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This is in response to the StoryWorth question; What is one of the strangest things you have ever eaten?
I think that the strangest thing that I have ever eaten was “eaten” decades ago during a visit with my brother and sister-in-law in Ohio. I confess that it was not actually eaten, but I did “try’ it. Mohammad and I had driven up to Ohio to visit with them. I was pregnant with Roxanna during this visit. Mohammad’s mother from Iran had been able to get a visa to visit with them so we would be able to see her also.
I had only met Mohammad’s brother’s family one time before and I think that this second visit was the first time that I was meeting his mother. I was trying my best to make a good impression.
Well, one morning, we woke up and went downstairs. My sister-in-law was preparing breakfast. Now I had had a few Persian dishes by that time and had enjoyed most. It was breakfast time and I was imagining something simple like eggs, pita bread, cheese, tea. I am not really a breakfast person but I can handle a little cheese and bread even before my appetite has awakened.
That morning, I was in for a big surprise. My sister-in-law had prepared lamb’s tongue for breakfast. I imagine that it had required some time and effort to prepare those lamb tongues and they were probably considered a delicacy. They were likely prepared as a treat for me.
So, I sat at the breakfast table with my husband, my brother-in-law’s family, my mother-in-law, and a serving dish filled with lambs’ tongues. One of those tongues ended up on my plate. Like I said before, I am not a breakfast person on my best day; having a lamb’s tongue lying on my breakfast plate did nothing to make me one. Unfortunately, I hadn't been having a pregnancy craving for lamb's tongue either.
That lamb’s tongue looked exactly like what it was. I looked at it and imagined a little lamb bleating baaaaaaaa. As it baaaaed, a man reached into its little mouth, pulled out its tongue and placed it right into that serving dish! Of course, the tongue on my plate was not bloody or anything, but I swear, just a moment before it was on my plate, it had been in a, now mute, baaaaing lamb. I really became a “not a breakfast person” that day.
So, I sat there at the table trying my best to summon up the courage to try lamb’s tongue. I knew that my sister-in-law had gone to some trouble to make it. I knew that returning the lamb’s tongue to the lamb or even the serving bowl from which it came was not an option. I extracted a small piece of meat from the lamb’s tongue and put it into my mouth.
Now, I do not recall how that lamb’s tongue tasted at all. I think that it must have not tasted bad at all because I do not recall a vile taste. All I recall is seeing a little baaing lamb in my mind. As that little lamb baaed, its tongue was ripped out and thrown in a stockpot; and I could not eat another bite.
Thankfully, my in-laws must not have been too insulted as they have not disowned me. I am even more thankful they have never treated me to a breakfast of lamb’s tongue again!
