Text 20467, 110 rader
Skriven 2012-01-25 23:06:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Michael Loo
Ärende: TRANSITORY 115 20125
============================
 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Glen Jamieson <=-

 GJ> I think that the law is largely irrelevant to rare native animals,
 GJ> most of which are rare because of the depredations of imported ferals,
 GJ> such as cats, foxes, Britons and cane toads.

 ML> So whom are the protections on behalf of?

A good question!  Obviously the intention is to protect the rare wild
life, but as I see it, the depredations of would-be exporters are
insignificant compared with other dangers.
 
 GJ> The native animal that is least popular would be the possum, when it
 GJ> moves into the ceilings of urban houses.  That is protected, however,
 GJ> except in Tasmania, so the only possum bits sold as food come from
 GJ> there.  As you know, introduced possums in NZ are hated pests.
 ML> They don't taste all that great, either. Why should they not
 ML> be deprotected?

Another instance of blanket laws applied where not necessary.
 
 ML> the outfit that was going to harvest cane toads and sell them
 ML> as Chinese medicine?
 GJ> All is quiet on that.  Perhaps a good idea in theory, but falls down
 GJ> on the practicality of harvesting them.

 ML> Unfortunate. But it strikes me that the harvesting should not
 ML> be so hugely difficult.

If there were real medicinal properties resulting from the cane toads,
the most logical way of obtaining them would by be breeding them.  As
that has not been done, the inference is that there is no benefit.
 
 GJ> Some quite simple meals remain in the memory because of their
 GJ> perfection and/or circumstances when eaten.
 ML> True enough. For me, these often involve one-ingredient
 ML> meals, mostly raw.
 GJ> Such as?

 ML> In approximate date order.

 ML> Sea urchins, anyplace. Probably the most glorious food
 ML> there is, but easy to overdose on.

Agreed.  Tried once, on Crete.  Never forgotten.

 ML> Ttoro, anyplace. The third most glorious food there is,
 ML> impossible to overdose on unless one is really rich. The

OK, you have me there.  What is it?

 ML> second most glorious food there is is cooked, barely:
 ML> a prime sirloin steak. Or is it foie gras? 

Best beef I have ever had was buffalo, not beef.  In Darwin.  Or
perhaps the beef in Kobe.  Both at the same level of exquisiteness.

 ML> White peaches at Butler's Orchard, Maryland, circa 1960
 ML> and every summer thereafter for about 5 years.

My parents' peaches, every summer, until they and the peach tree died.

 ML> Mussels, picked by me, Hingham Harbor, Massachusetts,
 ML> circa 1980.

Fresh, live cockles and raw garlic offered to me by some happy Italian
migrants who had found they could dig them up out of the beach, free,
near Adelaide, circa 1957.

 ML> Mangosteens, with my sister in Taipei, early 1990s.

Durians, given to me by a man who grew them, in Lae, PNG, 1973.
Yellow mangoes, in Cebu, Philippines, 1976.

 ML> Caviar at a reception for Bill Clinton - I still have my suspicions
 ML> that this was a setup photo opportunity, with the big pound tin of
 ML> malossol with the Iranian label prominently displayed; the Clintons
 ML> didn't ever show up in that room, but I did, so there might be
 ML> pictures somewhere of me with my mouth full of contraband, but good
 ML> for blackmail or embarrassment, nah. I actually doubt that Bill
 ML> would have been embarrassed either had he been there. This was

Bill was quite experienced at dealing with embarrassing situations.

 ML> Raw filet mignon, Wegmans parking lot, shared by Burt and Shirley
 ML> Ford, 2008.

Raw dog-tooth tuna, with a toyomansi sauce, shared with a sweet
Chinese waitress, long after the dining room had closed, in the hotel
on Nauru, 1997.

 ML> Matunuck oysters late last year at Matunuck, Rhode Island.
 ML> Slices of beef round "carpaccio," made by me, at Clean Dave's.
 ML> Oysters this week at Crisfield, the restaurant where I had my
 ML> first raw oyster about half a century ago.

Crustaceans figure highly in your memorables.

 ML> Slices of Kobe beef round "carpaccio," live Saturday night in
 ML> Chicago, with a side of Nobel laureate, Northwestern dean,
 ML> and Lilli.

As do pieces of beef, rare or raw.

Thanks for sharing those memories.

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

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 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)