My original project topic was east Asian food with a focus on seafood. I was interested in some of the more unconventional (at least by western standards) foods. During the course of my study I have found that many east Asians eat a dish prepared with puffer fish. A fish that has Tarichatoxin, Tetrodotoxin and Saxitoxin in its body. All are extremely poisonous, and I am wondering why anyone would ever want to risk their life in eating this fish? Why is this delicacy worth dying for?
Since I have reoriented my project to focus on the puffer fish and the dish fugu, I have discovered that chefs who prepare fugu are required to undergo a special course and must pass a rigorous exam to obtain a license in order to be certified to prepare fugu. There is only a 25% pass rate on this exam. The chef also must be extremely confident in himself, for during the exam, he himself must prepare and then eat his own meal of puffer fish. (http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20031223.html)
I have also been looking into the symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning. There are a great number of symptoms, all unpleasant that generally appear between 20 minutes and three hours after eating the fish. Symptoms include but are not limited to:
- numbness of lips, tongue, face and extremities
- sensations of lightness or floating
- dizziness
- headache
- vomiting
- abdominal pain
- diarrhea
- slurred speech
- difficulty in waking up
- extensive muscle weakness
To make matters worse, there is no know antidote for tetrodotoxin. To treat the poisoning doctors try to limit the body’s absorption rate of the toxin. (http://www.frankfordhospitals.org/healthinfo/adult/travel/fish.html)
Over the next couple of weeks I plan on researching the methods of preparation and what goes into the certification process. I will research more extensively the symptoms of poisoning in medical journals and then try to discover why people are willing to risk their lives eating this delicacy.
Ben,
This is a really, really interesting topic. I read your initial project1.html page and I thought your topic may be slightly broad, but you have done a great job of narrowing it down. I can't wait to see what you come up with. Maybe you could find a personal story about someone who has actually tried/prepared the fish for greater insight? I'm sure there are some websites out there!
Kristin
Posted by: Kristin at October 12, 2004 02:36 PMI am curious... what do the statistics look like as far as deaths per year from poorly prepared puffer fish?? Also, it might be interesting to look into what happens to a chef when he/she kills someone? What are the judicial ramifications - murder? - or is it a eat at your own risk type thing?
Posted by: Megan at October 12, 2004 02:41 PMBen, I'm particularly interested in this topic because sushi is one of my favorite foods. You presented in the entry body that you plan to figure out some of the reasons why people would risk eating such a deadly fish. My question is, why would the chefs risk the time and effort in learning how to prepare such a fish? I'm interested in Megan's question about their penalty for improperly preparing the dish, as well as the pros for going through the training and risking the death of a customer. Are chefs that well-paid, or is being a chef a big honor, regardless of money, like it is to be a samurai.
Posted by: Pierce Owings at October 12, 2004 05:01 PMI'm not quite sure, but isn't sushi in itself difficult to make? maybe you can look into the actual process of preparing the food. and possibly the fact that one of the ingredients in a poisonous fish is just an added 'bonus' to the accomplishment of preparing sushi. asians i believe are very much into honor and reputation.
Posted by: Emily at October 12, 2004 05:28 PMAn a9.com search for cuisine fugu got me some pointers to BOOKS that might be of interest, including
Extreme Cuisine: The Weird & Wonderful Foods That People Eat
by Jerry Hopkins, Anthony Bourdain, Michael Freeman
A Taste of Japan: Food Fact and Fable What the People Eat Customs and Etiquette
by Donald Richie (seems to be a several-page section on fugu)
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture (Encyclopedias of Contemporary Culture)
by Sandra Buckley (5 text references)
if you're registered with Amazon you can use the "Search inside this book" feature and SEE the pages...
Fascinating topic. I am really fascinated to see what you come up with in terms of why people are willing to eat this poisonous fish. This is rather embarassing to bring up, but there is a scene in Charlie's Angels where Bill Murray eats the puffer fish (at least I am pretty sure it was the puffer fish) as kind of a gesture of bravado, willingness to risk death, and not lose face in front of the "enemy" or perhaps a gesture of good faith. This is certainly an extremely american movie, but I bet the reason that people do eat these poisonous puffer fish ties in somehow to this idea.
Posted by: Kathleen at October 14, 2004 01:03 AM