00:00:01
we all feel them the forbidden the
00:00:06
sinful behaviors that define motives and
00:00:13
inspire fear but our differences may be
00:00:16
what make us all
00:00:23
[Music]
00:00:30
according to the dictionary singing is
00:00:32
pleasing to eat the considered rare
00:00:46
delicacy can be another's
00:00:52
we need to define ourselves and one of
00:00:55
the ways we define ourselves is by what
00:00:57
we eat and how we're different from the
00:00:58
people around us because you know those
00:01:00
neighbors over there don't eat that and
00:01:02
we do no travel to India where one
00:01:07
family's favorite recipe features an
00:01:09
animal features beat the bush in Togo as
00:01:14
villagers hunt for an animal most city
00:01:16
dwellers would rather not see much less
00:01:19
eat come to Taiwan and sample a special
00:01:23
stool that gives viagra as different
00:01:26
money and wonder how far would you go to
00:01:32
please your palate
00:01:44
Iceland a place rooted in Viking
00:01:47
tradition
00:01:50
but its capital Reykjavik is as
00:01:52
cosmopolitan as any modern city cafes
00:01:56
great restaurants and some of the finest
00:01:58
freshest food in the world but once a
00:02:01
year in February the people of Iceland
00:02:03
turned back the clock to an age-old
00:02:05
tradition called Thor a block a festival
00:02:08
of feasts the dishes might disgust an
00:02:11
outsider Rams testicles sheep heads and
00:02:16
rotting shark but to the people of
00:02:19
Iceland these aren't delicacies only
00:02:21
served during this month long festival
00:02:24
any kind of festival food or otherwise
00:02:26
involves some kind of restatement of who
00:02:29
you are what's important to you Paul
00:02:32
Rosen is professor of psychology at the
00:02:34
University of Pennsylvania food has a
00:02:37
particular importance here because it's
00:02:39
ingested it's they can in the body it
00:02:41
produces a certain intimate sense of
00:02:43
linked eating is a very but even
00:02:50
Icelanders are sharply divided on
00:02:52
whether this food is tasty or kaboom so
00:03:00
National Health is I don't eat just
00:03:02
statistically delicious is gross
00:03:06
maybe because it's testicles but the
00:03:08
shark is extremely good it's delicious
00:03:11
I feel really athletic
00:03:13
the ship has lice oh I supported food
00:03:16
and the tongue is very hurts from the
00:03:18
first time you test it
00:03:20
either you vomit or you love it city
00:03:27
hall owner and head chef of one of
00:03:29
Iceland's top restaurants serve some of
00:03:31
the world's best nouvelle cuisine a far
00:03:34
cry from rotten shark but siggy wouldn't
00:03:40
dare serve his guests the foods of the
00:03:42
Sura blood festival his guests agree
00:03:47
some of it tastes like last year's
00:03:50
leftover smell will tell you it's dead
00:03:54
it's dead so why would anyone eat these
00:03:57
delicacies for siggy and many Icelanders
00:04:00
eating unorthodox dishes is a way to
00:04:02
preserve their Viking heritage I guess
00:04:07
we have the only Scandinavian nation was
00:04:09
still taking care of this transition
00:04:14
Carolyn Marvin is professor of
00:04:16
anthropology at the University of
00:04:18
Pennsylvania to read about our ancestors
00:04:22
in a book is a nice thing to do but it's
00:04:26
not quite as powerful and it's not quite
00:04:29
as interesting as to reenact what we
00:04:32
think those ancestors did to put
00:04:34
ourselves bodily in the place of those
00:04:37
ancestors
00:04:41
today siggy will travel to the small
00:04:43
fishing town of sticky summer to help
00:04:46
prepare a giant feast and keep old
00:04:48
traditions alive for siggy reminders of
00:04:53
Viking beliefs and superstitions are
00:04:55
everywhere Venice mountains there are
00:04:59
her trolls and ghosts
00:05:03
we really believe it
00:05:09
trolls and ghosts weren't the Vikings
00:05:12
only worried winters were brutal and
00:05:15
long salt was scarce so to survive
00:05:19
vikings preserved food with sour milk
00:05:22
and by burying it hoping it would last
00:05:25
until spring nothing went to waste
00:05:28
not even the most toxic pungent foods
00:05:32
siggy arrives just outside town where a
00:05:35
traditional Icelandic thora cook is
00:05:37
preparing one of the signature meals of
00:05:39
thora blocked to feel the poison aroma
00:05:44
of this earth this freshly caught
00:05:48
seventeen hundred pound Greenland shark
00:05:50
is naturally full of urea and other
00:05:52
toxins these chemicals act as antifreeze
00:05:55
allowing a shark to live in waters as
00:05:57
cold as minus 2 degrees Celsius the
00:06:02
toxins are so concentrated that to eat
00:06:04
this meat could make you seriously ill
00:06:07
or possibly even kill you but heal
00:06:10
dabrander B Alice's family has a secret
00:06:12
shark recipe that goes back generations
00:06:17
and he knows that the only way to
00:06:18
prepare it is to let it rot this shark
00:06:29
meat has been rotting for two months and
00:06:31
the smell proves it smells very strong
00:06:37
repulsion as the meat decomposes it
00:06:41
oozes toxic ammonia the chemical found
00:06:45
in most household cleaning products and
00:06:47
human waste
00:06:49
I don't want to say the world this will
00:06:52
probably describe it best in Viking
00:06:59
times shark meat was buried out of sight
00:07:02
but Hildebrand er prefers to see his
00:07:04
delicacy that way he can keep track of
00:07:08
the decaying process his nose decides
00:07:19
when it is ready to try it's like
00:07:21
winemaking you know he's an expert he
00:07:24
feels it now we take it out for trying
00:07:28
when the meat is at a perfect rotten
00:07:31
state it's hung to complete the
00:07:33
breakdown process after six months it's
00:07:37
ready to be served
00:07:39
[Music]
00:07:45
yeah this is gonna be very good it has
00:07:49
two more months it's gonna be a great
00:07:51
great service you know you have to taste
00:07:54
all these of your produce all the way to
00:07:56
follow the quality from the beginning to
00:07:58
end coming up
00:08:03
[Music]
00:08:10
would your cup of tea be barbecued rat I
00:08:14
like it more than certainly rotten shark
00:08:19
is on the menu in sticky shawarma where
00:08:22
the entire town shows up in their modern
00:08:24
finery to feast on ancient rotting
00:08:27
dishes they have asked Ziggy to help
00:08:31
with one of the more delicate
00:08:32
preparations a pate of testicles
00:08:35
well that's me to cut the balls this
00:08:39
party here is ten young Rams
00:08:43
former Gramps those are testicles each
00:08:48
food is preserved just as it was in
00:08:50
Viking times in a way of sour milk from
00:08:54
preparing cheese this is a long way from
00:08:57
the fresh seafood we have a very long
00:09:03
way every part of the skull will be
00:09:09
eaten
00:09:13
I like the tone Fung is the best thing
00:09:16
some guys you know really liked with the
00:09:18
eyeballs the looks gross pizza parties
00:09:22
the PS tides game people are having
00:09:26
great fun
00:09:27
the festival is a way of creating
00:09:29
community non Rothschild is professor of
00:09:33
anthropology at Barnard College by
00:09:36
eating these difficult foods you're
00:09:38
proving that you are a member of the
00:09:41
community that this is important that
00:09:43
you're willing to do these hard things
00:09:45
in order to demonstrate your connection
00:09:47
both to the past and to the present we
00:09:55
actually only do it once a year
00:10:06
it's like ammonia we are proud of our
00:10:16
tradition and this is one of the ways
00:10:18
not to forget how it was
00:10:25
despite this feast of oddities these
00:10:28
Icelandic partygoers see nothing bizarre
00:10:30
about tonight's main courses
00:10:32
[Music]
00:10:39
no matter what did she serve siggy and
00:10:43
the Icelanders agree there is more to
00:10:45
this tradition than just taste taking
00:10:48
care of this tradition having fun with
00:10:50
it know what it is not forget it
00:10:54
[Music]
00:10:56
[Applause]
00:11:00
if eating taboo delicacies can be a mark
00:11:03
of who you are not eating them food can
00:11:08
become a readily available symbol Carol
00:11:13
Counahan is professor of anthropology at
00:11:15
Millersville University it's very common
00:11:18
for one group to distinguish itself from
00:11:20
a neighboring group by what they you
00:11:23
know they're cannibals that's a very
00:11:25
common accusation or they frogs and mice
00:11:28
we you know don't the English call the
00:11:32
French frogs in a sort of accusatory
00:11:34
tone they eat those disgusting frogs we
00:11:37
don't but disgust like beauty is in the
00:11:41
eye of the beholder for example how
00:11:44
would you feel about eating the fetus of
00:11:47
an animal
00:11:55
Sunday morning in southern India it's a
00:12:01
day for cooking feeding and feasting
00:12:08
[Music]
00:12:10
mrs. Pawley Naga is planning an
00:12:13
elaborate Sunday lunch she's invited
00:12:21
eight of her dearest friends to an
00:12:23
extra-special treat a local delicacy
00:12:26
called cutie pie so tasty it's not just
00:12:30
like it's love
00:12:35
what you pay is one of the best dishes
00:12:37
in the world so gruesome it can turn
00:12:40
your stomach I have never eaten it and
00:12:43
frankly so taboo you may never get to
00:12:48
taste it so what is it that people have
00:12:54
a problem with go deeper is the features
00:12:59
of any animal in this case a goat we eat
00:13:03
eggs of you why should a fetus beat up
00:13:06
it's taboo to eat a goat fetus or other
00:13:11
unborn animal because I think it
00:13:13
violates our sense of order and
00:13:16
propriety the unborn isn't is an
00:13:19
unfinished product it's still internal
00:13:22
to the animal and egg and at least an
00:13:26
egg is out of the body most Indians
00:13:32
wouldn't dream of eating a cutie-pie
00:13:35
mrs. Nagar is hoping her guests will
00:13:38
keep an open mind
00:13:39
good taste it once you've got to eat it
00:13:43
to know how distances missus Naga
00:13:46
belongs to a community that has been
00:13:48
cooking and cutie pie for generations
00:13:50
they are called the anglo-indians
00:13:55
what anglo-indian is the person born to
00:13:59
a foreigner like an Englishman and an
00:14:01
Indian the Dutch came to India the
00:14:03
Portuguese came to India the British
00:14:05
came to India of course I saw these
00:14:07
coaches Indian women and there we are
00:14:10
that was the genesis of the young Indian
00:14:12
community but the Anglo Indians were
00:14:15
accepted by neither East nor West so
00:14:18
they concocted their own vibrant culture
00:14:20
and a cuisine that was free from
00:14:23
traditions and taboos we eat what we
00:14:26
like but it's considered dirty allowed
00:14:28
the Jews won't eat certain things the
00:14:29
Muslims won't eat certain things the
00:14:31
Hindus won't but we are eclectic hybrid
00:14:37
cultures define themselves by difference
00:14:40
from other cultures and so if you have a
00:14:43
society that is the result of a colonial
00:14:46
impact or some kind of contact situation
00:14:48
then they are going to choose means to
00:14:52
differentiate themselves from these
00:14:54
other people so that doesn't surprise me
00:14:56
that they have foods that they eat that
00:14:58
you know either of the sort of quote
00:15:00
apparent cultures tell me the Anglo
00:15:03
Indian sampled different parts of an
00:15:05
animal without reservation including
00:15:07
Kuti pie but the dish is prized for more
00:15:10
than its taste according to local legend
00:15:13
Couty pie has medicinal properties it's
00:15:16
very good for health good for complaints
00:15:19
good for pregnant women good for people
00:15:21
with tuberculosis so it's a real very
00:15:23
helpful thing but first you have to find
00:15:28
it
00:15:29
[Music]
00:15:31
mrs. nagar is on her way to buy her
00:15:34
cutie pie it's sold at the local
00:15:37
slaughterhouse cutie pies are never made
00:15:41
to order they're available only if a
00:15:44
pregnant animal happens to be killed
00:15:46
that day buying a cutie pie comes down
00:15:48
to timing and luck so the best way to
00:15:57
bag the cootie pie is to get there early
00:16:01
the slaughterhouse is no neighborhood
00:16:03
butcher shop here every part of the
00:16:06
animal is sold as valuable food even the
00:16:10
leftovers the place is already bustling
00:16:25
and mrs. Nagar is getting concerned so
00:16:30
one has to be quick to come and collect
00:16:33
it she tries her luck again mrs. Nagar
00:16:44
is getting worried about her luncheon
00:16:52
she makes one last desperate try and
00:16:57
learns that the butcher's are holding
00:17:00
out on her although selling and buying
00:17:10
cutie pie is not illegal
00:17:12
the butcher's don't want to be seen
00:17:13
violating a taboo the message is clear
00:17:22
mrs. Naga won't get our cootie pipe as
00:17:25
long as she's on camera so she
00:17:29
negotiates an ultimate the shopping
00:17:43
fiasco has delayed mrs. Naga it's crunch
00:17:47
time when she summoned her friends
00:17:54
things are going well
00:17:57
even the butchers have kept their word
00:18:01
the main dish is finally here we like to
00:18:08
take it when it's a medium size so that
00:18:11
there's a filling flesh to eat at the
00:18:13
same time you don't have the hair on it
00:18:15
this is eating an animal features really
00:18:19
a question of mind or of matter in the
00:18:23
beginning some people they may not want
00:18:26
to eat fortified because you're not
00:18:28
forced into that mind it's a baby goat
00:18:29
but if you don't tell them you touched
00:18:32
up the small pieces you camouflage the
00:18:34
whole thing we probably eat it
00:18:39
one of the long-term trends in
00:18:41
industrialized nations is to remove the
00:18:45
visible evidence of violence from our
00:18:46
society that's why we don't need our
00:18:49
animals home on the table why when we
00:18:52
cook them we disguise them so that they
00:18:55
may not even look at all like the animal
00:18:57
that they came from but in this party
00:19:00
mrs. Nagas friends are well aware of
00:19:02
what's on the table and they're piling
00:19:06
their plates carefully the guests get
00:19:21
their first taste of cutie pie and
00:19:26
they've reached a verdict
00:19:37
awakens but not everybody has taken to
00:19:40
the dish this particular dish really
00:19:49
turns me off
00:19:50
mrs. Nagar is not surprised by the mixed
00:19:53
reaction to enjoy eating a lot of
00:19:57
goodbye and I find that the generations
00:20:00
go by it's becoming this popular mrs.
00:20:05
Naga knows this may be a dying tradition
00:20:07
but for now she's going to celebrate it
00:20:11
for as long as she can because I feel
00:20:20
life is more important than traditions
00:20:24
until they stop having cutie-pie in the
00:20:28
markets I am going to enjoy preparing it
00:20:31
and calling my friends for me the
00:20:33
important thing in life is the freedom
00:20:35
to enjoy everything when it comes to
00:20:41
delicacies it's all relative what's rare
00:20:44
and luxurious to some may be common or
00:20:48
taboo to others and the delicacy of one
00:20:53
person's dreams may be the stuff of your
00:20:56
nightmares
00:20:58
coming up find out the best way to cook
00:21:01
and serve yes good then learn what the
00:21:09
Chinese eat in place of viagra in this
00:21:25
village in the West African country of
00:21:27
Togo most people eat what they grow wild
00:21:31
animals are sparse on this mountainous
00:21:33
plateau so even little animals are big
00:21:36
gain antelope may not be appetizing to
00:21:41
many of us but it's mild compared to the
00:21:43
delicacies Sylvanas is preparing to hunt
00:21:46
guaranteed to turn the stomach of any
00:21:48
urban dweller rats filthy vermin that
00:21:54
feed on garbage anything that ease
00:21:57
garbage is already in trouble because if
00:21:59
it eats garbage by the you are what you
00:22:01
eat principle it is garbage and then if
00:22:03
we eat it we're garbage the scourge of
00:22:07
this city just a skinny New Yorker
00:22:15
dirty I'm afraid in them then you come
00:22:18
into Subway's to eat garbage
00:22:24
I don't even really like eat chicken so
00:22:26
a rat would be really stretching it oh
00:22:30
definitely no rats
00:22:33
unless of course the New Yorker is from
00:22:37
West Africa rot in if I'm looking at
00:22:42
Africa is because in West Africa rat is
00:22:53
a delectable desirable treat the people
00:22:56
prefer to more common alternatives for
00:23:02
me the meat of the rat is more delicious
00:23:04
than the meat of the chicken more like
00:23:10
squirrels or something they're not an
00:23:13
environment that is so filled with human
00:23:15
filth rat is such a popular dish in West
00:23:18
Africa it's sold in city markets but in
00:23:23
the little village of cat ma the only
00:23:26
way to get this delicacy is to catch it
00:23:29
yourself and these men are willing to do
00:23:34
whatever it takes if anybody is going to
00:23:40
be lazy today he should leave the group
00:23:42
now and go home
00:23:44
Silvano's isn't joking before they're
00:23:47
through the hunters will likely hike for
00:23:50
miles and dig hours in the hot African
00:23:52
Sun all to bag one little rat someone
00:23:59
else will wait anxiously for their
00:24:01
return daniel has twisted his ankle and
00:24:04
he needs a rat's tail for a special cure
00:24:08
for this is the land where voodoo was
00:24:10
born and still flourishes a lot is
00:24:14
riding on the hunter's quest the elders
00:24:17
perform a blessing here our ancestors
00:24:21
take the drink take it and help them get
00:24:24
the animal they are looking for
00:24:29
in the forests of Togo rats speak to
00:24:33
themselves the best place to look for
00:24:35
them isn't easy to find the men walk
00:24:41
more than a mile before they see it
00:24:43
an abandoned termite town Sylvanas is
00:24:49
confident they'll find a rat at home
00:24:51
rats burrow deep inside these towers to
00:24:54
sleep during the day and only venture
00:24:57
out to forage for food at night but
00:25:01
despite its promise
00:25:02
this tower yields no rats the men move
00:25:08
on miles later the hunters almost miss a
00:25:14
termite tower that overgrown with brush
00:25:17
but the hole looks very fresh they
00:25:22
decide on a plan to lay siege to the rat
00:25:25
stronghold their dinner depends on
00:25:30
cutting him off at every turn I'm
00:25:36
plugging the exits at the rat so that he
00:25:38
can't escape once we do that then we can
00:25:42
start digging
00:25:45
it's a lot of effort but a little rodent
00:25:48
most of us wouldn't want to meet let
00:25:51
alone eat delicacy is very often related
00:25:55
to difficulty in access how hard it is
00:26:00
to get how much work you have to go
00:26:02
through to get it how much it costs like
00:26:05
truffles you've got to have your trained
00:26:07
pigs and go out and there they're hard
00:26:09
to find so is the wrapped but Sylvanas
00:26:14
and his friends are getting closer
00:26:16
here's the bed of the rat here is the
00:26:20
fruit he is eaten today
00:26:21
now we have found the door and we are
00:26:24
sure that he is inside it turns out that
00:26:29
getting to the rat isn't so easy more
00:26:33
than an hour goes by before Sylvanas can
00:26:36
hear the rats nearing it's not only it's
00:26:48
a giant African touch threat which can
00:26:51
weigh more than six pounds to us it's a
00:26:55
pest but to Sylvanas and his friends
00:26:58
it's a delectable morsel thinking of
00:27:01
Daniel in his ankle the men moved
00:27:03
quickly to sever the tail the rat loses
00:27:06
its power soon after death there is a
00:27:10
light at the end of the tail that the
00:27:11
rat uses to see in the night this part
00:27:13
of the tail has power the power is in
00:27:15
the string taboo or not the hunters can
00:27:20
already taste their feast but first back
00:27:24
at the village it's time to let the
00:27:26
string work it's magic
00:27:29
as an elder looks on Silvano's performs
00:27:32
a ritual he learned from his grandfather
00:27:35
with this I'm going to treat the pain in
00:27:38
your ankle it will stay around your foot
00:27:42
for seven days on the seventh day it
00:27:44
will fall off and the pain will
00:27:46
disappear while daniel goes home to heal
00:27:59
Sylvanas has more urgent matters on his
00:28:02
mind a vey tradition holds that those
00:28:08
who hunt get first claim to their quarry
00:28:10
a fortunate custom when pickings are
00:28:14
small the cooks treat this furry rodent
00:28:18
like tenderloin green peppers ginger
00:28:22
spices and tomatoes once we grind the
00:28:25
ingredients we'll be ready but Silvano's
00:28:31
realizes that something is missing we
00:28:37
stand for the sauce is good but we need
00:28:39
to accompany it with sudah be sir Dobby
00:28:43
is a homemade liquor distilled from palm
00:28:45
sap for the first time today money
00:28:49
changes hands now the meal is completely
00:29:00
Silvano's offers a toast it's not taboo
00:29:06
to spit at this dinner party either but
00:29:09
a way to make offering and thank the
00:29:12
gods for providing this delicacy they
00:29:15
savor every last morsel except the
00:29:18
intestines even the bones
00:29:23
we eat the bones because inside there
00:29:25
are vitamins we suck those vitamins and
00:29:29
it helps us keep our joints and bones
00:29:30
healthy but eating rat is about more
00:29:36
than nutrition for Silvano friends it's
00:29:39
also about community we all do together
00:29:45
to look for the rat we bring it back and
00:29:47
we cook it together so eating the rat is
00:29:52
a real pleasure for us throughout the
00:30:00
world certain foods are prized not for
00:30:02
their case but for the affect they're
00:30:04
thought to have on the human body even
00:30:07
if the food would otherwise be taboo in
00:30:10
many cultures people do eat foods to
00:30:14
gain healthful effect from them a food
00:30:17
that otherwise might seem outlandish you
00:30:19
might eat because the desired effect
00:30:22
from eating it overcomes any hesitation
00:30:24
or you know distrust of this particular
00:30:27
food in parts of Asia an animal organ
00:30:31
most wouldn't even touch is considered a
00:30:34
rare delicacy for the powers it promotes
00:30:37
in the people who eat it what would you
00:30:39
be willing to eat to improve your sex
00:30:41
life
00:30:53
in the markets of Taiwan's capital
00:30:55
cities Taipei you can find seemingly
00:30:58
every teacher and it's not just choice
00:31:01
meets its for sale but nearly every
00:31:04
other animal part as well
00:31:06
the Chinese sometimes complain their
00:31:08
countrymen will eat anything
00:31:10
very little is taboo and if there's one
00:31:15
Taiwanese gourmet who can turn the most
00:31:17
exotic fare into a delicacy fit for an
00:31:19
emperor it is chef ping singing :
00:31:23
so feisty the red or the crowned the
00:31:27
more fully developed the rooster world
00:31:30
renowned for his cuisine mr. Chau may be
00:31:33
Taiwan's most highly respected chef and
00:31:37
tonight he will host a very unusual
00:31:38
dinner for some very special guests
00:31:41
including several of Taiwan's
00:31:43
top food critics the dish is chosen to
00:31:48
prepare is so taboo it may be one of the
00:31:51
few things many Chinese refused to eat
00:31:53
the penis of the pool so this was
00:31:57
freshly killed today yes it was killed
00:31:59
this morning
00:32:02
amateur bulls sex organ can be longer
00:32:04
than 3 feet even when it's not erect
00:32:08
the end is the most potent because all
00:32:11
the blood supposedly rushes there so
00:32:14
this part is the best still just the
00:32:18
salt of eating one is enough to make
00:32:20
most people Bluff eating a penis is
00:32:25
about as loaded and activity as you can
00:32:27
imagine first of all the penis is not
00:32:28
like a piece of muscle it's identifiable
00:32:31
part of another it's a part of the body
00:32:33
down there which we tend to think it was
00:32:35
pretty disgusting and of course it has
00:32:37
sexual connotations and those aren't the
00:32:42
only reasons this entre can be so
00:32:44
unappetizing if not prepared well the
00:32:48
meat is sinewy and tough and inside is
00:32:51
the Bulls urinary tract you have to cut
00:32:55
it open and wash it clean if you don't
00:32:57
then you'll have the taste of urine in
00:32:59
your food could this really be a meal
00:33:05
prized for centuries by Chinese emperors
00:33:08
in Taiwan where most beef is imported
00:33:12
the dish is so rare even chef Cho has
00:33:15
hardly ever prepared it traditionally it
00:33:18
was considered a potent aphrodisiac the
00:33:20
Chinese version of viagra but only
00:33:22
aristocrats those with time and money to
00:33:25
spend on improving their sex lives at
00:33:27
the chance to savor it
00:33:29
today many Chinese still believe eating
00:33:33
an animal's penis before sex will
00:33:34
bolster a man's performance where the
00:33:37
oldest forms of logic is if something
00:33:40
looks like something else it must be
00:33:42
connected to it so it makes perfect
00:33:44
sense from that point of view that
00:33:46
eating the bull penis would do something
00:33:49
for us by taking it into our own body
00:33:52
we succeed in being as sexually powerful
00:33:55
as that boy is in our imagination for
00:34:00
help with his recipe chef Joe is turning
00:34:02
to his friend dr. Zen Julie a specialist
00:34:06
in Chinese medicine dr. Lee knows
00:34:08
exactly what combination of herbs to
00:34:11
prescribe to complement the meat is bull
00:34:16
penis more effective than viagra oh yes
00:34:19
as soon as it hits the tongue the bull
00:34:21
penis jump-starts the brain and enhances
00:34:24
the sexual desire I guarantee we're
00:34:28
going to make them very happy Taiwan's
00:34:38
leading food critics put this rare
00:34:40
delicacy to the taste test this is not a
00:34:46
feast just anyone who can prepare
00:34:51
in addition to the main course chef Joe
00:34:54
is preparing three other dishes each
00:34:56
from one of his own unique recipes he
00:34:59
leaves the herbs too steeped in one pot
00:35:02
while he stirs the meat in another it
00:35:07
will take four hours to cook for the
00:35:11
women he's preparing another traditional
00:35:12
dish it may seem just as taboo rooster
00:35:16
testicles the Chinese believe they help
00:35:19
women stay young women should eat this
00:35:22
this will increase the red blood cell
00:35:24
count
00:35:25
it will also beautify your skin for the
00:35:31
Chinese a chef is like a doctor and
00:35:34
every meal is considered preventive
00:35:36
medicine
00:35:44
it's a philosophy that began centuries
00:35:47
ago on the Chinese mainland then still
00:35:50
thrives in its markets like this one in
00:35:52
Chongqing in south-central China some of
00:35:56
these ingredients you can also find in a
00:35:58
Chinese pharmacy it's to eat as food but
00:36:01
it's also a Chinese medicine here nearly
00:36:06
every item is believed to have a
00:36:07
specific effect on the body the Chinese
00:36:11
believe that what you eat is what you
00:36:13
treat so if you eat a pig's brain then
00:36:16
you will treat a human spring likewise
00:36:20
eating a Bulls penis is thought to
00:36:22
increase blood flow to the genitals and
00:36:24
boost a man's stamina for sex people
00:36:27
don't eat these things every day you
00:36:29
just couldn't take it it is not
00:36:32
surprising that some cultures would see
00:36:34
a bull sex organ is a taboo food very
00:36:38
often beliefs about food and beliefs
00:36:40
about sex overlap and so are taboos or
00:36:44
are hang-ups about sex can certainly
00:36:47
carry over into our taboos about food so
00:36:51
that in u.s. culture the Puritan
00:36:55
heritage which causes sex to be pushed
00:36:58
aside into a very private space would
00:37:01
make eating something like a penis in
00:37:03
public problematic
00:37:08
in his kitchen in Taiwan chef Chow is
00:37:10
finishing four hours of work and he's
00:37:13
ready to welcome his guests among them
00:37:16
are the leaders of Taiwan's premier
00:37:18
culinary associations men and women who
00:37:21
can make or break a chef's reputation
00:37:25
even for these experts this meal will be
00:37:28
a rare treat most of them have never
00:37:30
eaten bull penis before so will we have
00:37:33
an immediate reaction after eating this
00:37:35
we have beautiful women next to us do
00:37:38
you think we won't have a reaction still
00:37:47
no one wants to be the first to dig in
00:37:50
even in Taiwan there are food taboos
00:37:52
that can make connoisseurs
00:37:54
hesitate it's a little scary but soon
00:38:03
the verdict is in it's just like eating
00:38:09
a piece of beef with tendons that is why
00:38:13
chef Cho is so great he was able to
00:38:15
serve bull penises in such a way that
00:38:16
you can't tell which part of the penis
00:38:18
you're eating it's high praise when I
00:38:23
tasted his soup I finally realized what
00:38:25
the Emperor's got to enjoy
00:38:29
kleavon chef Chow is pleased this will
00:38:33
bring happiness to the family everyone
00:38:35
will have good virility
00:38:37
with his power to transform the taboo
00:38:40
who into the tantalizing chef Cho may
00:38:42
win new converts to this ancient
00:38:44
delicacy diners who may seek it out not
00:38:47
just for its romantic and medicinal
00:38:49
effects but also for its taste why not
00:38:56
take sustenance from genitals or goat
00:38:58
fetus or rat once the food hits your
00:39:03
stomach it's all just protein but taboos
00:39:06
are about mind over matter there's more
00:39:09
to our food choices than just survival
00:39:11
they tell us who we are that are
00:39:21
important to us that might be our social
00:39:23
relations or a sense of what's safe in
00:39:26
that world where we can go where we
00:39:28
can't go who can talk to whom all of
00:39:30
those things are related to food temples
00:39:33
and in the end our views of what those
00:39:36
other people eat say less about them and
00:39:39
a great deal about us food is an
00:39:44
excellent lens or window into culture
00:39:48
because so many of our beliefs and
00:39:53
habits can also be expressed around food
00:39:56
and eating
00:40:00
food can become a readily available
00:40:02
symbol because not only is it visible
00:40:06
but because it becomes part of us
00:40:10
delicacy or taboo what food do you want
00:40:14
to become part of you
00:40:31
it's a wonderful and the town is records
00:40:34
from the first time you tested other in
00:40:37
your woman or your love it
00:40:40
[Music]
00:40:42
City Hall owner and head chef of one of
00:40:45
Iceland's top restaurants serve some of
00:40:47
the world's best nouvelle cuisine a far
00:40:50
cry from rotten shark de cuisine the
00:40:56
cheeky wouldn't dare serve his guests
00:40:57
the foods of the surra blood festival
00:40:59
they would probably miss his guests
00:41:03
agreed some of it tastes like last
00:41:06
year's leftover it's dead
00:41:11
so why would anyone eat these delicacies
00:41:14
for siggy and many Icelanders eating
00:41:17
unorthodox dishes is a way to print
00:41:19
involve some kind of Restatement of who
00:41:21
you are what's important to you Paul
00:41:24
Rosen is professor of psychology at the
00:41:26
University of Pennsylvania food has a
00:41:29
particular importance here because it's
00:41:31
ingested it's taken in the body if this
00:41:34
is a certain intimate sense of link
00:41:36
feeding is a very but even Icelanders
00:41:43
are sharply divided on whether this food
00:41:45
is tasty for tabbouleh
00:41:51
so national heritage
00:41:53
I don't eat just statistically delicious
00:41:58
maybe because it's testicles but the
00:42:00
shock is extremely good it's delicious
00:42:03
I feel really Iceland you're gonna go
00:42:05
it's the ship has lice all that we all
00:42:10
feel them the forbidden the sinful
00:42:18
behaviors that define cultures and
00:42:21
inspire fear but our differences may be
00:42:25
what make us all
00:42:31
[Music]
00:42:38
according to the dictionary things
00:42:41
pleasing to eat that are considered rare
00:42:43
or luxurious delicacy can be another's
00:43:01
we need to define ourselves and one of
00:43:03
the ways we define ourselves is by what
00:43:05
we eat and how we're different from the
00:43:07
people around us because you know those
00:43:08
neighbors over there don't eat that and
00:43:10
we do no travel to India where one
00:43:15
family's favorite recipe features an
00:43:18
animal fetus beat the bush in Togo as
00:43:23
villagers hunt for an animal most city
00:43:24
dwellers would rather not see much less
00:43:27
eat come to Taiwan and sample a special
00:43:32
stool that gives viagra as different
00:43:35
money and wonder how far would you go to
00:43:40
please your palate
00:43:52
Iceland a place rooted in Viking
00:43:55
tradition
00:43:58
but its capital Reykjavik is as
00:44:01
cosmopolitan as any modern city cafes
00:44:04
great restaurants and some of the finest
00:44:06
freshest food in the world but once a
00:44:09
year in February the people of Iceland
00:44:12
turned back the clock to an age-old
00:44:14
tradition called thora block a festival
00:44:16
of feasts the dishes might disgust an
00:44:20
outsider Rams testicles sheep heads and
00:44:24
rotting shark but to the people of
00:44:27
Iceland these aren't delicacies only
00:44:29
served during this month long festival
00:44:32
any kind of festival food or otherwise
