Coming less than one week after an outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm in southwestern Japan, caused by the H5N1 strain, I eyed the slab of raw chicken in front of me. I too was sitting in a southwestern japanese restaurant. Thinking to myself, "This bird looks like a packaged breast at the supermarket, and you want me to do what? Just eat it? As is?
"Is it safe?" I hesitantly asked my Japanese mates, "I mean, wasn't bird flu just last week?"
"No, no, it's fine," they answered in unison. "The master of this place takes care of his own birds."
"All right, if you say so," I mumbled as I was about to go in for the kill. Eww, look at this thing, how could this taste good? That was my thought after I dipped my strip into the wasabi-mixed sauce.
Here is my thought after:
"Oh my gosh, this is delicious! Who knew the ever-feared raw chicken could ever-so succulently melt in one's mouth?"
It's weird the reassurance one feels if it comes from someone else's mouth. I mean surely, the people sitting at the table that night were qualified to identify an H5N1 flu-ridden bird. Of course, right?
This experience came a few days after the third outbreak of the H5 strain in Japan, yet no human cases have touched the country. The 50,000 birds on the farm were slaughtered after 3,200 of them died of the disease. Another 50,000 at an adjacent farm also saw their doomsday.
The World Health Organization says the H5N1 virus has infected 269 people and killed 163 of them worldwide since 2003. Tens of millions of birds have been killed by the disease or culled to stop it spreading.
Earlier this month, Japan suffered its first outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in poultry in more than three years, in the same Miyazaki prefecture, which is the country's biggest poultry producing region.
These facts, however, must have slipped my mind as I was chowing the recently slain chicken.
A few minutes later half-frozen raw whale arrived at the table. This time, I readily tried the rich-flavored meat.
Whales, as a food source, became popular in the post World War II Japanese diet. Following the devastation of the war, food was scarce and whales were a cheap source of protein.
In 1982, the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling. At a meeting of the same oraganization in 2006, a resolution calling for the eventual return of commercial whaling was passed by a majority of just one vote. The target of many environmental groups and people in general, the inhumanities of whaling are often debated.
As some Japanese older folks who are close to me once explained. "Us Japanese, we don't look at it as slaughtering a whale for a delicacy. If we kill an animal, you will be sure that we will use every single part of that animal."
One publication states that whale oil is mixed with vinegar to make a highly effective pesticide for use in rice paddies. The baleen whale is used for tips of fine fishing rods and to make beautifully polished dishes. Bones are sawed up, cooked and pulverized to make fertilizers. Entrails (intestines) are used in miso soup or are broiled on charcoal. Absolutely nothing is wasted.
How can one fully experience a culture with out experiencing the cuisine? Eat up!
3 comments:
Danielle - you are definitely are a risk taker! Please post soon so that we know that you have survived :)!
~Robin
I'm still kick'n, Robin ;) Are you getting into any specific Spanish food over there in Barcelona?
hmmm... maybe that will be my next blog post. but no not really. we did have these strange looking shell fish things when dr. zurick visited, but they were cooked. :)
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