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

Yes, I'd use a lot. And .

Traveller in Time waiting for
"Submit your requests at < F2118817?thread=645062 >

'Mesologist' is increasing our 'omega-3' intake, it is fish oil, humans seem to need quite a lot of the stuff and most things that go for fish seem to have none or too little anyway. "

Hmmmm, have had the 'rollmop discussion' with Ivan and Hati before . . . I've never tasted them myself but they sound quite good to me.

Speaking of fish oil, I remember having to take a spoonful of cod liver oil as a child. Not sure how often this happened, maybe once a week? And I believe we only had to take it in winter. In any case, it was too frequent for my liking. Apparently you can buy it now in gelatine capsules, which is much less yucky.

As I recall, the reasoning behind taking cod liver oil in winter was to help prevent one from catching colds . . .


az

I think I had to take the cod liver oil for the vitamin D. In summer it isn't necessary with all that sunshine and all. But it is indeed.

That makes sense, Hati. Also, I think it's a 'northern climes' sort of winter remedy thing.

Want to ask you . . . what do rollmops actually taste like? Just like marinated fish? Like maybe tinned sardines? Are they vinegary? Spicy? Curious . . .


az

I don't know, I think mostly like marinated fish. I don't like fish much.

I quite like fish but don't make it a lot at home, other than the occasional salmon steak. But I often order fish stuff when I go out for tapas.

Once when I was taking the ferry to Newfoundland ( a six-hour trip over quite choppy waters ) I saw the dining room was offering a typical Newfie dish of cod's tongues. But I felt so seasick that even the name of it sent me racing back to the toilets .. .


az

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/gabris91.html

There's some explanation about rollmops.

Cod have tongues Or are they like the so-called 'buffalo wings' you get in America?

Oooooh, wrapped around a pickle? Didn't know that. Luuuurve pickles! Also, they are poached first, so that would make the process not at all like sushi. As in, much safer to eat. Saw onions in that photo. If they also add garlic and spices then I think I would definitely be a rollmop fan.

My main problem with fish sushi is the fact that it's totally raw fish. And especially with certain fish, such as tuna, they often have small microscopic parasites that, once a human ingests them, can never be got rid of.

Similar to a very popular dish in Spain - marinated fresh anchovies. Which are totally yummy, but apparently the vinegar or lemon juice used does not kill possible parasites. As in ceviche.

I much prefer vegetarian sushi, with rice and seaweed and what-have-you.


az

<>

Don't think so. But perhaps I'll google a bit to find out whether that's just a name for this dish.


az

Scroll down to the cod tongues recipe . . .

http://www.wordplay.com/cuisine/archive.html

Good heavens! Must take an awful lot of cod to come up with a kilo of cod tongues! On the other hand, they would probably be tossed out as rubbish otherwise.


az

Have always hated all sorts of to eat, no probs watching them swim around.

I was force fed cod liver oil as a kid also, in a vain attempt to get Vitamin D into me, it didn't work, i ended up having "sun ray" treatment to stave off rickets (mind, i refused to drink milk or eat butter also)so other than feeding me cheese (which i love) or ice cream (loved as a kid, but too much like fun i suppose) there wasn't a lot they could do.

Then when i started promptly vomiting up the disgusting stuff, they switched to "Virol", which was codliver oil & malt, sticky treacly stuff, slightly better. And "Minadex" tonic; gruesome!

Why the hell they couldn't have let me eat cheese & veg, like i do now, i don't know!Apparently even as a baby i refused meat & fish, so it can't be moral principles, simply that it doesn't suit me.

zdt

Noggin is telling me that he also remembers 'Virol' (hey, great marketing name . . . NOT).

Having grown up on almost a steady diet of hotdogs, tinned baked beans and Koolaid, it's a wonder I have any bones at all to speak of. Milk? Oh, now and then, with breakfast cereal. Fresh fruit and veg? Don't make me laugh. The closest thing I ever got to eating veg was canned sweet corn and peas. Also don't recall ever eating fruit except for when we raided the neighbour's crabapple trees and rhubarb patches.

This was actually quite fun for us kids. We'd wait until the parents thought we were asleep and then we'd sneak out the back door to do a bit of garden raiding. Also ended up with some fresh carrots and radishes, as I recall. Heck, it was the only time we ate any fresh produce so I guess that's saying something . . . that little kids felt a need to raid their neighbour's gardens in order to get a bit of healthy food.

To answer your question, Terri, I have no idea why parents don't just go with a kid's natural food preferences. My youngest brother was crazy for fresh veg - he couldn't get enough of it. Always wanted to eat celery stalks, salads, any fresh veg he could get his hands on. But my parents - idiots that they are - talked him OUT OF THIS??? They thought he should be eating 'normal' food like burgers and fries. eeeeeeeeeeek.




az

As for ceviche - when I was in Ecuador, I forced myself to eat some of this to be polite. That's how I got typhoid.

Oh, quite agree Ivan. I'd never eat ceviche or raw fish sushi again, except maybe at gunpoint.


az

I think i would be more likely to take a chunk out of the gun pointing person!

Yup, they did an experiment where a group of kids were allowed to eat whatever thay liked for a week or two, the first couple of days, they went ballistic on sweeties & junk food, but by the end of the experiment, they had actually chosen a nutritionally balanced diet. OK, composed of weird combinations of stuff, but they were getting all the nutrients they needed.

It seems crazy looking back, i adored all veg, preferred wholemeal bread to the white polystyrene, didn't like greasy stuff & would have happily gobbled cheese in preference to sweeties. And simply refused point blank to eat meat or fish.

Anyway, despite the dire predictions, i have just had MRI scan on the Bloody Knee & apparently my bone density is better than the average 25 yr old so to osteoporosis being a problem for vegetarians! Plus after a major accident i made up pretty massive blood loss in record time, anaemia is not an option.

Or maybe i am just tough!!!

zdt

At the moment, I'm scarfing down industrial quantities of while languishing on the couch.

I felt a bit off-colour this morning, and felt worse by the time I was in the office, so I took myself to the and am now off w*rk until Thursday. The theory is that I've picked up some minor trifling virus, but the last week has left me so strung-out that the effects are heightened. But who cares about that - I have two entire days off, which is the main thing.

Maybe isn't a cure-all, but I'm hard-pressed to care about that either. At least I'm sober.

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well, Ivan.

After last week, I'm sure your body and mind could use a bit of a retreat.


So be ultra good to yourself and take care!
Here's some extra for you so you can stay right where you are and rest up!

Thanks.

I have a stack of books I've not read yet, and two days in which to deal with them. This'll be fun.