Anthony has a way of trying new experiences that cause us all to stretch. Our trip north to Chiang Mai was one of these.
While Sherri was driving, I noticed many street vendors barbecuing meat on their charcoal grills. When I read their signs, my mind read one thing, but they really said something different. My mind read “Mu yang” which means grilled pork, but the signs really said “Nu yang” which means grilled rat! Nittaya, our translator, mentioned that many of these vendors were from Northeast Thailand where it is common to eat grilled rat, but she said she would never eat it and most Thais do not eat it.
This is where Anthony’s urge for new experiences, especially experiences with bragging rights with his older brothers, kicks in. Anthony asked if we would stop and buy him a grilled rat for the bargain basement price of 20 baht (about 30 cents). The vendor woman was very friendly and proceeded to take a partially cooked rat from a platter piled with them and finish barbecuing the chosen rat on her grill. When all was said and done, Anthony was munching on a fresh piece of BBQ rat. He said it tasted like chicken (doesn’t everything!), so he convinced me to take a bite. To my regret, I took a small bite and found that this beast tasted nothing like chicken. Instead, it tasted like the meat from White Castle hamburgers, confirming a suspicion I had (just joking, I really like White Castles, but this stuff tasted nasty)
Immediately upon re-embarking on our journey north, I asked Sherri to stop at the nearest gas station so I could buy some bitter black coffee to wash the taste out of my mouth. I know this was all just “in my head” and it was fine for consumption, but this was one time it was hard to get past my home culture.
Now it is back to grilled chicken, pork, beef, shrimp….anything but rodents.
While Sherri was driving, I noticed many street vendors barbecuing meat on their charcoal grills. When I read their signs, my mind read one thing, but they really said something different. My mind read “Mu yang” which means grilled pork, but the signs really said “Nu yang” which means grilled rat! Nittaya, our translator, mentioned that many of these vendors were from Northeast Thailand where it is common to eat grilled rat, but she said she would never eat it and most Thais do not eat it.
This is where Anthony’s urge for new experiences, especially experiences with bragging rights with his older brothers, kicks in. Anthony asked if we would stop and buy him a grilled rat for the bargain basement price of 20 baht (about 30 cents). The vendor woman was very friendly and proceeded to take a partially cooked rat from a platter piled with them and finish barbecuing the chosen rat on her grill. When all was said and done, Anthony was munching on a fresh piece of BBQ rat. He said it tasted like chicken (doesn’t everything!), so he convinced me to take a bite. To my regret, I took a small bite and found that this beast tasted nothing like chicken. Instead, it tasted like the meat from White Castle hamburgers, confirming a suspicion I had (just joking, I really like White Castles, but this stuff tasted nasty)
Immediately upon re-embarking on our journey north, I asked Sherri to stop at the nearest gas station so I could buy some bitter black coffee to wash the taste out of my mouth. I know this was all just “in my head” and it was fine for consumption, but this was one time it was hard to get past my home culture.
Now it is back to grilled chicken, pork, beef, shrimp….anything but rodents.
