Dear Mom and Dad,
I chewed on a live octopus last night. Can you believe it? I remember reading about some guy who had tried it when he was visiting Korea when I was at home, and thought that it was disgusting and something that I was going to avoid doing while I was here. Well, I'm not a picky eater (thanks to you two!) and so when food is offered to me, I don't really know how to refuse...
I was in Busan with Amy for the weekend visiting our friend Scott. We were out for some drinks Saturday evening with his two Korean friends Joe and Pan. At around midnight we were bored of the bar scene and Joe suggested we grab a taxi out to one of the islands to a pebble beach for some seafood. It seemed like a random nutty idea so of course we agreed. In about 40 minutes we arrived at the beach and along the beach was rows of lit up tents. In each of these tents were buckets of fresh seafood and many Korean women eager to serve you. We followed Joe to a specific tent that a friend of his owned and picked a table closest to the water. Sitting under the stars. It was a beautiful night and we were one of the only customers on the entire beach. It was relaxing, peaceful and exciting all at the same time.
When they started to bring out food I thought of you guys. She brought two big bowls of hot mussels as a free appetizer. Then the live octopus, which I'll tell you all about in a minute... and then came shrimp, scallops, sea urchins, mussels and a few other unnameable sea food. I thought about you because I know you are a lover of food Dad, and sitting there on the beach eating fresh seafood is like a raw version of Maine and their lobsters. And you would love how peaceful it is there Mom. My favorite was the scallops which they had opened, left in the shell an mixed with onions and and a few other veggies. You put the shells right on the coal grill that the have lit in the middle of the table. They sizzle and cook to perfection right there in the shell. delicious.
So back to the octopus...When the plate came the octopus had just been cut to pieces because the whole plate was moving with life. Between the pieces of vegetables was half inch pieces of grey blue octopus wriggling around with its tentacles looking for something to grasp. I stared in horror. Joe picked up a piece with his chop sticks and held it in front of Amy and to my surprise, she put it in her mouth. Then I knew I was in trouble. I didn't really have time to watch her reaction because a second later there was a piece in front of my face. With a few complaints I let him drop the moving thing into my mouth. It was cold and slimy and immediately suctioned itself to the left side of my tongue and teeth. I chopped on it twice and then gagged and realized there was no way in hell I was going to swallow this thing and pried it off my mouth and spit it into a napkin. yuck.
As I said before I chewed on it. I didn't swallow it and I waited until the octopus was cooked on the coals in front of us and covered is spicy red sauce to go anywhere near it again. Scott had more success with his piece and said "You just have to fight with it!" I'm really not used to having to fight with my food for its life in my mouth. And after spitting mine out I looked sadly at the moving plate of octopus arms and said "I feel so bad. I want to go put it back together."
But, no matter if the octopus dies when the cook cuts it up, while its between your teeth or when its cooking on the fire, it still dies. And although it is too much for many people to handle to have to chew it to kill it, its a valuable experience, that I'm glad I attempted. I'm just not sure exactly how its valuable yet. But that's kind of how traveling experiences work. You cant always pinpoint the exactly morals to every story. I know that the reality of eating an animal has never been so harsh. And maybe that in itself is enough. It kinds of makes you more thankful for your food, espeically once its cooked. :)
I chewed on a live octopus last night. Can you believe it? I remember reading about some guy who had tried it when he was visiting Korea when I was at home, and thought that it was disgusting and something that I was going to avoid doing while I was here. Well, I'm not a picky eater (thanks to you two!) and so when food is offered to me, I don't really know how to refuse...
I was in Busan with Amy for the weekend visiting our friend Scott. We were out for some drinks Saturday evening with his two Korean friends Joe and Pan. At around midnight we were bored of the bar scene and Joe suggested we grab a taxi out to one of the islands to a pebble beach for some seafood. It seemed like a random nutty idea so of course we agreed. In about 40 minutes we arrived at the beach and along the beach was rows of lit up tents. In each of these tents were buckets of fresh seafood and many Korean women eager to serve you. We followed Joe to a specific tent that a friend of his owned and picked a table closest to the water. Sitting under the stars. It was a beautiful night and we were one of the only customers on the entire beach. It was relaxing, peaceful and exciting all at the same time.
When they started to bring out food I thought of you guys. She brought two big bowls of hot mussels as a free appetizer. Then the live octopus, which I'll tell you all about in a minute... and then came shrimp, scallops, sea urchins, mussels and a few other unnameable sea food. I thought about you because I know you are a lover of food Dad, and sitting there on the beach eating fresh seafood is like a raw version of Maine and their lobsters. And you would love how peaceful it is there Mom. My favorite was the scallops which they had opened, left in the shell an mixed with onions and and a few other veggies. You put the shells right on the coal grill that the have lit in the middle of the table. They sizzle and cook to perfection right there in the shell. delicious.
So back to the octopus...When the plate came the octopus had just been cut to pieces because the whole plate was moving with life. Between the pieces of vegetables was half inch pieces of grey blue octopus wriggling around with its tentacles looking for something to grasp. I stared in horror. Joe picked up a piece with his chop sticks and held it in front of Amy and to my surprise, she put it in her mouth. Then I knew I was in trouble. I didn't really have time to watch her reaction because a second later there was a piece in front of my face. With a few complaints I let him drop the moving thing into my mouth. It was cold and slimy and immediately suctioned itself to the left side of my tongue and teeth. I chopped on it twice and then gagged and realized there was no way in hell I was going to swallow this thing and pried it off my mouth and spit it into a napkin. yuck.
As I said before I chewed on it. I didn't swallow it and I waited until the octopus was cooked on the coals in front of us and covered is spicy red sauce to go anywhere near it again. Scott had more success with his piece and said "You just have to fight with it!" I'm really not used to having to fight with my food for its life in my mouth. And after spitting mine out I looked sadly at the moving plate of octopus arms and said "I feel so bad. I want to go put it back together."
But, no matter if the octopus dies when the cook cuts it up, while its between your teeth or when its cooking on the fire, it still dies. And although it is too much for many people to handle to have to chew it to kill it, its a valuable experience, that I'm glad I attempted. I'm just not sure exactly how its valuable yet. But that's kind of how traveling experiences work. You cant always pinpoint the exactly morals to every story. I know that the reality of eating an animal has never been so harsh. And maybe that in itself is enough. It kinds of makes you more thankful for your food, espeically once its cooked. :)
I really hope my next blog isn't about food. But I can't make any promises. haha.
Love,
Brie
Great story, Brie!
ReplyDeleteThat line about food fighting for it's life inside your mouth? I'm going to steal it and use it in a short story. It's the best line I've read in weeks!