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by JR8 » Sun, 13 Oct 2013 1:26 pm
This raises several issues, cultural and practical.
In no particular order:
- As noted above, fish-cheeks are perhaps the sweetest part of many larger 'round-fish'.
- With prawns/shrimp/lobster/crab etc, cooking with the shells on is both practical, but it also stops the meat drying out (same reason you'll find skinless cod etc cooked in batter - it achieves the same). Yes it requires a little effort from the diner, but the result will be much nicer. So you have to ask yourself, what is more important; quality of dining experience, or convenience? [More or less the same rationale applies to the choice of boned, skinless chicken breast vs bone-in skin-on chicken breast. I've also known plenty of people who refuse to eat any meat with any colour off a roast chicken - silly as the coloured meat has the best flavour and texture!
- Suckling pig. I'm not sure why you find it 'gross'. What I do know though, is that a material element of people wish, or need to, dissociate what they're eating with having come from a living thing (which a natural extension of, for many people, seems to be vegetarianism (often dressed-up as some higher noble moral virtue)). Might this be contributing to the issue?
p.s. Think yourself lucky. In the place I've just move here from. If you choose a fish dish at a restaurant, they'd bring it around whole, raw, and on a platter, for you to you check the freshness prior to them cooking it. That is a reflection of confidence in the quality of their ingredients, and is a noble virtue.
- I'd suggest avoiding visiting China. I've walked into restaurants there where the live mammals they serve are in stacks of cages, lining the entranceway.
