Text 17458, 110 rader
Skriven 2008-12-07 21:49:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av HAP NEWSOM
Ärende: RE: Medicocre
=====================
-=> Quoting Hap Newsom to Jim Weller <=-

 ->  HN> How many folks were at this shindig?

 -> 24. But we only drank 23 bottles.

 HN> You Canuks have a reputation to uphold remember!

Well there were also various cocktails, Bloody Caesars and beer
before and more highballs and liqueurs after.

A recent article I came across:

Swedish-American crayfish: Mudbugs and the Billy Bookcase. Crayfish
at IKEA.

Lately, it appears that the vogue and righteous thing to do as a
human being who eats is to know from where one's food originates,
how it gets to the table and all the minutiae concerning one's meal. 
We just have to know absolutely EVERYTHING like a nosy mother
rifling through her son's closet and personal journals digging up
dirt on him. Onward foodie soldiers! This is a gastronomic movement
where we attempt to vanquish the childish beliefs that meat comes
delivered in snugly sealed cellophane. You have lots of questions
like: Under what conditions did the animal live? What did the animal
eat? How was the animal slaughtered? Did he have a spider friend
named Charlotte?

Is there such a thing as knowing too much about where your food is
from? Maybe. At best, you lose your appetite for a moment; at the
extreme, you quit your day job and become an animal rights commando
and tattoo the phrase "Meat Jihad" on your forehead. You know just
as well as I do that there are certain foods, like people, you don't
want too much information about, you know what I'm saying? When that
"too much info" line is much too easy to cross. Crayfish is one of
those foods. By nature, they love the slushiest and muckiest part of
the freshwater, hence their nickname "mudbugs". Sure, they're found
in thick, silky, slabs of river mud but much of the time these tiny
scavengers can be found peeking out of carrion, between nibbles of
decomposing flesh. Crayfish are not particularly finicky eaters
either. They'll devour plants, worms, snails, fish, rats or even
you. Still want to know where your food comes from or, worse yet,
what its last meal was?

Most crayfish end up in eateries in Louisiana, but a random few find
their way to IKEA. Yes, IKEA. The place is also renown for its
cafeteria. Much like the furniture they sell, the food IKEA serves
up is fun, quirky, generally good and cheap. IKEA cafeteria's star
plate is the Swedish meatball. It's nicely done, maybe a little too
much filler but basically tasty. I normally don't care much for the
most popular kid in school. I'm more interested in the weirdo
sitting in the back of the classroom with jet-black hair covering
half her face busily scrawling something rageful on her Pee Chee.
This is the why I chose the bowl of 7 crayfish over the meatballs
platter. It's the total weirdo in the IKEA cafeteria.

Finding crayfish in a Swedish furniture store was like finding Sarah
Palin behind the wheel of a Prius. Highly unlikely and weird I felt.
But in fact eating crayfish in Sweden is almost as popular as eating
crayfish in Louisiana. The difference is how they cook up these
mudbugs. Like the people in Sweden, mildness is preferred over fiery
when it comes to preparing crayfish. A simple brine and crown dill
are basically what one needs to cook Swedish style crayfish. Also
contrary to its Louisiana cousin, they're served chilled rather than
freshly boiled.

Though small, Swedish style crayfish are saturated with great
flavors. I'd suggest eating them in the privacy of your own home
because to really chow down you need to get your ugly on. First, you
lick the shell. Not like a Tootsie Pop. LICK IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!
Like it's your Last Tango in Paris. Yes, lick it all, up and down,
all the way to Chinatown. Taste the brine, the dill. That's the
dilly.

Next, do the twist. Separate the head from the tail. Firmly hold the
head and gently twist the tail until there's some separation and
then pull apart. If done right, you should have pulled out all the
flesh from the head.

Now, make like a Dyson and suck the head of all its contents
especially the hepatopancreas. Yes, it is a mouthful but the
hepatopancreas is what makes eating crayfish worthwhile. Commonly
known as tomalley, this liver and pancreas hybrid is sweet, briny,
bitter and pungent. And as with anything decadent and delish, it's
bad for you since the tomalley is a filter organ and contains toxins
as well as chemicals. Screw it and just eat. Tomorrow you might get
hit by a car.

Finally, peel the shell off the tail meat and eat. About the size of
an average shrimp but with the flavor of a lobster, this was a hard
gotten morsel, so love it. Sauce is unnecessary since all the briny
and dilly flavors are cooked into the mini monster.

The Swedes throw entire parties around their beloved kräftor
(Swedish for crayfish). That's how much they love these creatures.
In fact, these arthropods are perfect to party with because they're
easy to cook up in mass quantities, and they take some effort to eat
which leads to conversation. The Swedes serve them up with strong
flavored cheeses, stronger booze and ABBA MP3s. Mamma Mia, that's
the Swede life!


Cheers

YK Jim


___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)