h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Cullen Skink, that's the one. Culloden's that battle you all harp on about isn't it?

Funny how they never mention the battle of Costa Rica, isn't it?

B

Oh yes I get this. Eating local is brilliant.

One of the best bits about visiting places is trying out their food. I've eaten crocodile, emu, kangaroo, snails, ants, cuttle fish, sea urchin, all manner of clams and bivalves in various places, some sort of raw fish in Russia... off the top of my head. I loved the Ayran in Turkey, you could buy off street vendors who staggered around with these great metallic contraptions on their backs. It's a drink made of local yogurt and spring water and salt. And it fixes any stomach upset or hangover brilliantly. I now make it at home and drink loads in the summer.

The only time I've turned down the chance to eat something local was in South America. I really just couldn't eat monkey for psychological and caring reasons.

Its certainly not just Americans. I remember being in Amoy a few years back, my friends went off several times to eat at McDonalds. Which cost almost the same there as it does here .

Well, I guess some people just get homesick, but the funny thing was that pleny of local people ate there as well, despite the massive mark-up. Even though eating really, really well in Amoy is dirt cheap.

I think my necessary home comforts amount to my hard disk, an internet connection, and shoft lavatory paper. All else is transient .

<> isn't cuttle fish that chalky stuff that goes in bird cages? So, it has edible bits then? One thing right here in NZ I've never been able to bring myself to eat is 'kina', otherwise known as 'sea eggs', it looks revolting! .
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/bestfishguide/species/kina.asp
I see it *is* sea urchin, but still no... and yet, here's a kina recipe!
http://www.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=15941


<>

I don't blame you, euugh!

Vicky

No. >euugh< had nothing to do with it.

It was feelings about another creature that was close to me in an evolutionary sense and apparently highly conscious. It was a good mixture of my heart and brain saying no. If I was a native Indian in the rainforest I would think differently. But as a western European with plenty of other things to eat, it was an unequivocal NO!

'euugh' couldn't be further from the truth as for reason.

My favourite by far was crocodile in Australia. Delish as Jamie would say.

I put it wrongly, by saying eeuugghh, because I really know what you mean..

It's rather like the idea of eating a cat or a dog, only more so. (Interestingly, here, it's for about a century or more, been illegal to eat rabbit, and rabbits are always pets here, so when a friend of mine in Italy talked about making a rabbit casserole, with for his family for lunch, I felt although I know he's find that distinctly of me!

Somehwo, I've always assumed that both kangaroo and crocodile are as tough as boot leather, but are they>

Vicky

No. I've only had crocodile once (it's not exactly easy to get around here) but it was extremely good. Haven't got the faintest clue about kangaroos.

And why would /anyone/ eat at McDonald's?

<>

Because it's there! We used to eat at McDonalds when it first came to NZ, purely for the novelty value, but not any more!

VL

Don't get me started, a good cup of tea would do me I ran out of good tea about 3years ago

Sea urchin eggs are very popular here served in sushi shops on rice wrapped in nori >seaweed< ,don't eat it myself but most Japanese do.

<seaweed< ,don't eat it myself but most Japanese do.>>

I might have the courage if it's nicely presented... but in the undecorated state, noooooooo!

Vicky

<>

I was in Munich once, sitting in a bar before a football match. They had sausages and sauerkraut, which were totally delicious. One of my friend actually left the bar to go to McDonald's. Oh, the shame of it!

But really, what an eejit.

Sea urchins....had them once in Greece. Forgot to take any food on a day long boat trip (in the days when fishermen used to moonlight running these!)and all that was available was bread dunked in freshly caught, split open urchins - rather nice actually.

I'm one for the "eat local" vote!

Wait. Someone left a bar to go to McDonalds? That's mad.

The only McD's I've ever been tempted to go into is the one in Red Square, just for historical reasons. I didn't though - I went and had a bliny instead.

I remember my parents taking me to Copenhagen as a kid. We visited the Tivoli gardens/funfair. I had the best tasting hot dog type sausage ever there. This great big sausage in a piece of paper with hot mustard and tomato sauce.

Never had a hot dog since to match it. It'll live in my memory for ever.

much as I love my MacD (I go there for a coffee at lunchtime to get away from everyone and read my book) ...

Blinis are sooo much better than anything MacD have to offer.

> Culloden's that battle you all harp on about isn't it?<

Umm, hardly, that's the one where one lot of scots kicked another lot of scots arses in the name of the king of Engurland

Now Bannockburn...

Although the number of rabbits eaten in Uk has fallen, it is still eaten here and a rabbit casserol is quite nice. I think something like rabbit is not so easy to get or cook as chicken, etc which tend to have more meat and easier to prepare. Strangely there are lots of rabbits around here, an urban area with lots of parks, infact I saw at least 4 this morning in a reservoir, around the edges. rabbits make use of horses fields and will happily live next to motorways. They are also kept as pets. There really aren't that many animals kept as proper pets and eaten too in UK. Pet sheep, cows, chickens, etc don't really count as household pets!

Millions upon millions of rabbits here, a curse on the 'English Gent' who pined for rabbit hunting and introduced the pest here, they do a fine rabbit sausage round these parts and I'm rather partial to Hare of which there are many, many of the big bounders about and quite easy to pop on the head. Their fillet's are rather tasty.

Croc sausages are nice too as is croc diced and threaded through a skewer done on a BBQ, lots an lots of crocs.
Roo is too dry for my tastes but is a very 'healthy' meat. Millions of those too.
Cuttlefish is simply superb and the white 'bone' beloved of Budgies world wide is of course removed prior to cooking, it's very similar to calamari or squid really.

If you can eat caviar, then you'd have no problems with Sea Urchin, fresh out of the rock-pools, cracked in half, a squeeze of lemon some pepper, scoop it out...yum. Not everyone's cup of tea though.

Was offered snake once but found it hard to concentrate on it as a food
, perhaps people who eat eel might have a better chance at liking it.
Remember my father commenting on a bloke up the road of who he suspected ate eel: "He's from England and I think *they* eat eel." He would look at me with a raised eyebrow and a shake of the head.
I never did find out the reason for the suspicious tone in his voice. My grandmother did say there was a stigma associated with eel.

Is eel still favoured in England I wonder? Some Kiwis I know will eat it.