Let's Cultural Exchange

[xifeng]

So the sequence of events goes something like this.

1.) I view Steve, Don't Eat It! (Arguable work-safety; funny as hell, but some of these things are flat-out gross.) All of them are worth your time, but the inspiration for this post can be found here.

2.) dethorats and I have the following conversation on AIM:


Price: Ahahaha natto. Natto is awful and I can speak from experience. It also smells terrible.
Lee: I've never had natto, but I'll take your word for it.
Price: It's hideous. Amusingly, the Japanese family I was staying with that served it hated it too. Well, all but the dad. Apparently about 60% of Japan thinks it is a most disgusting creation and the other 40% adores it.
Lee: Hmmm. I ought to ask H what his stand on natto is. XD


3.) H and I have the following e-mail exchange:


Lee: Also, I have a question for you this time! This has kind of a weird context, but here goes: My friend Price and I were talking about Things Nobody Should Eat, Ever (inspired by a website called "Steve, Don't Eat It!", wherein Steve eats completely unappealing food items). Needless to say, the subject of natto came up. Price, unlike me, has been to Japan and consumed natto (she didn't care for it), and said she remembered reading that something like 60% of the population finds natto rather grotesque. So I thought I'd ask where you stand on the issue of natto?

H: Ok, at first I think it's been about 10 years since I could eat natto and about 5 years since I come to like it. By the way I went to see that web site "Steve, Don't Eat It!" and read the issue about natto. I laughed my head off!! He’s genius!! Bless all of his thoughts about natto!! Well as your friend said, I think most of Japanese think that natto is grotesque and so do I. However, once you got used to THAT smell (Thank goodness a sense of smell is the fastest go-weaken sense among 5 sense but don't use 6th sense if you like to be fond of natto) and knew how to cook it properly, you could like it. Yeah you can't imagine the picture that you're eating natto delightedly as long as you think it's like a creepy creature from outer space. I remember Steve saying that the container had some air holes in it but actually it needs to "breathe" in a way because air helps its fermentation. (I loved the joke that he needed to breathe instead). And like yogurt, somehow it has an expiration date. Please don't eat them way after the date, otherwise you'll be dead like the last his joke!! One regretting thing is, usually, it has two packets of mustard and seasoning thus it's easy to imagine that the taste would be awful for Japanese if it's with only mustard. If only I could get you some "tasty" natto though besides I can suppress the smell. I think this food became sort of "puffed-up" food for Japanese like "Oh you can't understand this subtle taste?". Even among Japanese, they ask me like "can you eat natto?" sometimes. Actually I've been asked this by some guys because where I used to live (west Japan, especially Kansai region) is told that people there hate natto but east people like Tokyo ( especially Kantou region) can eat it. Anyway it's a very healthy food no one denies it but after all, it's just fermented beans.


4.) Everyone starts pretending they don't know me.

[EDIT: This has nothing at all to do with the content of this post, but apparently my cat doesn't like A Flock Of Seagulls because when "I Ran (So Far Away)" came up on my Winamp, she darted out from under the desk, where she usually sits on my feet.]

[EDIT to the EDIT: Still not relevant, but when the Beatles came on, the cat decided to come back under the desk and curl up and purr. In case you wanted to know about my cat's musical tastes.]

Comments

[tara]

OMG, I can't believe that half of that food exists. I mean, the DISEASED CORN? Why on earth would people think HURRAH BLACKENED AND BLOATED CORN.

Then again, I love black pudding, so what do I know?

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

It is from Mexico. Having lived in Mexico's northernmost city San Antonio for a couple of years, I can assure you that a lot of things get eaten in Mexico that are not, in fact, food.

Then again, a lot of things get eaten at Midwestern church suppers that are not, in fact, food, so I should stfu.

[tara]

It's so silly, really. Most Mexican food is God's Gift To Tastebuds, so why mess about with black corn?

Vegetables in jello comes immediately to mind.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Re: vegetables in Jell-O: for instance. There is also pimento cheese spread.

Price says the only time she's ever seen potted meat food product was in Indiana when she went to the supermarket with Liz. I was raised to believe that potted meat food product was not fit for human consumption, so I can't attest to Steve's impressions one way or the other.

[tara]

Dare I ask what pimento cheese spread is?

See, some would probably class Spam as potted meat food product and I adore the stuff, so who knows? There is something about British blood that makes people desire odd foodstuffs, I think :D

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

It looks like vile watered-down Cheez Wiz with red chunks and generally gives the impression of having already gone through someone's gastrointestinal tract. I flatly refuse to eat it. D:

I think Spam is in a class of its own, if only because its trade name is an inherently funny word.

I am also of vaguely British origins, filtered through Ireland (my great-grandmother was disgruntled when she discovered that the ancestor of whom she was so proud was not, in fact, Irish but had instead fled England because it was either that or be hanged for stealing horses), but I don't really desire odd foodstuffs.

Okay, frog legs. But those are regional. And I ate ostrich once.

Okay, fine, I also think eel is food.

[tara]

I have no idea what Cheez Wiz is (although I have an innate opposition to it due to its ridiculous spelling) but anything that looks like vomit is unlikely to ever pass my lips. Ew.

It's yummy too :) And they have Spam Light these days, which has slightly less than the usual 99% fat quotient *g*

Perhaps that's the Irish influence. Do you feel an uncanny urge for potatoes at every hour of the day?

Eel is food. Most definitely. Eaten here and in NZ, and absolutely yummy in sushi.

Randomly, there is a naked man on the television, but luckily the MUTE sign on there is protecting his dignity *g*

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Let's just say that I've seen that yellow color in a totally different context. If it keeps up past a couple-three days, the cat goes to the vet.

I ph33r Spam, probably because I am a bigoted American and was taught to believe it NFFHC. However, X-chan tells me that it is very popular in Hawaii.

Perversely, yes. I think potatoes are highly appropriate at every meal of the day.

Eel is delicious. Mmmm, eeeeeel.

Oh, thank God. We wouldn't want his dignity to get chapped, after all. ;)

[tara]

Ugh, thanks for that mental image.

Perhaps Hawaiians enjoy tinned meat products more than mainland Americans. I wonder what Alaskans would think.

There is no meal that cannot be bettered by potato in one form or another.

And I wouldn't want to be accosted by an ugly naked man without warning, so my mute warning is now my favouritest thing ever.









(Also, I did reply to the other comment chain, but you were anonymous so wouldn't have received my reply.)

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. :D

X-chan says that Canadian bacon and pineapple are popular pizza toppings there. Here on the mainland, these are the pizza toppings that everyone makes fun of. (I like Canadian bacon. I also like pineapple. But not together kthx.)

Potatoes are God's Gift To Humanity.

Neither would I. They should have a pop-up box on the screen: "WARNING! An ugly naked man is about to appear. Do you wish to proceed?" Then you could click OK or Cancel.

(Yeah, I didn't realize I was anonymous until AFTER the comment posted. But if you want to pretend I'm creepily stalking you, you can do that too.)

[tara]

Yeah, Ham & Pineapple pizza's very popular here - we call it Hawaiian :D Actually, we call anything involving ham and pineapple in the same place Hawaiian.

They can be right buggers to peel sometimes, though.

I think that's only fair. Not everyone wants a penis waving about in front of their face.

[dethorats]

I am glad to see that I remembered that statistic correctly. Your friend is probably right, though. If someone had made natto at home, and as long as I had a clothespin over my nose, it probably wouldn't be that bad. However, the commercially produced stuff is just disgusting. It's kind of like tofu in that regard I suppose.

XD And I still say it looks like bean snot.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I liked his comparison of natto with a creepy creature from outer space. :D