A Red Herring

CTV News has a story! “ Claws come out for federal minister who shared picture of lobster lunch in Asia ” for us.

I have a story for CTV news: My father was not a nice man; he was a picky eater, and I can remember my horror as an eleven-year old that when the Harrison’s invited us to dinner in the desert town of Bullfinch, twenty-two miles off the Great Eastern Highway, he refused the served dish and asked if he could just have “A bit of bread and cheese, please”.

He placed chunks of ordinary cheese on slices of bread and ate just that, while the rest of us tucked in to a three-course meal prepared by Mrs. Harrison, the wife of the mine’s accountant.

What a clot was my father!

Once I was free of home I began exploring the world’s cuisine in the UK, France, Singapore, and across Canada and The USA.

If there’s one thing most children get taught, it is to “eat what’s put in front of you”; especially if you are outside your home, a guest in someone else’s home.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” continues to rattle around in my head, and 66 years later, now in Bonavista Newfoundland, I revel whenever a local drops off a piece of Fish (“fish” means “Cod” in Newfoundland) or some moose meat, rabbit meat, or whatever is to hand. We have only one life, so only one chance to eat local foodstuffs, or food prepared for us in a novel way by a local host.

How many of know what a regular dish is in Malaysia?

Malaysia is basically two narrow strips of land. I estimate that the point most inland from the sea is 150 kilometres to the south-east of Bintulu. Malaysia's climate is categorized as equatorial , Malaysia has the 29th longest coastline in the world, A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 1,713 km2 of tidal flats in Malaysia,

I would like to suggest that Lobster to a Malaysian might be the equivalent of Chicken or Pork in the USA.

I suspect that the USA chicken comes from a small cage, and that the boneless pork shoulder comes from a tightly-penned-pig. But I don’t really know, so I shan’t make a big song and dance about it.

Anyway, when I have someone over for dinner I trot out the best plates and glasses, spend money on beautiful and tasty fresh vegetables, and turn the music down low. If I had a TV I would turn it off. It’s what you do when you have a visitor.

So these Malaysians served Lobster. So what?

By the way, back in 1993 I spent a day flying to Perth, and flying back from Perth, and wandered around Kuala Lumpur snacking from roadside stalls.

Excellent food!

Search