For Lucky Penny Day on Monday I carried around one that I found at the restaurant; I've uncovered plenty of unlucky ones while sweeping and such on the job, so this was a keeper! I found it about three weeks ago and kept it all this time especially for this day. Win? I think so.
Escargot Day...different story. I spent all day roaming the beaches and boardwalks of Maryland and Delaware yesterday, and the area isn't known for its fine French cuisine. In any case, I haven't yet entertained a serious thought about eating snails.
When I saw Anthony Bourdain back at the DuPont Theater in February, he spent a while talking about the origins of the foods many of us eat now. His story about the origins of escargot was especially entertaining. "Let me tell you, it wasn't the rich guys that ate snails first," he chuckled. He makes a good point; most it wasn't the cooks at Versailles that were picking snails off the plants in the hedge maze. It was likely the guys on the farms who had given all of their meat to the palace that went around scrounging their backyards for some protein. Only when word got out that snails were pretty tasty with some garlic, butter and white wine, and then presumably gathered to the point that they became hard to find, did they become a delicasy.
Well, they can keep it. I've tried a lot of new things in the past few years (most recently, veal and bone marrow) but I think I'll stay away from snails for a while. But, let's be honest, I'm like Anthony in this respect; if I'm in someone's home and they put it in front of me, I'm so mortified at the idea of being rude that I wouldn't refuse. Similarly, if I ever find myself in a really, really good restaurant and the chef sends out some escargot, it's getting eaten. Who knows, it may happen someday.
But, I spent the day eating Subway for lunch, and pizza and salad for dinner. Budget traveling at its finest, my friends. And by the way, who puts bacon on a ceasar salad? This caused problems, as half of my traveling companions yesterday are vegetarians. Has anyone heard of such a thing?
By the way, I JUST remembered this All That sketch from my childhood. Kenan at his finest years before SNL, my friends. "Everyday French with Pierre Escargot!" Probably very offensive to actual French people.
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