Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!cmcl2!yale!husc6!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!ucbvax!cbatt!ukma!ukecc!vnend
From: vnend@ukecc.UUCP (D. W. James)
Newsgroups: sci.med,net.cooks
Subject: Re: fugu sashi
Message-ID: <833@ukecc.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Nov-86 17:26:35 EST
Article-I.D.: ukecc.833
Posted: Mon Nov 24 17:26:35 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Nov-86 20:49:43 EST
References: <7911@lll-crg.aRpA> <6539@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Reply-To: vnend@ukecc.UUCP (D. W. James)
Organization: Univ. of KY Engineering Computing Center
Lines: 44
Summary: Oh come on! Get real.
Xref: mnetor sci.med:321 net.cooks:4200

In article <6539@decwrl.DEC.COM> reid@decwrl.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes:
>In article <7911@lll-crg.aRpA> figmo@lll-crg.UUCP (Lynn Gold) writes:
>>Has anyone out there been to Japan?  If so, have you ever tried fugu
>>sashi?  Fugu is the blowfish that is reputed to be a delicacy yet
>>poisonous.
>
>There was an entire chapter devoted to a discussion of the Fugu sushi
>phenomenon in the book "The Serpent and the Rainbow". The book was primarily
>about Voodoo and zombies (clearly Garry Trudeau read this book right before
>the Uncle Duke zombie episode).

	Following this we have a perfect example of taking a sensational book
as serious, factual reporting. And why you shouldn't.

>
>Fugu is a species of poisonous puffer fish. Certain parts of its body contain
>a powerful neurotoxin. That neurotoxin, in large doses, is used to "zombie"
>people in Haiti: it paralyzes the body so completely that the body seems
>clinically dead.
>
>Japanese fugu enthusiasts enjoy flirting with death, and they especially
>enjoy the LSD-like "high" that comes from eating a sub-lethal amount of the
>toxin. Supposedly if you eat a little bit of the toxin, you get a very
>enjoyable drug experience. If you eat a bit more, you turn into a zombie. If
>
>There are certain organs that are known to contain high concentrations of the
>toxin. I believe that one of them was the liver. Fugu chefs are specially
>trained to recognize how close to the poisoned organs they can get away with
>cutting, keeping in mind that their customers generally want the largest
>sublethal dose possible, in order to maximize the "buzz" that they get from
>the fugu.

	Wrong wrong wrong. Yes it is poisonous. Yes people do eat it. And yes,
sometimes people have died of it. But Japanese fugu enthusiasts eat it because
it TASTE GOOD. And the chefs (and the restuarants) are licensed because it is
a powerfull toxin, and you don't want to poison your guests. 
	By all reports the taste is excellent, and this bozo is way off base.
Unless he forgot the :-).

-- 
*******************************************************************************
Later y'all,             Vnend            Ignorance is the Mother of Adventure.
**UUCP:cbosgd!ukma!ukecc!vnend;                CSNET:vnend@ecc.engr.uky.csnet**
************BITNET:cn0001dj@ukcc.BITNET (but only as a last resort)************