the summer of our (culinary) discontent

eating in taiwan was an adventure. a series of escalating dares, in which stacie and i were more than ready to engage.

"will you eat a hardboiled egg marinated for 5 years in a green tea solution?" "will i ever!"

"coagulated pork blood squares and rice?" "bring it."

"boiled, skewered chicken feet?" "does that include the claws?..well..okay......"

three months in and the adventure was turning more into an elaborate endurance test. a losing proposition. we dreamed now only of the simple things, cocoa pebbles, cheese pizza, soup that didn't contain intestines. we found ourselves invited to the home of a wealthy family whose young daughters we tutored in english. a bowl of white rice sat in front of each person, with main course dishes in the center of the table. stacie and i scanned the assortment, looking for landmines, but so far, so good, fish, a cabbage dish, pork short ribs. then the mom took each of our rice bowls and efficiently popped a fish eyeball into each. before our stomaches could even sink, the little girls began complaining loudly that they wanted the fish eyes, that she was a mean shrew of a mommy for giving the lovely fish eyeballs to the teenage american girls. we happily passed them over.

later, the girls said they had a big surprise for us. real live american ice cream popsicles. now, taiwan is a small island without cattle, and i never met a taiwanese person who didn't think anything involving milk, cheese, or yogurt was gross gross gross. fish eyeballs, yes. grilled cheese, ew. so we were surprised but thrilled at the offer. they gave us each what looked like frozen skim milk on a stick. i took a bite- cold, sweet, and..chock full of peas. a milk'n'pea pop. for stacie, milk'n'green bean. for the girls', milk'n' shredded carrots.

you know what? they were pretty good.