Culinary Travels – The Best of the Rest

May 24th, 2009

Oddest Ingestions

1. Rooster testicles

2. Oxen belly

3. Yak (many parts)

4. Squid balls

5. Glue pudding

6. Gelatinous grey mound

7. Chicken palms

8. Blood sausage (with grass – according to our guide)

9. Chinese hamburger (english muffin with pulled pork)

10. Pork “Pissa”

11. Blueberry potato chips

Must Haves in China

1. Beijing cold noodes

2. Tofu noodles

3. All tofu dishes – they all were amazing!

4. Persimmon sorbet

5. Pumpkin pie with sweet bean paste

6. Lychees

7. An unidentified big berry (like a raspberry, but the size of an apricot with a seed in the middle)

8. Glutenous rice pancakes with Tibetian honey

9. Baby bokchoy stirfry

10. Pickled cabbage with a sweet vinegar sauce

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Though it may seem odd that we have spent so much time talking about our culinary travels, in fact it is no so much the food that was of importance to us, but the meal itself.  Each day we were able to sit down together, and with new acquaintances in a manner very different form what we each new.  We were able to gain a deeper sense of place through what we ate, how we ate, and the conversations we had during each meal.  For the past 13 days, meal time has been a way for us to debrief our thoughts and use each other as way to jointly construct our understands from each day, and see how those understanding were building upon and informing the perspectives from past days.  Yeah food!

4 Responses to “Culinary Travels – The Best of the Rest”

  1. Mark Wilsonon 24 May 2009 at 10:09 am

    The “rooster testicles” and “squid balls” joke is just too easy. Seriously, though, what you ate in China is very much a part of your important cross-cultural experiences, and a practical window into a society (or at least some section of it).

    You can see from our Geology Department blog that I’ve also been eating very well far from home!

  2. Chrison 24 May 2009 at 8:09 pm

    Yeah! I found rooster testicles at Giant Eagle (in the organic section). I bought some for Tuesday to ease your transition back to Amish food.

  3. Shila Gargon 25 May 2009 at 3:37 pm

    This has been a wonderful set of entries and this blog has given us several glimpses of your adventures!

    Question on the unknown berry – did it have ‘fur’ on its surface? if so, it might be Rambutan (a wonderful fruit I remember from Singapore and Malaysia). I have enjoyed your descriptions of the foods, even though I can probably only eat some of the items you have tried (the tofu dishes and bokchoy stir fry sound great.)

    Safe Travel back home!
    Shila

  4. Susanon 26 May 2009 at 8:27 am

    The fruit was not furry.
    You’ll notice that all of our favorites were actually vegetarian dishes — so if you follow our recommendations, you won’t eat as adventurously as we did, but just as well!

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