Saturday, December 05, 2009

Funky Stuff

I hadda stop at the supermarket on the way home from work yesterday but that's one thing that I dread doin' 'n I ain't very good at. I tend to go into "overload mode"...a kinda anxiety more or less....'n I have a terrible habit of freezin' up inside the store with notta notion as to what I want or need....even tho I make a list 'n have it in hand prior to my arrival.

Anyway, there I was, solemnly strollin' thru the aisles, feelin' my anxiety level risin' above 'n beyond its normal limit 'n desperately callin' my son every 4 minutes or so to ask him what we needed (which was completely useless I might add). As usual 'n as I felt the pressure mountin', I quickly halted mid-aisle while my eyes welled up 'n my brain was kickin' around a zillion or so thoughts as to why I should just leave the cart right then 'n there 'n just walk out the friggin' door....until I regained my composure 'n headed on over to the meat department.

Not knowin' what the hell I was gonna cook that night (and yes, I actually DID cook last night altho it turned out to be a night of my makin' just some quickie cube steak sandwiches w/sauteed onions 'n cheese) I began to peruse the meat case....'n some o' what I saw made me absolutely nauseous. I just can't believe that people really eat some o' the shit that this lowlife store actually sells, such as this:



and this:



and this:



I took 3 additional pictures after these 3 but by that time my head was spinnin' 'n my hands were shakin' so they all came out too blurry to post. I mean, this shit is just plain ol' nasty. There was cow tongue (complete with taste buds 'n all); pig snout (which needed some of its nose hairs plucked I might add); a huge package o' chicken hearts (which I SWEAR were still slightly beatin'); some good ol' trusty livers (the very same ones yer Momma used to make ya eat for iron buildup when ya were just a kid); somebody's goddamn kidneys; and some other weird lookin' stuff that looked like somebody's intestines were just gutted 'n packaged up 'n plopped right up on the store shelf. I thought I was gonna barf.

Now, I realize that there's all kinda weird-ass stuff sittin' on store shelves that all different kindsa people eat, but at least they're all packaged up inside a box or a can or somethin' so that ya don't gotta actually look at the shit as yer strollin' by. But the meat department don't ever put any kinda shade on THEIR shit.....they just wind some damn plastic wrap around that crap 'n slap a label on it 'n put it out there for the whole wide world to view.

But I'd really rather not, Foodtown, so thank ya very much anyway.

So now what I'd really like to know is what kinda weird shit y'all have spotted while food shoppin' so whenever ya getta chance, lemme have it (well, not literally now......YUCK!).

8 comments:

kathryn said...

I hear you! I also took a photo about a year ago and blogged about the chicken feet, after a friend stuck the package under my nose while we were grocery shopping in Florida. Now, I'm tempted to find that photo and see if it was a Foodtown...

I can't get past the graphic-nature of these items! I KNOW where meat comes from, but it's too...up close and personal for me!

Lou said...

I was once invited to dinner with a Berber family in the Atlas mountains in Morocco. The feast when it arrived was 3 sheeps heads on a platter, complete with eyes and brains. I was vegetarian at the time and seriously considered faking an epileptic fit to avoid the situation. Instead I tried explaining and ate only the tomatoes and other vegetables - they thought I was a complete moron to forgo this delicacy but luckily they weren't offended.

To others what we eat looks revolting - think highly processed food like saugages or hot dogs or even chicken nugget type stuff, we probably wouldn't eat them either if we watched them being manufactured and saw what went in them - at least an ox tongue is pure meat even if not to my or your taste.

Cali said...

While I understand your aversion to some of these items, if you've ever eaten a hot dog, you've eaten a bunch of them. Ever had chopped liver at a Jewish deli? Well, that's just chicken livers and onions-- chopped. Also, if you ever had matzo ball soup in those same delis, I guarantee the chicken soup around those matzo balls used chicken feet to make the stock. They really do make the best stock. Sometimes the best stuff looks the yuckiest.

Willy D said...

All the more reason for a well-rounded diet of wholesome junk-food:)

Mr. Condescending said...

haha someone thinks this stuff is really tasty! Pickled pigs feet and stuff are nasty too.

biker baby said...

How would you like to come home from school at the age of ten to see brains (cow...pig...who knows what kind) soaking in milk in a glass bowl. My Grandmother who was from Germany lived with us the last 10 years of her life and she loved em. She said that when you where a farmer and poor you ate all of the animal and liked it. My mother would make them for her when ever she just had to have them.

I worked with an exchange student from Africa and she brought kidneys for lunch at least once a week and they smelled soooooo bad I couldn't even eat my own lunch.

I like liver if it is made right but I won't touch brains, heart, kidneys, tongue or any of the rest.

Unknown said...

MDJ:

I'm with all of you. If I don't know what it is, or if it isn't cooked, or smells bad, then I don't eat it either. Better to be safe than sorry.

bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin

"Joker" said...

It's all relative. Many foods we love today were considered peasant foods hundreds of years ago, like pork. I don't know about you, but I love pork in all it's forms, bacon, chops, roast, tenderloin, baby back ribs. The "other white meat" rules. I especially like it because the damned Muslims hate it.

Think about the first person who ever ate a lobster. The thing looks like a big sea cockroach. Yet, they are probably one of my favorite treats when I have the extra dough for them. Nothing quite like a boiled Maine lobster served with plenty of drawn butter. Mmmmm mmmmmm!

As a pretty serious cook, I'll also say that most of the yucky stuff you show here is used as someone already said, to make stock. One man's tripe is another man's filet mignon I guess.