All fugu'ed up

Dave W · January 27, 2009, 06:30:40 PM

You can't make stuff like this up: Blowfish testicles poison 7 diners in Japan

rahock · January 28, 2009, 06:01:52 AM

Try as I may, I just can't imagine myself doing this

Rick

gweimer · January 28, 2009, 06:29:29 AM

I worked with a chef that tried blowfish. He said it's actually very tasty. My understanding is that if a patron dies from a serving of blowfish, the chef is required to do the honorable thing in Japanese custom.

uwe · January 28, 2009, 06:56:52 AM

I'm sure they had a ball. Or two.

David Bowie is a fugu (blowfish when prepared right and not poisenous then) addict or at least was. I remember back in the eighties during his Let's Dance tour of Germany, he had it prepared by the chef of some Frankfurt hotel who was actually one of the few Germans (or even the sole one) to have a license to prepare this stuff. I doubt whether it is even legal to prepare it in Germany though, being so poisenous it probably doesn't qualify as legal nutrition under German legislation.

I'm not sure that anything could ever taste so well to me that I would want to risk dying from it. I wouldn't want to climb the K2 just for the spectacular sight either. I'm kind of boring

and don't need borderline experiences near death to find out that I'm still alive and enjoying it.

Uwe

PS: IIRC, isn't part of the fugu ritual that the preparing chef always eats a part of it together with the guests he's catering? Supposedly to vouch for his diligence in preparing it. Except that you really won't be able to hold him accountable if he's messed up badly as you are then both dead.

hieronymous · January 28, 2009, 12:03:59 PM

Do fish even have testicles? My wife told me the story about seven people who got sick after eating fugu that she had read in the Japanese news, so when I finally saw the story posted here I told her the headline and she's still laughing! The Japanese news sources don't say anything about testicles. I would think that it's interesting enough news without adding the testicular angle. Oh well...

rahock · January 28, 2009, 12:29:29 PM

Any fish that can get its revenge after its own death by killing whoever eats it has got plenty of testicles!! BIG BADASS TESTICLES

Rick

hieronymous · January 28, 2009, 05:39:07 PM

Quote from: rahock on January 28, 2009, 12:29:29 PM
Any fish that can get its revenge after its own death by killing whoever eats it has got plenty of testicles!! BIG BADASS TESTICLES
Rick

Good point!