Just so you don’t get into too much of a comfort zone with the wonderful tasty food I’ve been describing to you recently (see here and here and more to come) from my Walkabout, here’s a scene perhaps a bit less familiar (at least to the Western eye) from a street market in Tainan:
You can walk along with them on a stick and eat them like a lollipop. Squidelicious! (or is it Octopussilicious!? Although the top bits look squiddy to me, I can only see eight legs/arms/tentacles/whatever, not ten, unless two are hidden in each case?)
I should apologize to PZ Myers right now, since he’s a fan of these critters, I recall…. and ask him “what type are they exactly, PZ?!”
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 4:23 pm
The first word that leapt into my head was “CTHULHU”.
February 3rd, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Those look totally disgusting.
February 3rd, 2006 at 5:58 pm
No, no — those look delicious.
February 3rd, 2006 at 6:09 pm
I’ll second that, this looks wonderful. Somehow street food is a forgotten art in north america (yes, I know, there is hotdogs and pretzels in some places, but it really does not compare).
February 3rd, 2006 at 6:43 pm
They look like cuttlefish to me. Cuttlefishlicious?
February 3rd, 2006 at 6:59 pm
Cuttlefish on the right, squid on the left, I believe.
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:03 pm
I would have said they were all squid…. the ones on the right have been cut open for crispier finish after roasting. But I could be wrong.
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:06 pm
no… I think you’re right.
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:16 pm
yep….. google to the rescue again: link to cuttlefish facts contrasting with squid and octopi and other information… adn I think I also now understand my arm counting confusion. The tentacles are different things altogether from the arms…..
Street food can be so instructive, don’t you think? I never learned much from a hamburger…but then again I can’t tell you the last time I ate one….
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:19 pm
The ones on the left are squid, I think (not so much from the tentacle count, but the head).
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:33 pm
Larne: Cuttlefishilicious, I would say. Along with Squidelicious, Octopussilicious and Stringevangelist, (and others to come) I’m hoping to leave a legacy of important new words that for future generations to use. I’ll be sure to credit your contribution (which I slightly refined)… it’s a good one!
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Yummy yum yum! Seems like every time I see one of your delightfully delicious food posts, Clifford, I haven’t had dinner, and a pleasant hunger sensation turns to voraciousness. Your food photography skills are to be praised; I can almost smell the grill. Hmm, if I were walking down the street, eating one of those squidelicous things off a stick, I think I would have some trouble, dropping a piece or two here and there. Or is it easier than it looks – did you buy one?
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Hi Athena,
(Ok, so you’ve been presumably reading my depressed remarks on the Taipei 101 thread…..thanks for laying it on a bit thickly here!
)
Well, I have to admit that I did not get to try one! I wanted to, but I was already eating some other tasty thing already (which I did not photograph), and was on my way from a long chain of snacks from the last hour or few. I migh say more about those….
But you are right…they did smell wonderful. I do recall (from other eatings) that squid and cuttlefish actually are rather robust little devils in terms of their consistency, so I suspect there’d not be much dropping of bits.
Cheers,
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Clifford, In addition to these fine words, don’t underestimate such phrases as “I have never learned much from a hamburger” which are here to stay…
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:05 pm
wait: the words are here to stay, or hamburgers are here to stay?
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:09 pm
The phrases I meant, it is such a useful and universal observation I doubt it will be easily forgotten.
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:11 pm
I see! Oh… “those fine words” being “squidelicious” and the like…. right. Thanks! I hope future historians and linguists and the like will thank me for enriching the language (uh, yeah, right…!)
-cvj
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:30 pm
(Clifford, you caught me. Bravo on the insight! My flattery is often transparent, but always perfectly sincere.)
Yes, the firmness of squid, etc., is what I was referring to — I’m used to an occasional struggle with the chewiness. Hard to be dainty that way, so that’s why I pictured bits flying around.
I want to hear more about the other tasty things you tried — please!
February 3rd, 2006 at 10:48 pm
Ahhh for the day when we can post smells on the Internets.
BBQ squid is one of the finer ones.
Lightly killed, slapped on the grill while still wondering how they died, lashings of spicy sauce…but you really have to eat them while they’re hot. They lose a lot after just a few minutes of cooling.
February 4th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
I just ate breakfast and this wonderful picture makes me so very hungry again. I love that image; great photo Clifford. I am with Ick of the East; i can almost smell it and taste it. ooohohh
February 4th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Your food photos often tend to remind me of your string theory diagrams. All those tentacles …. hmmmm.
February 6th, 2006 at 4:57 am
These are very good (honestly, JoAnne).
But for getting westerners out of the comfort zone it’s hard to beat barbequed chicken’s ass…
Sometimes it’s best to follow the principle `eat first, ask questions later’ when trying food from these markets. Taste-wise it’s all good stuff.
February 6th, 2006 at 9:34 am
BBQ chicken ass, or “bustle” is hardly an Eastern-only thing. My mother, raised in Pennsylvania, turned me on to them. Maybe it’s a Penn Dutch thing.
They are easier to find over here though.
February 6th, 2006 at 11:02 am
Interesting. I never heard of this being eaten in the West before. But the Dutch historically had close connections with the East (including Taiwan), so maybe they picked it up from there? (Although I suppose it’s more likely that it just happened independently, from an attempt not to waste any possible food.)
February 7th, 2006 at 7:19 am
No, the “Dutch” in Pennsylvania Dutch is a corruption of “Deutch” (German). Nothing to do with those Hollanders.
You’re probably right. Waste not want not. And they do taste great.
February 15th, 2006 at 1:00 am
[...] Well, all you other single types out there on Valentine’s Day night, why not dream with me a bit about food? It’s rather pleasant to share my memories of more excellent food from the south of Taiwan, the city of Tainan. I’ve already told you a bit about it in previous posts, (see here, here and here) so this continues the story. Recall that – after dashing off after my seminar in Tapei, a four hour bus journey – I’d just arrived in the city late at night, and was promptly taken off to an excellent restaurant, where we spent some considerable time eating into the wee hours (and a rather drunk restaurant hostess was trying to seduce me with the aid of Taiwan beer)…. [...]