This is a view of something I haven’t eaten yet and I’m not sure if I want to.  I took this picture earlier today while food shopping at the local Shop Rite.  It was in the Indian (dots, not feathers) section.

From what I understand (which is code for what Wikipedia says), ghee is clarified butter.  I quote, “Ghee is made by simmering unsalted butter in a cooking vessel until all water has boiled off, the milk solids (or protein) have settled to the bottom, and a froth has floated on top. After removing the froth, the cooked and clarified butter is then spooned off or tipped out carefully to avoid disturbing the milk solids on the bottom of the pan. Ghee can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration, provided that it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation and remains moisture-free. The texture, color, or taste of ghee depends on the source of the milk from which the butter was made and the extent of boiling and simmering.”  Yeah, but can you put it on popcorn?  I wonder if, during the days of British rule, the local Indian servants broke out a little ghee instead of butter to spread on their master’s English muffins just to fuck with them.

I’m an adventurous eater, not unlike Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel, minus the bald head, increasing girth, orange short sleeve button-down shirts, and the unquestionable glee at eating the testicles of every animal in every country he visits.  Dude, you’re eating balls.  Let’s tone down the excitement a notch or four.  Love the show, though!!!

I like to try new and exotic foods whenever I travel.  I love digging into the local cuisine, provided I bring some Pepto Bismol with me.  Not having Pepto is like not wearing a cup when I played baseball.  I could play fine, but I was a bit timid and lacked my usual gusto when fielding a grounder in the hole at shortstop with unprotected testicles (this is the last testicle reference today, I promise).

In Shanghai, I requested the tripe and loved it.  In Kuala Lumpur, I insisted on eating at one of the street vendors and loved it, but paid dearly for it the next morning.  My bowels still talk about that meal.  In Paris, I was not leaving without eating foie gras.  In Jordan, I ate about 250 shawarmas a day for 3 straight weeks.  I also ate hummus there, but on the menus, they spelled it “homos”.  Nothing like ordering some homos as an appetizer.  Talk about an adventure.

The jury’s still out on whether or not I’d eat ghee.  My initial thought is that I’d rather play Naked Twister with the Golden Girls than eat a teaspoon of that shit.  Just look at that stuff in its glass container.  It looks absolutely horrifying.   Amazingly, the container of stuffed mango peppers next to it, looks more appealing than the ghee.  Stuffed mango peppers sounds like a food that was made up in a drunken game of Mad Libs, by the way.  There’s no way that’s real.

Sadly, I think my adventurous side will eventually win out.  I’ll have to try the ghee at some point.  All I need to do is save up $6.99 plus tax.