FUGU

Unless search is wack, no fugu thread.

To start this on a sadder note:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28874327/

"Blowfish testicles poison 7 diners in Japan"

Anybody ever ate this?

Yeah, a few times. It's great when it's in season (winter).

Also, blowfish don't have testicles, they have milt.

shasta, america understands testicles

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2224/2127698591_7e0aa2db76.jpg
this is a dish containing the skin and meat. but you can also eat the tenderloin/rib, intestines, liver, belly.

the key is to eat it from a licensed chef. all the poisonings and fatalities you hear about are all due to amateur or non-licensed chefs.

also, it's very rare to get good fugu in the USA (unless it's on the black/gray market). the FDA doesn't trust any chefs so all by-the-books fugu comes in to DC and gets dissected by a team of biologists who remove all the toxic glands. this takes at least a few days (lol govt) and then it gets distributed out to restaurants.

that said... there are ways around that.

my fugu theory is

(a) it tastes unremarkable but no one dares report that back bcz then they look like an idiot for eating it
(b) everyone who says it's very good actually (steve shasta) is aiming to prank-poison you

fugu sashimi a major plot point in the Columbo episode "Murder under Glass"

that's where I heard about it and I've been wanting to try it ever since

it looks delicious in the episode