Saturday, July 18, 2009

Let's Play What's Grosser than Gross

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Arranged_century_egg_on_a_plate.jpg

Masterchef Australia is an awesome television series. A few days ago I would have considered us Masterchef junkies, but something has changed. Somthing has gone very, very wrong. And after the last two episodes I'm not sure I can stomach watching the final shows.

Last night, when Poh (one of the two finalists) made a Century Egg dish, they generously profiled Century Eggs for eager viewers. And we were lucky enough to learn that a Century Egg is an egg fermented in it's shell for a hundred days (I can't go any further into the description or I really will spew out the Indian food we ate a couple of hours ago, but click the link to see some hardcore nastiness). Seriously, I'm skeeved out. And you know if the judges were scared of it, it had to be some crazy shit.

Then tonight's concept of the judges doing a mock Mystery Box competition for their weekly Masterclass episode seemed fantastic. The show's final two contestants hilariously mimicked judges George and Gary, while critiquing the chefs' cooking techniques and dishes.

What wasn't quite as funny was this evening's Mystery Box ingredient... lamb brains.

I'm still queasy after having watched them deep fry lamb brains, then serve them topped with potato foam and green apples. Honestly, the potato foam alone makes me want to hurl.

After seeing tonight's dishes, Lamb Brain Cereal (wtf?) and Crisp Parmesan Wafer with Parmesan Fried Lamb Brains, it's clear the show has gone all Fear Factor, and tomorrow they'll be whipping up seared cockroaches with a red wine reduction au jus.

The good news is, if they would have said those little nuggets were chicken (instead of brains), I'd be all over that.

So the questions begs to be asked... do you do brains?

*Photo at top is a sliced Century Egg, I heave as I say that.



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37 comments:

Anonymous said...

I should have known not to read this after seeing your title ... Now I wish I hadn't just eaten!

Laura said...

Eternally- There should have been an even stronger warning at the beginning.. sorry about that.

Anonymous said...

On a similar show here--Top Chef Masters--the four contestants were each given a different offal to deal with -- pigs ears and tripe were two that I remember...not sure if brains were on the menu or not. I could not be a judge if offal is what they're serving. Just yuck. Also, one of the big trends here is cheeks...can't eat anything from the face either.

Laura said...

hereinfranklin- I just don't get it, are there that many people who want to eat that stuff??

Captain Dumbass said...

My wife is Asian so I've had the century eggs. I used to eat them in other things like soups before knowing what they were. After, even though I had eaten them and liked them, I couldn't have them any more.

Laura said...

Captain Dumbass- That's so funny, I'd do the same thing. Yum, yum- oh-- what's that you say?? That's what in my soup? Oh man.

Brutalism said...

I've been moving in the vegetarian direction...this may have helped inch me closer to veganism.

There is so much perfectly good, delicious food out there...why brains and tripe and old eggs?

Cat said...

That is just nasty!! Gives me a full body shiver!

Blues said...

Sounds like their pulling a massive joke to see if anyone is crazy enough to think it's real gourmet and eat it.

Then again, they eat some pretty weird shit here, so maybe not.

Rassles said...

I would totally try one.

Dina Roberts said...

Brains really gross me out. The egg thing bothers me a little less, but I can imagine it would taste awful. I don't do well with fermented stuff.

I keep hearing about this Masterchef show. Is it like Iron Chef at all?

Family Oz Blog said...

I kept hearing so much about this show that we finally watched it last night. We were totally grossed out. Glad to hear that we watched the absolute worst episode.

Laura said...

Brutalism- It's almost to push us off food completely.

Mama Nut- Ditto on that.

Blues- Right, it's like the entire country's on candid camera.

Rassles- Nu-uh. Seriously?

Dina- No, it's really very similar to Top Chef, but better because the judges actually do a class once a week and it totally shows why they are the judges.

Ana- Oh no! You totally picked the wrong night to watch!!! Too bad.

Lindsay McHugh said...

I missed that episode... but I don't think that the top two should be the top two. Okay, maybe Poh. Masterchef is no Top Chef for me.

Marvin said...

Lamb brains are the BEST!!!! ;-) Except for manatee brains.

Laura said...

Lindsay- I love Top Chef, but I think I love Masterchef Australia more!

Marvin- Ok, are you serious or kidding?

Dutchie said...

I just came accross your blog because I was trying to get an idea of what life is like in Sydney for foreigners, and I love it! Your writing is very funny and it's amusing to see what kind of things you experience in your everyday life:)

traceyleigh said...

I loved Masterchef. It was a great series. They got the balance of reality telivision and informative viewing right. The judges were great and I learnt a lot from them. I was happy with the end result. I think I would have been happy with either (but I really wanted Justine to win as she was my favourite).

Dina, you should download it. Tim would definitely enjoy it and you could get your Aussie accent fix..do you like that kind of show?

Laura said...

Dutchie- Thanks so much, good luck with your potential plans.. the big thing about Australia is... it's really, really, far away.

Traceyleigh- Haha, Justine was my favorite too-- she was a total ass kicker. I would have been happy with any of the final four.

Angel said...

Yeah, it totally sounds like they're more "Fear Factor" than reality cooking show with those episodes.
I had no idea that pic was eggs. That's absolutely sickening. I can now smell rotten eggs. The power of suggestion is making me ill, dammit. And brains? Forget it.

Gypsy said...

Blurgh

JD at I Do Things said...

I most certainly do not do brains. Of any kind. UGH! And let's call that egg dish what it is: A ROTTEN egg. Why is it OK to eat this old, rotten stuff? The Wikipedia description made it sound awful. Ammonia flavor? No thanks.

As for potato foam, I agree: hurl. I don't understand the fascination with foam. Does it even have a taste? It barely has texture.

Bleurgh.

Unknown said...

Hey florida Girl, nice job over here! It's just awesome to see how Australia looks like from the eyes of an authentic American!

Loved your last posting about the "Australianismns"! I'm Brazilian and I grew up learning the American english, and it's just so funny the way the aussies sound! I've been living in for almost 1 year now and I'm still getting used to it!

Cheers!

Wagner.

Deb said...

Wow- that's a new one for me. I actually hit the link to read more. I'm fascinated. Question- does the egg taste better this way? Does it give you magical powers? Or how about just- WHY? I can understand that maybe before food preservation techniques improved...but now, yuck!

Kristie said...

It's pretty, that is if it weren't supposed to be edible.

Kerry said...

I eat 2 hard boiled eggs just about every morning for breakfast. I read this post a few days ago and was fine. But this morning this popped into my head while I was eating them and I almost threw up. This is one of the most repulsive things I've ever seen!

Confessions of a Glamour Boy said...

Ummm, Lamb brains....

Andrea said...

Oh no, that's disgusting. Almost as bad as Sardinian black market live larvae cheese.

Laura said...

Angel- Yeah, every time I pull up my blog now and see that photo I want to puke.

Gypsy- Ditto.

JD- I know, I just don't get it-- any of it.

Wagner- Hi, glad to hear from you. Hope you're enjoying your time here!

Deb- Why why why??????

Kristie- If only we didn't know it was an egg, it would be so pretty without being nauseating!

Kerry- Sorry to have ruined your hard boiled egg routine for a while-- I feel the same way. I bought egg salad the other day and couldn't actually eat it-- ALL BECAUSE OF THAT DARN CENTURY EGG!

Glamour Boy Thomas- Bleh! Yuck.
Can't wait to see you in December honeypie.

Andrea- Wow, that sounds pretty unappetizing too! Hope we'll get to see you on our next trip to FL-- Dec- January this year!

.. said...

You ask "do you do brains?"
I have not seen one in years. Which happenns to be my problem!!!

ian said...

Well I am a northern English boy at heart and was brought up eating offal. I still like steak & kidney and liver and onion is delicious. Not sure about the brains though. Also not a fan of chicken gizzards which I saw on the menu once in the good old USA!!!!

Laura said...

...- Well, that is a problem!

Kismet- That just proves how gross the Century Egg is, if you're not adventurous enough to eat it- right? Haha!

Ian- Gizzards? ew. I just put a new post up-- and there's some stuff in there about YOU! xoxo

Anonymous said...

I stumbled upon your blog by accident, and I just want to say that despite their looks, century eggs are absolutely delicious.

They taste a lot like regular hard-boiled eggs, but with a richer and fuller flavour. There's a dim sum place in World Square in Sydney CBD that serves them.

And by the way, I'm one of the pickiest eaters the world has known, I cannot stand the taste of seafood (except canned fish), fruit that has been cooked in any way (except banana bread), legumes, anything spicy (KFC hot wings are too spicy for me), coffee, vinegar, oranges, eggplant, dried fruit, and many others, but I quite enjoyed century eggs. And I was 23 when I first tried them, and knew full well what they were.

Just wanted to add my voice of dissent of a passing stranger into the conversation.

Laura said...

Anonymous- So you are an adventurous eater only when it's an extreme food? Haha, I love it! Cheers!

Anna (Morsels and Musings) said...

century eggs in a thai style salad are really tasty. i promise.

Anonymous said...

'hereinfranklin- I just don't get it, are there that many people who want to eat that stuff??'

Yes, there are. They're known as Asians, most of whom are Chinese but the delicacy certainly is enjoyed by more than the Chinese. Just because it's not normal to you doesn't mean it's not normal, period, and thus open to being mocked and derided. This whole post smacks of ethnocentrism, which is a shame because I was quite enjoying this blog up until now.

Laura said...

I think Matzah Balls are disgusting too-- I am an equal opportunity food basher.