Durian

我们到 Steve 家人拜访时，曾談起馬來西亞的果王 – 榴槤。美国有位旅者曾到世界各地，爱好嚐吃當地人的食物…不管天上地下，可生吃熟吃的，如生虫、蚁等等，他都无懼无畏照吃不误，但就是对榴槤敬而远之。所以曾吃過一点点榴槤的 Steve 和 Sue，似乎比較能同理这位旅者，而像我这么爱吃榴槤的，对这位旅者不敢吃榴槤就有点感到疑惑…

我有一次对食物驚心的經历… 两年半前，我和公司老板出差到中国青島，厂家老板特地到村式名馆设宴款待… 主客按席（他们讲究主、客座位，主座向门，所以不懂这礼俗的，最好是站着，至到有人请你到座位去）而坐之后… 主人漸漸透露，他早点已订了這宴餐的上等食物，是一隻狗肉，厨師会煮三十六道狗肉，但他只要求做十八道。我一听，當场表示我是不吃狗肉的！也不管我的老板会有什么反应…幸亏他也说他不吃狗肉。主人感觉弄巧反拙，只好再点两、三道菜… 这一餐，可想而知一張桌面放不了这么多道＇菜＇…但这是我吃得很餓的一餐！走出餐馆外的小景村，看到鉄笼内的狗群，我的心很沉，只能默默祝牠们往生三善道（佛教说的六道﹕善道 – 天、人、阿修罗，惡道 – 畜牲、餓鬼、地獄）。

对我來说应该很不好吃（我没吃过）的食物，如蜘蛛、雏蛋、蚱蜢等等，也许榴槤对有些人來说，却是一种很不好吃的食物，但榴槤畢竟还是屬於一种水果，我反而会覺得骄傲的说，“我很喜欢吃榴槤！”

While we were visiting Steve’s family, we once talked about the king of fruits in Malaysia - durian. An American traveler had gone to many places around the world and he had eaten local foods… whatever the food was; from sky or earth, alive or cooked, like live worms, ants, etc. He dares to eat them all, but he said he didn’t like durian. Steve and Sue have tasted a little bit of durian before, and it seems they could feel empathy for that traveler. However, as for me, since I love durian very much, I have doubts about the traveler who hated durian…

I had a scary experience involving food… Two and a half years ago, my boss and I had a business trip to Qingdao, China. The manufacturer treated us in a famous village-style restaurant… After the host and guests sat in their seat (Chinese are particular about the seating when having a meal; the host’s seat faces the door. If you don’t understand this custom, it’s better to stand until someone tells you where to sit)… The host talked a little while, and then he mentioned he had already ordered the chef’s best dishes, which were made with dog meat. The chef can cook 36 different dishes but the host wanted 18 dishes only. When I heard that, I voiced out that I don’t eat dog meat! I didn’t care about how my boss would respond… Luckily, he also said he doesn’t eat dog meat. The host felt disappointed, and he ordered two or three more other dishes… That meal had too many dishes for just one table of 10 people… Nevertheless, I felt it was a ‘starve’ meal to me! When we walked out of the restaurant, I saw an iron coop with several dogs on the way in their small village. My heart sunk down. I can only pray for them, wishing they will be born in one of the three higher realms (Buddhism has six realms: the higher realms – Heaven, Human, and Asura, and the lower realms – Animal, Hungry Ghosts, and Hell).

For me, I think some foods taste very bad, even though I’ve never eaten them before, like spiders, duckling in eggs, grass hoppers, etc. For other people, they might think durian tastes bad, but I think at least durian is a kind of fruit. I feel proud and say, “I love to eat durians very much!”