The Birds & The Bees (literally): Does Size Matter?

[Guest071613-2]

Things seem to be a little serious and/or dramatic around here lately, so don't go taking this all serious n' stuff. Let's lighten up a smidge! Shall we? Let's!

My question pertains to:


Let me preface this by saying, I am in no way criticizing those of you who enjoy the stuff. It's just one of those things I have never liked, since childhood.

A friend and I have been having a lengthy discussion about honey. He loves it, and I would rather not partake. I will humor someone and be polite if they are pushing a honey product of some sort...but I am crying on the inside when I do it! I just cannot bring myself to eat the stuff, knowing that it is basically regurgitated nectar. Bees collect nectar, store it in their honey stomach, take it back to the hive, barf it up, then seal it with wax for future snacking. So my question to him (and you) is this:

If there was a bird or small animal that ate nectar and then regurgitated it, and the vomited product happened to taste good, would you smother biscuits in it, or glaze your Easter ham with it? Probably not, right? Okay, so what is it that makes consuming the regurgitated nectar of bees delicious, but if a squirrel did it, it would seem less appealing? For argument's sake, let's say this hypothetical squirrel had a honey-stomach just like the bee does. Is it the size of the creature that makes the difference?

Don't get me wrong. On the few occasions that I have forced myself to try it, honey tastes good. I just can't get over it's source and don't even get me started on raw honey! There are still wings and bee bits in it! I wish I could feel this disgusted about meat, poultry, and dairy...but I don't. I've seen all the PETA stuff (I come from a long line of pescetarians and vegans) but I don't find animal slaughter-for-food as offensive as eating honey. Weird, huh? That could probably be a sub-topic: the irony in what we find appetizing vs. what we are repulsed by. Feel free to take the thread in either direction!

For sake of discussion, my friend claims he would eat bird vomit if it tasted and looked exactly like honey. I say he is delusional.

Okay, so........if birds puked honey would you eat it? If not, why? Bees do it, so is it the size of the critter that is hacking it up, that changes the game?

Discuss!

[Waldo P. Emerson-Jones]

I would absolutely eat that delicious tasting bird vomit. Think about what else we put in our mouths. I mean I eat different parts of animals!! Cow, pig, chicken, fish, turkey, etc. I eat stuff that grew out of the ground and has been fertilized with shit and/or God knows what man made chemicals. I drink liquid that has been squeezed out of the tits of cows. I lick vaginas all the time and, on the rare occasion, assholes (female only!). When you think about it, honey's not even close to the weirdest thing we put in our mouths (but not on ham--that's disgusting!).

[bmoore]

Persoanlly I love honey and don't care about the source. I agree with Emerson, as far as everything else we put in our mouths, honey is the least of my concerns. And especially for the allergy sufferers around here, local honey can be a real benefit. Where I respectfully disagree with Emerson is honey ham. Nothing says yummy holiday dinner like a honey-baked ham! Mmmmmm-mmm!

[AdventureAdams]

*shrug* I've swallowed worse.

I wouldn't even care if bees shit out honey then used it as lube to jerk off, it's still fucking delicious!

[Vitruvian]

Originally Posted by SkylarCruzWantsYou

*shrug* I've swallowed worse.

I wouldn't even care if bees shit out honey then used it as lube to jerk off, it's still fucking delicious!

Haha, agreed.

As to weird foods, it's all a matter of degree. We eat fungus and fermented things all the time (booze is at its most basic form....yeast feces). What about caviar, or just plain ole chicken eggs. Just as weird. Hell...you could argue cheese is weirder than honey. I mean not only did to come out of an animal, but then it's left to bacteria to eat and deposit "flavor."

Also, I've had birds nest soup: it was delicious.

[~Ze~]

You probably don't want to know where most of your food comes form then. Scary place out there. Snails shit on your veggies, mushrooms are grown from shit... LOL.. etc.

[Guest071613-2]

Thanks for the responses! Although, I think most of you missed the part where I talk about wishing I was as disgusted by meat, poultry, and dairy, as I am honey. It's okay, I skim through most posts too

Again, I'm from a family of militant vegans, so you really can't shock me with where our food originates or what it comes in contact with. I've seen "Forks Over Knives" more times than I care to talk about, and I suffer through many a holiday as the only carnivore at the table, being forced to listen to horror stories of where my Thanksgiving turkey came from. Y'all are preaching to the choir!

*sigh*. I guess I was just trying to say that it's funny what we are disgusted by, in comparison to what we find appetizing. Well, it was funny to me at 10:36 PM, anyhow.

So does anyone else have any similar food fears? Or is everyone a badass, iron-stomached, Andrew Zimmern wannabe, around here?

For what it's worth, Vitruvian, I don't do caviar or chicken eggs, either. I find 'em equally gross unless the eggs are invisible like in a cake or cornbread or something. Or wrapped up in a tortilla and smothered in picante, cheese, and sausage; almost as if the eggs were a condiment instead of the main dish. Even then, I have to put my mind in a happy place LOL

[bojulay]

Bird nest soup is considered one of the highest gourmet delicacies.
The birds put their nests together with bird spit. People boil the nests
in water and make a soup out of it. The bird nests are so valuable that
the people with the right to harvest them guard the areas with armed
men. People have actually been shot and killed trying to steal the nests.

Check out this link.
http://www.luxist.com/2009/02/03/exp...rds-nest-soup/

[Guest071613-2]

Bird nest soup: DNS list.

Why do they have to go fuckin' with the birds, anyway? Leave 'em alone and go have some Ramen. Sheesh!

[Agrippa]

Probably old news, but there is always Kopi Luwak coffee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak

[69er]

Oh, the strange stuff people eat: http://www.oddee.com/item_96534.aspx

I really wonder how we figured out that some of this stuff that tastes so good, is good? Did cavemen sit around the fire in the evening and say "I dare you to boil up some of those seeds that were shit out by that monkey, and drink the resulting liquid!" Just the fact that we ever figured out that this stuff is good, is what amazes me!

Yes, I am a badass Zimmerman wannabee.

[~Ze~]

Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is one of the world's most expensive and low-production varieties of coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract.

[Vitruvian]

I have tried a lot of weird shit in my day, and loved pretty much all of it. That being said, I generally draw the line at "raw innards." I will not be eating raw heart, liver, kidney, etc. I will (and have) eaten bugs and all sorts of other weird stuff.

Also, I just remembered my favorite blog of all time. Its an entertaining read (and funny as hell). Its unfortunate he doesn't write them anymore, and hasn't in years.

Steve! Dont eat it!
http://www.thesneeze.com/steve-dont-eat-it/

[Adonis]

Traditional fish sauce and shrimp paste are nasty by themselves and that's before you realize how they were made.

[Boltfan]

Originally Posted by Dannie

For what it's worth, Vitruvian, I don't do caviar or chicken eggs, either. I find 'em equally gross unless the eggs are invisible like in a cake or cornbread or something. Or wrapped up in a tortilla and smothered in picante, cheese, and sausage; almost as if the eggs were a condiment instead of the main dish. Even then, I have to put my mind in a happy place LOL

Lox Omelette?