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From: jnk@linus.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: fugu sashi
Message-ID: <24@linus.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Nov-86 19:05:28 EST
Article-I.D.: linus.24
Posted: Fri Nov 21 19:05:28 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Nov-86 09:13:23 EST
References: <7911@lll-crg.aRpA>
Reply-To: jnk@linus.UUCP (John N. Kemeny)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA
Lines: 24

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.
>
>I'm going to Japan in a couple of days, and my husband has shanghaied
>me into going to a fugu restaurant.  Like the Monty Python "SPAM"
>routine, they only serve fugu.  How safe is this fish?
>
>Nervously awaiting your replies,
>
>--Lynn

My understanding is that blowfish is indeed a dangerous food--a leading cause
of death of young executives in Japan.  Eating fagu is a macho thing to do
there, most likely because it is so dangerous.  If it is expertly prepared,
very little paralyzing poison is found in the food.  Nevertheless, the first
morsel makes your tongue tingle, the second numbs it.  The third bite is the
most macho since it can be fatal.  It is all folly, however, because the 
slightest miscalculation in preparation and (not to be melodramatic) the first
bite could be your last. Good luck.

(This reminds me of the story where a man's first six wives die of mushroom
poisoning, and the seventh of a broken neck because she didn't like mushrooms.)