The Matrix

When I saw The Matrix the first time, I didn’t really like it that much, except for the special effects. But after I left the theatre, it stayed with me and kept burrowing itself deeper into my thoughts. I watched the movie again, and I was a fan. I appreciate the message it conveys, and that is people have their own “matrix.” In other words, you are molded into a certain way of thinking whether it’s because of your culture, surroundings, society’s view, and/or other aspects of life that influence your mind. It’s a movie that properly describes the “sheeple.” For those people who are like sheep and follow everyone else, it’s what The Matrix describes. For those who can’t think for themselves, you live in your own matrix/box and are closed-minded and miss out on many pleasures in life. One of those wonderful pleasures is food.

I’ve been to Hawai’i where the cuisine is different than other places I’ve visited. The Kalua pig that’s cooked in an underground oven called an imu is heavenly yet McDonald’s always seemed to have most of the tourists. I experienced the same thing in Miami where there is an influx of 27 Latin American countries and the Caribbean islands and cultures where Colombian empanadas, Cuban pork, and Jamaican beef patties are everywhere. And the tourists are eating… McDonald’s. I was on the other side of earth, in China, where the cuisine is like none other that I’ve remotely had. You guessed it – McDonald’s and KFC is where I found a lot of the “foreigners.” I’ll admit that I did venture into both places, but that was merely to see what the difference is. There is. In fact, there was a difference in the Hawaiian location as well.

I feel sorry for those people who are stuck in their own matrix and do not explore. I try to break them out of it, but I often give up when they tell me “I don’t eat it, because I don’t like it.” When I ask them if they’ve EVER tried it, it’s almost always “no.” So how do they know they don’t like it? Here’s an argument that I like to use:

How would you like to eat this?

Take hot water and combine with different types of fungus that helps fermentation. It has a horrible smell, but bake it in an oven anyway. Next, mash tomatoes, and mix in the liquids of other vegetables, melted fat from animals, and add spice. Put this on top of what you took out of the oven. Next, get warm milk from a mammal, add bacteria, and let it sit with acid until it curdles, which means it clumps together. Can you imagine the smell? Add it to the top of the pile you already have. Finally, get some pieces of organs from animals, blood, fat from different animals, and other non-appealing parts from those same animals. Blend everything together and encase it in the intestines of an animal or plastic. Cut it up in pieces, and top off the mess you have sitting aside. Bake at a high temperature, and voila - the result doesn’t sound too tasty. In fact, it sounds like something a satanic cult would use to haze someone into their club. But if I tell you that your matrix finds this an acceptable form of food, and even a favorite treat to many people, you may wonder what country I’m writing this article from. Believe me, I am in the USA. The capital, actually. I just described dough, cheese, sauce, and sausage i.e. pizza. “Ooooh yeeeeaah,” is usually the response I get, followed by a “well, that’s different.” Why is that different? This is just one example. And people will say other things, for example, like people from India are strange that they do not eat beef, because it comes from cows. Indians are weird, because they don’t eat burgers, steak, meatloaf, shish-ka-bob, etc. Asians are strange, because they don’t eat cheese, milk, and other dairy. Well, why are you not abnormal if you don’t eat fried ants, raw seal, or squirrel? It’s my opinion that one should not deem something bad unless they try it first. Of course, morale does play a role, and I wouldn’t contribute in the hunting of a near extinct animal, and I would not eat human. But as far as anything else goes, I’m game. (I try to stay away from penis, too, but admittedly, I tasted one from a bull unbeknownst to me at the time.) I challenge everyone to break the “norm,” venture outside the box, and escape the matrix you’re molded to think is “normal.” Like this:

I am quite adventurous when I eat. If I say I don’t like something, I can honestly say that I’ve tasted it already. I know I do not like cilantro, thousand-year-old egg, pig brains, and a few more. I’ve tried all these. A few times, since I don’t give up on one taste. One thing that I’d like to share that I did enjoy is dog. No, it did not taste like chicken. It did, however, remind me of lamb in both taste and texture. I had it in different forms, and I ate different parts. I had dog ribs, dog feet, and other parts of the dog that I’m unsure of. I cooked it in Asian hot pot style, ate it roasted, with different sauces, spices, combined with vegetables, and alone. I liked it all.

As you can imagine, I ate this on my last trip to China. Before you start to think this is a normal Chinese dish, I need to inform you that it is not. It took about an hour driving around Tianjin before we found a Korean restaurant that served it. I can almost compare it to eating locusts or muskrat in the US; it’s there, but you need to look for it but definitely not “typical American food.” The name of the restaurant I went to is roughly translated to “Korean Dogwood Dog Meat Restaurant” in Chinese (the top part of the sign) and "Korea Plum Dog Meat Restaurant" in Korean (the bottom part). Would I eat it again? Most certainly.

As I type this, my TV is broadcasting The Travel Channel, and one of my favorite shows is on called “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.” Andrew Zimmern is a chef, dining critic, food writer, and more. In his show, he goes to different places around the US and the world and, you guessed it, eats bizarre food. (But remember… bizarre in whose matrix?) In this particular episode, he’s in the Philippines. They just showed “butt and balls soup.” Yes, I would try it. Now why didn’t I start a show like this??? If you haven’t, watch this show Monday nights at midnight EST; it may help you tear down your walls.

Bon appétit