A recent reader left a comment underneath a post expressing his or her ire with something I had written. The post in question was about Sharkfin soup.
In it I presented two delicious recipes as a response to previous disapproving comments.
For the record, I am not vested in sharkfin soup, although I do consider it a remarkable culinary praestation, and have always enjoyed sharkfin when it has been prepared well. Turning part of an exceptionally nasty creature into a delicious dish must count as a historic achievement, on par with inventing paper, discovering tea, or developing silk.
Certainly far greater than napalm, the extinction of the dodo and several indigenous populations, or boob-implants.
Again, not vested in sharkfin.
But the racist venom and sheer hatred that the opponents of sharkfin spew rather encourages me to eat it more often.
Did I mention that it is delicious?
Well worth the price!
[See here for instructions on making sharkfin ready for the table: shark fin no. 1. Plus these posts for other ramblings about the subject: shark fin no. 2, shark fin no. 3, shark fin no. 4, shark fin no. 5, and shark fin no. 6.
As you can see, my thoughts regarding shark fin are still evolving, thanks to everyone's input on the subject.]
Honestly, how can anyone think that either bigotry or obscenity are rhetorical strategies that will sway their opponents?
Filthy and insulting comments certainly have quite the opposite effect on me.
And typical whitey-white rudeness will absolutely NOT win-over the targets of your ire.
Who, by the way, shouldn't be the Chinese, but the Spanish, Norwegians, English, French, Portuguese, and Italians, as well as the fishing fleets of most Latin American countries. Those being the major suppliers who engage in finning and discarding.
Blame industrial sea-harvesting practises, greed, and the lack of restrictions on shark slaughter in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
And as far as that offensive tone of racialist cultural superiority that permeates the discourse is concerned, do please bear in mind that it was not the Chinese who enslaved millions of Africans, raped the entire third-world, spent several centuries waging brutal wars all over Europe, massively traded drugs during the imperial age, despoiled their colonies, ripped aboriginal children from their mother's breasts, industrialized murder, and efficiently institutionalized cross-border sex-tourism involving minors.
Personally, I have as little use for sharks as I do for self-righteous do-gooders who insist on lecturing the rest of the world.
The key difference is that the sharks undoubtedly smell much better.
Sharkfin need not always be done in soup, by the way.
There are many other ways to enjoy sharkfin.
Stewed sharkfin is also delicious.
So is braised sharkfin.
"F"
Lastly, larding your commentary with the "F" word does no more than prove you illiterate.
I doubt that it is meant invitationally, and if you are the type who eschews certain foods based on your own sneering wasp superiority complex or your blinkered fears of the unknown, even if it were a completely sincere offer of sexual congress I would have to turn it down.
I do not engage in lusty escapades with people with whom I can neither dine nor converse, especially if their company would prove burdensome.
Yes, I do realize that lowering my standards would mean a quantitative improvement in my love life – from non-existent to at least some action – but I do not see any point in doing so.
Just because one can't have steak doesn't mean that one should eat cat food.
An acquaintance recommended emigrating to Kentucky because, he averred, the place is filled with “gorgeous young women”, many of whom are “six foot tall and blonde”. That the vast majority of them are dumb as bricks and ignorant besides (his words) would be a small price to pay for all the fun.
I have rejected his suggestion, and I shall not move to Kentucky.
There’s plenty of garbage in San Francisco too.
We do not lack for shallowness.
I restrain myself.
I'll have sharkfin soup instead.
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For an even-tempered and rational discussion of sharkfin soup and the finning of sharks, this article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/archive/2003/01/20/urbananimal.DTL.
QUOTE: "We also use Asian celebrities. Ang Lee, the director of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," did a public service announcement for us, asking people to not eat shark-fin soup. So did Tony Leung, the Hong Kong movie star, Stefani Sun, the Singapore pop star, and President Chen of Taiwan.".
And also: "We do have a tremendous amount of Asian support. Much of the public there wants shark finning and overfishing stopped; a lot of people are now saying no to shark-fin soup. "
But especially note this: "Fifty percent of sharks are bycatch -- they're accidentally caught by boats that are looking for tuna, swordfish or other fish. "
Bycatch. Lovely word, isn't it? It euphemises the horrendous overfishing practices of the world's fishing fleets. Would you care to guess what impact the kill everything approach maintained by Icelandic, Norwegian, Irish, Portugese, Spanish and other European sea-harvesting factory boats has on the shark population?
Bycatch. Icing on the cake for European fleets. They weren't hunting for it, but they caught it in their nets. Along with everything else in that stretch of ocean. Including dolphins and porpoises.
Bycatch. A large proportion of which goes overboard anyhow, because it wasn't useful to them. Not just the shark carcasses.
Bycatch.
Feel free to add your comments.
I am truly keen to read your input......
While I eat a nice bowl of soup.
FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!!!!!
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