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Remains of whole pike fish
In my family, we love bones, heads, pits and skin—in our food, that is. We grew up and as kids, were officially and non-voluntarily trained to eat “whole foods” early on – whole fish, whole shrimp with head and skin, whole watermelon seeds.
Don’t get me wrong—I don’t eat all animal parts or all animals and still get queasy seeing some “parts.” I don’t consider myself very tongue-skilled compared to my Chinese elders who are especially adept at quickly and cleanly extracting the meat from the encasing without a mess. And I enjoy plenty of dishes where my taste buds, rather than my tongue, are getting a workout.
I concede that it’s much easier to hold a conversation or pay attention when you’re not spitting out bits and pieces of indigestible food particles out of your mouth or having to keep your oratory sensors on alert to catch potentially deadly, but usually, simply uncomfortable fish bones before swallowing. What appears normal at the dinner table with Chinese folks can be an unpalatable (or even an impolite) scene with unaccustomed guests!
There were other peculiar food preferences. We always had dark meat, preferred the smaller female crabs at the market and fought over who got to suck the mango pit. I don’t remember ever eating boneless chicken. I remember other fishermen giving us their less desirable fish (“too bony”) and my parents being excited about the bonus. Cultural, health and economic factors seemed to explain some of the differences.
Historically in China, eating meat was a luxury and being selective or wasteful about certain animal parts was unthinkable. Bone soups and stews were considered healthier and more nutritious, not to mention richer in flavor. Enjoying whole cooked fish was a gourmet dish, a symbol of good luck and prosperity and the fish head was reserved for the guest of honor!
