culinary dares! Imagine the show would have been so much more complete if Tony Bourdain had presented it.

I’m not even suggesting that yours truly is in anyway perversely sadistic about this issue, but we must accept and respect the eating wonts of other cultures. A Korean uni-mate once balked at being served rabbit stew (how could we possibly eat these dear sweet things, she would shriek aloud!) in the canteen when she wouldn’t blink an eyelid at being served Bosintang in Seoul. Anyway the star of the show for me was Alan Ford the narrator of the programme, his
'Brick Top' accent was reassuring.

Yes I can eat an elephant, as I’m more than happy to try out anything but ultimately hold fire on snakes. Ophidiophobia, they call it. I’d rather polish Mugabe’s shoes than put a piece of Kaa between my teeth.

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