IF MARGARET MEAD CAN EAT IT I CAN TOO*

I can't say that I remember what previously held the title of most disgusting thing I've ever eaten but I'd like to announce a new winner. Last night I was at another fancy restaurant in a private suite sitting at a table covered with fresh rose petals alongside my boss and a half dozen Chinese businessmen...

Our host insisted that I sit to his right, as his guest of honor, and kept an eye on how I was enjoying the fare. Everything I was served was tasty and appealingly prepared until I lifted the lid of a bowl that was delivered to my plate and was confronted with this:

Sea cucumbers. In broth. For eating. The arrival of the course was greeted with enthusiasm at the table; one guest asked me if we had them America. Yes, I said, but we don't typically eat them. Fools! He must have chuckled to himself, taking a lusty bite and telling me that it was extremely nutritious and quite expensive. And very fresh and delicious, added my host, urging me to dig in. I didn't want to be impolite, so...

It was worse than I had imagined. In texture, flavor, and in form it was unquestionably the very worst thing I have ever tasted. The sight of it quivering in my spoon churned my stomach and I raised it to my lips while freezing my features into an expression of enthusiasm, even appetite. My host approved and pressed me to finish. Bearing the heavy mantle of my profession and thinking of all those stoic eaters of manioc beer, beetles, and sheep's eyeballs that have come before me, I chowed down. And I finished it. With a smile on my face.

Proof:

* Do they eat sea cucumbers in PNG? I have no idea. But I AM fairly certain that our girl Maggie had to deal with a culinary challenge or two back in the day.