Ever wonder why...

[Tim Dolan]

Why can you order duck medium rare, but not chicken? Or who do you think was the first person to eye up a lobster and say "hmm, I bet the meat underneath those imposing, armor-like claws is delicious!"

[Anna N]

I believe the answer to your first question is that duck is not a source of salmonella and therefore serving it medium is perfectly safe. Besides that, duck breast tastes far better if not overcooked. Chicken medium rare - bleh!

ETA: Although I believe that there is a Japanese dish that uses raw chicken!

Edited April 30, 2009 by Anna N (log)

[judiu]

...we marinate meat and vegs, but macerate fruit?

...we pour off the fat that we've used to brown or soften vegs in, when it's loaded with flavor?

Hmmm

[Lilija]

Why can you order duck medium rare, but not chicken?  Or who do you think was the first person to eye up a lobster and say "hmm, I bet the meat underneath those imposing, armor-like claws is delicious!"

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Along the lobster lines, I always wondered how many mushrooms early man had to get through to find the edible ones. Also, what would inspire them? "Look at this weird looking thing I found under this rock...wonder how THAT tastes?"

[faine]

The Oyster Conundrum has always been big for me - IE, who the hell ate the FIRST one. Admittedly, I suspect some ancient hairy relation connected the dots when it saw a seagull dash an oyster on the rocks and eat what was inside - but it's still an impressive example of just what humanity WILL eat.

Why isn't insect eating more widespread or mainstream? It's not uncommon in many cultures, but in the USA, it's pretty much the Taboo of Taboos (despite the popularity of grasshoppers in some areas of Mexico). You'd think it'd be more popular on the nasty-but-not-really food scene. Shouldn't some exceedingly chic chefs be experimenting with the pleasant shrimp like flavor of wichity grubs?

[nonblonde007]

Hmmmmmmmm.....what kind of person looked at a chicken and said "I am going to eat the first thing that pops out of it's butt"?!

[Special K]

Hmmmmmmmm.....what kind of person looked at a chicken and said "I am going to eat the first thing that pops out of it's butt"?!

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Now I have to clean the diet coke out of the keyboard.

[markk]

Well, there are some questions that I have been asking for years (and have posed them on eG as well):

How did it come to be that we knew that the way to get the caffeine out of the coffee bean was to roast the bean, grind it up or pulverize it, and use hot water to extract what's in there and drink he water, yet at the same time we learned that to get the calming nicotine from tobacco leaves it was best to dry the leaves, light them on fire, and inhale the smoke? I mean, why is it that we're not smoking coffee beans in a pipe, and making a brew or a tea from tobacco leaves?

[patris]

Hmmmmmmmm.....what kind of person looked at a chicken and said "I am going to eat the first thing that pops out of it's butt"?!

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I've always thought the same thing about milk - who looked at a cow's underside and thought, "How about I squeeze those things, and drink the stuff that comes out?"

[nikkib]

Well, there are some questions that I have been asking for years (and have posed them on eG as well):

How did it come to be that we knew that the way to get the caffeine out of the coffee bean was to roast the bean, grind it up or pulverize it, and use hot water to extract what's in there and drink he water, yet at the same time we learned that to get the calming nicotine from tobacco leaves it was best to dry the leaves, light them on fire, and inhale the smoke?  I mean, why is it that we're not smoking coffee beans in a pipe, and making a brew or a tea from tobacco leaves?

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i thought coffee was discovered accidentally by shepherds in ethiopia - along the same lines as when the chinese emperor discovered tea, the berries/leaves fell into a pan of boiling water and the drinks were then discovered

[pax]

I've always thought the same thing about milk - who looked at a cow's underside and thought, "How about I squeeze those things, and drink the stuff that comes out?"

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Their babies were drinking it.

[Special K]

How come we roast chickens but bake hams?

[Peter B Wolf]

...we marinate meat and vegs, but macerate fruit?

...we pour off the fat that we've used to brown or soften vegs in, when it's loaded with flavor?

Hmmm

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" we pour off the fat " ,

who is 'we' , I don't !!