false flags
I’ve been guzzling bitter lemon recently. The label proclaims in large lettering that the drink contains quinine. Yes, the product of the cinchona tree which has anti-malarial properties. A bit of investigation revealed that it is in fact a standard component in both bitter lemon and tonic water.
Slightly related, cannabis is banned in Indonesia. However, traditional use in cooking (ie:, sprinkling in a curry) is endorsed. This is inspite of the fact that TCHC is far more potent when ingested (while dissolved in butter or other lipids) than when it is smoked.
And since I couldn’t resist - foie gras poutine with horse fat fries. The picture looks marvellous. Deadly to arteries, of course - but still very tasty. But it’s horse. And eating horsemeat is a controversial practice, for reasons which elude me. Something about being companion animals or something. I suppose it helps that I’ve never actually owned a horse (although I have ridden them a few times). Now foie gras? I’m much less comfortable with eating it now that I’ve seen how it is umm.. prepared.
It’s a weird world of contradictions and I’m still trying to recouncile my positions on various foods and make it a touch more consistent. I’m mostly indifferent to the practice of battery farming (widely accepted as cruel). I’d certainly try horsemeat at least once. Yet once I saw how the geese cowered and ran away from the feeding tube; I felt a tad squeamish about the foie gras that I’d eaten. It honestly makes no sense, but there you are.
If I wanted more evidence of the conflicts and inconsistencies in food ingredients, I could point to the charming (and apparently nutritious) preparation of human breast milk cheese. Read the comments on that entry and you’ll understand.
On 01-Jul-07 at 11:26 am,
Curious Yellow wrote:
Dude, a friend of mine and I tried to do the breastcheese thing a while back. We even had plans for regional cheeses made off breast milk. We planned to acquire them from slappers on the dole claiming child benefit in regions where traditional British cheese comes from. Like Cheddar, Yorkshire, Lancashire etc.
Unfortunately the NHS and the H&S Executives shot our business plan down. Try explaining to a horde of chav mamas why they aint gonna get paid for their breast milk. It’s not fun.
What’s most disturbing is I thought we were onto something unique. Trust the frogs to steal our idea. Bastards.
On 02-Jul-07 at 9:20 am,
drac wrote:
Health and safety concerns? from slapper breast milk?! pah. Bunch of wet blanket pencil pushing spoilsports, the lot of them.
Are you telling me that you’re not even the tiniest bit grossed out by the thought of breast cheese? Obviously not.
Oh and Gordon Ramsey did a segment on breastmilk (and he actually drank it on TV) a few weeks ago.
On 03-Jul-07 at 2:57 pm,
N wrote:
I’ll eat anything as long as its not endangered. Regarding the canabis I was reading the Metro once and it had a story about bbq’s where it stated rubbing marijuana leaves on meat to tenderize it was a common practice in Sri Lanka…eh?
On 04-Jul-07 at 11:56 am,
drac wrote:
hmmm, I haven’t heard of cannabis myself. Plenty of other herbs, but not cannabis. Besides, whatever happened to lime juice, tamarind or biling? [I've eaten meat tenderized that way and it's pretty damn good]
On 12-Jul-07 at 7:44 am,
Curious Yellow wrote:
Actually, my granddad has some which he uses to cook beef.
I kid you not.
However, he is very much against people smoking it. He thinks they’re layabouts.