Most fishermen do their best to remove bones and avoid wasting meat when filleting fish. But despite our best efforts, sometimes we make mistakes.
But botch the fillet job on
this fish, and there’s a good chance that somebody could be going home in a body bag.
Guess that’s why it takes
these guys as many as seven years of training before they’re allowed to prepare the meat of the legendary fugu (aka pufferfish) for the dinner plate.
And even though there’s always a chance of death, fans of fugu sashimi are willing to shell out $200 or more for a single dish.
Pay to attempt suicide?
That's insane.
But heck, maybe it's this kind of social darwinism that actually makes the world a better place for the rest of us.
Now
watch this and decide if you’d put your life in the hands of someone who cleans fish this fast. (Note: Blog continues below the video player, so scroll down to continue reading)
I gotta tell you, while I've eaten plenty of fish I couldn't really identify (including the occasional McDonald's fillet of fish),
steamed carp, and half the stuff that sells for "walleye" in restaurants -- I will NEVER eat a fugu.
Give me something like the backstraps of the eelpout in this photo featuring yours truly, the once unemployable redneck. "Poor man's lobster" -- now that's good eating!
Or bring on the gelatinous, buttery, lye-stinking plates of
lutefisk. It's Christmas-time, I am a Swede, and I love the stuff.
What do mean lye is toxic?
Cultural differences are funny, aren't they? One man's meat is another man's poison ...
-- Jim