Japan’s Dangerous Food
Posted by Dylan on July 8, 2009When it comes to luxury hotels, there is an incredible selection when traveling Asia. There is an incredible diversity of lifestyles, customs, languages, and cultures in each major city, and with this diversity comes a diversity of choices in accommodation. For luxury hotels, there are international standards that all of them have are held to, and one can expect the same excellence in design, service, and amenities. Aside from this, there is an array of choices within the details, and the details hold the promise of marvelous memories to carry with you for the years to come. There are local touches that make each place unique, and unique to the cities where they are located. The concierge can help travelers decide where to go, but once you get there, it’s all up to you.
Luxury is a quality that suggests choices about living the good life, and the good life changes from culture to culture. But they all seem to agree that hospitality and graciousness are necessary for any luxury to be recognized. In some places, there are traditions for luxury feasts, where acts of conspicuous consumption illustrate standards of the joy of living. There are also luxury foods, where it is recognized that there are occasions when a splendid and interesting meal is a commitment to living in the moment. There is perhaps no other dining experience that suggests living in the moment so much as eating Fugu fish in Japan.
Fugu fish is that category of some 40 classifications of blowfish that have to be cooked exactly right. This is a little important. Exactly right, because any variation could release the poison in the fish, and make a luxury food into a last meal. Chefs in Japan are required to have a license for preparing Fugu, which is a good idea for the customer. The liver is removed, thus taking out most of the poison, and the spikes also removed, and it’s probably needless to say, no one should try this at home. It’s complicated, and better left to the trained chef to even consider. Many amateur chefs lose the battle every year by trying this on their own. Still, it is considered to be a delicacy, and attempts to breed non-poisonous fugu are unpopular. Who knows why for sure? It’s likely that some just like to eat in danger.
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