Dear Pather (aka Dad),
Yesterday you would have been proud to call me your daughter. Why, you ask? Because yesterday I threw all caution to the wind and joined the throngs of raw fish eaters all over the world.
I attended a peruvian cooking class at my school. Three students, including myself, were supposed to attend. We had to select the two items that we wanted to learn a couple of days early so that the teacher could purchase the right ingredients. One of the students informed us that due to religious beliefs, she doesn't eat any meat except fish on Fridays. I, on the other hand, detest fish. However I decided her religious beliefs trump my food preferences, and agreed to learn to make ceviche. Come the day of the class, this student didn't show up and I was stuck with icky raw fish.
When I got to the school I saw the plate of fish, still with some scales and also big red streaks through it, which I assumed were blood. Unfortunately, I had already committed myself to trying a bite and couldn't back out now. I've been told by numerous people that it is a sin to come all the way to Peru and not eat the famous peruvian ceviche, and had decided that I would look back and be glad that I did it.
I was wrong. I believe I could have lived a very happy (though possibly shorter, given my lack of dietary omega-3s) life without ever having eaten ceviche. And though I must admit to you that I didn't acquire any severe bacterial infections as a result, the recurring memory made me feel as though I had and stole from me what could have been an enjoyable half-day in Lima.
Sincerely,
Carolyn
P.S. I took pictures to document my experience. Don't be fooled by the smiles. Inside I was crying. http://picasaweb.google.com/calowyn/CookingClass. I also added a couple of pictures to our Miraflores album
6 comments:
picassa hates me. It says sign in to leave a comment, so I sign in, and it says sign in to leave a comment, and i look, and I am-in fact- signed in, so I sign in again and it says sign in to leave a comment....
I was going to help you defend your beefy arm.
You probably had the camera lense on wide angle (zoomed out so you could fit more in the picture)- that makes anything slightly closer to the camera look disproportionately large. I
f you have enough room, you can zoom the camera in closer and then just step back a lot farther to get the whole picture. That would fix that problem (as well as the problem where you have a group of people and the people in front have big heads while those in the back have itty bitty ones....)
There, I just gave you your first photo lesson, as requested 6 or so months ago.
I was about to give you another photo lesson (because I remembered you saying you wanted to learn, once upon a time), but then I realized that posting tips on your blog may be somewhat rude and insulting.
SO, if you are interested in tips, e-mail me.
Thanks for the link! Although I'm worried that it's just going to contribute to people getting me and Penelope mixed up even more and more.... :) You are linked to in my post about Saturday night. I'll try to upload the other photos to Picasa or email them to you.
Hope you had fun at Casa y Ideas hoy dia, Carolyn!
Proud does not begin to describe my feelings! The trick is view all raw fish as receptacles for good sauces. With enough wasabi and soy sauce, anything tastes good. That plus that feeling of not letting some tightly wound dietitian tell you what you can eat and what you can't eay makes for a pretty satisfying meal.
I feel like sushi for lunch. Eat your heart out.
Eeeeww! I still can't get over the time that dad made me eat raw fish flesh. You may have escaped the bacterial infections, but watch out for those worms! We both know how bad that can be! Way to go, though! I'm proud of you too!
¡Que bueno que ya has probado la causa rellena y que la sabes cocinar! ¡Me encanta eso! Y felicidades por haber tenido la fuerza suficiente para probar el ceviche. A mí no me gustó cuando lo probé. De hecho, yo también casi vomité. Fue una de sólo dos o tres comidas que no me gustaron durante toda mi misión. Yo, si voy a comer pescado no cocinado, voy con los japonéses.
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