9/7/2003

Food Fright Part 1

Uncle AndrewUncle Andrew
Filed under: @ 6:12 pm
Food Fright Part 1

Of course, the basic reason for including this particular product in this section of my Web site is pretty obvious, but I feel that my selection requires, if nothing else, a bit of elaboration.

This snack consists of roasted peanuts covered in a crispy, slightly sweet wheat-paste coating. It is a standard fixture in Asian snack circles; I enjoyed a very similar treat in my youth in Hawaii that went by the name of Iso Peanuts. (That’s pronounced “EE-soh”, not “Eye-ess-oh”. I don’t think that Iso Peanuts have received a certification from the International Organization for Standardization.)

Anywho, as I said, the primary reason for posting this picture goes without saying, but I feel I should also mention my revulsion/compulsion reaction to the appearance of the Tiger Nuts themselves. Look closely at the tiger figure at the top of the bag. Aside from his conspicuously cuddly and innocuous appearance (which seems particularly strange coming from a continent that actually has tigers), there is the disturbing fact that he is covered in these things. This would seem to indicate that they are not, as the name of the product suggests, tiger nuts. Instead, they appear to my eyes to be some sort of horrible tumor, such as those produced by neurofibromatosis, colloquially known as “Elephant Man’s Disease”. Makes you wonder how he manages to maintain his sunny and docile demeanor.

Irrespective, neither of these tableaux put me much in the frame of mind for some serious eatin’. If the choice is between helping myself to a few feline fibroids or tossing down a tray of tiger testes, I think I’ll try my hand at photosynthesis.


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