Culture Shock...

2/22/14

After the dinner, Mom and Dad were doing something outside. I followed them with a curiosity. Mom had two vinyl bags, and guess what came out...wet dead cats...! X!@X@F?X*!?! I know they have several cats but I thought they were pets...obviously I was wrong...absolutely wrong...I was completely in shock but I had to watch. *WARNING: please don't read or look at the picture if you don't wanna hear about it.
Dad, Mom and Hoan were laughing at me because I couldn't close my open mouth. Dad put two dead cats in the hot water and started picking the furs and nails. Their white skin came out and they became completely naked. Then they put one by one on the fire and started roasting them. They still have two little kitties and I assume that the two on the fire are their parents. It reminded me a song "My Dear Pig". I wanted to hold them and hide their eyes. Dad looked at me who was still in shock and said "Tasty! Tasty!" with a big smile.
The cats that were roasted looked like huge hot dogs. After they were well roasted from the head to tail, Dad chopped their heads in order to take the blood out and it was like a science autopsy after that. I had to say the process was very clean. I kept telling myself I had to eat it not just for the respect for the people who cooked it but also for the cats.
Today, Sunday, was again a family gathering (much smaller than the last Sunday), and off course the main dish was the cat meat. It was cut in pieces and cooked with ginger and maybe some types of soy sauce. I was a  little nervous eating, but there was no choice but to eat. It was tender and a little like pork. It was better than I thought, but still I couldn't help thinking about the cats. Good thing was that they kept offering me Jack Daniel's, that I brought as a souvenir. I'm not usually a whisky drinker, except today. It helped me to swallow them every time it was coming the opposite way.  Mom told me later cats are a specialty in Ninh Binh. I guess what we consider food is all depending on perspectives.

食後、お母さんとお父さんが外の流し場に行ったので、興味半分ついて行ってみた。お母さんが２つのビニール袋を持っていた。何が出てくるのかと思いきや・・・濡れてヘナヘナになって死んでいる猫！ネ、ネ、ネ、ネ、ネ、ネコだよね？！？！え、え、え、って言うか自分達が飼ってたネ、ネ、ネ、ネコだよね？！「そうだよ」と一言。ま、ま、ま、ま、まさか、た、た、食べないよね？と言いたいところで戸惑っていると、お父さんが沸騰したお湯を桶の中に注ぎ、その猫２匹を入れた。ま、ま、ま、ま、まじでぇぇぇぇ？！と叫びたかったが、そこは叫ばず、とにかく見る事にした。開いた口がふさがらずに見ている私を皆はクスクスと笑う。お湯に猫を少しの間漬けた後、その毛と爪も忘れず毟っていく。猫は白い皮だけになり完全に肌かんぼうになってしまった。ツルンとなった猫を今度は薪の火の上に載せて焼き始めた。残り３匹の猫はまだ健在で、そのうちの２匹はまだ子猫。多分、火の上で焼かれているのはその２匹の親だろう。Coccoの「My Dear Pig」の歌を思いだす。私はその子猫を抱いて目を隠してあげたかった。お父さんは、まだ戸惑いを隠せない私を見て、「旨いよ、旨い」と笑顔で言う。火でこんがり焼かれた猫は、まるで巨大ホットドックの様。頭から尻尾までよく焼かれた後、今度は頭を切り落として血を抜く。もうその後は理科の解剖実験の様だった。見てる間（見てる後も）、これは絶対に食べるしかないと思った。前回に書いた、作ってくれた人への感謝だけじゃなく、人間のために死んだ猫に対しても、これは食べるしかない。
今日は日曜日で、また家族親戚（先週の日曜日ほどではないが）が集まって皆で昼食。もちろん、メインディッシュは猫肉。小さく切られ、生姜と醤油ベース的なもので料理されていた。少し緊張したが、食べるしか道はない。実際食べてみたら、柔らかく、豚肉の様な感じだった。思ったよりもまずくわないが、やっぱりどうしても猫たちの事が頭から離れない。よかった事に、お土産で買っていったJack Daniel's を皆で開け、どんどん注いできてくる。いつもはウィスキーはあまり飲めないのだが、今日は特別。もどしそうになりながらも、とにかくウィスキーと一緒に流しこんだ。お母さんが後から、「ニンビンでは猫料理は特産なんだよ」と教えてくれた。何を食にするかどうかは、それぞれの観点でこうも変わるのだ。人間って本当に残酷だ～。

They eat pretty much all the parts including the brain.