Argh, stupid! (lol)

[Art Blade]

I don't even have to click that wiki link because I already know about that. When I first read about it I was upset.

[PZ]

Coffee from beans defecated by palm civets:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak

$100 to $600 in US dollars a pound?  Some people seriously need to have some sense slapped into them.   ???

There is a Vietnamese restaurant that I frequent, and have enjoyed the coffee, which is prepared in a glass immersed in a mug of hot water.  The coffee arrives still dripping from a small filtering device on top of the glass - very tasty and unusual coffee.

Then I watched a program called Luke's Vietnam, and I saw the exact setup being used - great, I thought, the local restaurant is serving authentic coffee!

Then his next comment was a description of how the coffee is obtained  ????

I've been too afraid to ash the restaurant shop owners - and probably never will because it sure is good.

[Art Blade]

there are things in life you can really enjoy -- as long as you don't know the details.  :-D

[mandru]

there are things in life you can really enjoy -- as long as you don't know the details.  :-D

In 8th grade biology I learned it's best to not examine too closely what's in every breath of air we breath.   ???

[Art Blade]

Hehehe  ;D

Sometimes things better remain a miracle, a trick of a magician better not revealed, a receipe of a dish better not told.  :-()

[PZ]

Like fish sauce - made by fermenting fish in barrels in the hot sun until they are completely rotten, then pouring off the effluent and bottling it as a condiment.  The irony is that there are certain aficionados that have fish sauce tastings like some of like wine tastings.  When you think about it, wine drinkers are enjoying the metabolic waste of the microorganisms - essentially we're drinking yeast sewage.  ????

[Art Blade]

or look at fresh (pasteurised) milk. Liquid, white, smells good.. and what do we make of it? Everything ranging from fat soft white chunks to orange crumbly stuff that smells of dead feet and vomit, covered with mould, but when we call it "cheese" we are delighted to eat it.

[fragger]

 :-D

Or yogurt, which is essentially still living while you're eating it :-\\

[Art Blade]

Next time I'll beat mine to death before I eat it.

[PZ]

A toothpick and a few million stout whacks should do it.  :wink

[Art Blade]

 ^+-+

[fragger]

 ^+-+

[deadman1]

 ^+-+

[mandru]

Yogurt.   ???  *shudders*

Any of that stuff gets near me and I kill it with neglect.

1975, I was in Seattle walking down the street in the university district with my first wife.  We were minding our own business when a young blonde woman stepped out of a shop doorway and asked "Have you tried this wonderful new ice cream?"

My first impression of her was that she looked like someone that should be working in a health food store which for some unknown reason is Not a compliment probably due to my impression that people engaged in the line of w%&k leave me with the impression of a grim sickly pallor of something that's not received enough sun light that you'd find on rolling over a wet log in the forest.

*(I know that's an unfair expansive generalization.  Maybe it's just me reading their "Auras" (which I also don't believe in :P ) but still they creep me out )*

I knew that Häagen-Dazs had recently opened a horribly expensive (for that day and age) shop a block or two from there so a another new ice cream store wasn't on the face of it suspicious but when I stepped closer to take one of the sample cones she was offering the smell of it rolled across to me and I recoiled.   :o

"That's Not Ice Cream!!!"

"What do you mean?" (plastic smile ramped to 11) "You've not even tasted it."

"No no, that's not ice cream.  You're trying to fool people."

Obstinately she came back with "It's just  ice cream!"

"I've worked on a dairy farm. I know the smell of fresh milk and cream.  Whatever that is smells of death and rot!"

With exasperation she broke down and admitted "It's frozen yogurt and there's nothing wrong with it."

"Yeeeah, it's so wonderful you have to lie about it to trick people into tasting it."   >:(

Realizing the blonde was about to fling the sample tray aside and come at me nails bared my wife popped in with "I like yougurt, I'll try it."

Instantly reverting to "sales mode" the blonde switched the plastic smile back on and turned to her "It's really yummy."

After the  briefest moment's evaluation my ex made me proud of her by saying "Too bad it's not quite as good as the little cups I can get in the stores, you know, with the fruit in them?  Oh well, thanks." She grabbed my elbow and towed me away from any further conflict.


I've a long held theory on the origins and perpetuation of the yogurt cult.   8-X

Before anyone starts PMing me with hate messages (  ;D )  I have over the last 10 years come to enjoy gyros which have a sauce composed of yogurt, cucumber and onion but the spicy seasoned pita it is served on is the one component that makes it possible for me to eat it.

At home (you could have knocked my wife over with a feather when I suggested it) I've even been able to adapt the yogurt on gyros to a white dipping sauce that I really like with plank fries (think monster french fries or fried potato wedges).

1 part yogurt
3 parts sour cream
an appropriate amount of white onion and of peeled seeded cucumber

Toss all in a blender and puree and serve with plank fries that have been liberally coated with a hot spicy seasoning salt.  For some reason that heat component has to be there to overcome my gag reflex.   ????

It can be used right away after blending but I really prefer the flavor when it's covered and spends a night over in the refrigerator allowing flavors to marry.

But still, come at me with a spoon of naked yogurt and I will defend myself.   ;)

[Art Blade]

excellent read, mandru  ;D :-X

I loved the "plastic smile ramped to 11"  ^+-+

[PZ]

 ^+-+

I like reading about people's passionate dislikes!  :-))

[fragger]

Me too :-D Great discourse on the evils of yogurt mandru, ROFL :-X ^+-+

Spoiler

You may be horrified to learn that I actually like yogurt, so I won't say it out loud :-\\

[Art Blade]

fragger,

Spoiler

do you eat yours alive or do you beat it to pulp, followed by death?

[PZ]

Warning - don't read if you have a sensitive stomach/palate

Spoiler

Speaking of eating things alive, my son invited me to a sushi dinner during which I had a live shrimp.  The presentation was excellent - a huge prawn (the length of your hand) was on the plate with torso separated from tail.  The tail had it's shell removed, and this is what you ate raw - it was still moving when it was in your mouth, it was so fresh.  The flavor was so sweet, delicate, and tasted of the sea - it was truly an experience.

Afterward, the chef removed the plate containing the torso, and deep fried it (the torso, Art  :-()), then returned the plate containing the torso to us - you were supposed to eat the entire shrimp - antennae, eyes, head, torso, insides, etc.  I know... sounds disgusting, but it was one of the tastiest and most memorable dishes I've ever experienced.

[Art Blade]

PZ,

Spoiler

(the torso, Art  :-())

thank you for pointing out a possible ambiguity of deep-frying only the plate rather than the torso  ^+-+

[PZ]

 ^+-+

Like I said, everyone needs to be very careful when articulating their thoughts!  ^+-+

[mandru]

 ;D @ ^

There are normal foods like fish or the many organs from various animals liver, heart, tongue, kidneys all prepared in many different ways that many people enjoy and I'm perfectly fine with that (albeit at a distance, I just can't eat them thank you very much) but unless you are a non-yogurt eater you might never have noticed the number of people that at any given opportunity will attempt to push yogurt on you.   ????

I was only half joking when I obliquely referred to the yogurt cult (cult, culture, cultured yogurt?  ????  hmm...).

There are a lot of foods that are good for you and actually are considered to be pretty universally tasty but I can honestly say that I can't think of one of them that random strangers will try to twist your arm to get you to try and actually want to watch you as you try it.   ???

[PZ]

There are a lot of foods that are good for you and actually are considered to be pretty universally tasty but I can honestly say that I can't think of one of them that random strangers will try to twist your arm to get you to try and actually want to watch you as you try it.   ???

^+-+

Either they are trying to pull a practical joke on everyone they encounter, or they're trying to convince themselves that yogurt is not as bad as they thought it was.  :-()

[Art Blade]

good explanation, PZ   ^+-+

[Binnatics]

Thought this pic needed a place on this topic ;)

A donkey never stubs his toe twice to the same rock (dutch saying)
[smg id=3304 width=500]