Culinary Musings

Tuesday, January  3, 2012
Posted by TwoLively

At the risk of sounding like an Ugly American: I’m willing to broaden my palate, but I don’t want to eat anything dubious. My sister-in-law, The Travel Agent, promises to help us navigate through the culinary waters… Here are a few things that I’m adamantly avoiding:

No Thank You:
đùi ếch (frog legs)
dê (goat meat)

Fear-Factor Worthy:
Chuot Dong (Southern field rats)—or North or Central rats, too
rươi (ragworms)
dồi huyết (blood sausage)
Tiết canh (blood)
hột vịt lộn (balut/boiled embryo duck egg)
Oc Buou (apple snails)—or any other snails
thịt chó (dog meat)

*To be fair, I’m sure 99.9% of the things listed above aren’t ever eaten by 95% of the locals. But I watch a lot of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, which has 100% tainted my mind.

My brother-in-law, Oz, plans on eating the atypical stuff—while his wife, Glinda, will stick to a noodle-and-rice-only diet. My sister-in-law, Tootsie, has a delicate stomach, and eating without aggravating should be an adventure in itself! My husband, MarcoPolo wants to broaden his horizons—“but nothing with feathers, beaks, claws or toenails.” My brother-in-law, Montezuma, has already traveled to Vietnam—plus, his wife, The Travel Agent grew up there—so they already know what to expect. As for me, TwoLively, I’m bankin’ on two things: Phở (noodle soup with beef and onions; basil, mint, lime, and bean sprouts) and Gỏi cuốn (soft vermicelli summer rolls) Mmmmmmmm….! In Vietnam, I’m told Phở is served breakfast/lunch/dinner—quite heavenly indeed!

I’m also looking forward to traveling along the coast, and eating an INSANE amount of fresh seafood—sorry Tootsie and Glinda, our non-seafood-lovin’-travelers.

On a related note: I was soooo looking forward to trying Chanh muối (salty limeade) and Sinh To Bo (Avocado Shake) – but, thankfully, it dawned on me: unless I want a raging case of Traveler’s Diarrhea, I’d better think twice. (Is it too Ugly American to see if it can be made with bottled water? Probably!)

And, to end this food musing: I find it quite humorous that the Vietnamese word “dê” means “goat”—‘cause that’s the middle name shared by my two younger sisters. I’ll add that to “Rana” (the name of my teenage friend back in the ‘hood) whose name means “frog” in Spanish…and “Papas” (my college friend’s maiden name) which is Spanish for “potatoes.” Ya never know…maybe someday I’ll hail The Cash Cab in New York, and all my useless trivia will come in handy….

Bon Appétit!
TwoLively