Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Book 20 Summary

After talking to Penelope about how he knows that Odysseus returns, our hero Odysseus goes to bed in the palace. However, his mind is restless as he plans to kill all the suitors in the morning. If having the suitors around wasn't bad enough some serving maids are disloyal and are sleeping with the suitors. Odysseus feels betrayed and angry. He wonders if he should kill them all now, but Athena comes to comfort Odysseus in his time of stress. She tells him not to worry about not succeeding in killing the suitors because he has a goddess on his side.
Meanwhile Penelope is feels tortured by her situation, and even asks Artemis to pretty much kill her. She misses Odysseus and worries about the suitors.
Odysseus asks for a sign that it is right to kill the suitors. Apparently talking to Athena didn't convince him. Zeus sends a thunderbolt down as he asks the question, and it confirms Odysseus's resolve.
Telemachos checks up on his "guest" (Odysseus). After he has made sure that Odysseus is fine, he allows the servants prepare the feast for the suitors. In the meantime Odysseus talks to Philoitios the cow herder. He discovers that Philoitios hates the suitors and desperately wishes that Odysseus would come home. comforted by Philoitios's loyalty, the disguised Odysseus tells him that Odysseus will return. Philoitios is doubtful, but he hopes that this vagabond is right.
We then find out that the suitors are still pretty steamed and want to kill Telemachos. Amphinomos, however, interprets a sign of an eagle killing a pigeon. He says that it is a bad omen, and that they should not kill Telemachos. They decide to feast inside. Telemachos seats himself and the disguised Odysseus at the table. He asserts to the suitors that if anyone insults or hurts his guest that he won't be happy. It's apparently very assertive so all the suitors back down for a while.
That is until Athena stirs them all up. She wants a fight and she wants Odysseus to have complete determination in killing the suitors. Ktesippos taunts and throws a cow foot at Odysseus under the influence of Athena. Telemachos gets really angry, but one of the suitors, Agelaos, calms the situation, but he claims that Odysseus will never come back and that Penelope should pick one of them to marry. Telemachos replies that he doesn't want to send his mother away from her home, but the suitors all laugh at this reply.
 The suitors at this point are no doubt under Athena's influence as they continue to  laugh and laugh. The situation gets weird however because their faces become distorted and their laughter turns to lamenting wails. Theoklymenos interprets this as a sign from the gods that death and destruction is certain in the suitors' near future, but they call Theoklymenos useless and continue to laugh. Book 20 ends with another foreshadowing of the death of the suitors.        

Sunday, October 28, 2012

O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Warren

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Extra Credit - Warren Griffin


Polyphemus
John Goodman as Big Dan Teague


    In the "Big Dan Teague" arc of the movie, we can identify a few similarities with "Book IX" of The Odyssey when Odysseus encounters the cyclops, Polyphemus. First and most obvious is the physical resemblance between John Goodman's character, Big Dan Teague, and the popular representation of Polyphemus from The Odyssey. In "Book IX", Polyphemus has a minimal description as one of the monstrous "Cyclopes" on the island. From the reading we know that he is a brutish giant with immense strength; and we can infer from the blinding of Polyphemus that he has had only one eye. John Goodman, a larger gentleman, wears the eye-patch to meet this popular image of the cyclops. Similarly, both Big Dan and Polyphemus share an immense appetite.
    In the book, and as we've discussed in lecture, Odysseus isn't merely the innocent wanderer who is viciously and unduly attacked by the dreadful giant; instead, Odysseus invades the sacred home of Polyphemus and begins to spoil his possessions, only afterwards invoking the bronze-age tradition of xenia. That isn't to say that the cyclops murder and devour of Odysseus' companions is an appropriate response to his transgressions, but it does allow for a similarity between "Book IX" and the Big Dan arc of the movie. In the movie, Everett and Delmar are escaped convicts that have recently gained a large amount of money from the criminal George Nelson. They are in that way, "unwholesome" when Big Dan Teague seeks them out after noticing them at a restaurant. Also, after Everett and Delmar meet Big Dan, they only follow him to take advantage of a possible money scheme--again, "unwholesome". So when Big Dan later takes the club to their heads, it can't be said that he clubbed two innocent men; rather, two of three bad man got the...wrong end of the stick.
    This leads to what I believe the core of the Coen's interpretation of "Book IX", the purely physical and violent overpowering of Odysseus. During most of Odysseus' other trials he is victim to the divine force--e.g. Poseidon, Scylla, Circe, and Calypso. The cyclops only real advantage over Odysseus is his strength. Similarly, in the movie, Big Dan Teague is a monster of a man who only uses his immense strength to conquer Everett and Delmar. It's a simple and common obstacle where the hero is physically overpowered by the villain and has to rely on his guile to outwit his adversary. Indeed, in the book we know that Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into believing he is "Nobody", blinds him, and then steals himself and his men through the entrance of the cave underneath Polyphemus' own sheep; and in the movie, there is the albeit less dramatic scene where Everett drops the burning cross on Big Dan.
--------------------
I like the "wrong end of the stick"!  And I would agree, Odysseus has to constantly use his wits to evade being overpowered by sheer force.  You note that Everett, Delmar, and Dan Teague are equally unwholesome; I would add that the Coen brothers also realized that Odysseus and the Cyclops share a number of characteristics, brought out in the film by Dan Teague's slick salesmanship & command of the language.

Both of those Cyclops images are disturbing!  Something about the beige and the missing eye is unsettling.  Band-Aid fleshtones. 
Bibliography

Homer. "Book XVI." The Odyssey of Homer. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. 240-52. Print. 

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Dir. Joel Coen. Prod. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman. Touchstone Pictures and Universal Pictures, 2001. DVD.

How Everett is similar but different from Odysseus

               
             Overall Everett is similar in many ways to the character of Odysseus, however there are some stark differences between the two. Everett displays cleverness in the film "O Brother, Were art thou?", this is also a defining characteristic of Odysseus though out the Odyssey. When Everett meets the radio station manager and tells him that they are all colored and there is white, which is a reversal from the truth, it shows cleverness that is similar to Odysseus. Also similar to Odysseus is that Everett will sometimes get himself into trouble due to his cleverness and other characteristics which more often than not get them both out of trouble . An example of this is when the radio manager goes looking for the colored men that played the music, so that he could give them an opportunity to become rich. But because Everett was clever and told the radio manager that they were colored he caused himself issues. Odysseus gets into these situations to such as when he was telling people and Gods alike in the Odyssey that he was somebody that he was not. The difference is that Odysseus wants to get home but is not constantly being chased during the Odyssey. Everett wants to make it home but is also constantly being chased by law enforcement. Also the amount of time that it takes for the Odyssey to happen is years and not days, another difference,  Despite these minor differences the directors of the film did an excellent job portraying the cleverness and characteristics of Odysseus in the character Everett.

Book 15 Five Minute Summary


At the beginning of Book 15 there are several events that take place which start with Athena’s visit to Telemachus. Athena goes to see Telemachus, who is living with Menelaus, and tells him to go back home to Ithaca to look after his property. Athena also warns him about the suitors' plans to ambush him on his way home and that he must return before they succeed in marrying his mother Penelope. Telemachus wants to leave at once, but his companion Peisistratus the son of Nestor advises him to wait until the next day, so as not to be discourteous to their host. In the morning, Telemachus speaks to Menelaus about his departure and he allows him to go once he has been presented with glorious gifts and given his midday meal. Just before Telemachus and Peisistratus leave, an eagle carries a goose off from the farmyard, and Helen interprets this as an omen of Odysseus' long-awaited return. When they reach Pylos, Telemachus apologizes to Peisistratus for not having time to visit his father Nestor and asks him to help him prepare for his departure. At the docks, they meet Theoclymenus, a soothsayer, who asks Telemachus to help him by giving him place on his ship. Telemachus agrees, and Theoclymenus sails with Telemachus and his men. At this point, the  changes scenes back to the swineherd's hut at Ithaca. Odysseus tells Eumaeus the swineherd that he wishes to go to the city to beg and perhaps visit Odysseus' house to obtain work as a servant. Eumaeus advises against this, saying that the suitors are violent and inhospitable. After further conversation, in which Eumaeus talks of Odysseus' parents and of his own origins, they retire for the night. Meanwhile, Telemachus' company reaches the Ithacan shore. The young man, obeying Athena's instructions, asks the men to go to the city while he himself plans to go to the herdsmen. As for Theoclymenus, Telemachus asks him to go to the suitor Eurymachus' house. Then a hawk with a dove in its talons flies by on Telemachus' right hand. Theoclymenus interprets this as an auspicious omen, and Telemachus now instructs his friend Piraeus, who is part of his crew, to take Theoclymenus home and look after him. As the ship sails toward the city, Telemachus walks to the swineherd's Eumaeus hut. 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Odysseus and Everett... a likely pair

          The parallels between Odysseus and Everett are many. In the film O Brother Where Art Thou the main Character Everett who first name is Ulysses the Roman name for Odysseus is on a journey to get home, the same can be said for Odysseus but Odysseus wasn't a prisoner compared to Everett who is . Odysseus has his whole crew die Everett on the other hand does not. What can be said about the Character of these men , they both speak with sliver tongues and are quick witted . Odysseus skill ensure his survival and the same can be said for Everett . The both can speak and think there ways out of situations. Since they are both smart men they questions norms or certain practice such as being baptized . Next can be said about the men and there misfortune as they fall asleep and then they end up in a different place or different issues when they awake. Next the hair, both of the characters and there hair is both an object of constant attention for the both of them. At the end of the movie when Everett must go and get the ring , it is an impossible task as it is for Odysseus to appease Poseidon with an offering, but is something in which both men have to do.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Random thoughts on food

Thanks to Anna, Langston, and Elise for today's report on food.  A few things came to mind.  Josh and Warren both mentioned in their "Ordeal by Meal" entries how awkward it was for them, used to knives, forks, and spoons, to eat properly without utensils or with different ones.  Most of us can't remember our awkward moves with forks and spoons (though our parents can), but I bet most of you do remember how hard it was to use chopsticks for the first time.

We tend to think that people who eat with their fingers are crude, but in fact, it is an art to eat neatly with your fingers, especially if you are eating from a communal dish (you do not want to lick your fingers and stick them back into the dish).   It is very difficult for someone used to using spoons and forks not to end up covered with grease and gravy when eating with fingers. (Here is a web page about how to eat Indian food with your fingers to give you an idea).  One of the ways the Greeks coped with this is by using flatbread of various types as both the plate and the utensil-- you scoop up the food with the bread. In many countries, there are very specific rules about how to eat properly with your fingers, especially if you are dipping into a communal dish.  The punishment of cutting off the right hand for theft is made even worse by the fact that in many societies, only the right hand can be used for eating at a common meal (the left hand is used for cleaning up in the toilet).

Ancient bread was probably pretty dismal stuff, for the most part.  It is clear from forensic archaeology in Egypt, for example,  that people's teeth, especially the molars, tended to be badly worn down because  grit from the millstones used for grinding flour got into the bread. 
5th Century terra cotta, woman baking bread, from Tanagra.

O Brother, Where Art Thou extra credit

By popular demand, here is the extra-credit assignment for "O Brother..."

Either:  A.  Analyze one or two of the adventures of Odysseus as they are portrayed in the film.  Think about what the directors take as the theme of the adventure, and how they adapt it to the medium of film and the early 20th century setting. What is included, what is left out?

Or B:  Focus on the character of Everett (George Clooney), and discuss in what ways he is and is not like Odysseus-- his social status, previous history, relations to women, personal characteristics, vices and virtues. 

You can post your response on the blog or send it to me by email. 
"A Man of Constant Sorrow"-- is this kleos?

Book 7 - The Odyssey - 5 Min Summary



Odysseus has arrived at the land of the Phaiakians, a people known for their seafaring capabilities, and is working his way to the palace to talk to the king and queen.  Athena disguises herself as a young girl to lead him to the palace and covers him in a mist to hide him as the people may not be hospitable and having "no patients for outsiders."  Athena also tells him to ask help from the queen, Arete, rather than the king, Alkinoos, as she is the true power.  Odysseus then arrives at the palace and wanders experiencing and describing the luxury.  Gold and silver cover the walls, impeccable craftsmanship; the gold dog statues, an abundance of decadent fruits, etc. cover the palace and the grounds around it.  When he finally arrives at the king and queen he is still covered by the mist until he falls to the queen’s feet and grabs the queen’s knees.  He grieves to her and the king, sitting in ashes, until there is a silence and a man, Echeneos, recommends that Alkinoos send for silver chair, food, wine and also a basin of water the wash.  Odysseus tells of his sorrows and his depression but never his name.  During this, Arete notices his clothes as garments that she has made and inquires.  He tells his tails of Kalipso who set him free and wandered for 17 days before arriving at their shore where he met their daughter who bathed him and gave him the clothes.  Alkinoos was extremely impressed with Odysseus and offered him the hand of his daughter, a home, and wealth but says that he will send Odysseus on his way home.  The Phaiakians make a bed for Odysseus who then goes to sleep.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Summary Book 14- Max

Although I didn't get a chance to present in class, here's my summary of Book 14, where Odysseus stays with the swineherd and shares the "stories" of his travels. This can get kind of confusing because Odysseus talks about himself as if he himself is not Odysseus. He tells the swineherd all kinds of stories about Odysseus and ensures that Odysseus will show up even though he already has, so as to maintain his disguise as an "old man."


We left off with Odysseus and Athena parting ways as Athena goes to retrieve and aid Telemachos. Odysseus travels to the swineherd (Eumaios) as directed by Athene. The swineherd built the enclosure himself for the pigs of his master. 
The enclosure is made up of 12 pens each concealing 50 female pigs while the male ones slept outside, The number of males keeps diminishing because the suitors keep eating them. The total number of males is around 360,  with 600 females(?), and a total of almost 1000 pigs all guarded by 4 dogs! 
The swineherd fits sandals to his feet just as the gods do as a symbol of his upcoming noble behavior when he takes care of Odysseus.
Swineherd runs to Odysseus who was being attacked by the dogs until the swineherd called them off. Eumaios then talks about how he is raising these pigs for his absent master, only to be consumed by ravaging suitors while his master is probably rummaging for food on some alien countryside.
He shows "xenia" towards this old man (Odysseus) by first feeding him, and then asking about his travels. Eumaios seats him on a pile of brushwood covered with a wild goat hide from his own bed.
Odysseus blesses the swineherd in the name of Zeus for his acts towards him. Eumaios then tells Odysseus that he has no right to deny a stranger no matter how cruel or mean they are or seem to be.
Eumaios then talks about how he is angry with Helen because it's because of her that his master rode  off to Ilion (Troy).
He then takes 2 of the small pigs and slaughters them, and cooks them for a meal for the two of them to enjoy. Eumaios sets before him the roasted pigs with barley and sweet wine in a bowl of ivy.
Tells Odysseus (disguised as Old Man) that they eat the young pigs because only the suitors can eat the fattened pigs so as to please them.
Then goes on telling how great and awesome Odysseus, his master, was. Every day the herders offer a sheep, a goat, and a pig, all the finest they could find for the suitors.
Odysseus then asks Eumaios of who he speaks so highly of to have all of this kleos and arete on the island. Eumaios is still convinced that Odysseus is dead somewhere, rotting and his flesh being picked at by all kinds of fauna, not knowing that he is talking to him at this very moment.
Odysseus assures Eumaios that Odysseus is on his way home and that this is not just another one of those falsely-spun stories that have frequently claimed the tears of Penelope.
Eumaios is very certain that Odysseus is never coming home and rejects the Old Man's news. Eumaios tells Odysseus that the suitors lay in wait for Telemachos upon his return from Pylos.
Eumaios then asks who the Old Man is, while Odysseus witfully tells him that there is not enough food nor wine to accompany his story explaining who he is and where he came from.
Odysseus then gives in and explains, very thoroughly, of his false identity to Eumaios. He then seemingly combines the stories of Menelaos in his own. Talks about clasping the knees of the King of Egypt and how the King pitied him (Odysseus). Then he "goes" to Phoenicia where he is welcomed and told he can go on a ship back to Ithaka, while they are actually going to sell him as a slave in Libya. Zeus crashed this ship and he floated for 9-days, where afterwards he washed upon the shore of Thesprotia (King was Pheidon). In this part of the story, the son of the King found him and brought him before the King where he learned that Odysseus had been there and he now travels to Dodona on another ship. He was then stripped of the clothing given to him by Pheidon on his way to Doulichion and was gonna be sold as a slave in Ithaka but he escaped and jumped into the water, and that's how he ended up there.
Eumaios is still a little skeptical about his story, but takes to heart the information about Odysseus' homecoming that the "old man" has given him. Odysseus even tells Eumaios to kill him if he's wrong so as to make an example in front of other vagabonds.
Once all the other swineherds come home, they slaughter a large pig and give Odysseus the largest, most honorable portion of the pig. Odysseus shares a story of when he was in Troy with Odysseus and they survived a long, cold night just like this one and he wished he had a mantle: basically asking the swineherds for one of their own mantles. They tell him that once Telemachos comes back he will give him one because they don't have any extras. The book ends with Eumaios going outside with a great mantle, a sword, and a javelin for protection as he sleeps with the swine in their "hollow of a rock, sheltered from the North Wind."

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Ordeal by Meal - Langston

Although I've had a number of interesting encounters with food there is one instance that really stands out to me as an ordeal by meal. In sixth grade I moved from my hometown of Dewitt to the neighboring town of Fayetteville-Manlius. I quickly became friends with a Chinese boy in my grade named Conner Chen. As our friendship grew I began to become closer to his family as well and one night they invited me out to one of their favorite restaurants which I was more than happy to do. It was a sushi restaurant in downtown Syracuse and it instantly impressed me because the food was presented in little dishes that traveled on a conveyor belt around the bar where you sat to eat. I watched as they each waited for a normal dish of sushi and took it off the belt, so when it came to me I did the same. We ate our sushi and talked but when we had finished Mr. Chen told me that I had to try some real Chinese food. He grabbed everyone at the table a dish with pieces of octopus and I cringed when I looked at the tentacles that were jutting out of it. Not wanting to upset my new friends parents I found it in me to eat a piece of the octopus and immediately scowled as I began chewing it. Mr. and Mrs. Chen immediately started laughing and as I finished my piece Conner gave me a pat on the back before taking the rest of the bowl. I can honestly say that it was one of the worst things that I have ever eaten but it was worth it knowing that I did not dissapoint them and its something we still laugh about to this day.

Roquefort-- Katie Cooley


My French concoction
Coming from a small semi-rural town and growing up with an all-American family, I can honestly say that I have yet to experience any misfortunate or awkward encounters as far as food is concerned. I have never traveled outside of the United States, besides a small trip to Canada when I was younger (and I hardly remember that) so I haven’t tasted any legit foreign food. One of the only occasions that came to my mind for this blog assignment was the annual French and Spanish National Honor Society dinner held at my high school for juniors and seniors in these honor societies. For this night, everyone had to research, make, and bring in a dish respective of the honor society they were in so that we ended up with a large buffet of French and Spanish food. As I was in the French Honor Society, I had to find a French dish that was somewhat inexpensive and that sounded somewhat edible for the rest of my classmates.

In the end, I made a chicken dish with Roquefort, a blue cheese from the south of France, that when mixed into the sauce turned it green and which was then served over pasta. For the life of me I can’t remember what the dish was called but it certainly looked very different from what one was used to. Of course, at the dinner, everyone had to announce what food they brought and it was expected that if you brought it then you would have to try it. When I had first decided to make this dish, I had no clue what Roquefort was besides it was a cheese and it wasn’t until after I had bought it that I realized that Roquefort was blue cheese. Personally, I was never keen on the idea of eating moldy cheese and therefore I was hesitant at trying my French concoction, but I did. I was surprised by the taste of it and even though the sauce had blue cheese it actually tasted like a really, REALLY strong extra sharp. The dish was pretty good and besides that one there were many other foods I tried that I never would have tried any other time. Although this experience isn’t nearly as different as other’s experiences, this was the most food experience that I had and brought me to realize that sometimes foreign foods are really good even though they may not look it and to always remain open minded.

Five Minute Summary Chapter 13 - Langston

Chapter 13 begins right after Odysseus has just finished telling the
Phaeacians the tale of his travels, leaving off with his arrival of
the island of Ogygia which he does not go into detail about because he
has already told this part of the story to the king and his wife and
does not wish to repeat himself. Alkinoos then calls on the men around
him to each go back to their homes and pick out a lavish bronze gift
to give to Odysseus for all of his sufferings. The men do as they are
told and bring their gifts to the ship that is to bring him back to
Ithaca. They all have a feast at which Alkinoos sacrifices an ox and
Odysseus thanks them for their kindness and expresses his true desire
to go home. After the feast Odysseus and some of the Phaecians make
their way to the ship and as the Phaecians begin rowing Odysseus is
overcome by sleep. They row through the night and Odysseus remains
asleep as they pass the harbor of the Old Man of the Sea, the olive
tree with spreading leaves, and the nearby cave where the Nymphs of
the Wellsprings live. The Phaecians then carry the sleeping Odysseus
and place him onto the sand still rapped in linen and put his lavish
gifts nearby. Poseidon becomes very angry with the Phaecians at
helping Odysseus, whom he had sworn “would come home only after much
suffering”. He expresses this anger to Zeus who is understanding and
allows him to punish them if he deems it necessary. Poseidon tells
Zeus that he plans to stun the Phaecian ship on its journey home as
well as hide the city under a mountain. Zeus instructs Poseidon to
turn the ship into a rock right off shore when all the people are
watching from the city, but does not grant him permission to hide
their city under a mountain. Poseidon complies and turns the ship to
stone and the onlooking Phaecians realize they can no longer convey
everyone who arrives to their city. Odysseus then wakes up on the
beach but Athena has poured a mist over his surroundings so that he is
unable to recognize his homeland of Ithaca. Not realizing he is home
he says, "Ah me, what are the people whose land I have come to this
time and are they savage and violent, and without justice. or
hospitable to strangers and with minds that are godly?". He thinks
that the Phaecians have done him wrong and taken him to another land
and asks Zeus to punish them for their transgressions against him.
Athena then approaches him disguised as a young man carrying a spear
in his hand. Odysseus begins to speak to her, hoping that she will
help him instead of doing him harm, and asks what land he is in. She
goes on to tell him that he is in Ithaca and he becomes overjoyed.
However, he does not tell her the truth about his former travels in an
attempt to conceal his identity and comes up with an elaborate lie
about how he came to be lying on the beach that day. Athena is pleased
by his sharpness and trickery and takes the shape of a tall, beautiful
woman, thereby exposing her true identity. Odysseus tells her that it
has been a long time since she has been by his side and is hesitant to
believe that he is in sunny Ithaca as she says. She is impressed by
the way he investigates and asks questions rather than just run home
to see his children and wife in the halls as a less smart man would
do. She also tells him that she did not want to fight with Posiedon
who was holding a grudge against Odysseus for blinding his son. Taking
away the mist she reveals the land to prove that it is indeed Ithaca
and Odysseus begins to rejoice and kiss the land. They hide his new
possessions in the shadowy cave and sit down against the hallowed olive
to "plot the destruction of the overmastering suitors". She then
disguises him as an old man so that he won't be recognized by anyone.
She tells him to seek out his swineherd and stay with him, asking him
questions while she goes to Sparta to bring back Telemachos. Odysseus
asks why she sent him to Sparta since she knew the events that would
play out to which she replies that it was a necessary trip for him to
win reputation. She finishes the disguise and they both go their
separate ways to end Chapter 13.

Ordeal by Meal - Anna Glenn

For me, every visit to my grandmother's house is potentially an ordeal by meal. Within a few minutes of arriving, my grandma will be asking what she can get you to eat or drink. The question, however, is not IF you would like something, but WHAT will you choose to have. It is not acceptable to visit her home without allowing her to provide hospitality, which for grandma means feeding you.
My grandparents. <3 Note the bowl of jelly beans in the middle of the table.
If you arrive unexpectedly or between meals, you will be typically be offered tea/coffee, chips, cakes, and various other snack foods. If you are there for a meal, though, hold on to your hat! Even an ordinary mid-week family dinner (Not a holiday, that is a whole other matter!) at which kids or grandkids will be present is going to be huge. Typically there she makes a ham or roast, homemade mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, various cooked veggies, a raw fruit and veg platter, and a cake with iced cream for dessert. She will be extremely insulted if you refuse anything; she takes it as a personal insult and will be cranky about it for days. In fact, I always warn new visitors not to eat before arriving because their role, as my grandma sees it, is to eat and be provided for.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Ordeal by Meal

ShrimpAs much as I love food, it has presented many instances of social awkwardness. One that immediately comes to mind is the first time I tried to eat shrimp. Not that shrimp are a scarcity around here, but I have always been weary of sea food, largely because of its smell. I always refused to eat it, even when it was the only thing that my parents made for dinner. I am not entirely sure how this happened, but some how, some way, they convinced me to try shrimp. I stared at it for a while, analyzing the tiny slimey crustacean. I was still puzzled as to why people would eat such a thing, but I decided to be open minded and give it try. So I did, shell and all. I immediately spit the thing across the room. My entire family was laughing at me. It was not my finest moment. In this instance, I actually showed that I am somewhat ignorant of my own culture's food practices because my family always has shrimp at every family gathering. I also suppose that it just shows a blatant lack of common sense. I thought that it was extremely embarrassing that I was not even aware of how to properly participate in the simplest of family traditions. Needless to say, I have yet to live down this experience.

Ordeal by Meal- Max

I had a little, or maybe more than a little, trouble coming up with something to write for this post, which is why it's posted so late the night before it's due. However, my ordeal by meal has to do with consuming Cuy for the first time, and maybe only time, in my life.






For those who aren't familiar with this Ecuadorian delicacy, it is basically a Guinea pig that's simply roasted with nothing but a few spices, and served whole- or in my case, in pieces- on a platter. After a long week of eating nothing but bland fish, chicken, and rice in the Galapagos, my travel group ventured back to the mainland of Ecuador where we took a tour of the Equator and ventured up into the Cotopaxi National Park. With only the tea of the Coca plant (and yes, the same plant that is used to make cocaine!!) in my system, we hiked around the base of the mountain for about 3 hours before giving up and heading back to our hotel for our last night in the foreign, yet familiar city of Quito. Being from Long Island I've ventured around NYC many, many times, and Quito, besides the poverty emanating from every street corner, quaintly reminded me of home. So what else to end my trip then a traditional "home-cooked" meal?


So once our group arrived at the restaurant we firmly decided upon ordering this "delicious" delicacy (at which point my friend started hitting on the waiter in Spanish much to his amusement). We really had no idea what to expect: would it be whole on a pick? Would it be in pieces? Stuffed? Still with hair on it? Luckily, it was neither of these, although we thought that the sauce that arrived first was the cuy, at which point we were embarrassed to have spent $30 on a small bowl of soup. However, once the cuy came out we were thoroughly impressed. The chefs managed to hide it's distinguishable features with crust from whatever they roasted/fried it with. Until we ate through the meat and realized that it was actually baby teeth and not real bone that we were biting through that the realization of eating Guinea Pig was upon us. Although it sounds cliché, it really did taste like chicken, and duck. Besides its main composition of teeny, tiny bones and fat, the meat that was there was pretty delicious, even if split between 4 starving people who were also sick of the fish, chicken, and rice diet of the past week.
After we had consumed ever last bit that that Guinea pig had offered us, we kindly thanked the waiter for this delicious meal and tipped him rather generously- to make up for the $10 in coins we included in the bill. He seemed rather surprised that we had been so anxious to try the Cuy, and how excited we were for it as he knew we were from the NYC-area and probably tasted much better food and why we would "waste" our money on what he called: An overpriced, over-consumed Ecuadorian delicacy. 
We definitely enjoyed our meal and indulging ourselves into the culture and lives of the Ecuadorian people all crammed into one day on the mainland; hopefully in the future we can return and try dining in a more informal setting!

Hot, hot hot!

If Frank is correct that he ate a ghost pepper, he is lucky to be here to tell the tale:

"The Naja Jolokia has been confirmed by the Guinness World Records as the most potent pepper on earth. It has a rating of between 800,000 and 1,000,000 SR. [See here for the Scoville scale for ranking the heat of chili peppers].This tongue-burner, also known as the Naga Morich, Ghost Pepper, Ghost Chili, and Bhut Jolokia, is found mostly in Northeastern India, and a few regions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Equally as lethal as its red flesh are its seeds, which when ingested can literally leave one incapacitated for up to thirty minutes."  (From Fodor's Travel website)  According to Wikipedia, the Indian Defence Forces have apparently weaponized the ghost pepper.

Frank's post reminds me of a memorable graduate school ordeal-- fortunately, I was only in the audience for this one.  A distinguished professor in the Classics department at Cornell was also a brilliant chef.  He was a Brit who had lived in Austin, Texas, for several years before moving to Cornell and claimed to have developed a taste for spicy food-- a claim many of us graduate students  doubted because he was a Brit of the palest variety, and we all know the reputation British food has for being bland.   He decided to host a Mexican feast for the graduate students, and spent two full days preparing the food with several of his students assisting.  In the course of the preparations, one grad student, R (a former varsity football player with a macho attitude, not your typical Classics grad student) declared that nothing the professor could prepare would be too hot for him!   The professor admitted that he doubted he could impress R, but that he would do his best to come up with something 'rather special.'

At the end of a long evening, when much food and alcohol had been consumed and Ron had more or less forgotten the challenge, the professor appeared with a small dish of chili  and a huge bowl of rice. He said he know that R liked spicy food, and had made this little dish especially for him; he warned him that he should take it slowly and eat it with lots of rice to help it down.   Like Frank, R rose to the challenge, laughed off the rice, and downed several large spoons full of the stuff before his system registered the assault.  Like Frank, he coughed, wept, choked, tried downing water, rice, and beer, then retreated to the bathroom to recover.

The rest of the guests were reduced to tears of laughter, but were not sure what had just happened.  Was R not as used to hot food as he claimed, or was the chili the professor had prepared unusually lethal?   We realized it was the latter two days later, when R's wife confronted the professor to complain that Ron had been screaming with pain every time he urinated for the last 48 hours, and what had been in that chili?  It turned out that the professor had been reading up on  capsicum peppers and the various levels of heat they carry for years, and had obtained a small supply of the hottest  pepper he could find for his collection, which he had sacrificed to make the chili for R. 

At the time (and indeed, even now in retrospect) this struck me as a very strange joke for a professor to pull on a student, but all the precedents were there in the Odyssey-- the tricky host, the over-confident guest,  the public setting, the dissolution of challenge to authority through the laughter of the other guests.  In the end, it created a very strong bond between R and the professor, who remained friends for decades, long after R obtained his PhD, taught for some years, and  left Classics to pursue a career in business.

Ordeal by Meal - Rich Brooks

I have had many ordeals by meals in the past several weeks. While Long Island is just an eight or so hour drive away, it has become apparent that many of my new friends have very different feelings about certain kinds of food. For some time, during every meal we shared some sort of discussion would come up about why food from Buffalo, which I have grown up with my entire life, is not up to par. I have been told several times that despite the fact that we live next to the largest body of fresh water in the world, that our water still tastes disgusting compared to New York City water. Also, our pizza and bagels are apparently inedible. People from Long Island also seem to have no idea what pizza logs are and don't understand the term "fried dough." The list of discrepancies can go on and on, but you get the point. It's all pretty minor stuff, but I found it quite interesting to learn about the countless differences that two people who don't live very far away can have about food. While it hasn't made me an expert on Long Island culture, it has given me some insight into its own, as well as Buffalo's, uniqueness.

Ordeal By Meal - Eric



My ordeal by meal comes with a story about the holidays, particularly thanksgiving and Christmas.  Every other year my mom has to work on Christmas so I spend it often with friends and their families until my mom gets home and we would have our dinner.  Over the years I've spent them at Jewish, Ukrainian, American/English, Irish, and Italian households, all with their unique dishes like weird soups, sausages, salads and other sides, there is still a common trend.  Each of their dinners consisted of stuffing, mashed potatoes, bread and of course a rather large turkey (or in some cases ham).  Personally, I do not eat turkey or starches (it’s a preference taste wise) so there for the main dishes are never appealing to me.  Each household also shares the common trend to offer me the prime first cuts of the turkey and helping of the trimmings.  I know I would not be able to eat the food that I consider dry and suffocating but I know I cannot insult the families who graciously invite me and slave to cook.  I also know I'm starving and I cannot wait for my second dinner with my mom and dad later without getting sick, so I devised a plan.  Every year I simply suggest that the family is gracious for inviting me and that the family should take their share first.  I also tell them the TRUTH that I am eating with my parents later so I should really stick to lighter/not filling foods like the meat and starchy things so I stick to the always safe side salads. This luckily always works and avoids me choking on the nasty dryness of turkey suffocating my breath.  When I finally get home, may parents and I have our dinner?  We have a salad from a bagged lettuce, deviled eggs, red beat eggs, a pistachio pudding fruit salad and our main course of either lasagna or breaded chicken breast.  Luckily my parents share the same taste or lack thereof for turkey and its trimmings so dinner is never a compromise. 

In addition I have a small side story.  When I went to my Ukrainian friend's house, they understand my excuse to eat later and not partake in their main dishes, but I couldn't think of an excuse when I was told I have to clean some of the dishes.  I cleaned them out of respect but I can honestly say I never went back their for a meal again.

Ordeal by Meal- Nick Cellino

I come from a family that is very Italian and very tradition-based. This means that every night, we would have sit-down dinners and the cuisine from night to night did not vary all that much. It was always either pasta, sauce, meatballs, salad, or some combination of them. We tried new things every once and a while but normally, my mom would just cook the things that she knew how to cook, which were the things I mentioned before. A couple years ago though, my mom started working a lot more, and she never really wanted to cook by the time she got home. At this point, we started going out to dinner a lot more, making it a point to try a new place every time.
My favorite food memory involves a time when my family decided to try out Indian food for the first time at a place called India Gate on Elmwood Avenue. Being there for the first time, the atmosphere was very interesting to us. The menu there is all in Hindi, though they have since added English descriptions of each dish. Not knowing how to order, each person in my family picked out a dish randomly, and much to our chagrin, the waiter responded by saying, "No, you can't get that." We were pretty confused, and so the waiter, who seemed a bit annoyed at our ignorance, went on to explain that dishes are ordered for the table, not for individuals. Also, you need to get a combination of "wet" and "dry" dishes, or in other words, dishes that come in sauce and dishes that are simply baked and served dry, like tandoori chicken. He went on to basically order our entire meal for us, and it was one of my favorite meals ever. My family goes back there pretty often, and we've even gone for my birthday the past few years because it is my favorite restaurant in the city. My favorite dish there is probably the Chicken Shahi Korma so if anybody goes there, I highly recommend it.

Ordeal by Meal - Warren

"bleat"
    I had the fortune of being deployed to Iraq during the 2007 "surge", and what came to be our mission--after seven or eight months of IEDs and catching bad guys--was maintaining good relations with our new allies there: the Iraqi people. The legacy of my unit's mission from 2006-2008 was bringing together two local tribes; one shi'i and one sunni. This was the first partnership the country had seen since the invasion and it was an incredibly delicate balance. With this alliance, the Iraqi civilians in our areas kicked out Al Qaeda and the Mahdi Militia on their own; and in return we--the coalition forces--pledged to build schools and hospitals, provide security, and enable them to start their own local security force. So for my unit, what was once dodging IEDs and avoiding ambushes, kicking in doors and finding weapons caches, became kissing babies and making sure everyone gets paid.
    One day while we were out doing the public relation stuffs we were randomly approached by a man. Our interpreter told us that he was inviting us to his home for a meal, to thank us for helping to send one of his children to Baghdad University. We said "sure" and kept walking through the village to finish our mission for the day. On our way back after completing the day's work, the interpreter reminded us that we needed to go in to have dinner with the man. We were horribly tired at this point and agreed that we'd rather not. The interpreter was upset at this and told us that we didn't understand...at that point we noticed the man crossing the road ahead of us. He smiled and waved with one hand, while the other hand was dragging a goat by one of its hind legs, bleating and clawing at the dirt road. We realized as we watched our dinner being dragged across the road, why our interpreter was upset.
    We followed the man into his home. He carefully cracked the door to the room where he was keeping his wife and children to let them know that they had to prepare the dinner. We smoked cigarettes, sipped chai tea, and fought to stay awake while we waited to eat. After a while had past we were brought into his main room where they entertained, ate, and slept. There was a tarp on the floor and atop it in the middle, a vat of rice with meat and vegetables in the center. We were then invited to eat. Never before had a more awkward meal been placed before us. We didn't know if we were to sit or stand, whether on or off the tarp. No wares or utensils of any kind at hand, so we assumed we were digging-in with our fingers. We weren't sure if we were waiting for the man to eat first, or if he would let his wife out of the closet to eat as well. We desperately and tactfully asked our interpreter for a little help and he told us two things: one, that we needn't wait for the wife because she was busy working outside; and two, that we should start from the middle of the vat and work our way to the sides, never starting at the sides because that's where you place your excess and unwanted food. Feigning appreciation we thanked our helpful interpreter and look at eachother--drawing straws in our collective mind to see who'd approach first. The man finally saw that we were struggling with the particulars--the ways and means of how to approach his thoughtful dinner. He told the interpreter to ask us something. Our helpful interpreter asked, "haven't you guys ever had anything to eat before?"
   We ate, and after we had put away our desire for eating and drinking we thanked our host for his hospitality and gave him a couple packs of Marlboro's. We started back towards "home" and were happy to be full. It was a good day.