For the past four years, each time I've traveled in Ghana, I saw something on a stick which people were selling on the side of the road. It's not seen at every street corner (like banana chips, nuts, toilet paper, grapes, and more). But if you travel outside the city, you'll see it every so often. It looks like a mini-bear-rug-on-a-stick. It's pink in color, like smoked salmon. The first time I saw it, I asked what it was.
Years ago in Mexico, I learned to never ask someone what they were eating. If you ask what something is in many countries, they assume that you want to try it. I was afraid that they'd do the same thing in Ghana. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they wouldn't make me eat what I questioned - it was "grasscutter". Grasscutter is in the gopher family. It looks like a cross between gopher and a possom. It's the size of a large possom.
The thing I have feared most just came upon me. We were eating at a nice restaurant. One of the local pastors was eating soup. It looked really good. IT WAS GRASSCUTTER SOUP!!! You guessed it - I ate some. They smoke it and then cook it with all of the necessary spices. It smelled very gamey; but in fact, it was very good. It tasted like smoked turkey meat (dark meat). Not bad. If you ever come to Ghana - give grasscutter a second look!
Just for fun, what is the wildest thing that you have ever eaten? Can you share a mission's experience where you ate something out of the ordinary?
Love the story today! I was just thinking..."umm what am I going to have for lunch today...fazolis, taco bell, KFC, nah....after reading your post I think I'll just have a salad. That grasscutter soup will still be speaking to you after your trip home. :-) When I travel internationally, I try to experiment with the food - but it can "get you" if you don't watch. Be safe my brother and keep the updates coming!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question - I guess the wildest thing I've attempted to eat is a chicken with it's head still on. On one of our trips to China we stayed in the underground schools and they brought us a cut up chicken with it's head still on. As the guest of honor, it was set in front of me. I can't remember how I got out of eating it but I do remember the curry was so strong my sinus's were clear for weeks. lol.
the more I read your blogs about your international travels the more hungry I get....not
ReplyDeleteI would imagine to see the things you guys have experiencd oversees it would make it little easier to digest their cuisine....then gain maybe not.
Nonetheless, jeff thanks for the updates and reninding us God is moving all around the world.
I think my wild food experiences are a little tamer than others have had - perhaps I need to traverse the ocean instead of just the gulf.
ReplyDeleteIn Honduras, we were taken to a seafood restaurant overlooking a large lake. One item on the menu I didn't recognize was "caracol", so I tried it (I'm a little weird that way). The meat was chewy and a little stringy - sort of like you'd imagine undercooked chicken to feel, but tasted more like lobster.
I'm still not sure what it was.
Most Spanish dictionaries define caracol as "snail", but it was really, really large for a snail. Another dictionary says caracol is "conch". Maybe. The size was right compared to conch shells I've seen.
Stateside, I've have tacos de lengua (cow-tongue tacos) and tacos de cabeza (cow-head tacos). Love the lengua. Hate the cabeza.
A friend of mine used to be a missionary to Taiwan. She told me that students there would bring boiled chicken feet to their teachers, much like american students used to bring apples. The teachers don't really eat them -- they just suck the juice out.
ReplyDeleteI asked how she managed, and she quoted the mantra she learned in missions school -- "Where He leads me, I will follow. What He feeds me, I will swallow."
My pastor friend told me today that when he was in the university, there was someone who sold the students meat, seasoned, barbecued, etc... He said that it was different, but, for the price, they learned to like it. One day, the man got into trouble for selling the students...python meat!
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