mouths of babes

[chelidon]

My son, who is six, absolutely loves seafood of all kinds. I've seen him devour an entire order of PEI mussels and an entire 1 1/2 lb lobster in one sitting. He especially loves lobster, both the actual taste, and the fun value in playing with one as he eats it. Shoot, it's the original happy meal, dinner *and* a toy.

Still, while he's played with live lobster, and eaten dead ones, he'd never had to go through the process of transforming the one into the other, and that can be pretty traumatic for a kid. Some folks won't ever eat lobster again after having had to boil one.

But one day a couple of weeks ago while I was out of town, my son was with my dad, and at the market he asked for live lobster, so live lobster it was. He's sitting in the kitchen, playing with the lobster while my dad heats the water. What's he going to do when it's time to boil the lobster? The water gets to proper temperature, my dad says so, and my son stops what he's doing, looks down and says (I am not making this up), "Hello, Mr. Lobster! It's time for you to die now so I can eat you."

Frickin' unsentimental Virgos, I swear :> That's my boy...

Comments

[idragosani.livejournal.com]

That's awesome! Forrest rocks!

We are trying to broaden Ian's cuisine also. He had swordfish steak recently at a Sakura steakhouse and absolutely loved it. He also had some sauteed shrimp which he devoured with enthusiasm.

[toasterstrumpet.livejournal.com]

That is *so* kick ass.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

Brilliant! Heh.

When I was Forrest's age, I was the same way about turtles versus snapper soup. I *loved* turtles, a lot; I had one as a pet. But I also loved snapper soup, and I was *totally* aware that it was turtle.

(I also had many youthful experiences with going crabbing -- the whole deal, catching the crabs, playing with the crabs, taking the crabs home and dumping them into a pot of boiling water, chasing the one crab that managed to fall on the floor around with tongs, etc. Crabs were fun, but crabs were also delicious, so there you go.)

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Yep, there ya go :> I loved crabbing as well, but now that I look back on some of my childhood crabbing (and fishing for bottom-feeders, like fluke) while visiting family in places like Sandy Hook off New Jersey (where, I believe, fishing/crabbing is no longer permitted for health reasons), I wonder just what interesting mutagens I may have ingested...

But one of my favorite childhood memories has to do with friends who came back from a trip to Alaska with huge quantities of fresh King Crab and moose, and we spent two solid days gorging ourselves on both. Yum. Those are *CRABS*

[anthologie.livejournal.com]

I loved playing with - and then eating - lobsters and have learned to keep my mouth shut around sensitive types who want to free the lobsters and put them back into the ocean.

I love meat. I love animals. I love the animals that become my meat. *shrug* I'm just glad to find others who aren't troubled by the full fun of lobster-time.

[snakey.livejournal.com]

I feel bad eating them because they're quite intelligent. And cute. But not bad enough to not eat them.

Lobster is both food and playtoy. Especially with all the shiny tools they give you to eat it with.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I'm actually happier to eat meat when either I killed (or the gentler word "harvested") the animal myself, or know who did and how it was done. As a human being omnivore/opportunivore, I don't eat that much meat (and no beef or pork, not from ethics, but because my body tells me clearly not to), but I am healthier when I have a certain amount of animal protein. My issues are not so much with the taking of life (necessary to survive), but the ethical and humane treatment of animals while they are alive, and particularly the effects on animals and the environment from "factory farming."

Charles did a "chicken harvest" at Vermont Camp this year as an optional offering, and they gave thanks and honor to the animals, and we had them for dinner the next night. Very, very powerful for a lot of people, including two vegans who participated.

And of course our "night hunt" at Tejas this year spent a lot of time on honoring the sacred prey, and the prey/predator/prey cycle of life we all embody.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

hee hee. I love the way you put that. I'm sorry, I've never seen how being grim about your food is respectful. Gosh, if you're going to take the life of an animal, enjoy the precious, sacred gift it is giving you with full gusto, with gratitude, and enjoy it to the very utmost. To do otherwise seems to me to be not giving proper thanks. Of course, that's how I feel about life in general.

I just got done teaching a week-long path in Texas titled "The Pursuit of Desire: Mysteries of the Hunt" (which went wonderfully, BTW) -- from that work, one of the messages the sacred prey sends in the ancient conversation between predator and prey is, "my life is worth taking, and showing respect for."

Overharvesting is a problem with seafood, and I try to get mine from our local co-op, which won't buy except from sources which are know to use sustainable methods.

[ravenedgewalker.livejournal.com]

There is a theory that there are 'super-lobsters' out there that are huge and just to bright to be caught.... I'm not sure I could kill one - at least not without freezing it first (puts them in a coma) but I'm happy for other people to do it for me since lobster is yummy!
on the other hand....

>Frickin' unsentimental Virgos, I swear :> That's my boy...

but I'm a virgo and I can be sentimental......:)

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

All well and good, as long as you're resigned to raising a child with expensive tastes ;> Seriously, though, seafood is good, healthy stuff to eat in general!

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Super-lobsters? I do know they can grow for 50 years or more, and have heard tale of lobsters with claws as big as a dinner plate. Yow.

Nothing wrong with sentimentality, it's a good happy-warm thing :> I was thinking more along the lines of stepping in and doing what needs to be done, also a good Virgo ability!

[idragosani.livejournal.com]

Pediatricians are encouraging parents to introduce exotic foods to their kids at an earlier age... the bland and boring diets are on the way out... Ian also likes chili and kung pao chicken :-)

[ravenedgewalker.livejournal.com]

it's actually a therory I got off a lobster expert back when I was an undergrad studying fisheries. it's a nice idea!!!