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Jules Devlin, Fig Tree Restaurant
Food, like anything else you do in life, should be an adventure.
You should chal- lenge the culinary boundaries every day.
In 1995, when I was in Sri Lanka with my family, one of my
most vivid memories of exotic tastes was when, one early morning
in search for surf, our friend, Gamini, pulled into a little
beach where he drew a long, thin stick from the van and started
probing the sand.
Quite unsure what he was doing, my brothers and I were willing
to watch from a distance. But when he started digging we went
over to help him. Soon after, we found our treasure. -turtle
eggs.
We expressed our disgust and disappointment in him, but he
explained it had been part of their culture for centuries.
Anyway, Gamini somehow managed to talk us into a deal if we
all tried one, he would leave them alone. Gamini bit a small
hole in the top and bottom of the soft shell and sucked out
the contents. Then he said, Your turn, your turn. There was
an uncomfortable silence. Then I volunteered. I took the egg,
bit a hole in the top and bottom, tilted my head back under
instruction from the now grinning Gamini, and in one courageous
slurp, sucked the contents down my young throat.
It tasted of salted, crab flavoured duck eggs. I was proud
of myself. Not only did I survive, but I enjoyed it, learning
something very valuable that day: That food had power. Fernad
Point once said, Food has the ability to intrigue, shock,
excite, inspire, arouse, and impress you at the one time.
Hopefully, people who restrict what they eat will realise
that food is not merely meant to fill one s stomach, but to
also fill one s brain and soul . Terry Durack sums it up in
his never bet-tered book, Hunger: When dining out next order
something you ve never tried before. Better still, order something
you ve never heard of before. Food loves to be flouted.
And from a chef s point of view I would say: Eat the skin
off your fish, duck or chicken, ask for extra anchovies instead
of none, and have more truffle oil in your pomme puree instead
of I m not sure whether I will like it. And please ask for
your steak blue, not burnt
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